CSMacLaren's Top 3 Single Action Blasters of 2005

Time and again, people ask, "What's the best Nerf gun?" In one sense it's a flawed question. Best for what? Everyone's application is going to be different.

Some want the numbers. "I can get the XYZ gun to shoot 120 feet." As I pointed out in another article, that is ideal range, i.e. if you assume ideal conditions and angle the gun 45 degrees and fire (assuming no mechanical flaws affect the unit). Ideal range is what marketers go for. It is not, however, the effective range. A foam dart is going to take some time to cover that 120 foot distance. By the time the dart completes its arc in the air, your friend will have had enough time to take one step to the side to void your attack completely. Most likely you will be shooting at people within 6-25 feet from you and they'll be ducking behind objects. Given those circumstances you won't be angling the blaster a steep 45 degrees, but it's possible it would be a more shallow angle.

My personal baseline is how the blaster performs indoors (home or office). Indoors you are more likely to try to point the blaster at someone directly. You'll notice that a dart traveling from a blaster held parallel to the ground won't go as far as if it were angled upwards by 25-35 degrees.

Some want coolness. Okay the Big Bad Bow (BBB) is hella cool, as is the NiteFinder EX-3. But they lack in firepower. While the BBB is actually more of a shotgun-style blaster (due to the fact that the bow is only cosmetic and the bowstring is purely nonfunctional so some people chose not to install it) it can only fire one round at a time; you need time to reload each round by hand. The same goes for the NiteFinder. Some like the N-Strike Unity System's Titan but one person complained how he had to pump it for what felt like ten minutes before the blaster was primed.

Some want firepower, and admittedly blasters like the N-Strike Unity System's Hornet and RapidFire 20 give you that. But the Hornet has problems with air pressure not reaching darts, and darts sometimes either slide out of their chambers, or they don't sit all the way in but some spring mechanism pushes them out slightly enough to reduce their effective range to a few inches! The RapidFire 20 is the ultimate of automatic fire but that's outside of the scope of this Top 3.

Back to Basics: The Baseline

This is the criteria by which I measure foam-firing blasters.

1. Handling and practicality: Does the blaster feel right in the hands? Does it faciltiate use well? Are there sharp corners or edges that may cause operation to be uncomfortable? Is the blaster easy to use? Is the trigger hard to squeeze or does it dig into your index finger? Is it easy to cock?

2. Capacity: Are there a sufficient number of rounds for me to use the blaster in foam wars? And how easy is it to reload my darts?

3. Reliability: Are there any mechanical issues that can cause the blaster to misfire?

4. Availability of Ammo: Are refill packs readily available at the toy store, or am I going to have to go to Home Depot, buy caulking foam and start creating my own little darts?

5. Does it look hella cool? Can't look sissy or silly. It has to look manly-man. 'Nuff said!

So here's my roundup for the Top 3. Bear in mind this is for close-quarters combat (indoors or outdoors at close to medium rang) and single action (cock-and-fire) blasters.

3rd Place: Nerf N-Strike's Maverick Rev-6

The Maverick (2004) has a six round capacity. Handles wonderfully. Range is approx. 20 feet indoors. Range can improve to about 30 feet or more using the more aerodynamic Sonic darts (round tipped) that are available in refill packs at the toy store. This is an all-round well balanced weapon in all five aforementioned respects. Easy to reload -- you don't have to pop out the cylinder. The only disadvantage is that sonic darts can cause a gun to jam and misfire; if the rubber tip is sticking out of its chamber, it can cause the cylinder to not rotate the next round into alignment. The solution is simple: to stuff it back in more deeply. The Maverick is a handsome "manly-man" blaster and extremely good for Office Nerfing.

2nd Place: Nerf N-Strike's Firefly Rev-8

The Firefly (2005) is an 8-round submachine gun style blaster but is still single-action like its handgun counterpart, the Maverick. It's not automatic by any means. Fans of Stargate SG-1 will favor its looks due to its passing semblance to the P90 submachine gun popularized by the show. It unfortunately lacks a foregrip but it does make you want to go out and buy a WEP-8 military jacket and pretend you're taking out the Jaffa. Effective range indoors is about 40 feet, though with the more aerodynamic Sonic darts I've achieved a 50 feet range. It has holders for an extra eight darts. Extremely fun and cool and very gratifying.

And last, but not least....

1st Place: Nerf Dart Tag

The 10-round Dart Tag (2005) is the original "Dart Tag" is not part of Nerf's "N-Strike" line. It was originally its own gun but now there are blasters like the Crossfire and the Firestrike that are now part of the "Dart Tag" line; they too fire velcro-tipped "Tagger" darts. For safety reasons I recommend ripping off the velcro or just use sonic darts. Unlike the Firefly, the Dart Tag has a vertical foregrip so it makes it feel a little like an MP5 / MP5KA4, only bulkier (they did use MP5's earlier on in Stargate SG-1). It's bulky due to the cylinder's capacity (the larger the number of rounds, the larger the cylinder.) It lacks the aesthetics of the FireFly. I've acheived 35-40 foot ranges with Sonic darts. The only downsides are that I feel Tagger darts are unsafe, and that you have to spend $40 to acquire one, but the box comes with two, so share the cost with a friend; it's worth it!

Closing Thoughts

In terms of reliability, practicality, capacity, firepower and aesthetics the Maverick, the Firefly and the original Dart Tag are CSMacLaren's Top 3 of all time on single action blasters. I heartily recommend any of these to a Nerf fight. The Maverick is good as entry level nerf war ordnance and as a backup weapon. The FireFly and Dart Tag are superior. Though the Firefly's capacity is bested by the Dart Tag by two rounds, the FireFly's holders give it a combined capacity of 16 rounds.

What's in the future? I would like to express to Hasbro my keen interest to see an -Strike design that can handle 10 or 12 rounds, and that may very well become my new ultimate weapon.