So, why would you pick a spring powered blaster in this day and age?
Well it really depends on the game you are playing. If you play a game with restricted ammo or stealth is required, you will find these make much better choice.
Battery powered blasters are noisy when you rev them and useless if you don’t, which makes spring-powered blasters a great choice for games where a bit of stealth
Spring powered nerf guns are also much easier to mod than their flywheel brethren. But which ones are the best?
The Best Spring Powered NERF guns
Spring Powered NERF Gun Reviews
I have not covered NERF pistols here, as they are covered in another article. I have just looked at blasters that can potentially be used as a primary weapon.
So, if you can only have one blaster and you like the stealth and reliability of a spring powered blaster, you will need one that is slam-fire capable, with good ammo supply, good range, and accuracy. For that reason, I have put the Alpha Trooper and Rampage at the top as these both perform that duty well, which you choose is as much down to personal taste as anything else.
However there are many other scenarios that mean a different selection is needed. If you are a fan of the Rival range (and why wouldn’t you be?) then the Artemis is essentially the Rival range’s equivalent of the Rampage but with a slightly different loading mechanism and makes an excellent blaster.
Then we have a couple of other, slightly more left-field choices – the Lawbringer and Longshot. The Lawbringer is essentially a much larger Hammershot (a blaster I like a lot!) so it holds more ammo in the cylinder, can be fired one-handed and loaded while still able to fire. This makes it an interesting choice for capture the flag or playing in tight areas where you simply don’t have time to take a magazine out (it happens!)
Lastly, the Longshot. I would not recommend this out of the box, but if you make use of the wide array of upgrade kits, it is an awesome sniper rifle once modded.
OK, time for some more info on each of them.
NERF Rival Artemis XVII-3000
- High capacity blaster holds 30 high impact rounds
- Rotating barrel
- Easy load integrated magazine
- Slam fire action
- Includes blaster, 30 rounds, and instructions
OK so I thought I had better put a Rival blaster in here because the accuracy and power are just awesome! However, you may be wondering why the Artemis over the Apollo as that is magazine fed?
The reason is that this thing packs 30 rounds in the hopper. If you need to reload fast, you just open the top and throw a few rounds in. There is no pulling out magazines and having to carefully reload while your heart-rate is racing.
This is not perfect though as it has a similar priming style to the Rampage, I would prefer the priming to be done more like an Alpha Trooper as I find it much better.
But this blaster offers the typical Rival performance of 100fps muzzle velocity and much better grouping and accuracy, which makes it a good choice for a primary or even a bulky secondary. It’s really powerful and accurate with a decent rate of fire, this is my favorite springer in the Rival range.
Read my full review of the NERF Rival Artemis XVII-3000 here.
NERF Elite Alpha Trooper
- Comes with a dart clip on the underside of the action housing
- Slam Fire handle lets you release a steady steam of foam darts
- Offers rapid-fire blasting at targets up to 90-feet away
- Slam-fire action
The Elite Alpha Trooper is one of my go-to blasters. It is well-engineered, runs on standard magazines, light and comfortable to hold and very reliable. The priming handle is on the barrel, which I find easier to use than the Rampage’s handle.
If you do add a more powerful spring this can be slightly harder to prime but should be fine for anyone but fairly young kids.
I also prefer magazines to drums as I can carry these more easily. So while I can only get 18 rounds compared to the Rampage’s drum’s 25, I can carry many more magazines without restricting my movement.
Ditch the useless stock and 6 round magazines for some 18s and this is a classic blaster and one that you really should have in your collection. Perfect for the stealthy, fast-moving scout and with some modifications, snipers too.
Read my full review of the Elite XD Alpha Trooper Review here.
NERF N-Strike Elite Rampage
- High capacity 25 dart drum
- Slam fire action for rapid dart blasting
- Hand powered blasting up to 90 feet
- Includes 25 official Nerf Elite darts
The N-Strike Elite Rampage is a great blaster. It shares very similar internals to the EAT so it shares many of the same characteristics. It also comes with a really smooth 25 dart drum which is sideloaded. So why do I prefer the Alpha Trooper?
Well I personally find the priming handle-less good as my hand always feels like it is in the wrong position – I seem to have to lower it each time I prime, distracting my shooting.
Also, while I appreciate the extra few rounds in the Rampage’s drum, I have yet to find a way to easily carry them. This makes it less good for more mobile troops, although you can, of course, use standard magazines with the rampage.
Finally, there has been a lot of reports on Amazon of Rampages jamming up, often after only a few uses.
So while the Rampage has a lot to recommend it, I still find myself picking up my Alpha Trooper. However, if you find you prefer the ergonomics of the Rampage, it is still an excellent choice and the Sonic Ice color scheme looks awesome!
Overall, this is an excellent springer, that has pretty much all the attributes you need for a primary. Highly Recommended.
NERF Doomlands Lawbringer
- Lawbringer blaster has hammer-action blasting
- 12-dart rotating barrel
- Dart storage in the blaster’s stock
- Includes blaster, 12 darts and instructions
The Doomlands Lawbringer is a little bit of a leftfield choice – firstly, it is not Elite and secondly, no magazine…so what gives?
To the first point, the Doomlands range are essentially Elite spec, so you get the same level of performance. Now the lack of magazines – the cylinder holds 12 rounds, which is great for a cylinder, but it has another advantage too.
If you have a magazine, to reload you have to release it, take it out, feed the darts in, then push the mag back in before you can fire again.
With the Lawbringer you can shove darts straight in, while still having the ability to fire the darts you have in there. Along with this, the priming mechanism can be operated one-handed.
So you can be picking up darts or holding the flag in a game of capture the flag with one hand while still being able to protect yourself.
Finally, being cylinder fed, it is more reliable than any of the magazine-fed blasters as there is less to go wrong.
All round I think this is a great alternative choice as a spring-fired primary and great for those scrappy NERF wars where you have limited ammo or a tight playing environment.
An off the wall, but surprisingly effective primary when used in the right conditions.
Read my full review of the Lawbringer here.
Nerf Zombie Strike Longshot
- Awesome Longshot CS-12 blaster
- Quick Reload clip holds 12 darts
- Long-range targeting scope
- Includes blaster, scope, 12 darts, 12-dart clip and instructions
The longshot is one that I have included for what it can do, rather than what it does out of the box.
Out of the box, the priming mechanism is cumbersome and the ranges nothing to write home about. However, these blasters are awesome when modified.
The chamber is huge, allowing you to upgrade the power massively, making them great for sniping.
You can also change the priming mechanism so it is closer in style to the Alpha Trooper which makes it far easier to keep your eyes on the target.
So while this is not great, it can become awesome with the help of a mod kit or two, with the potential to be an amazing sniper. I just had to put it on the list.
Summary
I love a good springer, especially when being a sneaky little so and so! No, they do not have the fire rate of a rapid-fire NERF machine gun but they can fling a lot of foam when used with slam fire.
They are also ready to go as soon as you pick them up, no waiting for the flywheel to spin up.
So while their high-tech neighbors may be stealing all the limelight, these still definitely have their place in your NERF war armory.
Check out my reviews for other types of NERF guns available: