For all things foamy from Blaster Reviews to NERF Wars
For many it is the machine guns of the NERF world that rock their world!! These fully automatic, battery-powered, flywheel, foam-flingers are the ultimate NERF blasters.
While relatively new to the NERF line they have quickly progressed from a few rounds per second to the newest members of the auto club, the Hyperfire, and the Rival Khaos and Nemesis, which can hit 5 rounds per second.
Unsuprisingly they all have healthy ammo supplies, with anything from 12 to 100 rounds before they need a refill...although, at full tilt, that is still only a few seconds!
Apart from eating through your ammo at an alarming rate, they are also heavier than their spring powered brethren, due to the batteries and flywheel mechanisms, and also make some noise.
Yes, you can wind down the flywheels, but this means they have to spin up again before you get full power. This gives you the option of either firing off a very weak shot or waiting until it has spun up...neither are ideal.
This can be a downside if you want to be stealthy, but if you are buying a full auto blaster, there is no way you are going to be a wallflower. If you are wielding one of these, you are going down in a foam-filled blaze of glory and you are taking as many of them with you as you can!!
The other downside is that these blasters are expensive! All will need a lot of ammo to keep up as some chuck out darts at such a rate they empty full magazines in seconds.
The expense does not stop with ammo. Like semi-auto blasters, full-auto blasters are battery powered, but to keep up their impressive rate of fire they typically require "C" or "D" class batteries and quite a few of them to boot.
Many people mod them to take rechargeable (and more powerful) batteries but some, like the Rival Range, now offer a NERF approved rechargeable pack. These are lighter and, in the long run, cheaper than alkaline batteries.
So, which is the best NERF machine gun for inflicting foam-filled carnage on your unsuspecting foes? Read on to see how we rate them
The Rival range is aimed at older children (14+) and fire faster and harder than the NERF Elite blasters. They are also a lot more accurate.
This doesn't mean they hurt but I honestly find them a lot more fun....and when it comes to fun, the Nemesis is just awesome!
First up it fires at around 5 rounds per second. For most blasters, firing at this rate would see them empty in the blink of an eye. The Nemesis, however, carries 100 high-impact Rival rounds in its hopper...
Even more amazingly, even with the same internals and more ammo, it weighs less than its main Rival rival, the Khaos.
I also find the ergonomics better, when I pull it up to my shoulder it feels well balanced and comfortable.
On this front, Hasbro have finally realized people want to use this blaster out in the wild, so have provided sling mounts, something criminally missing on the Khaos. This means you can be hands-free when needed.
So power, precision and a ton of ammo and practicality, what are the downsides?
Well the first is the cost, it costs one hell of a lot more than the Khaos when in reality there is more engineering to the Khaos than the Nemesis.
It gets worse when you realize that as well as the purchase price, you will need the rechargeable battery pack. Without this, you are going to go through a ton of D batteries, which are expensive, heavy and do not give the Nemesis as much performance.
Having said all that though, this blaster is the ultimate NERF machine gun by a mile - I have never had so much fun with a NERF gun out of the box...it is the winner by a mile!
You can read my full review of the Rival Nemesis here or just go buy one from Amazon here!
The NERF Mega range uses larger versions of the standard N-Strike Elite darts. Yes, that does mean that I have put two non-standard dart firing blasters as my two favorite NERF machine guns, but they really are the best!
The Mastodon is big and heavy and you have to wield it like you are laying down suppressing fire...yes it looks like something you would expect to be wielded by a space marine in Aliens!
Also when it fires, the big darts make a really satisfying sound as they thud off their target. It also has a capacity of 36 rounds, fed through a revolving drum as the Mega darts don't really seem to come in large magazines and when you see the size of the drum for 36 darts, you will understand why.
So the downside - it is ludicrously heavy and takes D batteries with no option of a NERF recharge pack (unlike the Nemesis and Khaos). Also, the MEGA rounds are not really any more accurate than their Elite counterparts and the range is not quite as good.
So why have I picked this over a blaster like the Khaos or Hyperfire? Well, this is just more fun!
Unfortunately NERF seem to be phasing this blaster out, but they are still currently available on Amazon.
The RapidFire is the oldest design in this list. It is slowest firing, least powerful and the least accurate. So why have I put this as my favorite N-Strike Elite machine gun?
Well this has to do with the fact that I find the Hyperfire very uncomfortable and seems to jam too much.
The RapidStrike, on the other hand, chugs away firing at around 3 rounds per second (which also means you don't see half your ammo go with a short squeeze of the trigger!)
The more traditional styling also means that it fits me better, so I can hold it without trapping my thumb as I do with the HyperFIre.
Finally, if you do want more power or rate of fire, there are a ton of upgrade kits.
Overall a really well thought out blaster and while old, it is still offers a lot.
You can read my full review of the NERF RapidStrike here or head over to Amazon
I do love the NERF Rival range and I am being harsh by putting the Khaos at number 4. The problem is not the Khaos itself, although there are flaws with it, rather that it is so completely in the shadow of the Nemesis.
Before the Nemesis this was my number one pick. Now it falls to 4 as the others offer something it cannot, while it offers nothing the Nemesis doesn't do.
It still boasts the amazing Rival firepower and an impressive 40 round capacity for its age. But the magazines are so big and bulky that they are a pain to carry and far too fiddly to load.
The biggest thing in its favor is the price, which has plummeted since the Nemesis showed up, meaning that after buying a Khaos you still have enough spare cash for a rechargeable battery pack and some ammo compared to the price of a Nemesis.....I would still buy a Nemesis though!
If you would like to read my full review of the Khaos, you can find it here or head over to Amazon to buy one
When this came out I was really excited. It looks cool and offers more power, accuracy, and rate of fire than my long time favorite, the RapidFire.
However I have not been able to get along with it. The grip is way too small for adult hands (I know some young teenagers who struggle!) and the stock is not long enough to shoulder.
Also the firing mechanism, while similar to the conveyor belt systems used in the Nemesis and Khaos, does not seem to suit the Elite darts very well. I found that it jammed far too often, especially when it ran low on charge or I was using anything less than pristine darts.
All these things together mean that I am not a fan. However, if you find the grip comfortable and can deal with the occasional jam, it is quieter, faster and more accurate than a RapidStrike, so go for it!
You can find my full review of the Hyperfire here or head over to Amazon to buy one here.
We have been through our picks of the best, here are the links out to the full reviews of all the NERF machine guns we have so far reviewed.
I hope you have as much fun with them as I did splurging darts at all manner of targets to create them!
The NERF Rival Nemesis MXVII-10K has replaced the Khaos as the big hitter in the Rival range, and how. Full auto with Rival power and accuracy and a monstrous capacity of 100 rounds through its gravity fed hopper.
On paper it looks like the ultimate NERF gun, but how good is it in reality? Find out here >>
The Nerf N-Strike Elite Hyperfire is a full-auto flywheel blaster with some very cool, sci-fi styling while boasting an impressive rate of fire and promising better accuracy.
But does this technical wizardry make it a good replacement for the RapidStrike? Find out in our review
The Rival Khaos MXVI-4000 is currently the big hitter in the Rival range, and everything about it screams power – full auto with Rival power and accuracy and a magazine capacity of 40 rounds.
However, weighing in at almost 6 lbs, with those big and unwieldy magazines, just how practical is it in a NERF war?
Released in the fall of 2013, the RapidStrike has been around for a while now, but it is still massively popular. However, newer models like the Hyperfire have eclipsed the RapidStrike’s rate of fire and accuracy.
So is the RapidStrike still the draw it once was?
