Customer Reviews

Nerf Rapid Fire 20

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I bought three of these from Toys R Us as Christmas gifts for my kids. I decided to open one up one night to test out its performance and make sure I was getting what I thought I was getting.

The gun is fairly good sized, and smaller children (three to four years old) might find it a little unwieldy to pump and tote around, although weight isn't too prohibitive even for that age group. It takes 23 pumps to fully pump the gun up. There must be a release valve somewhere because you can hear it let the extra air out if you continue pumping after it's fully pumped up. This is probably a built-in safety device to keep dart velocity at a safe level.

There is a selector switch on the side that allows you to switch between fully automatic and semi-automatic. Actually, the semi-auto setting is sort of a slow automatic as, if you keep the trigger pulled, the gun will continue firing at a rate of about two shots per second. On the full-auto setting, the rate of fire is surprisingly fast for a toy--about seven or eight rounds per second. That means you can empty the gun of all 20 "micro darts" in about three seconds. It was enough to put a smile on this big kid's face. I quickly began scouting my house for targets and found a large-screen TV makes a great one as the darts have suction cups on the end and will stick to a smooth, flat surface such as a screen.

Darts are loaded one at a time into their individual launch tubes on the end. When firing, the end rotates in a circle the way a Gatling gun does. The gun produces a very audible noise each time it fires and releases pumped up air. It isn't excessively loud, though, and I actually found it a welcome sound effect that added to the fun of shooting. In fact, kids could play with this toy without any darts and still have some fun with just the sound it produces (which it does even when no darts are loaded).

Firing straight and level, the darts go about 15 feet before they run out of gas and hit the ground. If you angle them up a little, they'll go about 20 to 25 feet. The previous reviewer who claimed this has a range of 30 to 40 feet either has an exceptional gun or is just mistaken. Frankly, I think he's mistaken as the velocity required to launch a dart that far (especially if firing straight and level) might make safety an issue. As it is, I don't think the darts have enough velocity to do damage if they hit a kid in the eye at close range, but it wouldn't exactly feel good, either. The darts are made of flexible styrofoam and have soft rubber suction cups on the ends. I don't see the need for any kind of eye protection with this toy, but I'll still remind my kids not to aim for the face.

Build quality seems fairly sturdy as long as kids don't drop the gun a lot. If anything were to break, I think it would be the pump, but it should hold up pretty well with normal use.

I'd clasify this as an 'indoor' toy since kids will probably lose the small darts quickly if they shoot them outside. Even indoors, you'll probably be finding darts in cracks and crevices every time you vacuum. You can buy bags of 10 darts from Toys R Us, but they're $5 per bag.

Bottom line--I had a lot of fun just testing this thing out by myself. I'm confident my kids will get a kick out of shooting it out with Dad around the house on Christmas day and for some time to come.

The fastest dart gun Ive ever seen. easy to Aim goes really far and hits hard (not to mention it sounds cool, like a real machine gun). definitely worth the money.

Heres some tips for making the gun last longer.
1. never keep it loaded when not using! this streches out the bullets and lets pressure escape causing less range.
2. never over pump the gun or keep it pumped up for long periods of time. this could cause leaks in the air tank.
3. dont crush-bend the bullets. they will get worn out
4. store without weight on the gun to stop it from bieng crushed.

I'm 24 and an avid Nerf fan since I was a child and quite frankly this is one of the few Nerf guns I've been looking for my entire life: great capacity, excellent rate of fire, good reliability and a dirt-cheap price.

The gun holds 20 darts and has the choice of either firing them all off in one quick burst or with one-at-a-time automatic fire. The sheer shock and awe of the full burst was enough to make my friends instantly want a chance to try it and give me a strong urge to watch Rambo movies. The single-shot automatic mode is far more useful allowing you to actually aim, track your shots, and yes, even fire off only a single dart or two.

Now to the downsides. For one the darts have an unpleasant tendency to lose their suction cup. With the Nerf mini darts this makes them totally useless as there is not a firm layer of glue, but rather a small rod and a bit of glue holding the two parts together. Without the suction cup you simply have a tube that won't fire. This is not specific to this model though, all Nerf mini darts have this problem and pretty much always have. Replacements are cheap, but expect to lose at least a few darts to this.

The other problem IS specific to this model. This is a pumpable, compressed-air gun. As such it is possible to over-pump it which will break the gun if you routinely do this. Also the long pump rod can be a bit fragile if you insist on pumping it very hard and fast. For (most) adults this isn't a problem. Just be careful, count out around 20 pumps (enough for the full magazine) and treat the pump gently. Unfortunately many children are not quite so careful. Personally I've been using it for about 8 months without a problem.

Basically if your kids are the sort who will have all of their action figures in perfect condition with all of the accessories by the time they grow up this should be fine for them, if they're the sort who have a string of broken toys and missing parts then you might want to pass on this or wait until they get a bit older and learn how to take care of their things.

Adults? Be prepared to become the undisputed warlord of cube-ville... at least, until you run through your ammo supply.

Length:: 0:26 Mins

I timed this in the video window of Quicktime. I didn't speed it up at all. This shoots so fast you need to plan your target area or you'll lose darts! It is a blast to use every time. Don't shoot at your cat! (If you can help it. At least point away from the head!)

...it looks better in person than online. you have low hopes for this gun when you see it online. So, when I got it I was very suprised at the performance. If it seems too good to be true, well it's not. Lets talk about the gun. it shoots 20 darts rapid fire in about 2 seconds. -I didn't beleave it eather, but I'm telling from first hand experienace- the singal fire is a slower rapid fire and doesn't really mater. The darts go on avreage about 30-35 feet. The only problem with this gun is that it takes a long time to load and pump, and the pump and handal are kinda flimsy. It hasn't broken. this gun is the best gun out there. If you buy it, I think you'll see really how good it is...

I bought this gun lastnight at Toys r us for $26.99 so dont let this price fool you. It's rate of speed it shoots is really cool for a toy and makes wars a lot more fun. It also lets you do single shots. But the only downfall is you have to pump it up so you can fire all 20 rounds and to reload it takes awhile. But all in all for the price you cant go wrong. Also the way the gun looks makes me think that it will really be hard to mod but it shoots harder than most guns. You can also shoot any 3" dart.

A common theme among reviews for this toy is that it can be overpumped and then broken. The gun is designed for this NOT to happen, however based on the reviews, this appears to happen often. In fact, this happened to my son's Rapid Fire 20 just yesterday. I took the gun apart and made some interesting discoveries.

First, the compressed air is stored in a six inch long, cylindrical rubber bladder inside the big red tube. The diameter of the bladder is about 1.25 inches. The bladder has on the end of it a relief valve with a little nub on the end of it, sort of like the valve on your bike or car tire. It seems that as the bladder is pumped, it should elongate, and extend to the end of the red tube, where the nub will impact a plastic stop and actuate the relief valve. This mechanism should keep the pressure in the bladder from going beyond the bladder's yield point.

After examining my son's toy, it seems like the bladder broke due to a manufacturing defect that happened during the molding of the rubber bladder. Looking closely at the cross-section of the bladder where it burst, I can see one area where the rubber is deformed, mis-shapen and rough, whereas the rest of the bladder is smooth and solid.

Based on this, I can only assume that the bladder let go before the relief valve released the excess pressure. Or, possibly that the relief valve was stuck, but that mechanism appears sound to me.

What does this mean to you? Well, you might have a toy that has a good rubber bladder and good relief valve, and should provide years of enjoyment. If the bladder or relief are in any way malfunctioning, it won't last, and you can't tell in advance.

There are other things about this toy that make it interesting. Take my advice here: keep the toy clean and out of sandboxes and dirty/dusty areas. There is an exposed, oil-lubricated seal directly behind the 20-round magazine, as well as other oil lubricated mechancial actuators, and if they get dirty or dry, that won't help.

Regardless, this is a cool toy, and don't let this review turn you off. Its a mini-marvel of pneumatic-engineering and does fun things. Stuff happens, as they say. I am trying to get a replacement bladder from Hasbro so we'll see if that can fix things.

Firstly, I am impressed with this gun. It fires faster than the Wildfire or the Powerclip and is much more quieter. The Single Fire mode is extremely good because it saves your ammo. It doesn't fire only only one at a time it can also fire in a slower way. For instance, when you hold down the trigger, all the darts fly out just at a lot slower pace. This enables you to take acurate shots while not wasting your ammo. It's really fun. I think you you should buy this gun other than the Wildfire, or Powerclip. It gives you more varity when firing. Secondly, I know you are looking for one but can only find that "Air tech" junk. Just search online at sites other than Amazon. (Amazon is not bad. You have to realize that nerf doesn't make this gun anymore). Just three things to add. One, I rated this item five stars for fun because oviously, you know what I mean. Seconed, I rated this four stars for educational because it uses gattiling-gun technology. You can see this happen through the clear air toob. Third, I rated this item a five star for durable because it really is. You hear in other reviews that it isn't durable because the air tank leaks. That isn't true because most careless boys pump it up to where it blows up. If you keep it at twenty max, it will last a lifetime. Thank you for reading my review on the Rapid fire 20.

My name is Calvin, I'm 13yrs old and I'm going to tell you the honest truth about this toy. I ordered it on the internet and recieved it yesterday. I been playing with it since, and let me tell you, this is the best Nerf gun out there! The handle is not that flimsy like other people say. First of all it shouldn't be given to liitle kids, and second of all, you pump it slowly. You don't jerk the pump around and do it fast, of course it'l break then. So far my gun has been in top shape. I've played with a lot. It has two modes. The Rapidfire and Single Fire modes. The Rapidfire model fires all darts in about 3 to 4 seconds. ... The Single Fire mode makes the gun shoot slower. So you can pull the trigger and have enough time to let go before another bullet comes out. If you kept the trigger held back on the Single Fire mode, then the bullets will all shoot out in about 10 to 11 seconds. The Rapid Fire mode is good for tournamnets since there are a lot of people. But when it's just a back t back playoff, then the Single Fire mode is the mode to use becuase you can aim without a whole lot of bullet coming out. Anyway, I think it's the best gun Nerf has made so far. I recamend if you want to win every game, then order this gun today. Another thing you might want to consider is getting more ammo (darts). When you're out of ammo, it's hard to regain all 20 bullets. Eventually you'll find them, but you might loose one or two. I haven't lost any so far. I also own the Nerf Wildfire. You should get that if you're not looking for such an advanced gun. It only has a Rapifire mode which is a disadvantage. ... It also has 20 darts (different type). If you go out into a tournament or Nerf war with the Wildfire and Rapidfire 20, you won't even have to fire, people will just look and run. Here's a tip: you shold always carry a backup mini gun incase someone steels your guns or you run out of ammo in an awkward sittuation. Pull out your pistol (mini Nerf gun) and use it to scare off the enemies. Then quickly regain as many bullets as you can. war you should have either the Wildfire or the Rapidfire 20. ... Any, this gun is a must have.

This is definately, if used properly, an excellent buy. I myself was somewhat frightened by the many complaint reviews and yet I haven't had a problem with the pump or air valves yet. The rate of fire is amazing, and I have won many a battle due to it's sheer intimidation and power. At a straight angle, this gun can shoot about 20 feet at the most. Anybody who likes nerf guns dosen't truly without this gun.