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Thursday, July 8, 2010

Review: Nerf N-Strike Recon CS-6

Nerf N-Strike Recon CS-6. Ultimate poser rifle
The Nerf N-Strike Recon CS-6 would have to be one of the more infamous guns of the N-Strike range. Both loved and hated at the same time, it was considered to be awesome in concept but pretty poor in performance.

Personally, I was quite looking forward to the Recon CS-6: it was the first customisable blaster that came with a magazine style clip system for bullets, introducing the new Streamline foam dart. The other big selling point was the "build your own blaster" sales pitch- coming with a detachable barrel, stock, 'tactical' light and aiming sight. Whooooo hoooo I thought.. sounded pretty cool...

I admit I've grown to love it a LOT more than when I first bought it a few years ago. A few years ago, it ended up just being shoved away in the back of the cupboard in the "disappointed" box of toys. And here's the reason why...

At the time I didn't know a whole lot about the internals of these things, and I guess I assumed given the fact it looked like a long range rifle/blaster thingy, I assumed it would perform accordingly. I mean, it's got enough Tactical Rails to attach multiple pieces onto it; at the time it was the biggest gun available.. it should perform like the thunder, yes?

Alas.. this was not the case.

All of the attachments that come with the Recon serve no real purpose other than making the gun look cool. They actually hinder the performance (which already isn't that great); the Recon shoots further WITHOUT the barrel attachment. Against cheaper, smaller guns like the Maverick or the Nitefinder, the Recon just can't match their power or accuracy.

Still..that's not to say the gun is still.. pretty cool to look at. It serves nicely as a prop; feels good in the hand, attaching and detaching the parts is actually kinda fun and the fact other attachments in the N-Strike range can fit it means there's quite a lot of playability to the Recon if.. the reason why you bought it was more for roleplay which.... deep down admit it, lots of us do:)

In a small environment, such as in my apartment (which is a loft so it does ok shooting up and down the stairs) it's still a decent gun. From about 5-10 metres away you can still get a pretty accurate shot at the person sitting on your couch watching TV (amen for understanding partners!).

Modders HATE this gun because it was one of the first of many Nerf guns that had the "reverse plunger" which, for those not informed, merely means "crap to mod".

But.. the cool factor in it's appearance and playability makes it a real favourite with the casual nerfer- which is pretty much any guy who watches action movies and doesn't really care about the internals. And given they've mostly used it in my apartment, can't tell the performance isn't that hot. Because if they really wanted accuracy, they'd shoot a real gun. Which some of them do:)

Usability: 7/10
Out of the box performance: 6/10
Cool factor: 8/10
Price point: 7/10

19 comments:

  1. I bought mine last year and it is AWESOME! It's my favorite of my Nerf collection. (that is until I get my AT) :)

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  2. This gun in my opinion is the best and most reliable CS gun. It rarely jams and noone can say customising is boring

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  3. i use it as a side arm and stampede as primery

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  4. Luas u r a fool

    its probaly the worst cs nerf gun

    the best are alpha trooper,deploy,longshot,longstrike and the stampede.

    the firefly is also a great blaster but is not clip system which is the topic

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    1. I use it as an occasional secondary.

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  5. its the best, worst and only nerf gun ive got (i got it at christmas 2010). but im thinking of getting a spectre too

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  6. not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but on the bottom of the handle of the recon is a hole which is...PERFECT size for putting exactly 1 streamline dart into

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  7. Yeah, I also noticed that the alpha trooper, raider, and deploy have the dart hole, too. It's not really unique to the recon...

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  8. From the past reviews I've read, reliability depends on how skilled the user is. If you want to go all rapid fire-like, then the Recon isn't for you. Since I am not a fan of rapid fire blasters, the Recon is perfect for me. Appearently, the faster you cock the blaster, the more likely it is to jam. I hear the range isn't the best, either. But, it's perfect for me, since I mainly do Nerf wars inside of my house. I'm tempted to screw the plunger safety tube off and see if it makes any difference in performance. Sure, the Recon isn't anything like a Longshot, but it's good enough for me. And hey, at least it's better than a Deploy! Hahaha. ~Amiante, over and out.

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    1. are you dumb the deploy is the same f@#king gun
      and i have two deploys but the clear one wont take elite darts :3 and a recon no damn difference

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  9. this has been the hardest gun for me to try and mod so far ('ve only done mavs, nitefinders, and sharp shots). I just ordered a stage 1 kit from Orange mod works. If it improves even just ten feet more of range, I will be stoked. otherwise, I'm just gonna waste my hard earned money on stage 2 n go all out. I love the look of this gun, the accessories alone would cost you $20 separately purchased online, but it's stock ranges are awful and just putting it back together the first time after taking it apart was quite frustrating...

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  10. I agree with anon 2 before me, my brother got a deploy for his birthday and it lasted about 1 day and now its only good for chewing darts:P Also i got my recon in 2010, and this year two of my friends got a recon each, it may be that my recon is really worn out(i still love it as a secondary to my stampede though)but my friends' recons shoot significantly further than mine, does anyone have any ideas why?
    whayw5

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  11. i got longshot is it better

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  12. Got the sight, laser and stock and attached them on my Barricade :P

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    1. I had one that didn't work and attached the barrel attachment, laser, peep sight, and stock to my stryfe and now it's bigger than my longshot ;) Hey, I got it in a garage sale from a 4 year old who knows what he did with it :P

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  13. What do you mean the attachments are useless??? The Laser scope may not work at all during the day but at night, when I have fights, with none of the lights on, its works very good.

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