Neil from the Canberra and Southern NSW dart tag crew happened to be very generous and give me one of these "Paintball Magnum Blasters" to test out. I've never heard of them before, but apparently they get a pretty mad thumbs up on various Nerf forums- as quite the insane performer, not just for a single shot blaster, or one that's not even meant for darts originally, but also from an unknown Chinese manufacturer to boot! So I'm game.. ( yes, this is old news. But we review as we get..and not everything we get has to be cutting edge "stolen from the nerf factory" gear. just no pleasing you haters!:P)
It seems like the blaster doesn't come with the paintballs; could have been something to do with them being disallowed or maybe you're supposed to buy them seperately, but that was ok because I was going to give it a whirl with darts anyway. In the packaging it comes with some darts,a tube (for the paintballs) a pair of pretty naff looking safety googles and some targets.
The barrel of the Magnum Blaster is just the right diameter to fit a foam dart, though some darts do better than others. I personally liked using the Air Zone flat head darts the best as they seemed to perform the best, but it's a trial and error thing that you'd have to try for yourself. The blaster itself is ok in build, but it's no Nerf blaster and does feel a little cheap and rickety. Just looking at the packaging suggests it's not the highest quality blaster around:)
I can't say I was a real fan of the way the Magnum blaster looked, but that being said it did have some retro "ray-gun" visual cues. It's pretty simple in design aesthetically.
You can see the hole where the paintball tube is supposed to sit, but you pretty much ignore it; it's of no use really.
The priming mechanism of the Magnum blaster is really quite odd-it's this weird lever on top of the blaster that you lift and pull back and forth. It's clumsy and not something I'd be thinking would be conducive to fast and furious play, but it works ok for test shots.
But.. here's where this Paintball Magnum blaster shines- performance. As a single shot blaster out of the box, it is ridiculous. It's got some serious kick without any mods, and if you get a good seal between your dart and the barrel, the darts easily go past that 50-60ft mark with no effort. It's incredible. A shot to the head kinda hurts too:P
I am not sure where they're available from, but for funsies and if you're curious- pick one up. They really are.. kinda cool:)
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Foam-Sports-Nerf-Gun-Photon-Storm-Semi-Auto-20-Darts-10-Stinger-Darts-FREE-/150738995589?pt=AU_Toys_Hobbies_Outdoor_Toys_Structures&hash=item2318be8985 - You can purchase photon storms here. My friend who runs foam sports australia also sells these magnum blasters for $24 each (He might out of ran out of stock)
ReplyDeleteIf you're from Brisbane. You can purchase this from sunnybank for $29 each at a store called MyToys. Hope that helps =).
- littlebro05
Yeah, these are basically pre-modded wipeouts :)
ReplyDeleteThe lever action is nice, and is probably the only way you'd be able to prime it. It has an insane spring inside, to make up for its microscopic plungertube and 1" draw. "We" love these things, and they are soemtimes better than nitefinders.
ReplyDeleteI had one a whiel ago and someone stole it at a party and I can say, its one hell of a blaster.
ReplyDeleteIf you just want a powerful singles shot blaster, the splat/magnum is the way to go
if you can still find one ^^
-skullface1818-
Pocket, your Magnum came through Informer on the OzNerf forums. Same place Littlebro linked.
ReplyDeleteThe mechanical advantage you get from the lever is probably necessary given the strength of the spring.
Hmmm. It seems you have your camera back, Pocket. Now... I believe you said you have a Lumitron now? ;D I wait anxiously for your review...
ReplyDeleteI love these blasters.
ReplyDeletehttp://blastermodsandmore.blogspot.com/2011/09/pistolsplat-modification.html
(old post, but gets the point across)
I've modded NF's up the wazoo and still get much better performance from my rebarreled PistolSplat.
blastermodsandmore.blogspot.com
hmm these seem to be knock off splats. Can anyone report if these are any more powerful than the pistol splats made by tech group global. I might have to pick one up...
ReplyDeleteI believe these are the same ones that are called PistolSplat in stores (Target in America). The Magnum had a different priming lever.
ReplyDeleteBut enough about that. Stock performance is great, the "paintballs" it shoots don't break at long ranges nor load well, so it's just asking for repurposing for Nerf.
I got shot in the eye with a streamline-loaded pistolsplat. It hurt for a few minutes.