Alright, if you're a regular reader of this blog, you're probably thinking, "Jeez man! 2 weeks and no new posts?! what are you doing?!". I've been concentrating on my riding a little more, and I haven't had much to post about really. I have posted a couple of bits on my photography blog,
Rolley Photography if you're bored and want to have a quick read and look at some of my work outside of Nerfing.
But, I've decided to try out an ongoing article that I'm going to call "Loadout" which will look at some of the options for gearing yourself up for foam warfare. This first one is aimed at people deciding what sort of pistol they should use in a foam war, and I've included 6 Nerf pistols which I think are well worthy of mentioning. I will add more in the future, there's plenty more awesome pistols out there. Whether you're looking for a secondary blaster to back you up, or you're wanting to chose which pistol blasters would work well dual wield style, this should be helpful to you. So let's start!
First of all, let's go with the single shots. Shown above are the Nitefinder (top), Scout (bottom), and Proton (right). All of these are really nice blasters, but each one has a strong point that the others don't match. The good old Nitefinder is extremely popular among Nerfers for it's modding potential and comfortable layout. Once modded, it's not unusual to be hitting ranges of 70 feet+. Couple that with the ability to store pair of darts on the blaster and you have a pistol capable of taking on anyone. Might not be easy, but someone dual wielding Nitefinders can take down anyone within their range, and get away in a hurry. It's problem is that it's power tends to send stock darts in all sorts of directions, so it might only be a good option to someone with aftermarket darts. At the opposite end of the scale, however, is the Scout. It's small size allows it to be holstered easily, and it still has storage for 2 darts. I really like this blaster, but range is definitely limited due to it's reverse plunger setup. So, this is really only the choice for people who want a secondary but don't want to add too much bulk to their setup. You're definitely not taking on the entire field with a scout, but it might be enough to cover you from someone up close while you reload something like a Vulcan. Lastly in the group of singles, I've included the Vortex Proton. Range and accuracy on this thing out of the box is great, but it's size and lack of available ammo to be picked up on the field at the moment isn't great. Maybe the ammo thing will change as Nerfers start using Vortex gear more seriously, but the wide nature of disc blasters is something that can't be changed. This is the sidearm option for Vortex blaster wars or for people that want to be a bit different but still want range and accuracy.
Next, magazines and rotating barrels. Yeah, Nerf calls them clips, but in future this article won't be all just Nerf, so I'm rolling with mags this time around, and it's technically correct anyway. Above are the stock-less and barrel-less Recon (top), stock-less and barrel-less Spectre (bottom), and Maverick (right). These are the blasters for those wanting capacity over the ability for dual wielding. It's still possible to dual wield all of these but due to their size it'd make more sense to just use one larger blaster. Starting with the stripped down Recon, if you were needing a blaster for a pistol round at a foam war but didn't want to bring 2 separate blasters, you could always take a Recon and take it down for the pistol round. you'd have the option of faster reloads and higher capacity but it's a bit bulky to be holstered for use as a secondary, unless you attach a strap. Mod kits available for these make it a pretty decent blaster in terms of range, but you can only use streamline style darts. Moving on to the Spectre. This is much the same usage as the Recon, but this time you'd be trading power for stealth. It is a fairly quiet blaster so you could use this to your advantage. It is a bit skinnier than the Recon so it's possible that it could be holstered. unfortunately this is at the expense of faster reloads, instead of just dropping the mag it must be loaded manually, but you've got 5 shots that you can follow up faster than with a single shot pistol. And finally, you've got the Maverick. 6 shot manually loaded rotating barrel gives it 1 more shot than the Spectre, and though it is shorter it is still a bit fatter. I have actually seen someone dual wield Mavericks with a degree success, and many people recommend the Maverick as a first blaster so it's safe to say it's not a bad choice for those just getting in to Nerf.
There are a ton more pistols out there for all kinds of uses, but hopefully this is an alright starting point for anyone deciding on what pistol they might go out and buy for their next foam war. Personally, I either go with the Scout because it's easy to carry around as a secondary with my main blaster or if I want more range I'll use a Nitefinder and hang it from a strap. I will continue this article on an irregular basis, feel free to add comments, suggestions, or your own input!
In my opinion, companies manufacturing aftermarket dart blaster parts are important for developing this little sport in to something bigger and more awesome. Without them, the only real driving force behind developing anything is Nerf themselves, and being realistic, their primary goal is to make more money. Third party companies run by Nerfers FOR Nerfers have a slightly different view, their best interests are the interests of Nerfers so more powerful blasters, cool aftermarket gear and making this stuff accessible to everyone is the primary goal.
