Nerf Dart Tag Snapfire 8 Review (4)

Prepare for trouble. Make it double.

Have you even imagined firing off any of your blasters without priming it? The Snapfire 8 has got you covered. But can these be effective enough to compete with with standard blasters? Find out in this review!
Ok so the Snapfire is Nerf's first true semi automatic pistol without the need of air power. This is it's selling point since it's a FIRST and honestly they look pretty badass especially when you think about dual wielding them. I'm going to say right off the bat these things are overpriced at $20 USD yet I managed to get two for $34 bucks thanks to a clearance sale at Toys R Us.

Handle detail with the power gauge visible. 

First of all, when you first pick this up, it is massively comfortable thanks to it's large grip. But you will notice that the trigger is actually quite massive and divided into 4 layers. Due to the fact this is a revolver and it's styling is a little bulkier, it won't be easy to holster. On the left side of the grip you will see a power gauge judging speed to power which can be tuned by turning the knob on the bottom. At the highest speed setting you will get an easier trigger pull with a sacrifice in range. At it's highest power setting however, you will get better range with a harder trigger pull.

The blaster's performance at maximum speed is indeed an easier trigger pull but ranges are lacking probably hitting around 25 to 30 feet with a lot of inconsistency meaning some darts will soar out off the barrel but some will just fall out but I think it depends on how you pull the trigger. At maximum power this blaster gets roughly 35 to 40 feet without too much inconsistency since the air is being forced out faster.

I still have no idea how the fuck this plays out exactly.

I didn't open mine up but the blasters internals are divided up into three shells. The yellow cosmetic shell, the black shell, and then the black or white mainframe which actually holds all the guts in itself. Unlike any other blaster I've seen this uses an extension spring, only others I know of being the Ultimator and the Maximizer. Upon pulling the trigger, it moves the plunger back using the extension spring and releases it when the triggers hits the end of it's draw. The knob on the bottom just retensions the spring. It uses a direct plunger system which I call a "Fat" plunger system to accommodate standard power in a small shell. It uses an AR system like the Strongarm and it gets a great turret to plunger seal thanks to the forward movement of the tube. I don't recommend changing the extension spring to anything stronger since it could screw up the trigger pull and make it really stiff on speed and damn near impossible to pull on power.

Size compared to a Swarmfire.

Overall I really like this blaster. The semi auto function is very unique and it very comfortable with a great ammo capacity. Oh and not to mention dual wielding them is just fun as hell. I do feel that these blasters are underpowered for being part of Nerf's recent lineup boasting high ranges and the trigger is a little hard to pull at times but that's the mechanisms fault and there's really isn't any other effective way of a spring powered semi auto mechanism. This is a great blaster for close quarter combat, especially indoors and I recommend it. I give the Snapfire 8 a 4 because it's a great innovation with some great results but is a little bit of pain in the ass to use at times.

The Verdict

Class- Semi Automatic Revolver

Range- Average by today's standards. 25 to 30 or 35 to 40

Size- About the same size as a Tek 6 

Reliability- I'm a little concerned about the trigger but it can't jam.

RoF- Depends on how fast you can pull the trigger/

Ammo- 8 Tagger Darts

Modding- Little potential but AR's can be cut out and be converted to Stefans.

Is it better than?

Speedswarm- Depends, the Speedswarm is what I classify a machine pistol and unlike the Snapfire, it's fully automatic but a skilled Snapffire user can outgun a Speedswarm in terms or rate of fire, but this has better range and slightly better ammo capacity. This one is also larger and takes batteries. Both can be dual wielded.

Mad Hornet- Yes, this is Nerf's first semi auto blaster and it has definite cool factor to it even today. This is air powered, and unlike newer systems which use individual air tanks per barrel, this used one large tank that would release a burst of air into each rotating barrel, this resulted in weak 25 foot ranges. A good collector buy, and like I said, it just looks really cool.

Strongarm- No, the Strongarm for one is 5 bucks less than the Snapfire, and boasts far better ranges going up to 60+ feet. The Strongarm can also outgun a Snapfire thanks to the slamfire system in the blaster. Although the Snapfire takes the cake in ammo capacity.