uranium

I saw those a while back, but decided against those darts and went for the "Koosh" darts for the increased thickness of the dart and what I believe is a better tip design. There are several sellers that offer deals like the one you posted with the same fake elite dart tip design that use a thicker foam that works better for flywheel blasters and allows a better seal for spring and air powered blasters. If you do get some of these, or a package from another vendor, please post up a review so that we can have more information when looking for alternatives to expensive Nerf branded darts.

Looks like this one will be another one of those "Target Exclusives" for now as Amazon has no information on the Cross Bolt. That being said, looking at the actual production pictures has me thinking happy thoughts because it appears this has the potential to be a very compact and very well performing plunger operated blaster. I am going to go out on limb and hypothesize that the priming handle is connected to a rear pusher arm that slides the dart forward into the barrel while priming a rear facing plunger, much like the Centurion, just better. I will have to wait until next month, given that it is in stock then, to get my hands on one of these as I am trying to limit my new blaster purchases to one a month. If this blaster has a decent sized plunger tube, then it looks to be a solid option for some wild integrations. Thanks for the heads up RS Gunner.

The Cyclone Shock shoots incredibly well for a stock blaster. It does shoot quite a bit harder than a strong arm. I say harder because I have not yet had the chance to do a range test with it as the weather is a bit damp here.

As for my previous issues with reloading the blaster, I have refined the above to increase reload speed. It is possible to load a dart into the cylinder at the top "barrel" position. Using the top position allows me reload the blaster in two rotations vs 3 or 4. Also, since the cylinder is rotated at the end of the priming stroke, it is possible to have the blaster primed and still be able to rotate through to empty chambers for reloading without having to fire a dart.

Overall, I'm still really liking this new blaster, and I have to say it's the best mega blaster available.

I tried the older n-stike mags in my Stryfe before I took the locks out and it was a disaster. I would have to hit the mag between each shot to try to get it to feed and ended up just getting another blaster that would accept the n-strike mags. The problem comes from a small lock that exists at the top of the blaster and blocks the plunger from extending forward. This lock does not have any electronic switches to interface with and removal will not incapacitate the blaster. As for darts, it will run elite and streamline darts or any aftermarket darts that have the same style head, including the "koosh" darts. The Stryfe is a good blaster once the top mag lock is removed and I would have no problems using one as a primary or secondary.

Is it just a mega size strongarm?

For the most part yes, however there are some operational differences that I both like and dislike.

I dislike that the turret is fixed! This right here is a royal pain in the rear when it comes to reloading this blaster. The fastest way that I have found to reload is to insert two mega darts at a time going into the second most lower chambers that are located to the left and right of the center post and then rotate the cylinder two clicks (it does not rotate freely) and then continue loading. I see this being cumbersome to deal with during a war and would most likely revert to 1 at a time if I had to retreat.

I absolutely do approve of the firing mechanism for this blaster. The priming handle is what operates the turret, meaning that there will never be any of those annoying jam problems from the plunger firing before the turret turns as happens with the Maverick, or with the blaster jamming if a dart doesn't eject as with both the Strong Arm and the Maverick. This priming and turret rotating system should be the new standard for Nerf revolvers and mimics how the Hammershot operates.

I really don't want to cut this blaster up as I just got it and have been waiting to get my hands on one for a long while, but the day is coming that I am going to attempt to remedy the loading issue that is present with this blaster. For now though, a 6 shot mega revolver is going to be so much fun to mess around with, and I have to say that overall I am really impressed. Now for Nerf to just release the new mega firing Berzerker. As much as I wanted the cyclone shock, I have been more anxious to get an example of the Berzerker.