From the Nerf Bow N Arrow, to the Nerf Crossbow, to the Big Bad Bow, to the Nerf Crossfire, to this Crossbolt Review, I can tell you one thing.: Nerf sure loves its bows.

Nerf N-Strike Elite CrossBolt Blaster

Now as a precursor to this review, I’ve got to tell you one thing: I never really cared too much for Nerf bows and bow blasters. It just wasn’t my thing. The often very useless bow arms, the arrow/missile ammunition, the weird awkward shooting. I don’t know. It just wasn’t for me. Recently though? Nerf has been on a bow-roll. They release so many bows nowadays that people in the NIC are referring to Nerf’s parent company as “Hasbow.” But that’s fine with me. Some of these new bows are simply amazing in design and/or function. The Nerf Crossbolt blaster is no different.

Nerf Crossbolt. What’s in a Name?

The name of the Nerf Crossbolt may seem like any other random name Nerf came up with for one of its blasters. But what’s in a name? A lot, actually. Just take a closer look. The Nerf Crossbolt. It’s a mixture of “Crossbow” and “Bolt,” as in Bolt-Action. This name accurately describes the form factor and the internal functioning of this blaster perfectly. If you look at the Crossbolt, you can see the crossbow. That part’s easy; it looks just like a crossbow – on the front anyway. On the rear half of the blaster is where it gets interesting. The Nerf Crossbolt is a first of its kind in a few different areas. It is the first bullpup crossbow blaster. It is the first clip-fed crossbow. And it’s the first blaster with one barrel, but two jam doors. There is a jam door where the blaster picks the dart up from the clip and another where it drops down to the bowstring. This leads me right into the internal function of the Nerf Crossbolt.

How The Nerf Crossbolt Works.

Earlier I alluded to the fact that this blaster is similar in form to a crossbow, but it functions internally similarly to more traditional blasters. That is except for the fact that the Crossbolt is a string powered blaster. Unlike a lot of the other faux-bows to come out of the Nerf stable, the Crossbolt actually uses its bowstring to propel the darts. The Crossbolt features a top mounted pistol slide cocking mechanism. The slide is connected to the bow string. To fire the blaster, first you must insert the fully loaded clip into the magwell. The Nerf Crossbolt comes with a 12 dart clip. Then pull the slide, and thus the bowstring, all the way back. Then push it back all the way to the forward position again. As the slide moves back forward, it strips a dart from the clip and pushes it forward. The dart then drops down into the chamber, right in front of the location to where the bow strings have been pulled back.  You pull the trigger and the bowstring is released and the tension snaps the string back into its original position, which sends the dart shooting out.  Pretty cool, huh?

The Nerf Crossbolt Aesthetics.

The way this blaster looks is going to be the thing that gets it the most attention. It looks unlike anything we have ever seen from Nerf before. A clip-fed, bullpup, recurve crossbow. What? Exactly. And it is beautiful. All of that comes together to form a compact, tight little package. Bullpup means the clip and the firing action are behind the trigger and basically inside the buttstock. This allows for a smaller blaster while maintaining the same barrel length. This makes for much greater maneuverability. Starting at the back of the blaster, we find a suitable shoulder stock with the clip release button at the back of the stock, right at the bottom. The magwell is right there at the end of the stock, too. This is where you put your Nerf clips. Then you’ll find the thumbhole style pistol grip area. Up top is the gray pistol slide, the bowstring and the bow arms. Although the bowstring is fully integrated, these bow arms come detached when you buy the Nerf Crossbolt. You must click them into the sides of the blaster. At the end, we have the muzzle and a fairly large sight atop. The Nerf Crossbolt has three sling points and a single tactical rail mount, for underbarrel Nerf Gun Attachments.

Nerf Crossbolt Performance.

It’s true, the Nerf Crossbolt has a pretty unique way of firing. In my opinion, it looks absolutely gorgeous. But all of that is neither here nor there if it doesn’t shoot worth a darn. Luckily however, this is not the case. The Nerf Crossbolt is what we’ll refer to as a stringer blaster, as it’s powered by an elastic band, or string. One might worry about how a little string would affect performance and to this fact I assure you, there have been no hits to this blasters performance. The Nerf Crossbolt fires just as well, if not more consistently, as other blasters on the N-Strike Elite lineup. I saw myself getting ranges of 65-70 feet, every single time. This is right in line with other Elite level blasters, all from a little elastic cord. The firing rate is about on par with the Nerf Retaliator. Accuracy is slightly above average. All in all a very solid blaster indeed. And one that holds up to the good Elite name on all levels.

In Summation.:

The Nerf Crossbolt is a very good blaster. It’s such a unique, great looking piece of foam dart weaponry that I know people won’t be able to resist a purchase. Now should they resist? Not necessarily, no. The Nerf Crossbolt has the looks, and its performance lines up nicely with all of the other Elite class blasters. But nothing’s perfect, and the Nerf Crossbolt is not without its own flaws. The bow arms are a bit obtrusive, and can get in the way of your arm when you’re trying to prime the blaster. Priming by way of a top slide isn’t the most efficient either. We learned that with the Retaliator. A shotgun pump grip would have been better. The clip release button is on the back of the stock, right out in the open. The button is easily depressed when anything rubs up against it. This means you could easily release your clip and send it falling to the ground in the middle of a battle. Finally, the whole thumbhole stock/pistol grip portion should have been bigger and more wide open. Larger hands may have trouble maneuvering with this. But then again, the whole blaster itself could have been a little bigger.

 Featured MOD.

Nerf N-Strike Elite CrossBolt Blaster