Blee's DECREE
The Nerf Hail-Fire is the flagship N-Strike Elite blaster. Or at least it was. It was the crown jewel of the Elite blaster lineup. It stood for everything the Elite blasters were meant to represent: New risky designs, large over the top ammo capacity, and increased firepower and range. It accomplished this mostly.
It is still the highest capacity Nerf blaster out there today. It still keeps up with the established 75 foot range of other Elite blasters. But its weird, bulky, awkward design just is not for me. It’s hard to reload on the fly, it’s not very easily maneuverable. It’s meant to be more of a heavy fire, suppressive fire type of thing. That was never my style, though.
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The Nerf Hail-Fire
Welcome to the Nerf Hail-Fire review. I’ll be your host for the evening.
They say better late than never, but never late is better.
The Nerf Hail-Fire was once the flagship Elite blaster. As one of the first blasters to release on the N-Strike Elite line, it exemplified everything the Elite blasters were supposed to stand for. Namely, a lot more storage capacity and a lot more firepower.
The Nerf Hail-Fire definitely capitalizes on both of those aspects. It boasts a maximum storage capacity of 144 darts. It operates on 4 AA batteries and utilizes a flywheel mechanism. This means the Nerf Hail-Fire is semi-automatic, allowing for a dart to be shot every single time the trigger is pulled. No priming necessary.
The Hail-Fire Enterprise
Someone said the Nerf Hail-Fire’s round body makes it look like the Star Trek Enterprise starship. And now I can’t get that thought out of my head. It does look like a spaceship. And I’ve got to say, I am not a fan of the design of the Nerf Hail-Fire. It is too bulky and wide and uncomfortable to hold and to wield. I honestly never had any interest in this blaster, really. But so many others seem to be infatuated…
It is colored in the basic N-Strike Elite true blues colors. It has an excellent translucent jam door. The main handle of this blaster looks like a shotgun pistol grip. It features the firing trigger and below that, there is the smaller acceleration trigger. There is a handle up top to hold the blaster while you fire. It reminds me of the KAC ChainSAW LMG from Call of Duty Ghosts. So at least I can pretend I’m having some fun when I use the Nerf Hail-Fire.
If you turn the Nerf Hail-Fire upside down, you’ll see the innards of the giant mag-well. You can insert up to 8 regular stick mags in this thing. The Hail-Fire can also hold 4 drum mags, with 18, 25, or 35 darts in each one. But imagine how heavy that would be…
There are a few tactical rail mounts (one up top and one underneath the muzzle), but that’s all. The Nerf Hail-Fire can’t be used with shoulder stocks or extended barrels. There are no attachment points for those items. Not very tacti-cool. Oh well. You wouldn’t really need a stock on this anyway, this blaster is meant to be fired from the hip. Attach a sling to those sling straps and throw it over your shoulder and you’re done. You’re good to go!
All Hail The Hail-Fire
Not. This blaster insults us right off the bat. When you open the box of the advertised “highest capacity ever” Nerf blaster, you may be left wondering if something is missing. The Nerf Hail-Fire can hold up to 144 darts, right? So tell me why the blaster only comes with four 6-round mags and 24 darts. What!? Haha, but seriously. Nerf is pretty much forcing you to buy the Nerf Hail-Fire Upgrade Kit. Those tricky tricksters.
Anyways. To fire this blaster, first we must load it up with batteries. The battery compartment is at the rear of the blaster and is behind a set of screws. Insert 4 AA batteries and then put back in the screws. Next, we must load it up with darts. Insert the 4 measly mags and some of your previously purchased mags if you have any. If you don’t, that’s fine, you don’t need to fill the Hail-Fire all the way up to use it.
Next, just hold down the acceleration trigger and then press the main trigger. When your mag is empty, you’ll push the front carry handle forward and backwards again to advance the next magazine. Not bad. The Nerf Hail-Fire hits close-ish to the advertised 75 foot ranges with angled shots, it still manages a respectable 40+ feet flat, though.
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