Blee's DECREE
I have said the Nerf Rhino Fire is a big bad blaster, and it is. That’s why it might feel weird to hear me say that I think it could have actually been a little bigger. For what it looks like and what it offers, I feel it could have been a little larger. It’s basically the same size as the Nerf Vulcan. It will be a great larger than life size for Nerf fans on the lower end of the age spectrum, but for older Nerfers not so much. Also, it should have a higher rate of fire. Although, I’m not sure it could handle it, as it already jams every so often with those ammo drums. Also, it tends to get pretty expensive. Amazon usually has a good price for this blaster, but when they sell out, the Amazon Marketplace sellers take over and that’s almost never a good thing for prices. Most of these problems can and will be fixed by those creative minds in the modding community, no doubt. But you’ve got to decide if that’s something you’d be willing to do.
Table of Contents
The Big Bad Rhino
When I look at this thing, I think of two things.: One, I think of the Spider-Man villain of the same name. Two, I think of the Troika Heavy Machine Gun from Gears of War.
But really, the Nerf Rhino Fire is a direct successor to the Nerf Vulcan EBF-25.
The Nerf Vulcan was released way back in 2008, under the regular N-Strike line of blasters. It was an electric belt-fed blaster that came with a 25 dart ammunition belt. It had an attached ammo box on the side of the blaster that the ammo chain went into. The Nerf Rhino Fire builds on that great legacy. It seems they decided to go big with this one. Well to that I say, “go big or go home!” They didn’t disappoint. They doubled up on everything here. Double, oscillating barrels, double 25-dart drum clips, double hand grips, even double the range. It’s double or nothing with the Nerf Rhino Fire.
Nerf Rhino Fire
This thing looks great. It looks amazing. It is seemingly modelled after some kind of anti-aircraft gun. But what it really reminds me of is the Troika Heavy Machine Gun from the Gears of War series of video games. I’m a big gamer and GOW is one of my favorite series, so I couldn’t deny the similarities. I don’t think anyone could, though. Twin barrels, double ammo drums, even the same handle. They look so similar. I’ve loved the Nerf Rhino Fire even before ever using it for that reason. For the horde!
And there it is. The Rhino Fire on the left and the GOW Troika up above. I felt I had to point that out, lest you readers be confused by their striking similarities. Haha. But seriously, all the Rhino Fire needs is its own version of the Stampede shield and it will be spot on for the Troika. Am I right? Of course.
But for anyone who needs some more convincing to the Rhino’s beauty, let’s go over the body of the beast and break down all the little details. First, let’s start with those twin barrels. Those beautiful twin barrels. They move in and out(giggity), alternating as they shoot darts. Each barrel is fed from the respective ammo drum on either side of the blaster.
It takes a whopping six D batteries to power all of this. But once you pop in your batteries, and your ammo, you’re good to go. Grab on to the handles at the back of the blaster and prepare to lay waste to anything in your path. And seeing this thing in motion is all sorts of epic. It’s also quite big. Everything about this blaster is big, right down to the huge tactical rail going down the center. There are also two other tactical rails, one on top of both magwells.
Unfortunately, there is no tac rail underneath the Rhino. That would have been a good place for a handgrip of some kind. There are a couple of sling attachment points up top, though. This is definitely the biggest Nerf blaster out right now, overall. And why shouldn’t it be? It’s a turret. It’s meant to be set up on its tripod and fired like there’s no tomorrow, laying down a literal wall of foam cover fire. As a result of its size and its massive firepower, the Nerf Rhino Fire is quite the scary, intimidating blaster. The big bad Rhino, indeed.
Riding The Rhino
Insert the six D batteries in the battery tray underneath the blaster. Insert a mag in the magwell on each side. It can be any kind of mag; an 18-dart mag, 25-dart drum, 35-dart drum, anything. Grab onto the handles. There is a wide paddle type trigger in the center that you can press down to fire. Pressing it halfway revs up the flywheels. Push the paddle all the way down to commence firing foam goodness.
This can be done with only one hand, in case you were wondering. And yes, the tripod is detachable. That means you can pick this bad boy up, with one hand on the main handle and the other on that carry handle just behind the barrels. Throw a sling strap on it, and carry it around the battlefield like Jesse Ventura in Predator with his minigun. Do it.
Firing the Nerf Rhino Fire is just like you’d expect. Awesome. Hold down the firing paddle and this thing will shoot darts until it’s empty. That’s 50 darts fired down range. I just can’t get over how cool it is watching those barrels go back and forth as you shoot. This is supposed to be an Elite XD blaster, but ranges fell in line with the regular N-Strike Elite blasters. Just like with every other Elite XD blaster. I was able to get darts to sail just over 75 feet, but typically darts fell off around 60-70 feet. Not bad. The rate of fire is average and comparable to other flywheel blasters.
Featured MOD
This cosmetic modification, by SteamPunkLabratory, of the Nerf Rhino Fire takes me right back to Gears of War again. That coloring fits in with the theme of the guns in that game pretty well. I wish they painted or removed the hydraulic compression sleeves from the barrels, but it doesn’t look that bad. Click the pic for more pics and info over on Etsy.com.
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