The New X-Shot Longshot is the Best X-Shot Blaster Ever Created
Even X-Shot Went PRO?!

Apparently there’s a new Pro blaster on the scene and it’s not from Dart Zone or Worker… or Dart Zone. Hard to believe, I know, but this one has been brought to us by X-Shot. Yes, like Zuru X-Shot. So even Zuru is making X-Shot Pro blasters now?! Inconceivable! Meet the X-Shot Longshot!

Alright, guys! This is the Zuru X-Shot Pro Series Skins Pro Series Zuru X-Shot Skins Zuru X-Shot Skins Pro Series Longshot Foam Blaster… from Zuru. Yeahhh, it has a long confusing name, doesn’t it? It’s a Pro Series blaster and it has a sick ass paintjob tattooed on it, so you know it’s a part of the Skins series, too. We’ve got that and we’re gonna go over all the features, so from now on… let’s just agree to call it the X-Shot Longshot. Okay?

The X-Shot Longshot Pro Series Skins Blaster

The X-Shot Longshot is a brand new Pro level competition ready foam dart blaster from Zuru and Wow! They’ve never made a blaster like this before! This is truly (and easily) the best X-Shot blaster ever created, but that’s not saying a whole lot, to be honest. X-Shot blasters have typically been cheaply made, cheaply sold, “budget blasters” that were apparently aimed mainly at children, like Buzz Bee. Beyond a few cool or quirky blasters they came out with, I was never much of a fan of X-Shot.

But! (And that’s a big butt) this is different. The X-Shot Longshot is a whole new beast and I think it surprised everyone! The Longshot is a sweet ass, short-dart, springer bullpup! Yes, it’s yet another high performance pump-action springer, but the fact that it’s a bullpup? That just gives it the added zest it needs to really stand out in a crowd. I mean besides that beautiful ass skin that it’s in! Damn that skin looks good! It looks like a race car or a spaceship or something. I don’t know if it’s going to tag out Nerfers or launch them straight into space! It also looks just like the Cronen Squall from Call of Duty.

Yeah, tell me the Cronen Squall doesn’t look exactly like the Zuru X-Shot Longshot. Tell me the X-Shot Longshot don’t look like like this! If you say no, you’re lying! Every time I do a review of a Nerf blaster and it reminds me even remotely of a gun from Call of Duty, I’m going to reference it and I’m going to throw in a Call of Duty gun pic, so I hope you like random video game references in your Nerf reviews!

What’s in the Box?

The box of the X-Shot Longshot is an open faced boxed where you can see and touch the blaster before you open it up. And with a blaster in the SKINS line, of course they want you to see the paint job up close and personal.

So in the box you’ll find this sexy ass blaster, duh! But you’ll also find a short dart mag and short dart mag adapter, as well as some Pro half-length darts and normie “double length” darts. Why do they keep including this long dart crap and, wait a minute, why the does it come with the standard mag already in it? That’s blasphemy! lol

But I know why they do it. Short darts are only for the hardcore Nerfers who go to organized Nerf Wars every month or so. So we’re a small niche. That’s why you casual Nerfers still love “double length” or standard size foam darts so much. It’s all you know. But you really need to let It go, guys. It’s time to move on! Half-length darts are so much better! They are much much more accurate. /Rant

X-Shot Longshot Blaster Overview

Anyway, the X-Shot Longshot has a long ass picatinny rail up top, covering the majority of the blaster and it comes with these two ABS sights attached on the rail. But wait a minute, what the… These things are super loose! Not functional at all. They’re so loose they’re going to slide around and possibly even fall off the blaster during your next Nerf War. That’s no bueno.

The X-Shot Longshot also comes with a removable SCAR barrel and a connected muzzle device. That’s two separate pieces right there. The muzzle device is a muzzle break or flash hider or something like that, whatever they want to call it. I don’t know, all I know is I’ve heard the SCAR Barrel could be a little tighter as its not really giving the desired results. A SCAR barrel muzzle device is supposed to noticeably improve the accuracy of a blaster and it doesn’t appear to be doing a great job of that in this case.

But the X-Shot Longshot Blaster works just fine without the extended barrel or the muzzle device, so it’s really up to you if you want to use them or not.

The slightly angled pump grip is similar to the Nexus Pro pump grip, so it’s nice and comfy. Maybe even a little more comfortable than the Nexus, but ah… there’s the Zuru I know — Just like with the Nexus Pro, there is some noticeable wobble to the pump grip. This shouldn’t still be happening in Pro blasters these days, they’ve had time to learn from the Nexus Pro’s mistakes.

The main pistol grip is steady, though. Even though I’m still spoiled by grips with rubber sleeves on them, but you can buy those separately if you really want them. As it is now, the grip is good and comfortable. I like it just fine. The trigger is comfortable and the trigger pull is pretty smooth. It feels very snappy and responsive.

Up above the trigger assembly, you’ll find the industry standard safety lock — that no one ever uses. But wow do I love this next feature. There’s another switch right behind the safety lock and it’s actually a short-dart-only mag release. That’s actually really, really cool! This is something we’ve actually never seen before in a Pro Series blaster.

Above the short-dart mag release, you see the X-Shot Longshot’s long ass plunger tube. I honestly think this is around the same size as on the original Nerf Longshot and that’s pretty damn good. I also love that it’s popping out the side of the blaster like it’s so big they can’t contain it. And it’s been painted clear orange so you can see right through it.

Immediately behind the plunger tube is the jam door, in case something goes wrong with your blaster. It folds down to open up and give you access to the breech. But it can also fall off fairly easily, so be careful. Under that is the magazine well. The mag adapter here works with the included Xshot short mags and short mags from every short dart manufacturer ever. Just like with the Trion, the X-Shot Longshot works with everything, which is amazing!

The only thing left of note is the stock. The X-Shot Longshot already has a long ass butt, but, oh no, it gets longer still. Just push in the orange button on the bottom of the stock and tug on that blaster booty and it extends another few inches. The stock was already serviceable as it was, but the fact it can extend even more is a nice touch. Definitely no baby stocks here.

How To Operate the X-Shot Longshot

To fire the X-Shot Longshot, first load up the mag (preferably the half length mag, with half length darts), slam the mag in, cock it back and let it pop! It also has a rapid fire mode that Nerf calls Slam-Fire where you hold down the trigger and cycle the pump grip back and forth to release a volley of foam darts at your opponents. Always a cool feature to have. Let’s shoot this beautiful blaster!

Let’s Shoot This Thing

Pro Tip: Always wear “sound protection” when you’re on the range. Lol.

Okay, guys, so no jams or malfunctions were experienced, which is always good. The X-Shot Longshot performed flawlessly and I loved firing it down range. It has a very ratchety prime though, which is pretty annoying. And that means if you accidentally pull back the priming handle, if you touch it even a little bit… like at all, you have to fully prime it and shoot it. If this bothers you too much, don’t touch it! Lol. Seriously.

There is a little orange slide lock release button on the top in the middle of the picatinny rail that can save you. Pushing this down will release the slide and you can push the priming handle back, but man what a drag that is. Everything else, though, is pretty much awesome, especially for the price this thing is going for.

Price to Performance

And speaking of price, in this case it’s definitely worth mentioning. The X-Shot Longshot has an MSRP of less than half of that of its current competitors, like the Game Face Trion. For a blaster that is comparable in power and performance and yet cheaper than pretty much every other Pro blaster out there… this thing is a steal! As far as price to performance goes, this thing is the Corvette of dart blasters. But, nothing is perfect and neither is the X-Shot Longshot.

Pros and Cons

So far this review has been pretty glowing and full of nothing but praise for the X-Shot Longshot, but it ain’t all sunshine and butterflies. The build quality is pretty weak, but it’s actually slightly better than I remember from Zuru. The lower build quality is also a trade-off, because with that lower quality we get a blaster that’s super lightweight. It feels like it might float away if you let go of it.

Also those sights that the Longshot comes with are actually just unusable. Although there’s a little hole in the back of each of them that seems like something maybe was supposed to go in there and be inserted to secure it in place. But yeah, there’s nothing included with the blaster to secure them. I even went back and checked the box again. So, yeah, you might want to buy another optic.

Also the barrel and the muzzle that this come with, they look pretty cool but the SCAR is subpar and the blaster might even be better off without it. The short dart mag is a bit flimsy compared to other half-length mags like Worker Talon mags, but overall it’s pretty cool.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention that the plunger tube does have a tendency to f*cking explode!

Okay, no, it doesn’t really explode. But while I am only kidding, it does sometimes arrive from the warehouse with cracks in the plunger tube. I’ve got two X-Shot Longshot blasters and both of mine are fine though and even if it was to crack, Target makes returning stuff so simple and hassle free. Plus there are already multiple aftermarket plunger tubes for this blaster that you can get if your plunger tube ever cracks at any time.

But back to the positive, one word comes to mind: Bullpup. Bull pup… wait, is that two words? Anyway, Bullpup functionality is really cool and gives us something a little different aesthetically and ergonomically. And even functionally, too, because the way the internals function is different than anything I’ve ever seen. The pusher actually pushes the darts through the plunger tube — and I’ve never before seen that in my life!

Final Thoughts and Opinions

Look, if you couldn’t tell from my intro, I never thought Xshot would make a blaster like this. 5 years ago they were just another budget blaster company making unremarkable blasters and except for some of their gimmicky Bug Attack stuff and the quirky recoil blaster and maybe the Turbo Advance, I didn’t really love most of their products if I’m being honest.

But now? They have absolutely blown me away with this stuff. I love the X-Shot Longshot! And it doesn’t seem like they’re slowing down anytime soon, either. So if you don’t want to miss the ride, go out and get yourself an Xshot Skins Pro Series Longshot Blaster right now, you won’t regret it.

And that is where the article ends today. If you made it to this point, let me know your thoughts on the X-Shot Longshot or Long Xshot or X Longshot or whatever you want to call it. (As long as you don’t mix it up with the old Nerf Longshot!) Are you as surprised as I am that X shot is coming out with something like this? Let me know and let me know what you think they should do next.

If you’d like to purchase an X-Shot Longshot, they are available exclusively at Target in the United States. I’m not sure which retailers you can find it at in other countries, but it’s out there, so keep looking! Here’s the Target link: Zuru X-Shot SKINS Pro Series Longshot Foam Blaster. If that doesn’t work in your country, try my international Amazon link here: X-Shot Longshot Skins Pro Series Blaster.

I hope you enjoyed this review and if you did, be sure to favorite the site and maybe sign up for my newsletter – I don’t have an official real newsletter right now, but if you enter your name and email address, it will send you an email every time I release a new article.

Now if the X-Shot Longshot didn’t tickle your pickle, maybe you’ll like the Game Face Trion. It’s a highly comparable blaster and you can check out my review of it by clicking right here: Buying a Game Face Trion?…

With that said, my name’s Blee, you’ve just been tagged out, I love you Foam Heads and I’ll see you… in the next one!

Last update on 2025-02-18 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API