Nerf guns have claimed the hearts of people of all ages. No matter if you are a child looking for an exciting new toy or an adult looking to get active with friends then Nerf guns have what it takes to suit your needs.
However, the longer the Nerf brand is around the more “knock off” companies that arise. Many of these companies produce blasters that are easily able to compete with those produced by Nerf. One such company is the X-Shot brand.
The X-Shot brand, while resembling the Nerf company blasters in looks features a few unique features that help it stand out against the other blaster companies.
Another company producing blasters similar to Nerf guns is the BoomCo brand. Read more about this brand here: Nerf vs Boomco: Which brand makes the better blaster?
Many Nerfers are loyal to the Nerf brand and are therefore unwilling to even consider other brands of blasters. However, considering other brands allows one to branch out their arsenal to contain a greater variety of blasters.
Is X-Shot a brand you should consider when looking to expand your blaster collection? Keep reading to find out!
Nerf
The Nerf brand has been producing foam blasters since the 1980s. With 40 years of experience the company has been able to release over 1000 blasters, each new blaster improving upon the one released before.
With so many different Nerf blasters, the company sorts the blasters into series. These series are determined both by the power and purpose of the blasters. Read more about each of these Nerf Series here: How many Nerf guns are there? (Hint: much more than you think!).
Purchased by Hasbro in 1991, the Nerf company quickly became a household name placing a blaster in nearly every child’s toy box.
The Nerf brand is known for producing foam blasters that are not only fun for everyone, but are built to last as well! Because Nerf has such a large variety of blasters to choose from, as well as their proven durability and quality of blasting, has given the brand the chance to climb to the top of the market.
To further the brand, Nerf produces not only blasters but also creates a large variety of accessories to improve the function of these blasters as well.
These accessories include sights, scope, tripods, stocks and much much more! Read more about these accessories and which to use with your Nerf blasters here: The Best Attachments for Your Nerf Blaster: Upgrade Your Gear with These Mods!.
X-Shot
The X-Shot brand came to be in 2011, that is 42 years after the founding of Nerf! X-Shot is sold under the larger company Zuru. Zuru is a New Zealand compny that has been producing a variety of toys since 2004.
What made the X-Shot brand stand out against its many dart blasting competitors, was that the X-Shot blasters fired not only foam darts but water as well!
As time passed, the blaster company began releasing fewer blasters with water capabilities in turn creating blasters that fire both darts and X-Shot discs.
To once again improve upon the power of their blasters, the X-Shot company has gradually moved from using dual ammo systems to only using single ammo systems. These blasters featured better performance and power than the company’s earlier releases.
Like the Nerf brand, X-Shot categorizes its many blasters into Series. Since the company is still relatively young in comparison to Nerf, X-Shot has noticably fewer series to choose from. These series include: X-Shot Excel, X-Shot Zombie, and X-Shot Pink Series.
Another unique feature of the X-Shot blaster line is their darts. One of the many difficulties people find purchasing blasters from different companies is that dart compatibility.
It is difficult to find off brand darts that will work in Nerf blasters and vice versa. However, the X-Shot darts are one of the few off brand choices that use darts compatible with most Nerf blasters. This means that you do not need to keep your ammo separated nor purchase additional off brand darts to match your current dart collection.
Read more about Nerf dart compatibility here: Are Nerf Darts Universal? Learn the truth in this post.
You may be thinking “Oh X-Shot sounds great and all, but I’m sure it can’t compete with Nerf’s ammo capacity.” Well, unfortunately, you would be wrong in this assumption.
Many X-Shot blasters are able to hold a similar number of darts as their Nerf counterparts. For example, the X-Shot Excel Crusher blaster, which could be compared to either the Nerf Megaladon (24 darts) or the Nerf Vulcan (25 darts) has a loading capacity of 35 darts!
Check out the X-Shot Excel Crusher on Amazon here!
The Better Brand
Now that you know a bit more about both the X-Shot and Nerf blaster brands, you may be wondering which brand produces the better blaster for your arsenal.
Ultimately this is quite a difficult decision to make.
Both Nerf guns and X-Shot blasters are able to fire darts over distances around 100 feet away. As well as the fact that both blaster brands use near identical darts and can carry the almost same amount of ammo.
After considering each of these features, you may have determined that the two brands are simply equal to each other (this would overall be a fair assumption).
One difference between the X-Shot and Nerf blaster brands is the price.
Because Nerf is a well known company, consumers are willing to pay a slightly higher price guaranteeing them a quality, durable product. However, X-Shot blasters, which are comparable in functionality and performance to Nerf, are actually sold at a slightly lower price.
Check out these blasters with top of the line price tags: The 10 Most Expensive Nerf Guns Ever Made!
A downside to the X-Shot line is that as of recent there are not any new blasters being released. In fact, many of the previously released blasters are being discontinued. This leaves for a much smaller selection of blasters and the potential of the brand being discontinued as a whole.
If you are looking for a brand that you can stand by in the long run and continually find new and improved blaster options, then X-Shot is not going to be the correct choice for you.
While the two brands are extremely similar in many ways, there is ultimately one blaster brand that comes out on top. And as the saying goes, “it’s Nerf or Nothin'”.
While the Nerf blaster brand is a bit more expensive, ultimately you are getting a fair amount of bang for your buck. There is a slight increase as you are paying for the Nerf name, but this is not much and should not really be a factor in your decision making.
The Nerf brand offers reliable products guaranteed to deliver both performance and fun to all users. It also appears that Nerf will continue to release new blasters indefinitely. This means that you can continually be growing and modifying your blaster arsenal or collection. You will never be stuck shooting the same blaster when you have Nerf by your side.
People Also Ask:
How can I make my Nerf darts more accurate?
Although Nerf is already a fairly reliable brand when it comes to producing blasters, the standard Nerf darts sold alongside them can leave much to be desired.
Since the originally releasing of the Nerf dart, there have been very few modifications to their design. A small, hollow foam cylinder, with a rubber cap at the end is the primary design for all Nerf darts no matter what series it is from.
The first step in making your Nerf darts more accurate is proper maintenance. It goes without saying that a damaged dart is not going to work properly.
Store your Nerf darts in a safe place where children and pets are not able to play with them. Also be sure that the darts are not stored under heavy objects seeing as this may damage them.
Already have damaged darts? Have no fear learn How to fix nerf darts: A DIY guide here!
Are the normal Nerf darts just not cutting it for you? Luckily, with a little bit of at home modifications, you can change your Nerf dart from a typical foam dart to the ultimate form of ammunition.
One of the greatest issues Nerf darts face is being too light. While this makes for easy storage and carrying extras into battle as well as protects Nerfers from injury when they are hit with a dart, it actually hinders the darts accuracy and ability to fly further.
In order to make your Nerf darts more accurate, consider adding weighted tips!
This modification is actually quite simple to do and requires very few materials. All you need are some size 0 fishing weights (one per dart), hot glue, and a handful of Nerf darts.
Carefully begin by pulling the tips off of all your Nerf darts (if you are curious to see how this modification will actually affect your Nerf darts start by modifying one dart and then test firing to see if you like the results).
Add a small amount of hot glue to the ends of the darts and place a fishing weight on it. Allow that to dry before letting go. Trim the tail of the dart tips and then hot glue the tips back over the fishing weight.
Load your blaster and fire! You will easily notice the difference in your darts accuracy and distance. Remember to be careful when playing with people as this newly modified dart could cause eye injuries!
Need some more ideas for how to modify your Nerf dart? Find 4 more dart modifications sure to increase your blasting game: 5 Crazy Nerf Dart Mods Ideas to Pimp Up Your Projectiles!
Can you modify a Nerf gun?
Let me first start by saying, ABSOLUTELY!
Not only is modifying your Nerf gun completely acceptable, it is loads of fun as well!
While children enjoy using Nerf guns as they are, part of the fun for older Nerfers is getting to customize their blasters to meet their needs.
There are hundreds of different Nerf modifications each varying depending on the type of blaster being modified. While any blaster can be modified, many Nerfers have come to a consensus that some blasters are better candidates for modification than others.
Learn Which Nerf Gun Is Best for Modifications? here!
Although the many modifications vary, each serves one of three purposes:
- To improve the blaster’s performance
- To make the blaster more durable
- To make the gun look better!
It is up to you to determine what kind of blaster modification you are looking for.
Most modifications to improve performance can be completed with little outside materials and some know how. However, modifications with the intention to improve the blaster usually require sourced materials of “mod kits.”
As for the third type of modification, this can be done on its own or in combination with the other modification types. When modifying your Nerf blaster, your goal should be personalization. That way, the next time you pick up your blaster you know it is not just another generic Nerf gun.
You can even customize your blaster to resemble one from your favorite video game or movie!
Learn how to customize your Nerf blaster here: How to Paint a Nerf Gun the Proper Way: A complete guide.
Conclusion
Nerf has lead the toy industry in dart blasters for years and will likely continue to for many years to come. New companies will likewise continue to release their own versions of dart blasters in an attempt to dethrone Nerf as the reigning blaster boss.
However, for companies such as X-Shot this day has yet to come. Simply because the X-Shot blasters are able to match Nerf blasters in power and performance, there is still one factor missing, the name.
People will continue to choose blasters simply because they say Nerf on the side. No other company has the same reputation as Nerf to provide quality toys and blasters for people of all ages. Until then, “its Nerf or Nothin'”.
Learn More
If you are interested, here is a link to everything Nerf on Amazon.