Nerf N-Strike Exclusive Alpha Trooper CS-18 Dart Blaster

I was looking for a good primary weapon for the Humans Vs Zombies game at my college, and this was recommended to me. I now enthusiastically pass on that recommendation. This is, in all my years of Nerf gun play, the single best gun I have ever bought. If you are familiar with the N-Strike series, this is basically the best features of the Raider combined with a Recon. Slam-fire capabilities, a drum mag, and a pump-action complement a Recon (with barrel extension)-sized blaster, with great power and accuracy besides. The 18-dart magazine is smaller than the Raider's, true, but it fits well with this gun -- not too big, nor too small. The Alpha Trooper is, like all Clip System weapons, compatible with the CS-6, CS-35, and ECS-50 (18-round straight magazine from the Stampede) mags. Slam-Fire feels much more natural than the Raider, and I have been able to empty an overloaded (21 dart) magazine 3 times WITHOUT JAMMING ONCE in less than 10 seconds.One flaw of this set is the lack of an included stock. It is compatible with both the Recon and Raider's stocks, and my favorite mod so far was grinding down the Recon stock a bit so that the smaller 18 round drum magazine from this gun fits quite snugly into it (I head out with my Raider's magazine loaded into the Trooper; when I empty it, I switch to the 18 dart one that came with the Trooper; and finally to the 6 round magazines strapped to my  Tactical Vest  (also recommended). It doesn't suffer too much without, though, so don't feel obligated to run to Ebay to buy a separate stock at a hefty premium or buy another new-in-box gun.The primary downside, though, is price; this blaster isn't available at Target anymore, and when it WAS there, it was only $20 (I wasn't thinking about expanding my HVZ arsenal at the time, and I wish I had been now). If you are a competitive Nerf War/HVZ/Dart Tag player, I can heartily recommend this as a great primary, even for the cost. If you are looking for a new toy for the kids, I would recommend the  Raider  over this model -- for 5 bucks cheaper you get a bigger magazine (as well as many more included darts) and basically the same gun. Kids won't care too much about size-to-power ratio or shot efficiency. For those of you who do, though, think about making the step up from the Raider and buying this beast.

Bad design, do not buy this model. This is our son's second of these models and the cocking mechanism locks very badly. Something in the "pump" style slide and inner "bolt" doesn't match up. Thought the first was a fluke but the second did the exact thing and locked up after 10-12 shots. Not a very expensive Nerf gun but a Real expensive set of paperweights. Buyer beware.

This is a great gun. It's compact and light. Pump-action, slam-fire feature makes this pretty awesome. Plugged in a 35-ammo drum (from rapid fire cs-35) and it was awesome. Did not get any ammo jams but the pump got stuck a little bit for a short time.The pump is a bit stiff for someone young. I had my 6yr old nephew try this and he had to put in extra effort to pump. This is in comparison to the ease of the Longstrike CS-6 cocking bolt.

I was over charged for this! Box says only at Target. Target sells it for $19.99. I paid $37.99 here!

My son just got this blaster for his birthday, and while it's fun to use, it does have a couple of shortcomings.General Nerf gun infoIf you're new to Nerf guns, be aware that the name of the gun gives you clues as to how it loads, the capacity and the type of darts it uses. This was a new realization for me - not all guns can use all the darts that Nerf makes. In this gun, CS stands for "clip system". This means you load the "clip system" darts into a clip or magazine, then insert that into the gun. The "18" means this gun comes with an 18 dart magazine. Since this uses clip system darts, you cannot use the suction cup, velcro, or whistler darts that many of the other guns use - they won't fit into the clip. Also, you can't use the clip system darts in the other types of guns - they'll fit, but won't shoot very well.Things I like about itWe really like playing with this gun. You load the darts into the clip, slide it in place, and you're ready. On the front of the gun is the slide. Pulling it back will allow a new dart to enter the chamber. Pushing it forward loads the dart and sets the trigger. If you hold the trigger down, you can keep moving the slide back and forth and darts keep shooting out each time you move the slide forward. This is called "slam" shooting since you can slam your opponent with darts as fast as you can pull the slide back and forth. If a dart won't load, you can turn a dial on the magazine to reset the darts. Also, if a dart get stuck in the chamber, there's a sliding door on top of the gun that you can open to clear it out or see what the problem is.So, the cool points:-18 dart clip holds plenty of darts without being overly large like the 30+ systems-Rapid fire "slam" mode lets you shoot them really quickly-Not too big for younger kids-Good range/distanceDisappointmentsAs for things I don't like, I don't feel that the clip system darts are as accurate as others. Most of them take a wild turn after about 15-20 feet. The gun will jam on occasion, so you have to stop and clear it out. This, combined with the amount of time to load and reload the gun creates a fair amount of down time once you're out of darts.Loading/ReloadingI also find that reloading takes a lot of time, so even though you don't have to load each dart into the barrel, you have to take a couple minutes to load your magazine. This can be a problem if you're low on ammo, because while you can see if any darts are in the round part of the magazine, once you're down to 6 or 8, you have no visible way of seeing how many you have left because they've move up into the clip. Therefore, you're usually shooting and wondering if the gun jammed or if you're out of darts. With 18, it's harder to keep track of how many you've shot.Be aware of how to load/reload the gun properly. You have to pull the slide back and leave it in this position. Then there's a second orange slide just forward of the trigger that will release the clip. Keep the large slide in the rear position when putting the clip back into the gun. This is all in the instructions, and also labelled on the gun itself with some crude graphics. It's not hard, just not all that intuitive if you've never used one before. Additionally, in order to open the jam-clearing door, the slide must be all the way back to do so.There is storage in the handle of the gun for a single dart, but it's not of much use - I was hoping it would shoot a dart from it, so that if you put your gun up to "surrender" you could shoot one last shot, but alas, it doesn't.So the negatives:-long time to reload-no visible way to determine when you're low on darts-darts aren't very accurate, and you can only use "clip system" dartsConclusionAll in all, it's a good gun - priced in the middle of the range with some cool features right out of the box. Some kids might get frustrated when it jams, or if they can't figure out how to release/insert the clip properly. The large capacity means you can play longer, and with an extra clip, it could be really fun. The rapid fire action is cool, and since it holds 18 darts, you can use it without running out too quickly.RatingI'd give it 3.5 stars if I could. Overall, the features and price are right, I would just like to have some visual indicator when low or the ability to load a single dart. I feel it jams a bit too often, and isn't as accurate as other gun/dart systems. It combines features of some of the larger guns without being too expensive or too big for younger kids in the 6+ range. Even my 2.5 year old can hold and shoot it, though he can't pull the slide back on his own. My 7 and 9 year olds can use it easily.

I LOVE this blaster. The 18 round drum makes it so I can take on my 3 nieces with their 6 shot each mavericks, that I customized for each of them, without any trouble. I highly recommend finding a shoulder stock for this blaster (ANY nerf blaster or super soaker will fit) as it makes it more controllable. Ranges are decent for a stock blaster. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a good primary.

I go to college and enjoy one week of pure heaven of playing 'Zombies vrs Humans' on campus. Bought this gun as a 'back-up gun', and it works perfectly. I was apply armed. :)

I like the way it is designed. Its weight is just right. The number of darts is just enough to make sure your opponent runs out before you do. It is a good run and fight gun with excellent range. the best of all my Nerf guns.