Ertl Rapid Fire Shotgun Review!

In Box

The Ertl Rapid Fire Shotgun is a 12 dart, pump action, auto- rotating blaster, made by the company Ertl.  The Rapid Fire Shotgun, or RFSG for short, comes with the blaster and 12 mega darts.

Back of box

 On the backside of the box, you can see the other blasters in Ertl's Foam Shooters line.  In the bottom right corner, the Ertl Pump Action Shotgun (PAS) can be clearly seen.

When I took this out of the box, I had a couple first impressions.  I immediately noticed that it was very heavy, especially in the front.  However, after playing around with it, I quickly got accustomed to its heaviness.  Another thing that I noticed about this blaster was that the priming grip was very wide.  This is good because people with "adult sized" hands can comfortably prime this blaster.

Even though the priming handle was very comfy, what really bothered me was the handle.  Though it was nice and big, it was obviously made for the hands of an 8 year-old.  The trigger guard is especially annoying and uncomfortable because it gets in the way of my ring finger.  However, one thing that I really loved about the grip was that it actually has a safety.  Unfortunately, I don't think this mechanism can be retained once modded.

Dart Comparison

The Ertl Mega Darts that come with the RFSG are of decent quality, but nowhere near the quality of a fresh Nerf dart.  The foam is not that dense.  If you feel the foam of an old Nerf dart that has been lying around your room for a few months, that is a good representation of the feel of an Ertl Mega.

Size Comparison.

As you can see, the RFSG is quite the hefty blaster, but the size of it was a bit deceiving when looking at other pics online.

Now, onto the firing.

The ranges of this blaster are simply horrible stock.  This vid doesn't show it, but the ranges are horrible.  You're actually lucky if the darts even come out of the barrels.  However when they do fire, this blaster usually hits around 10' from a level shot.  If your even more lucky, it might get 15.

As always, the Money Shot.

Overall, the Ertl RFSG is a decent blaster.  If you are looking for a good stock blaster, do not purchase this blaster.  Save your money and go buy a Recon or something of the like.  However, if you are looking for a great NIC primary, definitely consider buying this blaster.  Though a difficult mod, if done right, the RFSG can achieve ranges over 100 feet!  It is also dubbed a "Doomsayer"  once overhauled.  In the end, if you are looking for a blaster that will get you awesome ranges for a good bit of hard work, buy it.  But if you want a good stock blaster for wars with your friends, don't waste your money.