NERF battles: Sidearms- Hammershot vs Strongarm

(note this was originally written for a YouTube post of a Hammershot mod)

And now for other products of the overload HASBRO.

The battle for the best sidearm revolver is a big one. The first was the Maverick, the favorite until its replacement the Strongarm. There was the Specter, a five round 'primary' with use of a stock and a the favorable barrel. With the Zombie Strike line, came its own revolver, the Hammershot. With the Maverick* and Specter obsolete, the battle comes down to the Strongarm and the Hammershot.

For me, the Strongarm is about power. It has six shots, with slam-fire, which requires two hands, and has an epic cylinder.

The Hammershot is for speed and quickness. It has five darts and only requires on hand. The one-handedness allows for duel welding on the Hammershot, or fanning (using one hand-'palm' to prime the blaster while the other pulls the trigger) a single Hammershot. The Hammershot is smaller and narrower than the Strongarm. The open cylinder allows for shorter reload times.

The Strongarm requires two hands no matter what, but points for duel wielding priming. It comes out of the box with six darts one dart more that the Hammershot, but the reload process is a bit cumbersome: pop out the cylinder, reload, epic cylinder spin and flip back in. The Strongarm can be modified for easier reload, such as removal of center post to reload from the back. The cylinder can be modified to be removed to speed load with a new cylinder, or make it an 18 round with three cylinders. Those modifications are more Strongarms, and carrying the blaster and extra cylinders means more bulk, and is not that ideal for in battle, plus one could lose the extra cylinders.

The Hammershot is only five shot 'virgin', compared to the Strongarm, but is still one hand. There's the duel wielding too, meaning you can use both Hammershots at once instead of one at a time with the Strongarm. It can also being used in tandem with your primary without having to drop the primary to prim it. Along with the Strongarm, the Hammershot's ammo capacity can be upgraded: first is the now-discontinued Orange Mod Works six-round cylinder, and recently the 3D printed Seven round cylinder (which I cant seem to order as it is in and out of availability). The ease of reload is already there, take out the blaster, stick darts in, ready to go. The open front allows for faster reload. I have also seen modders take off the awkward arm under the cylinder, and the cylinder is just fine (and have seen some with removable cylinder, but could not find an explanation)

In my opinion, overall, the Hammershot is better. The speed, maneuverability, fast reload, and one handed use is better than the Strongarm.

I have to give props to the Strongarm though, and cannot not mention this about them: while playing airsoft indoors, I found a left over Strongarm in a 55gal barrel from a kid's birthday party. I found six darts and loaded it up. About midgame, and in the enemy territory, my plan was to go around this cover in the middle of the enemy's base where a guy was hiding. I cross-arms with the M4 and the Strongarm (the Strongarm in my left hand on the right side of the gun, and the gun resting on my left forearm, stretched out in front of me. I rounded the corner where I found the guy on one knee and fired both, with the dart clearly hitting him. What I did not know was his teammate standing directly behind him, and he shot me. After the game, the knee-d guy was was "oh, I can't believe you got me with a Nerf dart.." etc. (the facility staff confiscated it, well I offered it back and asked to use with promise of replacing it with one new-in-box at home, "nope")

*The Maverick is so loved, that it is still used today, though not made.

The Modifications purposely neglect the standard modifications, including but not limited to: 'Air Restrictor removal', 'Spring upgrade', and 'Center Post removal'.