We bought this for our 9-year old son for Christmas 2007. Needless to say, he was ecstatic...while the rest of us lived in fear (just kidding ;D).

The bolt-action rifle is HUGE. It's over three feet long when all the pieces are locked together and the shoulder stock is fully extended. It's intimidating. It's pretty accurate. It's a lot of fun. My son enjoys walking around with it like this. Very Ahhhhnold-Terminator-like.

However, we don't typically use it in "full sniper rifle mode" as it's too awkward. Thankfully, the rifle can easily be unsnapped into two separate, but functional guns: a single shot, short-range pistol and what is essentially a bolt-action shotgun.

Here are some observations:

RANGE: This shoots well up to about 30-35 feet. Ironically, it shoots farther when it's not in full-sniper mode. The additional barrel length probably improves accuracy, but it definitely shortens the range. The gun is best used and shoots farthest with the front pistol removed.

RATE OF FIRE: The bolt-action is pretty smooth and since it's coupled with 6-round clips, it makes for a relatively fast rate of fire. Nowhere near the Rapid Fire 20 (see my other write up on that one), but much faster than our other single-shot Nerf guns.

EASE OF RELOADING: Out of the box, it's a bit tedious. You can load up to 6 darts in each clip. So you're good for 12 shots. After the last shot, we usually had to call a time out for dart collection and reloads. UNTIL...we combined both clips into a "jungle clip". Basically, tape the two clips together so that while one is loaded into the gun, the other is upside down facing the ground. This allows you to pick up darts as you go and load them into the bottom clip while still being able to shoot from the top, loaded clip. Easy, sweet mod that makes reloading a snap.

EASE OF USE: The Jungle Clip mode is a huge bonus for making this gun easier to use. However, even with that, the gun is prone to jam. Either darts will get stuck on the pin that pushes the dart into the chamber or for whatever reason, a dart can get bent in half and stay in the clip. This seems to happen to older, more pliable darts. We've found that you just have to smoothly pull the bolt back fully before pushing the bolt forward to load the dart in the chamber. That helps a lot. Also, making sure that the darts are loaded uniformly with the rear of the dart up against the back of the clip seems to help too.

The good thing is that you can slide a door open on the top-side of the gun to get access to the chamber to clear any jams. That's very helpful and pretty well thought out.

Also, to unload a clip, you have to pull the bolt all the way back and then hold a release switch with your index finger. Otherwise, the clip won't budge.

We've also removed the sliding shoulder stock extension. It just gets in the way. When retracted, it can get in the way of an adult hand when holding the grip. When fully extended, it's better for an adult, but awkward for kids to hold. Besides, the only functional purpose of it that we found remotely helpful was to hold the second clip. But since we combined both clips into a Jungle Clip, that purpose went away...and so did the shoulder stock. Just remove the screws that hold both halves of it together. Easy-peasy.

This gun also has folding legs for supporting the gun. Thankfully, they fold up and become a decent place to put your hand in order to support the front of the gun while in shotgun-mode.

AMMO: This gun uses Streamline Darts. I've found those hard to come by. I tried a Target and two different Toys-R-Us stores in January and none of them had extra darts in stock, nor could they tell me when they were expected to be received. I ended up finding/buying two packages of 10 darts for $17 shipped on eBay. That worked fine.

COMBAT OBSERVATION 1: Again, in "combat", the gun is too unwieldy in full-sniper mode. We normally discard the front pistol portion and just use it in "shotgun" mode.

COMBAT OBSERVATION 2: The single-shot pistol is pretty much useless, so we don't really use it. The only good thing about it is that it can shoot both Streamlined Darts and suction cup-tipped darts. Most out-of-the-box Nerf guns will shoot one, but not the other.

COMBAT OBSERVATION 3: The scope is also effectually useless. It looks really cool and does provide a targeting reference point, but it really is only helpful when you're within 15 feet or so. Beyond that distance, the darts drop/arc enough that the scope's field of view is too limited to be able to keep your target in the cross hairs. It's made to be removable (it slides on to the top handle along plastic rails and it snaps in place). It can pop off when bumped or jostled. It's a toy, after all. My son thinks the scope is very cool though.

All in all, this is a great Nerf gun...if you do the following in summary:

- Just ditch the pistol and the sliding shoulder stock.
- Be diligent in sliding the bolt all the way back before you slide it smoothly forward.
- Familiarize yourself with how to clear jams.
- Definitely buy extra darts.

p.s. People have done some pretty involved modifications to this gun. Google will reveal them. Warranties would be voided, (obviously) if any of these mods are applied.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 36
Type of Toy: Sports
Age Range of Child: 9 Years or Older