Nerf Delta Trooper Combat Blaster

We have now bought 2 of these nerf guns and my kids really like all the parts and the ability to change the size/configuration. They have held up as well as all the other nerf guns we have bought. With three boys and a bunch of boys in the neighborhood we get some pretty massive nerf gun wars going on in the house and yard. Nerf bullets everywhere! This is a winner of a gun. It doesn't take batteries and requires a manual pull to load the next bullet, so depending on the age of child that might be hard. My 4 year old can handle it no problem though.

The Nerf Elite Delta Trooper takes aim at cementing itself as the staple blaster for Nerf. The idea for this blaster was to take the ergonomics behind the Retaliator with the slamfire function of the Alpha Trooper.Previously, the most practical, tactical, cost-efficient, and accessible blaster was held by either the similarly spring-powered Retaliator or the flywheel Stryfe.Although this blaster may not attain the same level of recognition amongst the Nerf community for a couple reasons, it is still a beautiful, low-cost, and efficient blaster for the average consumer and hobbyist.I have not had any malfunctions with this blaster after putting around a hundred foam darts through it, including wafflehead and third party Elite. Additionally, the action of the prime and slamfire is smooth and functions great for a top-priming spring blaster. For the most part, the blaster feels comfortable, although it would’ve made more sense to attach a tactical rail on the bottom portion of the front barrel attachment. Though that’s my only complaint, and because barrels attachments are interchangeable, I felt this blaster served it’s purpose for me.

Super fun for the kids, shoots amazingly accurate. The magazines are fun to switch out. Jams only with crushed bullets (which is expected) By far the best manual nerf gun blaster using n-strike ammo.

My first impression of this Elite Delta Trooper was that it did not look like an Alpha Trooper. It is, in essence, closer to the Retaliator/Recon. Well, maybe an uglier version thereof. First off, my ProChrono Digital chronograph measured the speed of the darts fired by this stock Delta Trooper blaster at an average of 72 feet per second (FPS) using Nerf Elite darts (it is capable of shooting any standard Nerf Elite darts; blue, green, white, orange, purple/grey, Starwars themed, Accustrike, and decorated Rebelle darts). For the record, I removed the front barrel for the testing because barrels never help with velocity or distance ratings (while the dart travels through the barrel it may touch the sides of the tube, this is when the kinetic energy of the dart transfers to the side of the tube and decreases the velocity of the dart in motion). Okay, to tell you the truth, I hate this front barrel attachment. It is what makes this blaster ugly as sin; it looks like a stiff blue and orange elephant’s trunk. While examining the front of this attachment I found the blaster’s only Nerf tactical rail mount because... reasons. There is nothing underneath the barrel attachment except for 3 wide plastic rectangles that the Nerf design team felt was somehow important to put there. The sides of the barrel shell are slotted so you can... you know, get dirt or rocks stuck in it. There is at least a sling mount attachment point at the uppermost front of the barrel so you can attach a bandolier to it. I also noticed that there were little spaces within the tip that looked like little shelves. It could be that these spaces displace the air around the dart as it exits the barrel, allowing for better dart ranges. It could also be a mistake and I am looking too far into this because the barrel has proven to decrease the velocities by approximately 10 FPS according to my readings. The standard average velocity of a Nerf Elite blaster is 70 FPS, so at 72 FPS, the Delta Trooper blaster is up to par with the rest of the Elite line in terms of power. The shoulder stock is a sizable clunker, and is on the thick side while still feeling too short on larger users. By itself, it is a plastic brick. This is a fixed stock attachment and cannot extend or retract like some of the other shoulder stocks. I feel that this was a missed opportunity, but I honestly expected this from Nerf/Hasbro. The new generation Nerf family trait of the “ELITE” logo is visible on the shoulder stock via a black plastic panel layer over a blue layer, allowing the word “ELITE” to show in blue. There are two sling mounts on this attachment: 1 top rear, and 1 lower rear. The ergonomics leaves something to be desired; it has a stubby pistol grip. Like grabbing a bar of soap. The sling mount attachment point on the base of the pistol grip is resting on the bottom of my hand, causing some discomfort for those with larger hands. During my testing I found the priming slide to be easier to grip at first due to the ribbed contours, but as I tested the Slam-fire function (the ability to hold down the trigger and fire off one dart per prime; only thing that makes it like an Alpha Trooper besides the color) I found that there were somewhat sharp corners at the ends of the “ribs.” These may have the capability of giving a user blisters if they are not careful. The larger contour at the back of the priming slide is a welcomed notch that offers a solid surface to secure your grip during operation. There were no jams during my testing, but there is a low-profile jam-access door that gives a feeling that it is small and cheaply made for some reason. I find the trigger-pull to be on the shallow side. This is not a complaint, the trigger still works fine. It is just that is it different from other blasters with longer triggers. The magazine-well area is thick and the 12-dart magazine that comes with the Delta Trooper looks a tad bit awkward as it is rammed into the gaping hole. Initially, it gave me a feeling of uncertainty if the magazine catch was going to engage or not, but it always did. The mag releases are an ambidextrous pair of buttons this time, not to be mistaken as a lever. There is one on each side well within range of your pointer finger, and apparently they only work while the priming slide is pulled back into the loading position which I feel is a good move by the Nerf engineers. Another good move is the addition of a tiny lock-release lever on the left side of the blaster (above the main trigger), a precaution against the blaster internal mechanical locks accidentally freezing up. Just like the Nerf Rampage, you can press the lock-release lever and it should fix the predicament if in event it gets stuck. I have had other model blasters lock up on me and I would have to take it apart in order to remedy the situation. With this blaster, I don’t have to take anything apart to fix it (knock on wood). In conclusion, the Delta Trooper looks and performs better without the attachments that it comes with, just like the blaster it was modeled after (the Retaliator). It has a Slam-fire function that seems to increase it’s power and Darts Per Second (DPS) rating. It may not be the most comfortable blaster in the world, but is easy to use and resists jams. I say ditch the Delta Trooper attachments and use attachments from other Nerf Elite blasters which are nearly all cross-compatible by the way. The elephant trunk barrel attachment looks good on... nothing. Maybe the Scravenger, I don’t know. If I find any new issues or breakthroughs, I shall return to this review and make the appropriate adjustments (dated 8-8-18).

This is easily the best Nerf gun I’ve owned. Between the Nerf guns I had when I was a kid (80’s) and the ones I’ve acquired for my kids, this has the best of all of them, with no major functionality flaws. Everything works smoothly, and there’s no significant downtime due to jamming/ reloading/ issues, etc. There was always something slowing you down with other Nerf guns. Not with this one. On top of that, it’s 3 guns in one, rifle, pistol and machine pistol. That supplies options for more flexible imaginative play. 7 year old Boy approved as well.

My kids loved this, and were thrilled on Christmas morning. Us adults got to have some fun using it, too. It’s nice that this Nerf rifle is modular, so even my youngest (age 4) can use it by me helping him tailor it to his size. Even if your child doesn’t need it customized to fit their size your child (or your adult, LOL!) can customize it to their liking. They can shoot in the house with the Need bullets (the walls, the door, the windows, the family dog, each other....) and they aren’t going to hurt anything or anyone. It shoots pretty far, so I wouldn’t want to take one to the eye. However, even if I did, I bet it would hurt for a bit but I don’t think it would injure me.