Here is the chance for you nerf shotgun lovers to go all Schwarzenegger on your opponents during your nerf battles. The long awaited Nerf Rival Atlas XVI-1200 is finally out. And we nerf fans are ecstatic. With the classic red and blue themed Rival Shotguns, get ready to wade through a wave of opponents like they’re nothing.
Nerf Rival Atlas – Specifications
The Rival Atlas is a pure shotgun mimic and one of the very few Nerf blasters that can shoot more than one dart simultaneously. The design and functioning of the Atlas is pretty straight forward. It is a pump-action blaster capable of firing two high impact rounds at a time. So no batteries are required to operate this blaster which is quite a plus. In older Elite Shotgun blasters like the RoughCut, the darts were discharged from two different barrels. But in the case of Atlas both the rounds are fired from a single barrel. This highly minimizes the dispersion and allows more focused fire on target.
The box comes with two 12-round magazines and 24 high-impact ammo rounds. At a time only one magazine can be inserted, at the top back end of the blaster. Since each trigger pull shoots two rounds, you can fire only six consecutive shots before you need to replace with the alternate magazine.
When it comes to performance, the Rival Atlas is a blast. It shoots both rounds at muzzle velocities of more than 90 feet per second. Such high velocity combined with the stable dimpled ball darts make sure you hit your target. Jams almost never happen in this blaster and the priming is super smooth. Absolutely no qualms on the performance here!
Nerf Rival Atlas – Design aspects
The magazine release can be operated with the same hand with which you replace the mag allowing you to reload ammo really quick with a little bit of practice. The primer is present beneath the barrel and there is something that has to be mentioned here. The priming sound! There is a bit of noise when you prime the ammo to be fired, but the sound is very smooth and very satisfying much unlike the priming of older Rival or Elite blasters which are louder and more clanky. This is a really cool upgrade in the year 2016 and we have seen this only in the Nerf Rival Atlas blaster so far.
There is a safety button to lock the primary trigger from being pressed. There is a jam access door on the left face of the blaster allowing you to clear of any jammed balls. But also to be noted is a new un-jamming button. Usually the blaster primer cannot be pulled when it is already primed. But in the case of a jam, you can press the un-jamming button and pull the primer backwards and reload the darts, essentially clearing off the jam. Pretty well though out design from Nerf.
Nerf Rival Atlas – Cons
Well, the cons for this nerd shotgun is pretty clear. Low capacity! For a given magazine only six shots can be fired in all. But this is to be accepted as that is the case of most shotgun models, toy or original. Also Nerf has provided an additional magazine to make up for this. There are also very limited customization options with only a single tactical rail on the top of the barrel. There are no barrel extension slots either.
Final Word…
The Nerf Rival Atlas XVI-1200 is a tremendous upgrade from Apollo XV-700 which was the first and previous spring-action blaster in the Rival series. If you’re looking for a powerful shotgun blaster that operates without batteries and has uber-cool looks then the latest Nerf Rival Atlas is the best option available for you in 2016.
