The Sweet Revenge/Hammershot are great blasters, and are very popular sidearm choices. With the popularity of the hammer prime platform, it was only a matter of time before more hammer primed blasters emerged. The 4Victory is one of those, being a 4 barrel blaster instead of having a 5 dart cylinder. How does it stack up to the slightly larger Sweet Revenge?
Pretty standard open box fare.
You get a pretty good amount of stuff out of box, the 4Vic itself, a holster, a Rebelle Dart Decoder and 4 darts.
All together, with one dart in the decoder.
The multilingual messages on the one message dart.
The 4Vic is quite a sleek, simple blaster. While the right side has an intricate Rebelle decal, the left side is completely bare. This complete lack of detail on the left side is a little disturbing, as most blasters have some kind of detailing on both sides, being either mostly symmetrical or in the case of the more recent Rebelle blasters, a simplified detail on one side. Surely it wouldn't have cost too much to get some detail printed on the left side.
The 4Vic has a lone tac rail on top. Of note are the new springless retaining piece that is a lot more secure, and the indents into the rail, where Rebelle tac rails are usually just smooth.
The handle of the 4Vic is quite good. While not the biggest handle, it does have quite a good shape and so is quite comfortable to hold. The trigger has a nice wide plate and is quite sensitive.
The 4Vic's hammer prime is much the same as that of the Sweet Revenge/Hammershot, though to me it feels like it's a little stiffer
The hammer is reasonably easy to reach and pull with your main hand thumb, though naturally that depends on your hand size/thumb length and thumb strength.
The 4Vic, as suggested by its name, has a capacity of 4 darts, in a 4 barrel Smart AR block.
The use of Smart ARs over the more traditional/conventional cylinder is both good and bad. It allows for much easier scavenging since you can load any barrel and still have it fire, and also a smaller design since it doesn't need a cylinder retaining arm sticking out the front.
Here's the 4 barrels loaded up, notice how much more the bottom dart sticks out thanks to the slope of the muzzle.
From the front. The 4Vic first fires the top dart, which also has the most power of the 4 barrels. Interestingly the top barrel also contributes to prime stiffness. If the barrel is unloaded, the prime is only a little stiffer than a Sweet Revenge/Hammershot. If the barrel is loaded, the prime is significantly harder, as the dart blocks up the Smart AR system, causing the prime to create a vacuum.
From the user's point of view, the 4Vic cycles clockwise, so the right dart fires next.
Third is the bottom one, and finally the left.
It should be noted that successive barrels experience some power loss, enough that the last barrel (left) experiences a significant and very noticeable loss of power compared to the first (top) barrel. This is one of the main detriments of using the Smart AR system, and is mostly unavoidable due to the increasing deadspace as you advance barrels.
Here's the 4Vic next to a Sweet Revenge. As clearly evident, the 4Vic is a little shorter in both length and height.
The 4Vic is also a little thinner, particularly at the muzzle area. Overall, the 4Vic is more compact than the already sleek Sweet Revenge.
The hammer prime lengths are roughly the same, however the Sweet Revenge's hammer support is much thicker and bulkier. I personally think that the 4Vic's hammer prime arc is too thin, to the point where it looks weak and fragile (though it really isn't).
The handles and trigger areas are quite similar, with the obvious difference of the SR having a sling loop, while the 4Vic doesn't.
The tac rails are also rather different, though this is of little importance.
A look from the front. Note that this SR has had its barrel posts removed. By virtue of using a cylinder and having an extra barrel, the SR is significantly wider, especially at the front.
One thing worth noting is that the 4Vic is substantially lighter than the Sweet Revenge. It's not that the Sweet Revenge is exceptionally heavy, rather the 4Vic is extremely light.
Let's take a quick look at the 4Vic's holster.
It's a fairly simple piece, a single piece of plastic (with the belt clip as an extra piece screwed on) much like the SR's. Unlike the Sweet Revenge's, the 4Vic's holster lacks dart holders.
Here's the 4Vic holstered for a right-hander. It's a pretty good snug fit, and is still quite easy to draw.
Unlike the Sweet Revenge, the 4Vic can be holstered for the left hand without issue as the holster is symmetrical. Unfortunately, holstering for the left hand exposes the undetailed side of the 4Vic.
Here's the 4Vic's holster against the SR's holster. Clearly since the Sweet Revenge is so much wider, its holster has to be larger to hold it properly.
Here's the 4Vic and Sweet Revenge holstered for the right hand. The Sweet Revenge sits much deeper in its holster by virtue of being longer, but both are similarly secure.
Holstered for the left hand, the 4Vic has no problems, while the Sweet Revenge doesn't sit properly at all. I initially solved this by cutting up and rearranging my second holster, but now that I have Mazofactory holsters I don't use the Nerf holsters at all. Nevertheless if you don't want to get aftermarket holsters and still want to dual wield, the 4Vic will allow you to do so with no issue.
Now performance. Does the 4Vic keep up with the variety of other viable sidearms?
Range wise, the 4Vic keeps up reasonably well. The first (top) barrel can get the usual grey trigger ranges of about 12-13m flat with Elite type darts, however the last (left) barrel does suffer from significant power loss, so its ranges are usually around 10-12m.
Accuracy is usable but not great, about what you'd expect for a regular Elite-firing blaster. It feels a little bit more accurate than a stock Sweet Revenge, though of course this section is a little bit subjective.
Rate of fire decent, however due to the stiffer prime I find it a little slower to fire than the Sweet Revenge. Depending on whether you one or two hand it, a ROF of about 2dps is entirely possible, but with only 4 darts isn't too practical.
The 4Victory is available for 20AUD from Kmart, and can go down to 15AUD in sales. 20AUD is a pretty good price for a hammer primed sidearm with a holster, considering the Strongarm is typically around 10AUD, and the Hammershot typically drops to 20AUD in sales. 15AUD is fantastic value for it.
Compared to most blasters you'd consider for sidearm role, the 4Vic is a little lacking in capacity, and the prime is also one of the stiffer stock primes you'll find on Nerf's pistol blasters. The 4Victory is smaller and lighter than most of its competitors though. Overall if you're looking for just a solid sidearm, the 4Victory is one to consider, but I'd personally consider the Sweet Revenge/Hammershot to be better. If you're looking for a small but still effective sidearm, the 4Vic is probably a better choice, though obviously depending on how small you want to go the Triad or Jolt may be better for you.
I'd say it's certainly worth considering picking up a 4Victory, especially if it's on sale/clearance. It's a pretty decent all round blaster.
Pros: Smart AR block makes reloading a little easier, extremely light compared to similar blasters, quite a bit smaller than most other hammer primed sidearms
Cons: Smart AR block causes power loss through successive barrels, low capacity of only 4 darts, unusually stiff prime
Power: 5.5/7
Accuracy: 3.5/5
Usability: 4.5/5
Rate of Fire: 2.5/5
Value for Money: 5/5
Overall: 3.99/5
Personal Rating: 3.5/5 - it's a very solid blaster that has its merits over the usual Sweet Revenge/Hammershot as a hammer-primed sidearm. The capacity is quite small though. I personally prefer the Sweet Revenge because of the capacity, prime and consistency of power.
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