Thursday 6 August 2015

Comparison: Nerf Zombie Strike Slingfire vs Buzz Bee Ultra Rapid Tek

Now that Buzz Bee's jumped into the clip (mag) blaster market, I can finally start doing some cross-company clip (mag) blaster comparison. To start off with, let's compare the two lever action entries, the ZS Slingfire and the Ultra Rapid Tek/Sentinel. Like with all other comparisons, I'll be comparing the Australia release blasters that I have, which in this case are the grey trigger black breech Slingfire, and the 15m range claim Ultra Rapid Tek.


Aesthetics: The Slingfire, being a ZS blaster, has a post-apocalyptic style, with features like the faux type around the grip and the front, and the wood grain stock, with the crudely done ZS logo. The URT has a modernised/scifi style, with cleaner lines and a mainly white colour scheme. I personally prefer the URT, being more of a modern/scifi fan, but each to their own. I will note however that the URT has a lot more detail than previous Buzz Bee blasters (see for instance the faux rivets and raised plastic), but the Slingfire still has the edge, being a Nerf blaster.
Accessories: The Slingfire includes a 6 dart clip (mag) and 6 ZS darts, while the URT includes an 8 dart clip (mag) and 8 UT darts.
The URT wins this round.
Range/Power: The grey trigger Slingfire achieves about 10-11m ranges held at true flat, using darts of Elite type. It's comparable to the higher end N-Strike blasters, and is probably one of the weaker Elite blasters.
The 15m URT gets ranges of about 9-10m at true flat, probably comparable to mid-higher end N-Strike blasters.
The Slingfire wins this round, barely.
Accuracy: The Slingfire, being that it uses Elite style darts, is not particularly accurate. A lot of shots like to veer, whether into the ground, upwards or to the sides, although a few shots will fly relatively straight. A common theme with Elite-era blasters, the Elite dart really ruins accuracy.
The URT uses Ultra Tek darts, which are heavier than Elite darts and so are more stable and consistent. As such, most shots will fly relatively straight and very few deviate significantly.
As such, the URT wins this round by virtue of its ammo. If the URT was given Elite darts, I believe that both the Range and Accuracy rounds would be draws.
Usability: The Slingfire uses a complicated gear priming system, so that you can only pull the lever back once it has been pushed to the fully forward position. The main issue here is that the fully forward position for the lever is unusually far out, and so first time users will likely inadvertently lock up the Slingfire from not pushing the lever forward far enough. With practice however, this is a non-issue. The other issue for the Slingfire is that the clip (mag) release is rather awkward, being that you have to pull the clip (mag) release backwards with the same hand that you're removing the clip (mag) with. Again with practice this is less of an issue, but still rather annoying considering the concept art that had the Stryfe-style clip (mag) release, which would have been far superior.
Obviously one special feature of the Slingfire is that it was specifically designed for trick shots, and so the balance of it when trick shotting (flick and spin priming) is excellent.
Overall the Slingfire is reasonably comfortable and easy to use, especially with practice. While I would have liked a slightly longer stock and fore-end, and dislike the flexibility of the lever, the overall ergonomics of the Slingfire are reasonably good.
The URT has less locks compared to the Slingfire, and the lever has a significantly shorter prime distance, which I find to be more natural. Additionally, the fore-end is larger and more comfortable to grip. However, the URT's lever is made of metal and is thinner than the Slingfire's, and so cuts into your hand more than the Slingfire, especially so with stronger springs or trick priming. The URT is not designed for trick shots, and so is much more cumbersome and unbalanced for such. The URT's stock is also too short to be comfortably or properly shouldered.
Neither blaster jams often, though my Slingfire is a black breeched one which is allegedly more reliable than the original release green breech.
I personally feel that the Slingfire has the edge in this round as its main issues disappear with a little practice, however the URT's ergonomic issues cannot be eliminated without modding. As such I'm giving this round to the Slingfire.
Rate of Fire: Both being lever action blasters, both the Slingfire and URT can reliably get about 1dps, possibly a little more, however they'll never be as fast as pump actions or the automatics naturally. The Slingfire is slowed down slightly by its awkwardly long prime, while the URT is slowed down by the somewhat uncomfortable lever.
This round is an obvious draw.
Capacity: The Slingfire comes with a 6 dart clip (mag) while the URT comes with an 8 dart clip (mag).
Naturally the URT wins this round.
Value for Money: The Slingfire originally retailed for 25USD/40-50AUD, however in Australia outside of unusual clearance sales, I've seen the Slingfire drop to about 30AUD. The Ultra Rapid Tek/Sentinel has not yet retailed in Australia, however I believe its retail is likely to be around 15USD/25-30AUD. Considering that the two blasters perform very similarly, with the Slingfire being a little more comfortable but the URT having superior accuracy, I'd have to give the round to the URT.

The Slingfire has won 2 rounds, with the Ultra Rapid Tek/Sentinel winning 4. Thus I declare Buzz Bee's Ultra Rapid Tek/Sentinel to be the superior blaster. However this comparison was pretty close, with the URT winning out through its slightly larger clip (mag). If you disregard the larger clip (mag) and give both blasters the same ammo, the comparison boils down to the Slingfire's slightly better ergonomics versus the URT's lower price, and their different aesthetics and designs.

2 comments:

  1. I found with my slingfire that it veers almost a foot to the right of where I'm aiming, but it is still a fun blaster.

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  2. There was a European release of the slingfire that came with a 25 dart drum...but can be more than 100 dollars on amazon. (Approx. 125???)(What is wrong with you amazon?)

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