The Top 10 Nerf Guns of All Time

In many ways, the Nerf gun is the go-to toy shooter. While BB guns will shoot your eye out, and water guns require a warm day and open space, Nerf's foam ammo is safe for limbs and fragile furnishings. Nerf has been around for 40 years (the first product was a small foam ball), and foam ballistics have come a long way in that time. They now sport advanced features like lighted scopes and battery-assisted automatic fire. Here are our picks for top 10 coolest Nerf guns of all time, from the classics to the contemporaries.

By Lindsey Pinkerton

1. First Nerf Gun: Nerf Bow and Arrow /// 1991

Though Nerf balls had been around for years, this was the first Nerf weapon that the company produced. Its ammo was three Nerf arrows with an average shooting distance of 60 feet, so it's also one of the farthest-shooting toy weapons the company has made. It's a classic addition to any Nerf arsenal.

2. Nerf Ballzooka /// 1994

Nerf combines its original ball with a powerful gun, creating this Nerf-fan favorite. It can unload 15 balls in less than 6 seconds.

3. Nerf Crossbow /// 1995

Nerf-ball guns can only take one type of ammo. This puts users at a tactical disadvantage, rendering them helpless in the event of an empty magazine. The Nerf Crossbow was the first Nerf gun that could fire two different types of Nerf weapons (arrows and darts). It's capable of shooting both about 40 feet.

4. Nerf SuperMAXX 3000 /// 1997

When speedy shooting is paramount, this blaster's automatic rotating chamber fires eight darts 50 feet at a rate of about 0.81 seconds per shot. Nerf nerds hail it as one of the most accurate and powerful foam-shooting pistols ever.

5. Nerf Lock 'n' Load /// 1998

Many assume that heavy artillery is needed to get serious power out of a Nerf gun, but this little, single-shot gun proves them wrong. The pistol's 50-foot range equals that of its bigger cousins, making it a great backup blaster for ninja missions or for when your primary gun runs out of ammo.

6. Nerf PowerClip DX 1000 /// 1999

The PowerClip took cues from Hasbro's SuperSoaker division. Pump the gun a couple of times and it builds up enough pressure to send Nerf darts soaring 78 feet, at the rate of 9 darts per second.

7. Nerf N-Strike Unity Power System /// 2004

While early Nerf guns were cartoonish and unrealistic, the N-Strike series was heavily influenced by real weaponry. This was the first N-Strike series, and is notable for its versatility—it can shoot three different types of ammo from three discrete barrels: small darts for precise hits and rapid-fire shooting and a massive missile dart for long-range mortarlike assaults. Its best feature: The gun can be disassembled and used as three individual guns.

8. Nerf N-Strike Maverick /// 2006

This revolver-style Nerf gun is the company's best-selling blaster of all time. Reloading is easy: The six-dart chamber flips open for easy access to the auto-advancing barrel, and it can shoot the darts as fast as you can pump the handle and pull the trigger.

9. Nerf N-Strike Vulcan EBF-25 /// 2008

The biggest, best, most powerful Nerf gun ever. The battery-powered Vulcan is basically a fully-automatic foam-spewing machine gun, complete with a 25-dart clip that it can unload in less than 10 seconds. And if the batteries die, you can still pump and shoot the old-fashioned way. Some drawbacks: Chasing down all those darts for reloading is far from fun, and some of our commenters have noted that the belt jams easily.

10. Nerf N-Strike Raider Rapid Fire CS 35 Blaster /// 2009

When it comes out this Fall, this blaster's 35-dart cache will give it the highest dart capacity of any Nerf gun. The gun instantly transitions between single fire and slam fire when you pump it while holding the trigger. And unlike the Vulcan, the Raider's rapid-fire setting doesn't require batteries.