Author note: this blaster was sent to me for free to review. Thanks, Dart Zone!
Five Dollars, Four Shots
Using the Storm Squad at the last CANE war.
The Storm Squad is a fairly simple blaster. It features a small but open handle, with a fairly large trigger in comparison. Primer is done with a top slide. The scope and slide work together, with the plunger rod sticking out at the back for priming. You can also use the four-dart cylinder to reload.
As silly as a dart blaster looks with a fake scope, it actually isnt a bad thing here. The blaster can be gripped and primed easily on the large surface. This makes it less likely you will be able to shove the blaster in a pocket or holster. But for normal use (or for kids, for that matter), its super easy to use. And at close rangesthe scope isnt horrible for aiming. Again, more useful for kids, but not anything to actually complain about.
Reloading the blaster looks annoying at first; after all, only one barrel is exposed. The cylinder rotates with every trigger pull. Its in a manner similar to the Maverick lining up the barrel on the pull, then moving between barrels on the release. This allows you to quickly rotate through all the barrels for reloading. The rotation takes place before the blaster fires. You could theoretically pull the trigger lightly to turn the cylinder on a primed blaster and then release it to empty the barrel. In practice, though, I fired many darts by accident trying to do this!
The Storm Squad does not have any air restrictors. Dry firing the blaster will produce a loud, clear sound from the plunger impact. Dart Zone, a small blaster uses a spring-loaded flap to stop darts being fired.
On the one hand, you may not be able to get more power out of this blaster. The flap is what prevents you from firing half-length darts at the same velocities.
Performance
The Storm Squad packs a punch for such a small blaster. The included waffle darts average 75fps which is enough to reach the 80 range claims. You can also fire off two darts per minute, but you’ll quickly run out of darts, as you only have four to load.
Internals
Heres the inside of the Storm Squad. It effectively maximizes the space for plunger volume, as you can see. Although the slide’s two ends are solder-welded, it is possible to remove enough screws to reach this point.
Do be careful to keep track of the catch plate spring. It, well, sprung on disassembly.
