NERF Fun- Your Choice- $13.99-$19.99!

I’d say the Vortex Praxis is the best choice here. The disks have a chance of hurting more, which translates to more fun.

Check out the N-Strike Rayven CS-18 in action

I know a guy. He sands off the logo, gets them beat up, disassembles them carefully, repaints them, and then reassembles them.

BAM.

Instant custom cosplay gun.

Example:
www.instructables.com/id/Steampunk-Nerf-Guns/Cached

Buy three, buy paint, have fun!

As an avid Nerf enthusiast, I have to say these prices are pretty good. The only drawback is that Nerf has moved on to the Elite line of blasters, so these guys are pretty outdated. These older N-strike blasters have very weak ranges when compared to the newer models.
The Rayven is the best choice here by far; it lends itself very well to voltage mods (just remove resistors and throw in some 3.7v batteries) and looks awesome. The Barricade has been made more or less obsolete by its successor, the Stryfe, and for two dollars more you may as well go with the Rayven. The Rayven still holds up well to its successor if you put a bit of work into it, but if you’re not into modding you might be better off waiting for the far more powerful Elite blasters to go on sale somewhere.
I know nothing about the Vortex though.

All 3 of these guns were solid for their time, though it’s true the first two are effectively outdated. However, the Praxis is still solid, featuring a faster ROF than the Nitron at half the price of the otherwise-comparable Pyragon. I actually find the Praxis to be more comfortable than the Pyragon, and tend to just add the Pyragon’s drum to my Praxis.

Here’s a review for the Rayven:

And one for the Praxis:

We don’t have the vortexes (vortices??) but we have many of the regular type including the yellow one shown.
Although the newer ones may have greater range, these are superb for indoor play (eye protection is always ideal!). This are used for nerf wars and also as bodyguard protection when my kid follows me around pretending he’s my own personal SS. My kids and the seven other kids in a four house range play endlessly, these guns stand up to a ton of abuse (but i wouldn’t leave the ones with batteries out in the rain. Again.

The other parents are much smarter than i and have labelled their bullets with a Sharpie . . . A GREAT idea, if you asked me.

Oh one more note from me. The Rayven and Barricade both use electric flywheels to propel darts. The Barricade has an on/off switch on the side, so either the flywheels are always spinning or they’re off. The Rayven has a second trigger that spins up the flywheels, so you can “prime” it without ever having to move your finger off the main trigger. The Rayven also is compatible with all clip system magazines (6, 12, and 18-dart)for quick reloading, while the Barricade is a revolver and has to be reloaded one dart at a time.
I have a Barricade, and I never felt like I got my money’s worth from it.

Yeah… the flywheels are fun. You get some good zip and fire-rate, and the ‘ominous hummmmm’ is pretty awsome.

…straight outta pandora!

I don’t know why I’m surprised that Nerf guns can be outdated, because I really shouldn’t be.

OMG Does this magazine hold more than 7 nerf rounds? Roble roble robel, liberal jargon, moan, complain.

These would have been awesome in the dorms, for the price, but I just went with the knock offs then.

Good price on this woot!

Target has the Rayven for $17.99, Vortex Praxis Blaster for $25.99, both online only.

I bought 3 of the Rayven’s for my 3 grandsons. I would like to get extra clips with darts for them. All I am finding are clips that say they work with “Elite” nerfs guns. Forgive this Grandma’s ignorance but where can I buy them?

Will these that shoot darts, like the Barricade, also shoot the suction cup darts? We have office battles all the time, and have tons of the suction cup darts laying everywhere that I’d like to reuse.

I can’t really speak to the effectiveness of suction darts in the barricade, but I don’t think they will fit in the guns that use the clips.

As the childish father of a 7-year-old boy, I can tell you with authority that the discs are FAR superior to the darts. I will never go back! I do slightly miss the specialized darts, especially the whistling ones, but the discs fly much further and you can bank them by angling the gun when firing. Ricochets with the discs are also much more fun than with the darts, due to their spinning nature.

The Nerf Elite clips, Nerf N-strike clips and Nerf light-up series clips all work in ANY nerf dart clip blasters

so the elite clips will work in your rayven.