My ProChrono Digital chronograph measured the speed of the darts fired by this stock Zuru X-shot Turbofire blaster at an average of 76 feet per second (FPS) using Nerf Elite darts (it is capable of shooting any standard Nerf Elite darts; blue, green, white, orange, purple/grey, Starwars themed, Accustrike, battle camouflage print, and decorated Rebelle darts). The standard average velocity of a Nerf Elite blaster is 70 FPS, so this Zuru X-shot blaster is stronger than most stock Nerf blasters (keep in mind that this rating is with the possible barrel drag that comes with an unnecessarily long barrel that the Turbofire has, which may be decreasing the dart velocity, meaning that it may be even stronger had it not had a long barrel). Slam-fire is the ability to fire off darts in rapid succession by holding down the firing trigger and repeatedly priming the blaster to fire a dart off every time it is primed, resulting in some semblance of rapid fire. The tradeoff of using this function is often the reduced accuracy due to the shaking of the blaster while it is being furiously primed. This is even more pronounced due to the placement of the priming handle being located on the top rear area of the blaster and having less stability of the muzzle than the shotgun priming handle location of it’s brethren, the Zuru X-shot Turbo Advance (although ironically, the Turbo Advance does not have the Slam-fire function). When using the Turbofire, your aim is much better if you fire one shot at a time, and you will have a generous 20 dart capacity to fire off before a reload is necessary. In addition, the 8 dead chambers in the inner ring of the turret/drum are not designed to fire, but they hold extra darts for a reload of the 20 active chambers that do. While unprimed, the Turbofire‘s drum can easily be turned with the orange dial or simply by turning the drum manually. This however makes the drum move around loosely whilst maneuvering or running around, possibly ratcheting forwards to an already spent chamber. This could force the user to have to take the unnecessary step of checking the dart location before firing, hoping the second it takes to look at it is not during a crucial moment that results in the user getting tagged out. This is not an issue for a slower-moving or more mindful operator, so the Turbofire is more suitable for those who prime their blasters (keeping the drum primed prevents the drum from accidentally rotating) before making any vigorous maneuvers. Ergonomically, the pistol grip would be perfect had it not been for the skeleton-ized bar connecting it’s base to the rear of the blaster that somewhat conflicts with your wrist for space. Younger users should be less affected by this aesthetic feature due to their smaller hands, but the draw weight of the priming handle may be harder for them to pull back. I feel the overall size and weight of the Turbofire is easier to handle than that of the size of the bulky Turbo Advance. The pop-up “X-sight” is a neat feature that allows it to be folded down and springs up with the push of the orange button directly behind it. For whatever reason, they made mine friction-fit detachable and it came right out, but I was able to superglue it in place and it still works fine. In conclusion, this budget buy is one that outperforms the competition while undercutting the price-point by a considerable margin. It is notably very visually appealing due to the amount of detail that went into the design of the product. It may not be the highest grade of plastic, but the newer X-Shot blasters still give me a sense of confidence in the durability of their plastic over some of the other cheaper grade plastics used by other companies. The cross-compatibility of the darts used by the most popular dart blasters on the market today make it a great youth gift idea as well. I therefore hold this Turbofire blaster in high regard and approve of it as a preferable alternative to the more expensive models on the market today.
