Sometimes sales flukes can happen. Last week, Walmart had some Ultra Fours on sale online. I was able, however, to grab one for myself. We are so excited to see the early reviews!
The Ultra Four makes a strong performance in dart velocity. However, theres still that nagging feeling that, ultimately, the Ultra Dart itself is holding the line back from greatness.
The New NiteFinder
Every Nerf line needs its own basic, one-dart, spring-powered blaster. Elite had the Firestrike, NStrike had Nitefinder, Elite had Elite. Like Mega before it, Ultra opted to start with a flagship and a multi-shot pistol first, with the basic model only appearing now.
Although the Ultra Four is slightly smaller than the Two, it is almost identical in size. The handle is the same, but it lacks the rev trigger. The handle is still too short and uncomfortable. Although the trigger area is not very large, most people should be able to insert their index finger into it.
Notably, the priming mechanism is not in line with the barrel. The plunger below the prime is connected to it via a gear system. You are compressing a strong spring by doubling the priming distance, just like many other blasters in the Rival range.
Ultra Four features a single tactical rail at the top and storage below for two darts. The plunger tube is visible, just like the Finisher. This is the current trend in Nerf design.
Yep, Looks Like Ultra
All aesthetics are the same as you would expect. One side has gold lettering, and so on. Ultra Dart DRM is simply the shape of the safety tube in front of the plunger tube. The valve opens by protruding from the rear of the dart. Not nearly as complicated as the extra locks in previous blasters.
The barrel is a long tube that has an indented ring to hold the dart. It also provides friction for the dart to stay put while pressure builds behind it. You may be familiar with Nerf modding. This is what we used in the old brass barrel mods.
Performance
If we go by the Hasbro test of blasters, the Ultra Four meets all the claims. At a large angle (40), darts can fly past 120.
In terms of concrete numbers, the Ultra Four in my hands averaged 100fps. This is quite impressive for stock blasters. The rate of fire was approximately one darteevery two seconds, which is not the fastest, but it’s okay considering that this blaster was only one shot and manually primed. The extended primereally slows down that rate of fire.
We still have to deal with the Ultra darts. When they exit the barrel straight, theyre great. It’s not as satisfying to watch darts exit the blaster at an angle of 10 degrees. Strangely enough, my blaster (when the dart didnt go straight) shot to the left at distance.
The effect isnt as noticeable at closer ranges, but you can still fire at a man-sized target and have the dart completely miss. But I think weve beaten this dead horse enough.
Internals
Here are the insides of the blaster, as I always try to do. Its nothing too complicated, just a gear train set up to double priming distance compared to plunger draw. The spring itself is quite stiff, and Im not sure that trying to replace it will yield enough performance to justify the extra stress itll cause.
The blaster’s front orange cap is solvent-welded.
