Adventure Force Double Fire Review

Buzz Bee Toys has been updating older blasters for the modern era. The Tommy 20 led to the Powermech, for example. Now, sold under Walmart’s Adventure Force line, we have the Double Fire. It succeeds the shell-fed Double Shot of old, while keeping similar style internals. It does, however, make for easier loading and better performance, if you’re a fan of the break-action play style. And at $10, it’s not a bad deal, either.

K.I.S.S. (Keep It…String-Primed, Stupid?)

Before we get into blaster performance, let’s start with the internals for a change, because it explains a lot. The Double Fire, like the Double Shot before it, is primed through a string and pulleys. Yes, that’s correct. When the user breaks open the barrels for loading, it also pulls on a looped string. This results in twin plungers being pulled back – they’re on the smaller side, but they have stiff springs. It’s an effective, if somewhat antiquated, system, and there’s no reason to change what works. But it also means that, more than most blasters, what you see is what you get. Because you’re probably not going to be opening this blaster up to make it better. It was also somewhat delicate in the previous versions, but the plastic here feels much better. So it should end up being durable. Or at least durable enough for a $10 purchase.

The Classic Shotgun Feel

The Double Fire eschews the classic shells of the Double Shot for an easier, more durable design. The internals, aside from one end of the priming string, are all in the rear, and the front half has thick plastic pillars and long machine screws. The Double Shot felt fairly cheap. This blaster? Not nearly as much. Darts are simply pushed into the real barrels, and the faux barrels are folded up over them afterwards.

After priming the blaster, you fire by pulling the trigger. Notably, it’s a two-stage trigger, making it possible to stagger your two shots. If you like, though, you can just pull the trigger all the way and blaster two darts.

The blaster comes with a side-mounted dart holder that can hold four darts for easy reloading.

The blaster itself feels sturdy in hand, with plenty of texture. However, due to the internal setup (side by side plungers), it has a rather thick handle that may not be comfortable. The stock of the blaster also isn’t very effective except for small children. Then again, this is one blaster that would probably work best for small children, since the break action presents a giant lever for priming the blaster.

Performance

The Double Fire, in my experience, averages 78fps with the included darts. Assuming you just fire off both darts and quickly reload, you can fire off two darts every three seconds. It’s a cheap toy shotgun, though. Rate of fire just isn’t the main concern.

Do be aware that if the front of the blaster doesn’t go over the front of the dart after priming, then the dart isn’t seated in its barrel properly.

Final Opinion

The Double Fire is a fun, modern replacement for a classic Buzz Bee Toy, for a similar price. It’s not exactly a powerhouse you’ll be wielding at a Nerf war, but that’s also not really its role. It’s just a fun, inexpensive, tactile experience for younger kids wanting a Wild West kind of blaster.