Lanard Huntsman Big Brute Review

When it comes to their blasters, Lanard tends to not have great distribution in the United States. You’ll see things pop up randomly online sometimes, and occasionally see the blasters on shelves in places like Go! Calendars or various discount stores, but otherwise seeing them is a matter of luck.

However, as of this year, Lanard has been working to put more of their toys online at Amazon, be it blasters or action figures. So when the Big Brute appeared – a blaster that had only been in the UK previously, at least to my knowledge – I had to grab one.

The Big Brute is a great looking blaster, combining the “hand cannon” look with the prime of a Nerf Hammershot and a six-dart indexing clip. However, issues with dart compatibility make this a questionable buy.

Stop! Hammer Time!

The Big Brute is slightly…big, even for adult hands. It’s certainly not as unfriendly as the Adventure Force/Buzz Bee Toys Thundershot in that regard, but you’ll still need to adjust your grip if you’re trying to use it one-handed.

The blaster itself feels pretty sturdy, all things considered. The plastic is all tan or orange; the remaining color comes from the two decals on the right side of the blaster.

It may not be an actual revolver, but the Big Brute instead features an indexing, six dart clip not unlike that of the Auto Scout. The mechanism and the priming are linked, so once you prime the blaster, you won’t be able to move the clip up or down for reloading.

Also on that note: the clip isn’t removable. If you want to load it up, you’ll have to load one side, push the clip through, then load the remaining barrels. I recommend loading the top of the clip as you use the blaster, then after dart six, push the clip back down again and finish refilling.

Dart Compatibility

This is the area where the Big Brute has issues. The included darts, it turns out, have slightly larger diameter holes than other darts. That, combined with the wide posts in the clip, means it’s hard to fit other type darts far enough in the clip to actually work. Buzz Bee Accublast darts were okay, as were Xshot darts, but even then it took time and pressure to shove the darts fully into place. That’s far from ideal, having to smash a dart down into the slot and wait for the foam to slowly work into place.

Clipping those posts out may as well be mandatory, even if you’re not a modder, if you want a decent experience.

Performance and Internals

The Big Brute averaged 54fps with the included darts – not exceptional, but at least okay. Using two hands, three darts per second is easily achievable.

On the inside, you have what may as well be a copy-pasted Hammershot mechanism, connected to the indexing arm. On the other side of the shell is a detent that keeps the clip in place between shots.

Last Thoughts

The Big Brute looks cool, but between dart compatibility issues and performance, it’s not the best choice.