Xshot Insanity Motorized Dartstorm Review

Xshot released the Insanity Ragefire in 2023, and it was a massive success – so much so that it’s still on some store shelves today. As time goes on, though, the Insanity line has to get bigger and better. This year, we have the Motorized Dartstorm, featuring two spinning barrels and two 40-dart drums! You have all the usual Insanity goodness as well (excess darts, dart holders, rail connectors, etc.)…but how does the blaster itself stack up? Let’s find out!

Bigger Is Better?

What can I say, Joey was excited.

The Dartstorm is comparable to the Ragefire, but with three crucial differences. There’s an extra rotating barrel, so darts are coming out of both. We’ve switched from a chain to twin magazines (each with 40 darts!). Finally, instead of a single trigger with two steps, there are separate rev and firing triggers. The blaster still comes with a Tripod, tons of darts (200!), and the various attachments. It’s a larger blaster overall, naturally, but not too unwieldy. I’ve carried it around during a Humans v Zombies mission, so older kids and adults should be fine carrying the blaster for combat, should you decide to not stand in place and defend a position.

If it reminds you if the old Nerf Rhinofire…you’re right, it does. This one sits taller and has rotating instead of reciprocating barrels.

The rear grip and triggers are angled down, so this isn’t a blaster meant to be held at eye level. That’s not a bad thing in this case (who in their right mind shoulders a minigun?), but it is something to know. Either the blaster sits on the tripod, or it’s being fired from the hip/front.

Drum Roll, Please

The included drum magazines are quite nice, and are rather innovative compared to Nerf’s past efforts with large capacity mags. When you first load darts, you’re simply clicking the follower along to the next position; the drum isn’t fighting back or squishing darts. Once you’re done loading, there are extra steps: moving a slide knob to engage the spring mechanism, then turning a knob on the front of the drum to wind it up. Now you’re ready to fire those darts!

If, for some reason, you don’t fire everything, you can disengage the spring mechanism as well. That way, the magazine won’t sit there with a compressed spring or squished darts.

The drum magazines aren’t perfect; both of mine occasionally get hung up at the point where the follower is supposed to curve up into the top of the magazine. Your experience may be different, but it is something to be aware of.

Of course, you can use other magazines you already have on hand. You have to load those 200 darts into something!

Performance and Gameplay

The Motorized Dartstorm, when fully spun up on 8 AA batteries (not included), hits around 81fps. Firing at six darts per second, that number does dip into the lower 70s. But with that rate of fire, having only a minor dip is impressive for an ages 8+ blaster.

It was effective when I tried it in a Humans v Zombies game! Between the high capacity, decent dart speed, and the rate of fire, I was able to hold my ground for a while in the mission I used it, with teammates that could cover when I swapped magazines.

Also, my wife enjoys shooting me with it…

Internals and Modification

There are a ton of pictures here!

The blaster itself comes apart relatively easily, but there are a lot of screws, with a few hiding in deep holes. Once you get all the screws, you’ll find a small SM 2P plug that’s used to connect the battery tray to the rest of the blaster circuitry. It’s the same type of plug used for Xshot’s gel blasters, Motor soakers, and the Motorized Piston Pump; it’s cheap and not the sturdiest connector out there, but it works.

There’s a central board to which all the switch, battery, and motor leads connect. Note that there’s a 3A PTC on the board, so if you’re rewiring for anything besides alkaline batteries, you’ll have to remove this board and do all the connections yourself.

The handle has a two switch mechanism. The rev trigger simply pushes two metal strips together, while the firing trigger presses down an actual switch. The firing trigger also moves an orange plastic lever that acts as a ratchet for the firing mechanism. Wen you release the trigger, that lever settles between gear teeth to prevent the firing mechanism from moving backwards.

The barrels lift out fairly easily, as does the flywheel cage once screws are removed. It turns out that the Dartstorm uses dual-shaft 280 motors, with white plastic connectors linking the shafts to metal extensions. Those extensions have the flywheels mounted on them, and bearings at the end to maintain alignment/smooth motion. Rubber gaskets enclose the motors. Could you replace the motors? Likely. It will be interesting to see if anyone takes the time to design a new flywheel cage; the stock cage is rather large and unique.

At the very least, rewiring for a lipo will make the motors spin faster, if that’s your goal.

Final Thoughts

The Dartstorm is was far more fun than I expected. At $100, it’s the most expensive blaster Xshot has ever sold. But if the Dartstorm is your “big toy” desire for the upcoming holiday season, you won’t be disappointed!