The picture to the right is a picture of all the ammo types there are.
They are proportionally correct to each other, of course they are much smaller
than real life.There are several types of ammo, which are for you? Read this page and you will know.
Ammo Descriptions
Type 1 and Type 2 suction darts and the difference
between them
Ammo Refill Form
The picture to the right is a picture of all the ammo types there are.
They are proportionally correct to each other, of course they are much smaller
than real life.
Arrows - Arrows are the heaviest of the ammo types, and thus least
blown off course by wind. However, with this advantage comes the disadvantage
that due to their size they get bent easily and the fins tend to get torn,
thus rendering the ammo useless.
Suction Darts - There are many different colors of Suction Dart ammo.
The one pictured here is called a "Type 1"
dart. See the Type 1, Type 2 section for details.
Suction Darts are used in most of the newer Nerf® toys and are the most
balanced of the ammos.
Micro Suction Darts - These little suckers are the most blown off
course of all the ammo types. Not much bigger than your pinky, used only
by the small Nerf® guns, the Micro Suction Dart has good range for it's
size, but can not stand up to most outside battles. The slightest breeze
will blow this off course.
Balls - Balls are used in only a very few of the Nerf® toys.
Balls were rendered obsolete by the chain fed weapons which shortly followed
their [ball shooters] appearance.
Missiles - Missiles are a smaller version of the Arrows and were
used prior to 1992. The invention of the Suction Dart made the Missile shooting
toys instantly obsolete. Most missile shooting weapons actually sport better
range and accuracy when using the newer Suction Dart ammo.
Koosh Ring - Introduced in 1998 by Koosh, is the Koosh Ring. This is used in their line of toys and can fly very far. This ammo has a weighted end, and must be inserted properly into the firing mechanism. Unfortunately the ring can be blown seriously off course in any wind, and should be only used indoors.
The origin of the Suction Dart dates back to 1992 when the Sharpshooter®
toy came out. This new toy had a post on the inside of a barrel where you
carefully slid this new dart onto for firing. This post was sturdy and straight,
and because it is covered, has incredible accuracy.
With this came a new era of Nerf® weapons to follow. Higher accuracy and further distances became commonplace after this Suction Dart ammo became mainstream. All was well and good, or so we thought.
In spring of 1995 the Sharpshooter® II came out. This weapon had a higher distance and even better accuracy than the first. Or did it? During the next few months following it's release all my friends slowly started to purchase this new toy. Nerf® (in it's infinite wisdom) decided to start to use different kinds of Suction Darts which were made at different production plants, and all ever so slightly different in size from each other. Most notably this new ammo had a bit larger hole, supposedly to generate better air flow. But did it?
This is where I came in with my Type 1 and Type 2 distinctions. I noticed that my friends did not always have the same great range as I. In fact when using Type 2 ammo (which is any ammo which is not the yellow with orange tip kind) in the Sharpshooter® II toy [which normally fires 45 feet maximum range] the toy only shoots about 20. feet I thought this highly odd, and over the course of about 1 week narrowed it down to the ammo. I then proceeded to test approximately 50 different ammos of Type 1 and Type 2 in 6 different Sharpshooter® II toys, as well as several others over time [being the Chainblazer®, Crossbow and Manta Ray(TM) to name a few] and determined that there is indeed a vast difference in performance between Type 1 and 2.
Be very careful to notice on my pages whether a weapon is listed as using Type 1 or Type 2. Mostly it is a good bet to always use Type 1, however some of the newer stuff uses Type 2 better. Whichever is listed on my pages if you use the opposite type, you will suffer drastic reduction in performance. Such as only about 1/2 of maximum distance, and 2/3 of optimum distance, as well as drastically reduced accuracy.
How do you get Type 1 ammo? Unfortunately as of 7/97 Type 1 ammo is no longer being produced or accepted for trade, they have been officially discontinued by Nerf®. Feel free to go to the Contacting Companies page, write down the address for Nerf®, write them a letter expressing your outrage and dissatisfaction with this decision. I warned them this would happen, and they didn't believe me. I just don't see how when a toy fires only 2/3 as far with the Type 2 ammo you can choose to discontinue the Type 1. *shrug* Well, I did warn them how upset everyone would be, so fire away guys!
This is the most current Nerf® ammo Refill form. WARNING if you print this page (or save the image and print it later) the picture will most likely not come out. Screens use approximately 500 dpi, while the average printer uses about 1000 (trust me printers actually can print about 2x what they say their maximums are) thus, the picture will be unreadably blurry. There are several downloadable versions in the download section of my site. Feel free to download a much higher resolution version and print it later.
