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This is a basic, first impression review of the ERTL (or Outdoor Sportsman) RFSG, or Rapid Fire Shotgun.
This blaster seems great to start with. It's very big and long, compared to it's little brother, the PAS. It's very sturdy, has a lot more weight and feels more like an adult's blaster. The shell is sturdy and the aesthetics are quite nice, even though it's a very basic looking shell, like the PAS.
The stock on the RFSG is pretty comfortable. It's such an extremely simply shape, just a very basic triangle, but that seems to work quite well for it. Something like a Raider stock is a little better, but not by far, with less stability and generally wouldn't fit this blaster very well. The grip is reasonable, but not extremely comfortable. Like it's been cut out of a solid piece of wood, then had the edges smoothed off all the way around. It has a lot of flat sides, which makes it a little uncomfortable, although the overall shape is quite good. It also has a trigger lock on the right hand side of the grip, in the perfect position for my left-handed self. It seems to be quite annoying for right-handed use, although I can't see anyone needing to gain access to it in a hurry, so it doesn't really matter. The trigger is very small, about a third of the PAS' trigger. It's a little uncomfortable initially, as you can't rest your finger completely on the trigger, only half of my finger fits on. But pulling the trigger reveals about double the length. The trigger guard is far too big and looks a little silly. It's too big for the rest of my fingers to fit on the grip, although doesn't take very much getting used to. It's also a very nice, basic shape.
The mid section of the blaster is, in keeping with the rest, very basic. The priming handle in my own opinion is absolutely excellent. Compared to that of the PAS, it's bigger, rounder, nicer to feel, has more grip, better! I absolutely love it. I looked at swapping the two around and having it on my PAS, but the connection points aren't located in the same place, so it wouldn't have been as simple as I would have liked. Internally through the mid section, there is nothing impressive. The plunger tube is a lot smaller than the PAS, the seal isn't very good, the spring is weak. The only things I really do like are the trigger and plunger rod. The rod is seemingly a lot sturdier than the PAS, which is great, and also the trigger seems to be slightly stronger.
The turret is obviously the main attraction. It's huge and looks very beefy, with a yellow-gold tinge to the barrels. This is where the blaster gets most of it's weight from, as it's a very front-heavy blaster. The rotation mechanism doesn't work very effectively stock, unless you're patient and prime reasonably slowly, but with a few modifications, that should be fixed. It has a 12-shot automatically advancing turret, which really allows for great rate of fire. It's not exactly easy to load stock darts into the turret and also takes time to load all the barrels. It seems that there is a smaller diameter section about 15mm down into each barrel, which annoyingly catches on the back of the darts as you try to slide them in and makes it slightly harder to load. Overall, the turret looks great and seems very strong.
The priming action of the RFSG is quite good and very easy with just the stock spring, although you need to be careful, as priming too quickly or roughly will cause the turret to not advance. The trigger pull is nice and firm, a slight step up from the PAS. The screws all through the shell are nice and big, which is excellent. I had a bit of trouble with the screws in the PAS being too small and stripping the threads out of the shell, but this blaster is the opposite, with excellent structure. Also, like mentioned earlier, it is very front heavy. If deciding on material to modify this blaster, choose a very light barrel material.
I usually wouldn't do a review on a stock blaster, but I figure this one warrants a nice review, since it's quite complex and interesting. I think it's great, I look forward to modifying it. Stay tuned!
Thanks,
Cody
This blaster seems great to start with. It's very big and long, compared to it's little brother, the PAS. It's very sturdy, has a lot more weight and feels more like an adult's blaster. The shell is sturdy and the aesthetics are quite nice, even though it's a very basic looking shell, like the PAS.
The stock on the RFSG is pretty comfortable. It's such an extremely simply shape, just a very basic triangle, but that seems to work quite well for it. Something like a Raider stock is a little better, but not by far, with less stability and generally wouldn't fit this blaster very well. The grip is reasonable, but not extremely comfortable. Like it's been cut out of a solid piece of wood, then had the edges smoothed off all the way around. It has a lot of flat sides, which makes it a little uncomfortable, although the overall shape is quite good. It also has a trigger lock on the right hand side of the grip, in the perfect position for my left-handed self. It seems to be quite annoying for right-handed use, although I can't see anyone needing to gain access to it in a hurry, so it doesn't really matter. The trigger is very small, about a third of the PAS' trigger. It's a little uncomfortable initially, as you can't rest your finger completely on the trigger, only half of my finger fits on. But pulling the trigger reveals about double the length. The trigger guard is far too big and looks a little silly. It's too big for the rest of my fingers to fit on the grip, although doesn't take very much getting used to. It's also a very nice, basic shape.
The mid section of the blaster is, in keeping with the rest, very basic. The priming handle in my own opinion is absolutely excellent. Compared to that of the PAS, it's bigger, rounder, nicer to feel, has more grip, better! I absolutely love it. I looked at swapping the two around and having it on my PAS, but the connection points aren't located in the same place, so it wouldn't have been as simple as I would have liked. Internally through the mid section, there is nothing impressive. The plunger tube is a lot smaller than the PAS, the seal isn't very good, the spring is weak. The only things I really do like are the trigger and plunger rod. The rod is seemingly a lot sturdier than the PAS, which is great, and also the trigger seems to be slightly stronger.
The turret is obviously the main attraction. It's huge and looks very beefy, with a yellow-gold tinge to the barrels. This is where the blaster gets most of it's weight from, as it's a very front-heavy blaster. The rotation mechanism doesn't work very effectively stock, unless you're patient and prime reasonably slowly, but with a few modifications, that should be fixed. It has a 12-shot automatically advancing turret, which really allows for great rate of fire. It's not exactly easy to load stock darts into the turret and also takes time to load all the barrels. It seems that there is a smaller diameter section about 15mm down into each barrel, which annoyingly catches on the back of the darts as you try to slide them in and makes it slightly harder to load. Overall, the turret looks great and seems very strong.
The priming action of the RFSG is quite good and very easy with just the stock spring, although you need to be careful, as priming too quickly or roughly will cause the turret to not advance. The trigger pull is nice and firm, a slight step up from the PAS. The screws all through the shell are nice and big, which is excellent. I had a bit of trouble with the screws in the PAS being too small and stripping the threads out of the shell, but this blaster is the opposite, with excellent structure. Also, like mentioned earlier, it is very front heavy. If deciding on material to modify this blaster, choose a very light barrel material.
I usually wouldn't do a review on a stock blaster, but I figure this one warrants a nice review, since it's quite complex and interesting. I think it's great, I look forward to modifying it. Stay tuned!
Thanks,
Cody
