The Best Nerf Guns and Blasters for Every Kid

Quit calling them Nerf guns. Nerf blasters have been around for decades, providing a means of fun foam combat across generations. Sure, some may be leery of toy weapons, but the best Nerf blasters resemble something more likely found in Starship Troopers than in Scarface. Whether you’re looking for some rainy day fun or building out your son or daughter’s soft-tipped arsenal, few toys can act, paradoxically enough, as a peacemaker in childhood conflicts.

Over the past 30-odd years, Nerf has expanded one of its most popular categories with a broad selection of products. And that can make finding the right blaster for you and your child a chore. Some hold two darts and are powered by an inch-long spring; others hold dozens and are powered by massive batteries. There are Nerf rifles, Nerf shotguns, manual Nerf blasters, automatic Nerf blasters, and even Nerf blasters made to look like nail guns. There’s no one best Nerf gun. Rather, there’s the best Nerf gun for you and your kid.

If it’s a kid who likes to take their time and employ patience, a tripod-enabled sniper-style blaster might be a good pick. A light, quick-firing option will do the trick if they’re drawn to high-energy havoc and fog-of-war decision-making. If they like variety, consider one that can be customized for different firing styles, whether that’s ambush or in the role of the hunter. There may not be a single best Nerf blaster, but there are blasters that excel in certain areas, namely distance, speed, modularity, accuracy, and what we’re calling beefiness. There’s also, in our estimation, the best jack-of-all-trades. Here are our favorites for all types of Nerf fans.

We may receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.

Best Distance

Best Projectile Speed

Best Rate of Fire

Best For Outside

Best Modularity

Best Accuracy

Best Beefiness

Best All-Around

Best Minecraft Blaster

Nerf Gun Storage

Once you’ve built up a good Nerf gun collection, the next step is figuring out how to store your Nerf arsenal properly. Since you’ll want them to be easily accessible and organized, keeping them in a toy chest or stashed in a closet won’t do. But before you spend a grip of cash on Nerf gun storage racks like the Nerf Elite Blaster Rack, here’s a simpler (and cheaper) option.

For organizational and display purposes, it’s hard to beat the classic pegboard. Setup couldn’t be easier: find the studs in a wall, mount the pegboard, then mount the guns in whatever configuration you like. Just be sure to include some mounted baskets to keep your ammo organized.