Slam fire

Slam firing is a type of firing mode that allows darts to fire more rapidly on certain slide-action Nerf blasters. Normally, slide action requires that the priming slide be racked back and forth and then the trigger be pulled in a separate motion for each shot. Slam fire entails holding down the trigger, and then racking the slide to fire the dart immediately. In skipping the separate trigger pull, time is saved and the user achieves some semblance of rapid fire. The first blaster to feature the ability to slam fire was the Raider CS-35.

Details

To slam fire properly, the blaster must be loaded properly and the firing trigger must be held down. The blaster should then be repeatedly primed; every time it is cocked, a dart will fly out. With practice, users can become very comfortable slam firing and launch a steady spray of flowing darts. A skilled user can beat the rate of fire of an unmodified Stampede ECS. When you are loading a clip or drum into a slam fire blaster, you can pull the trigger from there and then follow the regular slam fire steps.

In some cases, slam firing is achieved at the expense of accuracy and range, but may be worth it depending on the combat situation.

Dangers

If a blaster is slam fired too fast, it may jam up and wreck darts. This usually happens when it is done for the first time on a blaster. Users should also not attempt to slam fire on blasters that normally cannot slam fire, as it can possibly break the blaster's priming mechanisms. The type of clip and the way the darts are loaded in can also contribute to jams.

The mechanism

A slam fire mechanism is a type of safety lock that coincidentally or intentionally doubles as a secondary fire. It is composed of three basic parts: the firing trigger, the slam trigger, and the return lock. The trigger and slam trigger act as a double requirement for the blaster to fire, hence the reason it is a safety lock. The slam trigger requires that the priming handle or slide is put completely forward. Only then do the two parts completely make contact with each other and can finally push the catch to fire the dart. The last piece is the return lock that prevents the priming handle from being pushed back, i.e. primed twice, without firing the blaster. This piece is not completely necessary to slam fire the blaster, but it does help prevent jams, shredded darts, and other user error.

Blasters that can slam fire

Technical slam fire blasters

The following are blasters that have the ability to slam fire, but are not advertised as such.