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Best Nerf guns 2023

We recommend the best Nerf guns for all ages and play styles – whether you want the best budget blaster or an accurate, powerful pro dart-firing machine.

The Mega Mastodon, one of the best Nerf guns
Mollie Russell's Avatar

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Choosing the best Nerf guns relies on a huge range of factors. Are you after a high-precision blaster with near-guaranteed accuracy? Or do you want to spray darts willy-nilly while you cackle with glee? Perhaps you’re looking for a child-appropriate present, or you want to surprise an adult who’s already keen on the hobby.

Whatever kind of blaster you’re after, we’ve listed some of the top Nerf guns you can buy in 2023. Of course, if any of the blasters below are outside of your price range, be sure to check out our guide to cheap Nerf guns. As lovers of the best board games and the best Lego sets, we know our way around fun – and we reckon we can recommend the perfect Nerf guns for any occasion.

These are the best Nerf guns in 2023:

  • Nerf Elite 2.0 Commander RD-6 – Best value-for-money Nerf gun
  • Nerf Ultra Pharaoh Blaster – Best sniper Nerf gun
  • Nerf DionSquad Rex-Rampage – Best-looking Nerf gun
  • Nerf N-Strike Elite Jolt Blaster – Best small Nerf gun
  • Nerf N-Strike Mega Mastodon Blaster – Best big Nerf gun
  • Nerf Fortnite AR-L Elite – Best Fortnite Nerf gun

Commander RD-6, one of the best Nerf guns

Nerf Elite 2.0 Commander RD-6

Best value-for-money Nerf gun

The Nerf Elite 2.0 Commander RD-6 proves that a Nerf gun doesn’t need to be expensive to perform. For under $15 (£10), you’ve got a revolver-style blaster that can fire single darts or six in quick succession.

The Nerf Elite 2.0 Commander RD-6 is smooth, sturdy, and super simple to use. It might not have the most impressive range or firepower, but this is a Nerf gun that gives plenty of bang for your buck.

Pharaoh Blaster, one of the best Nerf guns

Nerf Ultra Pharaoh Blaster

Best sniper Nerf gun

If you want to simulate the careful precision of firing a sniper rifle, we recommend the Nerf Ultra Pharaoh Blaster. It’s a clip-fed bolt-action blaster that comes complete with a scope, a tactical rail, and a regal gold-and-white color scheme.

As well as looking swish, this Nerf gun is known for its impressive range – with darts able to clear 100ft with ease. Admittedly, the scope doesn’t actually help you shoot better, but the Nerf Ultra Pharaoh Blaster offers high levels of accuracy regardless.

Rex-Rampage, one of the best Nerf guns

Nerf DinoSquad Rex-Rampage

Best-looking Nerf gun

There are plenty of themed Nerf guns which add extra pizazz to your standard blaster, but the dinosaur-themed DinoSquad guns are our favorite purely based on looks. And the best among them is the Nerf DionSquad Rex-Rampage – because the T-Rex always wins. Debates about the best dinosaurs aside, the red-green color scheme means this is a Nerf gun that really pops.

It might not be the best choice if you’re after smooth performance, though. While fairly powerful, the Nerf DinoSquad Rex-Rampage is a battery-powered clip system blaster. This means its fairly bulky and noisy – and it’s known to jam now and then.

Elite Jolt Blaster, one of the best Nerf guns

Nerf N-Strike Elite Jolt Blaster

Best small Nerf gun

Perfect for surprise attacks, the Nerf N-Strike Elite Jolt Blaster is a tiny, single-shot pistol that’s easily carried and concealed. If you’re not ready for a big bulky blaster, want to fire shots that won’t hurt too much, or simply want to make sure your Nerf gun is fit for kid-sized hands, this is a solid choice.

For its weedy size and price tag, the Nerf N-Strike Elite Jolt Blaster is surprisingly competent, and still feels good to fire (if only for one shot). Its popularity is clear, as new versions of the Jolt Blaster have been released and re-released for over a decade now.

Mega Mastodon Blaster, one of the best Nerf guns

Nerf N-Strike Mega Mastodon Blaster

Best big Nerf gun

If size makes you feel powerful, you’ll want to pick up the Nerf N-Strike Mega Mastodon Blaster. This is the Big Daddy of Nerf guns. It’s a motorized flywheel blaster that holds 24 mega darts (read: the chunky ones), and it weighs 3.5kg without the six D batteries it needs to run.

The Nerf N-Strike Mega Mastodon Blaster is not practical in the slightest. It’s bulky and highly expensive to operate. But it does offer impressive rates of fire, power, and reliability – all while making you feel like the action hero of your dreams.

Fortnite AR-L, one of the best Nerf guns

Nerf Fortnite AR-L Elite

Best Fortnite Nerf gun

Fans of Fortnite will get a kick out of having a real-life counterpart to their digital guns, and the Nerf Fortnite AR-L Elite is the best option out there. It’s designed to look like the game’s Legendary Assault Rifle, with a bright yellow color scheme and block-y visual design completing the look.

If you’re not a major Fortnite fan, the Nerf Fortnite AR-L Elite doesn’t offer much to write home about. It’s a battery-operated, semi-automatic, flywheel clip blaster that functions very much like an (admittedly effective) N-Strike Elite Stryfe. Given their similarities (and the lower price of the Stryfe), it does feel like Nerf has charged an extra $10 for the Fortnite logo printed on the side of the AR-L Elite.

For more collectibles, here are the best new Lego sets to pick up. We’ve also ranked our favorite Marvel Funko Pops, Harry Potter Funko Pops, and Stranger Things Funko Pops.

Mollie Russell is Wargamer's resident D&D and guides specialist. She has a degree in Creative Writing and English Literature, and you can also find her writing at Pocket Tactics and in various poetry magazines. She's covered some of the biggest and weirdest releases for Wargamer - including the DnD movie, Frosthaven, and Baldur's Gate 3. Mollie is constantly playing Dungeons and Dragons, but she's still on her quest to try every tabletop RPG she can get her hands on. An avid fan of MTG drafts and horror board games, she will take any opportunity to info-dump about why Blood on the Clocktower is the best social deduction game. (She/Her)