Did you fire nine shots? Or only eight? Do you have six darts left in your mag? Or only five? Is it seven? Or four? Three? Do you even know? Don’t be outgunned or tagged out because you unexpectedly ran out of ammo on the battlefield. Let’s take the math out of the equation, let’s put a Nerf Dart Ammo Counter on your Nerf gun…

Nerf Dart Ammo Counter.

Welcome to the Nerf dart Ammo Counter review! So a little while ago, I got a message on my website from a Nerfer down in Georgia who goes by the name Nathaniel Deal. He likes to tinker and modify Nerf blasters on occasion and he actually created one of the coolest Nerf Stampede mods I’ve ever seen. You see, while most people use a Longshot as a base to make the Gears of War Lancer, Nathaniel Deal used a Stampede. Full auto, baby!

In fact, I think Nathaniel Deal’s Stampede Lancer may be the only full auto Lancer mod out there. Anyway, funnily enough, he commented on my website under the old Blasterparts Alien Ammo Counter picture to let me know that he had made his own Nerf dart ammo counter. We got to chatting through e-mail and he ended up sending me a press sample so that I could bring you guys this review! So, without further adieu…

Ammo Counter Aesthetics.:

Let’s talk about the look of this thing. A slightly modified Nerf Nitron Scope served as the housing for the original design. He managed to fit all of his circuit boards, wiring, etc., inside the Nitron scope, complete with a functioning LCD and everything else it needed to work. He painted the scope in black and white and it came out looking pretty nifty. If you’re familiar with the Nitron scope, you’ll know how cool this looked. In fact, I’ll leave a link here to the scope and to the V1 Nerf dart Ammo Counter, which you can still buy from the Ammo Counter Etsy shop.

This Nitron scope version of the Ammo Counter was awesome, but… Nitron scopes aren’t exactly too easy to come by. They aren’t made anymore and so you have to find used ones, most likely from eBay. So what did he do? He 3D printed his own scope-like casing for the Ammo Counter. And that leads us to the Ammo Counter Mark 1.

While still moderately influenced by the Nitron scope, the Mk1 version of the Ammo Counter was slim and sleek and more understated than before. It became an example of perfection in simplicity. It’s all black, with a design that is highly reminiscent of Nerf’s own N-Strike Elite tacti-cool styling.

The Scope.:

Flipping the Ammo Counter over, you can see the rail adapter. This is how you attach it to the Nerf tactical rail. You can slide it on like any other Nerf attachment, or you can loosen the screws and tension mount it if necessary.

The Barrel.:

Inside the barrel attachment, you can see the standard sized N-Strike attachment nubs for locking onto the muzzle of a compatible blaster. And you can also see the wires that lead to the IR sensors. They create a beam that, when broken, let’s the ammo counter know that you have fired a dart.

The Cable.:

The scope and barrel attachments are connected by a flat, premium looking cable to protect the wires from harsh Nerf War environments. This means you shouldn’t have to worry about the wires getting twisted or shorted out. (Like those freaking iPhone lightning cable chargers!)

Ammo Counter Installation.:

Usually when buying such a sophisticated piece of gadgetry, you’d expect an equally sophisticated installation process. Not here. It comes fully assembled and with the required 9 volt battery installed and connected. All you have to do is slide the scope attachment onto a free tactical rail… 

and put the muzzle onto the end of your barrel.

Both parts of the Nerf dart Ammo Counter slide on just like any official Nerf attachment would. The scope fits perfectly onto a tac rail and the muzzle slips on like any extended barrel would. Installation is quick and easy and literally any one that can operate the blaster can install this kit. Period. However, if you’re more advanced, you can actually order the Ammo Counter unassembled and build it yourself.

Ammo Counter Operation.:

The Ammo Counter operation couldn’t be any more seamless unless it was built into your blaster. It comes apart for maintenance and even has a separate battery access door to switch out batteries. It even has a tension mount for a very sturdy attachment to standard Nerf tactical rails. Awesome. 

When looking at the Nerf dart ammo counter head on, you will see the LCD (and big bright blue numbers if it’s powered on). Under that, you’ll see a switch and two buttons. The switch is a simple power switch. Move it from right to left to turn on the ammo counter. You’ll be greeted by the aforementioned bright blue numbers.

A photo posted by Nerf Gun Attachments (@nerfgunattachments) on Jul 1, 2016 at 5:10pm PDT

The first button is labeled with an R, which stands for “reset.” Push that button and the ammo counter will reset whatever number it’s counted down to, and it will go back to one of the pre-set full capacity Nerf magazine sizes. I’ll discuss that more in just a bit. But first, the last button. The last button is labeled with a “T” and that stands for “toggle.” This is how you switch between the magazine sizes. It’s all very intuitive and this facilitates operation of the ammo counter during the heat of battle.

So the order of operation would go something like this.:

Step One: Installation.

First, I would attach the Ammo Counter barrel attachment onto the muzzle of my Nerf blaster. Then, I’d slide the scope attachment onto a free tactical rail.

Step Two: Magazine Loading.

I’d select my magazine, probably an 18 round stick mag. I’d load it up and insert it into the magwell.

Step Three: Power Up.

Next, I’d hit the power switch on the Ammo Counter and wait for it to light up in that beautiful bright blue. I’d hit the toggle switch a few times until the counter read “18.” (It should start on “6” and then go to “12” before arriving at “18.”)

Step Four: Shoot!

Finally, I’d start to engage my target and fire off darts at will. When I thought I was running low, or maybe just out of curiosity, I’d glance down at my ammo counter. The ammo counter would display the amount of darts left in my magazine. It counts down one by one.

Step Five: Repeat.

When my mag was empty, I’d put in a fresh mag and hit the Reset button on the Ammo Counter. It would return back to my full selected mag size, which in this case would be “18.” Brilliance.

Final Thoughts on the Nerf Dart Ammo Counter.:

Showing Up Is Half The Battle…

I didn’t really touch on it as much as I had hoped to, but the fact that I missed out on the old Blasterparts Alien Ammo Counter kit really bummed me out. A lot. But with the help of down south Nerfer Nathaniel Deal, my dreams have come closer to reality once again. This thing is fantastic. It’s slim and svelte and most importantly? READILY AVAILABLE. You can head on over to his website, AmmoCounter.com, or you can head straight to Etsy and choose from the various Ammo Counter packages available there.

Reliability.

In my testing, the Ammo Counter didn’t miss a beat. It kept up with any blaster I used. From springer, to flywheel, from stock to modded — it was always right on target with the ammo count. I ran into no issues. Flawless.

Future Proof.

If there is any issue or lag or any kind of troubleshooting necessary, you can update the software on the Arduino fairly easily. Nathaniel has even been known to assist customers with things of that nature. And that brings me to my last, and possibly most noteworthy point about the Ammo Counter: customer service.

Trustworthy.

Nathaniel Deal offers up some of the best customer service and support that I’ve ever seen. In addition to a superb product, customers of his can definitely expect top notch service. I had an issue where my battery door was a bit too loose and he actually sent me a replacement door in the mail with added reinforcements. Another customer had an issue where the counter was lagging behind his highly modded, insanely fast shooting Rapidstrike and Nathaniel walked him through the steps necessary to upgrade the firmware. When someone stands behind their product and backs it up like that, well, that kind of support is worth more than anything.

So with that said, I can say that I firmly and wholeheartedly offer up a full purchase recommendation for the new Nerf dart Ammo Counter from AmmoCounter.com. You should buy this right now. This is the Nerf gun attachment you’ve been looking for. The creator, Nathaniel, is the real Deal. (See what I did there?) Okay, I’ll stop. Thanks for reading!