If I Only Had A BRAINSAW

A review of the (new to me) Zombie Strike BRAINSAW. 

Back in the Fall of 2016, after months of leaked information and speculation, NERF released the highly anticipated Zombie Strike BRAINSAW. 

Although this Zombie Strike classic has been out for nearly 8 years, and has since been discontinued,  I never picked one up for myself, until now... 

When the BRAINSAW first hit stores in the US, it had an MSRP of 30 bucks. I remember buying at least one for a birthday gift for someone,  but I never  got one for myself. So I finally picked up a gently used blaster online. 

The BRAINSAW is a an 8 shot, pump-action blaster. It has four vertically-aligned barrels on either of its sides, which make use of an intelligent air restrictor system with all eight chambers linked to the same plunger tube. 

The nicely detailed right side of the BRAINSAW. 

Unfortunately, in typical Hasbro penny-pinching style,  the left side of the blaster lacks the same color detailing as the right side, which is displayed when sitting in a box on a store shelf. 

The lackluster left side of the BRAINSAW. 

It also can be slam fired.  The  BRAINSAW features a a circular foam blade located at its front end, which spins when a cord is pulled,  located on the right side of the blaster, next to the integrated carry handle. 

Blade spinning handle. 

 It also has chainsaw teeth-like details on the blaster, but only the circular end is made of foam, and the rest of the blade and blaster is made of hard plastic, making it not very safe to use as a melee weapon.

The BRAINSAW "blade ".

The BRAINSAW also features one tactical rail on the top- right side of the blaster, at an angle, and three strap attachment points: one above the foam sawblade, one on the back end of the blaster, and one built into the bottom of the grip.  The grip is comfortable and large enough for bigger hands. It features the molded "wrapped" look like the HAMMERSHOT.  There is also an incorporated hand guard. 

Trigger, grip, handgaurd, and sling mount. 

To prime the BRAINSAW, pull and push the green handle that looks like a screwdriver, that’s located at the bottom of the blaster. After the blaster is primed, the trigger can be pulled to fire one dart. 

Priming handle,  in pulled back position. 

Performance wise, the BRAINSAW is unfortunately a little underwhelming. Shots only averaging about 58 fps. For light or indoor battle, the BRAINSAW's FUNctionality is outstanding, but for more serious NERF combat, you would be better off with something like a ROUGHCUT 2x4.  Of course aftermarket upgrade springs are available to get a little more power out of the BRAINSAW.

10 K  BRAINSAW upgrade spring.

I've always felt that the Zombie Strike series is best suited for a more casual,  light-hearted, even  cosplay, style of NERFing.  If I was going to do any modifications to the BRAINSAW,  it would probably be painting that bland left side. 

For Walker  wasting,  Zombie slay'n, Foam flinging fun, the  Zombie Strike series can't be beat.  

One more shot of my new  Zombie Strike BRAINSAW. 

I'm pleased to finally add the BRAINSAW to my Zombie Strike collection. If you're a fan of the series,  like I am, you probably already have one. If you  don't,  I think the  BRAINSAW is  a must  have for  your collection.

                                            NERF on NERFerS!!!