The Echo CS-10 is a good-looking little Nerf rifle- but its looks are the best thing about it. It does assemble into a sturdy package, and has a lot of customization potential with four rails around the barrel assembly. You can also leave the forend off for a short blaster, or leave the stock off for something more maneuverable; you can even just use the central receiver as an oversized pistol or SMG-style gun. But you might not shoot many bulls-eyes with this blaster. There are basically no useable sights to speak of, and what there are, aren't positioned so as to give a good sight picture. One is a little sight blade on top of the cocking handle (which, like many recent Nerf designs, is actually on top of the receiver); the other, a blade at the end of the barrel. But the position of the cocking grip effectively blocks the front sight, making it hard to line them up unless you hold the gun below your eyeline. This is compounded by the way the comb of the stock (i.e. where you rest your cheek when aiming) is higher than the rest of the gun, not lower as is standard on a rifle. The only way to aim is eyeballing the barrel, lining it up with the target, and hoping its pointed atthe right height to hit something. This aiming method isn't a problem when aiming at something as big as another person at fairly close range, but it's far from ideal for target shooting. Even mounting a scope on the forend doesn't help much, since it's still below the eyeline. Practice will help judging your aim, no doubt, but it should be easy to aim out of the box. The mechanism is simple; open the action, load the magazine, close the action and fire; repeat working the cocking grip to load and fire your full magazine. To unload, leave the action open, push the button and remove your magazine. This action has the drawback that you can't insert or remove the magazine without cocking the gun, and once its loaded, it's automatically cocked- unlike some of the revolver-action Nerfs. But, since this is standard with the slide-action Nerf design, I guess it's a feature, not a bug. The gun has dramatic styling, leaning to the futuristic. It goes together well with the rest of the Elite 2.0 line, giving you a distinctive theme if you carry multiple blasters to your Nerf battles. This is an attractive blaster, and the barrel extension seems to give it a good range. It's only too bad that the design of the stock makes it hard to shoot with too much accuracy. One of the accessory Nerf stocks might be a better substitute, but will break up the look of the gun. It's an example of form (stylish design) over function (aiming ability), but it's still an acceptable blaster and a good price. If you like the looks, give it a try.
