Firewheel Rubber Band Gun

Gadgeteer Hands On Review by William Ray Jr.

June 21, 2005

The Firewheel folks in the land down under asked Julie if she would like to review their 10 shot fully automatic rubber band machine gun. Since she is female and a grown up, she was not really interested. When Julie asked me if I would like to review this product, I asked my fifteen-year-old son if he might be interested in a gun that shoots up to ten rubber bands before reloading. He agonized over this decision. After much soul searching, he agreed to try out the product.

Or he said yes before anyone changed their mind. I will leave it to you, gentle reader, to determine which way it really happened. Here is one of the guns as delivered. Each is comes with an initial supply of rubber bands.

Firewheel initially sent two of their rubber band machine guns. In an effort to torture the boys (one of my favorite pastimes), I insisted that each boy read the instruction manual and safety sheet (more on the safety sheet in a moment). Of course there would be a quiz and no one would be allowed to load their brand new rubber band gun until they aced the quiz.

   

This was a lot more fun for me than it was for the boys. The safety sheet that Seth is poring over in the photo above and to the left clearly states that the rubber band gun is so safe that one could shoot someone else IN THE EYE without doing any serious harm. I could almost hear the lawyers in this country moan with ecstasy. They might want to consider rephrasing that -- at least for units distributed in the land of the lawsuit.

Above the boys complete their assigned reading. Each of them passed their quiz. I find it amazing how much a teenage boy can retain when he is motivated. A pity neither boy takes the same attitude into the regular classroom.

    

Seth stretches the first band from the nose, down through the center channel, and onto the firewheel -- this is the key to the whole mechanism.

The rubber bands are stretched back to the firewheel and into one of the ten channels. The wheel is gently rotated until it clicks. The bands are released by depressing the trigger. The trigger on the firewheel automatic rubber band gun actually operates in reverse. The trigger mechanism extends through the handle and the bands are released by sliding it forward with your thumb. With a little practice, you can fire the ten bands one at a time (semi-automatic), one right after the other (automatic), or all at once (shotgun).

 

These youngsters seem to be enjoying themselves. Note the folding stock is extended in the upper left photo.

Here is the whole trio. It would be kind of scary to run into this fully armed crew out in the woods.

 

Methinks he better look out!

Of course the boys had to dig a foxhole.

Here are the specifications for the Firewheel Rubber Band Gun (from the Firewheel web site):

Magazine Capacity: 10 shot
Ammunition: standard size 16 rubber bands
Maximum band stretch: 14.8"
Action: much like a Gatling gun with the wheel indexing a "barrel" into position each time it fires - inherently very accurate
Rate of Fire: variable
Length: 16" with folding stock retracted
Total Range: app. 25 ft
Effective Range: app. 6 ft for 1" dia. targets
Construction: Body and Trigger - 1/8" thick ABS, Stock - solid ABS, Wheel and Front Loading Pin - High Quality Engineering Grade Resin.

The Firewheel Rubber Band Gun comes complete with a generous supply of number 16 rubber bands, a detailed owner's manual, and a target game that uses a collection of small pegs.

Price: $25.20 (includes Priority Mail shipping from Nashville, TN) Volume discounts available
            Available in numerous colors (Night Commando, Jungle Commando, and Lady Violet pictured)

Pros: 
Inexpensive and unusual toy
Heavy duty construction
Stylish

Cons: 
Could be dangerous if misused