Tek Recon Revisited: Hammer Head and Havok

Well.. This looks familiar

Well, we got our package in from Tek Recon the day after they spoke with us. As always they were friendly and quick to respond. So, once we got our hands on both the Hammer Head AND the Havok, we knew we'd have to do more than just a review, we'd have to show you! A video with the test fire and full article after the break.

MMM.. Frosted Apple Jacks.

First off we have to say that this Hammer Head performed much better than the first one we purchased at Kmart. It wasn't arcing the shots, and when on full power mode the trigger was much more difficult to pull (as it's supposed to be because it's putting more tension on the round). One of the other things we discovered was that when the powder these ship with comes off, the rounds are much more prone to sticking in the magazine and not advancing (in the video Shawn has to tap the blaster a few times to get it to advance the next round). We talked to Tek Recon about this and they recommend coating rounds in baby powder once this substance has worn off and the rounds are a bit more "sticky." Many of the initial concerns we outlined in our first review with the Hammer Head are still prevalent in this blaster. For it's price point ($19.99 plus the cost to buy extra NRG rounds since it doesn't come with enough to fill up the magazine) it seems like there are better offerings for both primaries and blasters that would be better suited to a secondary or fill the roll of a pistol.

Still no mention of ranges on the box

On to the Havok! This blaster is a vast improvement upon the Hammer Head. It's much more solid and durable, and really feels like the designers for the blaster took their time with this one. There are a lot of things going for this besides aesthetics as well. The adjustable stock is a far superior offering than any other company at the moment. With so much adjustability and a rubber comfort pad at the end, anyone should feel comfortable using this blaster. The stock is also removable, so if you don't really like that sort of thing it's an extra bit of customizability. The tactical rail in the front of the blaster looks like it might be compatible with real steel or airsoft attachments,  and there are a couple of sling mounts as well. The magazine actually has the release built into itself which is just something we thought was new and different, and of course the built in "jungle style" magazine feature that allows you to flip the mag for 72 rounds on tap is phenomenal.

Only 36 rounds isn't enough if you wanna try the flip!

Still, this blaster isn't perfect, we saw some of the same issues we had with the Hammer Head on this as well. The trigger is a bit far away (if you have small hands it's a problem), and it also only comes with 36 rounds when the magazine can hold up to 72. Luckily, if you buy more magazines (which you'll have to because these rounds aren't easy to load on field) they do come with the full 72 round capacity. We still had problems getting our phone to register the stylus reliably for the ammo counter, and we still have some concerns with the phone mount (<-shoutout to Click Click Bamf for the video).

Havok ammo refill and magazine.

All in all, the Havok really feels like it's the flagship blaster for Tek Recon, and we recommend that anyone looking to use this ammo pick up this over it's vastly inferior sibling the Hammer Head. Still, at $34.99 it's a bit of a toss up. My Last Dart mentioned in his review about this being a "rich kid's gun" and that's a somewhat accurate statement. It's a bit more expensive to start and you'll be buying new rounds more frequently. How will these meld in games with potentially already existing systems? We'll have to wait and see.



Range test and firing demo video below, more pictures:

The back of the Havok package

Back of the Havok ammo pack

We've seen this before...

Comes with everything listed here.

...But a look to the side showed there's a full 72rnds.

At first we though the refill only came with 36rnds...

The powder keeps them fresh!

More delicious cereal! (Don't eat these!)

This stock is amazing!

Stock fully extended.

Ready to rock and roll!

The front magazine release button.

The rear magazine release button (push at the same time).

One more shot of this awesome stock.