Review: Praetorian E-11

[Daetrin[Admin]]

Hey everyone,

 

I got one of the prototypes of the Praetorian blasters and thought it would be a good idea to compare it to a de-activated Sterling ANH I had lying around.

 

For background I’ve owned 2 Hyperfirm E-11’s, an ANH and an ESB. I’ve owned 3 other Hyperfirm blasters and am you could say I’m a big fan. The Praetorian E-11’s are created by John who is the creator of Hyperfirm and also Nathan who was one of the original team and artists. Their express goal to produce the best rubber replica blasters on the planet as you can see from the first post.

 

You can read more about Praetorian blasters and the team here:

 

Intro Thread

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/41569-a-new-rubber-e-11-is-coming-praetorian-blasters/?hl=praetorian

 

Intro list & team history

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/41608-praetorian-blasters-rubber-e-11-interest-list/?hl=praetorian

 

It was worth checking one out for myself, as I have owned several Hyperfirm E-11’s and also a DLT-19 and Lewis Gun.

 

The first thing I noticed is that just like the originals, the Praetorian is light. Very light in fact, and you can troop with it all day. You can drop it on the floor and not worry about it breaking, something I demonstrated at a meet & greet last weekend. So far, just like the regular Hypefirms.

 

Where the difference comes in is in the details, as the Praetorian is far more detailed. For example the spring is really crisp and looks real, the scope is flawless and the barrel has even more detail than before.

 

Check out the detail on the end cap. The Praetorian is on the right. Notice the knurling on the raised area that is even missing from my de-ac?

 

Here is a great money shot of them side by side. Hard to tell which is the Praetorian, unless you look at the trigger.

 

The pointy thing normally points away from you, but you can see the excellent detailing on the front of the scope and the barrel.

 

Even the mag holder has more detail than my de-ac (Praetorian on the right)

 

And the scopes

 

Another good money shot:

 

A few more notes if I can

1. There are two scopes to choose from, which is a nice option.

 

2. I showed this off to numerous people in my garrison who own Hyperfirms, and the consensus was that these were clearly more detailed. Key items like the spring/coil were much appreciated.

 

3. Many people seemed to want an actual d-ring that is not molded in to the blaster. We talked about it a bit, and there really isn't much of an advantage to having it be separate, but that may be something the Praetorian team may want to think about.

 

4. Mine is a prototype, but the Praetorian team assured me that production blasters will be even better, particularly the ammo counter.

 

Overall the feedback is this is now the best "rubber" blaster on the market, and clearly superior to other blasters as well such as doopydoos due to the accuracy, detail, and especially the durability.

 

Unless you have the $600+ for a de-ac Sterling conversion and want to lug around heavy metal, this is now the ultimate blaster on the market.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Thanks for the review Paul, a few cadets have been asking me about the blaster, this will surely help.

[Shanester[TK]]

Nice review.  I get asked a lot about blasters.  I carry a Hyperfirm E-11, but will look into this one soon.

[Tee-Kay Fisto[TK]]

Loving the look of this for a rubber blaster. Very difficult to get a hyperfirm in the UK I'm led to believe but this would be worth trying for

 

 

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[slave1pilot]

We understand your pain.

I used to try and ship internationally back with Sci-Fire. Sometimes it was ok, sometimes we lost the blaster to Customs and had to refund the money.

So, we stopped doing it.

We have suggested an alternate route for those wishing to take the responsibility upon themselves:

 

We can provide you (international customer) with the origin shipping information, box dimensions and weight of the package. You then can go on USPS.com and fill out the appropriate customs forms and pay for the shipping label. Save the label and customs forms off to a .pdf file or other printable image file. We will affix the label and customs forms to the package and ship in an unmarked package to you. Keep in mind... The package at that point, whether it makes it to you or not, becomes your responsibility. You will be the origin shipper and the receiver.

 

 

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[Pyrates[TK]]

Stellar review Paul - that was an excellent read!

 

A little jealous that we can't get them here either as the product looks beautiful.

 

Might just have to make a little road trip to Seattle

[TK-1979[TK]]

How do these compare with ShearTechs rubber blasters?

[crazyjediman24[501st]]

That about lines up with my impressions, though I lack pictures. I am an even bigger fan of the realistic metal paint upgrade. Looks amazing.

 

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[darthcue[TK]]

We understand your pain.

I used to try and ship internationally back with Sci-Fire. Sometimes it was ok, sometimes we lost the blaster to Customs and had to refund the money.

So, we stopped doing it.

We have suggested an alternate route for those wishing to take the responsibility upon themselves:

 

We can provide you (international customer) with the origin shipping information, box dimensions and weight of the package. You then can go on USPS.com and fill out the appropriate customs forms and pay for the shipping label. Save the label and customs forms off to a .pdf file or other printable image file. We will affix the label and customs forms to the package and ship in an unmarked package to you. Keep in mind... The package at that point, whether it makes it to you or not, becomes your responsibility. You will be the origin shipper and the receiver.

 

 

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i would like to try this option... anybody tried shipping it through johnnyair?

Edited May 18, 2017 by darthcue

[slave1pilot]

From the Johnnyair website:

"JAC STRICTLY PROHIBITS shipments in-any-form of guns/ammunitions, parts and accessories thereof (even with legal permits), "

 

I'm not sure if they consider our rubber replicas as guns or even accessories, but if you'd like to test it out we can ship your blaster to them .

 

 

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[bishopx]

Due to past problems with customs seizing packages that remotely resemble weapons, we cannot offer shipping to international locations where we assume the responsibility for the shipment. We will offer you (international buyers) the option to purchase the label from our shipping location to your location and send us the appropriate labeling and international invoices. It's too expensive to attempt to ship to someone and in the end have them never receive the item. They almost always end up filing a Paypal claim and end up retrieving their money leaving us with a massive loss. 

 

It's not a preferable situation by any means. We wish it wasn't this way. We'd be making a ton of sales to the UK and Germany if it weren't the case. I think someone in the community were interested, they could setup a "middle man" service where they'd charge a little cash to re-ship items to overseas buyers. Obviously, this would require some faith in the middle man as well. I really don't have any better ideas of how to go about this. 

[bishopx]

We understand your pain.

I used to try and ship internationally back with Sci-Fire. Sometimes it was ok, sometimes we lost the blaster to Customs and had to refund the money.

So, we stopped doing it.

We have suggested an alternate route for those wishing to take the responsibility upon themselves:

 

We can provide you (international customer) with the origin shipping information, box dimensions and weight of the package. You then can go on USPS.com and fill out the appropriate customs forms and pay for the shipping label. Save the label and customs forms off to a .pdf file or other printable image file. We will affix the label and customs forms to the package and ship in an unmarked package to you. Keep in mind... The package at that point, whether it makes it to you or not, becomes your responsibility. You will be the origin shipper and the receiver.

 

 

I think we can offer a $20 discount to overseas buyers to offset some of the trouble being that they will have to pay for shipping anyway.

[darthcue[TK]]

From the Johnnyair website:

"JAC STRICTLY PROHIBITS shipments in-any-form of guns/ammunitions, parts and accessories thereof (even with legal permits), "

 

I'm not sure if they consider our rubber replicas as guns or even accessories, but if you'd like to test it out we can ship your blaster to them .

 

 

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they shipped my orders from stormtrooperblaster.com but it is a gamble...

[hsmoke[TK]]

WOW. This looks outstanding. Thanks for the review. Time to upgrade...

[zv288bot[TK]]

So much awesomeness...

 

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[nmcguff]

Your deactivated Sterling is more home made that a real sterling. Not even close. I have a real Sterling L2A3. Yours sort of looks like a Sterling but way too many differences. The front sight, barrel end, rear sight, charging handle, bolt opening, end cap mounting are all off just to mention a few. The magazine holder and front sight are definitely home made.

[Daetrin[Admin]]

Your deactivated Sterling is more home made that a real sterling. Not even close. I have a real Sterling L2A3. Yours sort of looks like a Sterling but way too many differences. The front sight, barrel end, rear sight, charging handle, bolt opening, end cap mounting are all off just to mention a few. The magazine holder and front sight are definitely home made.

Alas, I got it when I knew little of such things, and now no wonder that it was bought on the cheap. Live and learn.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Thanks for the review Paul. As with you I love my hyperfirm especially on those long troops but as you also mentioned the lack in some details leaves me wanting more. Time for an upgrade.

 

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[slave1pilot]

Your deactivated Sterling is more home made that a real sterling. Not even close. I have a real Sterling L2A3. Yours sort of looks like a Sterling but way too many differences. The front sight, barrel end, rear sight, charging handle, bolt opening, end cap mounting are all off just to mention a few. The magazine holder and front sight are definitely home made.

Hey Norman,

Can we see some pics of your Sterling so we can compare it to our Rubber one?

Here's a couple pics of our Sterling when we were prepping it

 

[slave1pilot]

Thanks for the review Paul. As with you I love my hyperfirm especially on those long troops but as you also mentioned the lack in some details leaves me wanting more. Time for an upgrade.

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Tony, Your Anovos build thread had my attention from the get go. I wish I woulda held on to it and followed your lead.

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Tony, Your Anovos build thread had my attention from the get go. I wish I woulda held on to it and followed your lead.

 

Well I hope it helped for the time you did use it 

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Bought one of these bad boys yesterday, can't wait

[nmcguff]

Praetorian blasters, The rubber blaster looks great. I was commenting on the photos of the deactivated sterling. My Sterling was cut up into pieces to be legally deactivated in the USA. It is illegal to make a functioning weapon out of the parts.I used the parts to make 3d models for printing replica parts on a 3D printer.

 

Edited May 26, 2017 by nmcguff

[silverdollar22[TK]]

Tony, I promise you that you won't be disappointed.  These are great    

[ukswrath[Staff]]

Man I am SCHUPER EXCHITED!