Gach Gach

Gach Gach (a.k.a. Bobcat)

Background

The Bobcat was released by Heilun Workshop not long after the Lynx first came out. As the name suggests, it’s an injection-molded blaster heavily inspired by the Lynx. “Bobcat” is simply another type of feline—just like the Chinese name, Shan Mao (山猫).

Thanks to its incredible price-to-performance ratio, the Bobcat quickly became a hit and has remained popular ever since.

Original video URL: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Goub6FEpa?t=8.6

My Experience

The original Lynx designer has mentioned the Bobcat on their own website, and understandably, not in a particularly positive light.

One criticism was that the Lynx was structurally optimized for 3D-printed parts, and simply converting the design into a two-piece injection-molded shell would supposedly create strength issues.

In practice, though, that really hasn’t been the case. Running at around 180+ FPS, the Bobcat has proven to be more than strong enough.

Before mine arrived, I expected it to feel like many two-piece shell blasters from X-Shot—creaky, flexible, and generally flimsy. That’s actually why I nicknamed it the “Gach Gach,” after the rattly plastic sound I expected it to make.

Once I had it in hand, however, it completely exceeded my expectations. It’s not as solid as the S400, but it’s significantly sturdier than the typical Kmart blasters. Even so, the nickname “Gach Gach” ended up sticking.

Notes

• Special thanks to Ken from Sydney Nerf for putting this blaster through a durability test. I asked him to be as rough on it as possible during game day, and it performed very well. After the event, it came back in perfect condition with no damage at all.
• This version comes with a CNC-machined cylinder and a return spring, and it supports slam fire. Some users may feel that the return spring makes priming less comfortable, so you can remove it by following the steps shown in the video.

Known Issues

• The biggest issue with this blaster is that the front grip sits too close to the trigger group when priming. You’ll either pinch your hand or won’t be able to pull the grip back far enough to engage the catch.
• The usual workaround is to use a loose grip, keeping your thumb off the back of the front grip while priming.
• I found a much better solution: a 3D-printed canted fore grip. It completely solves the problem, and the canted grip gives the blaster a really cool handling style. The only downside is that if you work around cover (pieing corners), switching shoulders becomes much less practical.