Nidecker Gun Snowboard Review

An Objective Breakdown Of The Nidecker Gun Review by The Good Ride

• User Reviews
• Product Specs
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How The Nidecker Gun Was Tested

I rode the Nidecker Gun primarily with Nitro Team boots. Then, I also spent some time on the Nidecker Rift Pros with my Union Force bindings.

Unfortunately, I got this board at the very end of the season in late spring with less-than-ideal groomers. Even first thing in the morning. I didn’t really get the experience I’d hoped for with this board, but I want to talk about the experience I had because, even in those poor conditions, it still shined. If you get this board in good conditions, I think you’re going to love it.

I borrowed the Nidecker Gun for an extended demo and reluctantly sent it back.

Size: 174
Days: 4
Conditions: Mostly late spring, not great conditions. 
Riders: James (Size 9 E, 5’10”, 185-190lbs). I’ve tested and compared 850+ boards, 200+ bindings, and 120+ boots
Boots: Nitro Team BOA, Nitro Team TLS
Insoles: F.I.T. Gamechangers
Bindings: Union Force, Union Atlas Step On
Redundancy: Strapins in case boots or bindings break.
Jacket: Skyline Fuse Jacket, Jones Mtn Surf Anorak
Pant: Skyline Fase 3L Bib Pant, Skyline Faze Pant, Jones Mountain Surf Pant
Helmet: Smith Method, Smith Scout
Goggle: Smith 4D Mag Low Bridge Fit
Gloves: Burton AK Clutch Mitt, Burton AK Tech Leather Glove

James’s Set Up: 21.5” Wide. Stance Angles +18/-3, +18/+3, +24/+6. Close to Reference on groomers. Set all the way back in powder if I had any.

Similar Boards We Like (but not the same):

Weston Japow, Gentemstick Barracuda, Soul Shift, Nidecker Beta, Nidecker Beta APX, Korua Pintonic, Jones Storm Chaser 2025, Stranda Tree Surfer, Salomon Wolle Nyvelt Fish, Burton Smooth Operator, Korua Pencil, Amplid Time Machine, Amplid Surfari

Ethics Statement

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Sizing

How it Fits Me

This is a huge board. It’s a 174, but it’s not very wide, and it’s surprisingly easy to manage and turn for its length.

Yes, it feels long and big, but it was ideal for my size 9 boots and handled my 190 pounds with no problem. Since it only comes in one size, it’s really geared toward riders closer to my specs.

I probably wouldn’t go over a size 10 boot with this board because you’ll start getting close to booting out. It’s basically the exact opposite of a short-wide snowboard.

How It Fits You

Sizing is very subjective and personal. Never assume your way is the right way, and there is no right answer.

Here is the best way to figure out what board will work for you. I rarely use “all caps to emphasize something, but this is really important. NEVER TRUST ANYONE who doesn’t ask or reference boot size, weight, and height.

Boots

You should always start with your boot size first. If your boot is too wide, you can’t turn it; if it’s too narrow, you get the dreaded Toe & Heel Drag. This is the most important part of sizing a board. That’s why so many snowboards come in various widths, such as Narrow, Normal, Mid-Wide, Wide, and Ultra-Wide.

Most brands don’t include a recommended boot size because it’s very complicated and time-consuming. This brand includes the width over each insert, so it’s easy to determine whether your boot’s footprint will have too much overhang, so reference that against your boot.

Here is more or less the sweet spot to turn easily and not boot out. You can go wider if you carve really hard.

174: 8-10

Weight

Your weight determines how the board will flex underfoot. Give you more or less pop, speed, etc.

Height

Next, check the length in relation to what you want from this board. The length of the board determines the swing weight/control or longer effective edge, depending on what you want from a board.

Stance Width

Also, check your Stance width against their reference stance to see how well it will work for you on reference and set all the way back.

Boots and Bindings Response

Next, factor in your boot and binding’s responsiveness to determine how well you will be able to turn/control a board.

Personal Preference

Lastly, you need to factor in how you like to ride. Some prefer control, so matching the boot size first for easiest turn initiation is the priority, with weight second. Others prefer dampness over control, want to charge, and like to size up in width and length. Others like to ride wider boards with very responsive boots/bindings to carve harder.

Design

Shape & Setback

The Nidecker Gun is a very directional board, but it isn’t heavily tapered. There’s only 8 mm of taper, so the tail isn’t much narrower than the nose.

Even so, it feels incredibly directional because of the amount of setback on board. The setback on sidecut is only 35 mm, but the setback on board is tremendous, and that’s what gives it such a surfy feel.

It rides much more like a surfboard where you’re naturally positioned closer to the tail, and that’s one of the things I really enjoyed about it.

Camber/On-Snow Feel

There isn’t as much camber as you might expect. It runs from the tail to just past the inserts before transitioning into rocker leading into the very long nose.

Even though this feels like a lot of board, and it is more technical and locked in than your average freeride board simply because of its length, it really isn’t that difficult for something this size.

There’s only about 108 cm of actual contact with the snow because most of the nose stays off the snow. That’s actually less than the new Nidecker Megalight at 109 cm.

So while the board is physically long, there isn’t a huge amount of contact on snow. It’s still best suited to advanced and expert riders because there’s simply a lot of snowboard to manage.

It’s also a little harder to skid turns because it’s stiff and there’s so much board to move around when you get off your game. When you’re committed to a carve, though, the effective edge stretches to 127 cm, so once you’re engaging the sidecut it feels like much more board than something like the Nidecker Megalight with its 119 cm effective edge.

That’s an interesting part of the personality of this board. In some situations it feels shorter than you’d expect, while in others it feels every bit as long as a 174.

Performance

Edge Hold

There isn’t a lot going on disruption-wise, but there is a lot of sidecut. When the entire sidecut is engaged, the Nidecker Gun holds an edge really well.

It also uses an older-school sandwich construction that creates a very narrow edge near the contact points, allowing it to sink into the snow and grip better than you’d expect.

It’s still not an ice specialist, but it handled ice patches and the hard spring snow I experienced more than well enough. I wouldn’t choose this as my dedicated hard snow carver, but it performs surprisingly well in firmer conditions.

Flex Personality

The overall flex is very stiff.

The tail is incredibly stiff, while the nose is much softer. That’s where almost all of the flex comes from. Once you move back toward the inserts and tail, it becomes old-school stiff, almost like boards from the early 2000s.

It takes a lot of work to engage the tail for an ollie, and you don’t really feel much flex until you get your weight much farther forward toward the nose.

This isn’t the kind of board you buy to butter around the mountain. It’s a big board that’s designed primarily for turning.

Despite the stiff flex, I could still lean into the tail enough to lift it slightly, and nose butters were possible as well, but neither came easily.

It’s also not a board for side hits, riding switch, or playful freestyle riding. Maybe you’ll take the occasional natural hit off-piste, and it’s nice having enough tail behind you to land comfortably, but that’s about it.

This board is all about making turns.

Uneven Snow

Once you get this stiff flex into uneven snow, it becomes a real chunder buster.

It’s so stiff between the feet that it handled all the soft, uneven, sometimes wet spring snow that normally causes other boards to bounce, buck, and become difficult to manage.

Even though the nose is considerably softer, the stiff platform between the feet and the somewhat damper construction absorbed chatter extremely well. Everything quieted down once the vibration reached the center of the board.

I also loved how it handled hard, uneven snow. I expected a board this stiff to become cranky in those conditions, but it really wasn’t bad at all.

Overall, I think this makes for a great all-day ride, provided you aren’t constantly weaving through moguls or really thick, uneven snow where you’re forced to make rapid direction changes. That’s where the length becomes fatiguing. Even though there isn’t a huge amount of contact on the snow, there’s still a lot of board to throw around, and it simply isn’t much fun in those situations.

Turning/Carving

This is what you buy the Nidecker Gun for.

I was honestly disappointed that I only got to ride it in late-season conditions. I would have loved to spend time on it during mid-winter at Mount Bachelor or even earlier in the spring when the groomers were cleaner and more consistent.

By the time I rode it, the groomers were struggling with all the soft, uneven snow. The grooming machines left uneven tracks, so even when I found runs wide enough for this board, they weren’t smooth enough to really let it open up.

Still, the little taste I got reminded me of the old Nidecker Legend that I used to own in a 168, and even my friend’s 174. Those boards absolutely came alive when you pointed them down wide-open groomers, and this board gave me that same feeling.

In good, clean conditions, this thing would be incredible.

The spring coming out of a carve is exceptional, especially considering how stiff it is. Once you get it loaded up, it really wants to pop you into the next turn.

It uses a 10-meter sidecut radius, but remember that’s on a 174. Because of the board’s length, it actually feels a little turnier than you’d expect. It still prefers longer, drawn-out turns down the fall line, but it isn’t just a straight-line charger.

It can make surprisingly fun medium-radius turns across the groomer as well.

If you want to make full circle carves, you’ll need a lot of room. But if your goal is laying down long S-turns across wide-open groomers, this board absolutely shines.

Speed

When you point it straight, the Nidecker Gun feels incredibly stable between the feet.

The softer nose can flap around a little at speed, but it settles down quickly and never became a concern for me.

Base Glide

The board uses a fast all-black base with only a small die-cut section.

If you keep it well waxed, you’re going to get excellent glide. Nidecker has consistently built good bases over the years, especially on their higher-end boards, and this one is no exception.

Powder

This is honestly the kind of board I’d like to keep in my quiver for those truly deep days.

It steps things up from every other board I own.

Even though it isn’t especially wide or heavily tapered, it has so much setback on board that I’d run the bindings all the way back. Combined with the long, floaty nose and tons of early rise, it should be outstanding in deep snow.

At 174 cm, this is exactly the kind of board I’d want on those ultra-deep days at Mount Bachelor because longboards excel in lower-angle powder.

It isn’t the board I’d choose for weaving through tight trees, but Bachelor doesn’t have much terrain like that anyway.

If you ride a mountain with wide-open terrain, low-to-medium-angle powder, and long runouts where maintaining speed is important, the Nidecker Gun</strong> is an excellent choice. It offers very easy directional float and carries speed extremely well through flatter sections.</p>

Final Thoughts

I was honestly a little hesitant to review the Nidecker Gun after only getting late-season conditions because I didn’t feel like I’d experienced

everything it had to offer.

But I ended up having so much fun on it that I wanted to share my thoughts anyway.

It reminds me of some of my favorite freeride boards from years ago. It takes that old-school concept of a super-long, narrow powder board and gives it an even more setback, surf-inspired feel that I really enjoyed.

This is a board I’d genuinely like to have in my own quiver.

If your riding revolves around low-angle powder, wide-open groomers, and making long, powerful turns, I think you’ll have a great time on it.

For everything else? Maybe not so much.

But as a dedicated specialty board, I think the Nidecker Gun fills its role exceptionally well.