Rifts Up Close: L-20 Pulse Rifle

By Tim Willard

This laser weapon made its debut in 37 PA, mainly being found with Black Marketeers or Bandito Arms (Most people have no idea that the Black Market and Bandito Arms are one and the same. The Black Market sells everything from fake ID's, to meat, vegetables, and liquor without asking for a ration card, while Bandito Arms just sells weaponry and armor.) The weapon quickly became popular, as the Black Market would take payment in fruit, vegetables, meat, livestock, etc, for the weapon. Some local Black Market dealers would even allow payments, with interest (up to 400%) for the weapon.

The weapon is well built and known for its battlefield endurance and sturdy mechanisms. The frame is made of light polyceramics and lightweight hyperalloys, primarily neo-tungsten. The casing itself is made out of polyceramic and third generation synthetic plastics.

It uses a 6 sided laser cut and purified synthetically "grown" ruby for the lasing matrix. It contains a 2.25 cm firing aperture, a vibro-bayonet lug, picatinny rails on the top and sides and beneath the barrel, as well as a rail in the center of the top for a scope.

The laser emitter is well built, and has a long use life. The average life of a laser emitter is well over 30 years, and only cost 1,200 Cr to replace a damaged or degraded one. In addition, it rarely needs recalibration.

The forward lasing matrix, made entirely out of synthetic ruby, rarely needs replaced, and produces a laser beam in the visible red range. The ruby suffers less ablation than other materials, allowing the 3-round burst setting to avoid the "ablation fog" that affects other pulse weapons. The crystal needs replacing roughly once every 25 years.

The fire selector can be set to safe, semi, and burst, and is easily accessed by both right and left handed firers. The clip ejection button is placed on both sides of the frame, and allows right and left handed firers to easily eject the energy clip. In addition, there is a "grip safety" built into the pistol grip.

Some models, designed for cyborgs, juicers, and crazies, have forward handgrips, stock, and pistol grips made out of heavier than normal material, replacing the plastics with neo-tungsten, so that super-strength users don't have to be as careful with the weapon as they might otherwise have to be.

The forward handgrips are easily removable, giving quick and easy access to the barrel and the lasing matrix. The top and bottom of the weapon are easily separated, again allowing ease of maintenance, by simply pressing two metal inwards and then pulling them out to the maintenance position.

The stock contains a buttkit, which contains a bipod, 1 extra lasing matrix ruby, tools to open and maintain the weapon, including calibration of the laser emitter and lasing matrix, and a matchbook sized calibration and diagnostics scanner.

An old Pre-Rifts M-203 40mm grenade launcher is often added to the underside of the weapon, as is a laser designator or a heavy duty illuminator. Occasionally a vibro-bayonet will also be added to one side or the other, with a laser targeting emitter on the other side. The top usually has a scope added to it.

With the picatinny rail system, virtually any accessory that can have a matching rail added to it can be added to this rifle, and picatinny rails usually cost 10 Cr each.

The most well documented problem with the weapon is the fact that some crystals seem to sympathetic to glitter boy boom gun detonations, and the laser develops significant cracks and microfractures after extensive use due to the sonic boom of the boom gun.

Another problem that rarely crops up is bent magazine locking rockers, however, this can be easily fixed by the user, taking only 10 minutes and just flattening the rocking rockers back out.

Lastly, the weapon is such a compact design that a power conduit interface and connector can't be added into the weapon.

Weight: 7 lbs
Length: 31"
Caliber: 2.5 cm
Maximum Range: 700m (2100 ft)
Maximum Effective Range: 550m (1650 ft)
Typical Combat Range: 250m (750 ft)
Magazine Capacity: 40 shots with a standard e-clip, 50 shots with an extended magazine.
Manufacturer's Cost: 3,500 Cr
Wholesale Cost: 15,000 Cr
Manufacturer's Recommended Price: 25,000 Cr
Black Market Price: 25,000 Cr
Wilderness Price: 8,000 Cr