Rifts Up Close: TX-30 Ion Pulse Rifle

By Tim Willard

This weapon made its debut in winter of 101 PA, the TX-30 has rapidly gained popularity. Appearing on the market just a scant few months before the Wilk's 457 pulse laser rifle, many people lined up to get their hands on an ion blaster that had the damage capability of a modern rail gun. High energy profiling has show conclusively that the TX-30 and the TX-500 rail gun have same energy release upon impact with armor plating, although the rail gun shows superior penetration against soft cover, which does not effect kinetic hits but can often prematurely detonate laser, ion, plasma, and particle beams.

The TX-30 actually is of use in a battlefield with heavy undergrowth or airborne debris, as the first packet of ravening ions actually clears the path for the second and third packets, which only degrades the performance by 1/3 (33.34%) in situations where the way is cleared by the first ion pulse.

Using an advanced injection system the TX-30 is able to fire a packet of positively charged ions by stripping electrons from air molecules as they are being injected into the chamber using positively charged plastics in the injection feed, and using magnetic barrel pressure to "fire" the packet of ions toward a target. The impact of this ion "bolt" would cause the electrons in the outer shells of the targeted materials to violently strip away as the ions within the charge tried to balance their electron valence bands. This caused the struck material to slough off with a loud, explosive noise as the molecular stabilization failed. This proved particularly useful against molecularly bonded armor as the molecular bonds failed when the atomic structure became unstable. With the injected gas already being partially ionized, the rifle can fire an ion packet at a maximum cyclic rate of 950 packets a minute if the weapon has been modified for fully automatic fire. (This causes the rifle to fail completely within 5 minutes, and is not recommended, and most weapon smiths will not modify the weapon for fully automatic fire.)

The rifle's chamber is fed by six small injectors, which pressurize the chamber with ionized gas. The air injectors are not easily replaced or cleaned when fouled, due to their small location, fragile design, and the addition of electron permeable duraplast "air injection tubes" wrapped with superconductor to allow the passage of electrons from the superconductor through the plastic, and to charge the passing air. It takes roughly five minutes and specialized tools to open the case, and even a trained operator cannot swap out the injectors in less than 90 seconds.

The weapon's chassis is made of non-magnetic duraplast and molecularly bonded alloys that are electron valence stable, making the addition of stray electrons taken from the weapon's frame more unlikely, and giving the alloy a longer combat life.

The weapon uses a forward sliding energy magazine, which is merely the magazine well being turned against the pistol grip and trigger guard, and running conduits up to the molycircs. Hailed as an "innovation" this is little more than creative wiring, and the specialized magazines required for the weapon are an innovative marketing tool and little else.

The weapon lacks a standard stock, merely a rear pistol grip, cutting down on the weapon's accuracy and stability, as the weapon cannot be "socketed" into the firer's shoulder. In addition the weapon features open air sights and no mounting screws or picatinny rails for a scope to be mounted, nor can a stock be added without serious modification to the frame. (The addition of the stock makes the weapon far more accurate, allows the use of a scope, and costs roughly 2,500 credits if done by a weaponsmith, or 250 Cr worth the parts, proper tools, and about 8 hours of work by a qualified weaponsmith)

The injection system allows for longer battlefield endurance, increasing the amount of shots available from the Triax propiatary energy magazines, nearly double the amount than most competitors. However, the specialized forward sliding magazines are sold only by Triax, and for approximately 20% more than standard North American energy magazines. Investigation has shown that standard North American energy magazines can be modified to the fit the weapon by the addition of a "mating clip" that is becoming more and more widely available from most arms dealers. The mating clip slips over standard North American magazines on the forward side, and allows the magazine to be used in an FSEM weapon. In addition, many armorers are offering conversions to the magazine well to allow NASEM use. (North American Stadard Energy Magazine)

Despite claims by Triax and the weapon's fans, the TX-30 ion pulse rifle is innovative only in the air injection system, which still suffers failure at an alarming rate after 6 months of work due to ionized gas acting as a corrosive on the injector system. The frame is well built, but ill-designed, and the weapon suffers from being fairly inneffective in ranged/accurate combat.

Weight: 7 lbs
Length: 33"
Caliber: 3cm
Maximum Range: 800m (2400 ft)
Maximum Effective Range: 700m (2100 ft)
Typical Combat Range: 200m (600 ft)
Magazine Capacity: 40 shots from a standard "Forward sliding energy magazine" and 50 shots from an extended FSEM.
Manufacturer's Cost: 4,500 Cr
Wholesale Cost: 11,000 Cr
Manufacturer's Recommended Price: 25,000 Cr
Black Market Price: 45,000+ Cr
Wilderness Price: 15,000 Cr