Rifle

Generic Rifle
Generic Rifle (Battle Rifle)
Group:	Ranged Weapon
Tech Level	TL–5
Size	1,000mm
Weight	4,000 grams
Cost	Cr200
Ammo	7mm bullet, x30 rounds
Manufacturer	Various
Generic Rifle (Battle Rifle)

A Rifle (4,500 grams loaded; Cr220; TL-5) is the standard military arm or Battle Rifle, firing a 7mm, 10 gram bullet at a velocity of approximately 900 meters per second.

• Rifles are KEW weapons.

Description (Specifications)

Battle Rifle: The modifier "Battle" is a term indicating that the weapon is designed for use on the battlefield by soldiers and is characterized by an ability to hit person-sized targets at the limit of unaided vision (~1000 meters). Battle Rifles capable of fully automatic fire are referred to as Autorifles about 50% of the time. Longer and heavier than a carbine, a Battle Rifle is also more effective. Standard equipment includes provisions for attaching a bayonet and telescopic sights, and a shoulder sling. A twenty-round magazine is attached to the front of the trigger guard, and one round is fired with each pull of the trigger. Replacement of the empty magazine takes a small amount of time. Rifle ammunition may also be used in automatic rifles; rifle and auto rifle magazines are interchangeable, and weigh the same.

A rifle may be fitted with telescopic or electronic sights, and with a folding stock.

Image Repository

Weapon Characteristics

Length: 1,000mm. Weight, unloaded: 4,000 grams (loaded magazine weighs 500 grams). Base price: Cr200 (loaded magazine: Cr20).

History & Background (Dossier)

The rifle is a natural development of improved and improving ammunition technology. The Hand Cannon leads to various early firing mechanisms, such as the Matchlock Musket, Wheellock Musket, and Flintlock Musket, which in turn led to the Percussion Rifle, which eventually leads to early contemporary rifles known as Lever-action and Bolt-action Rifles, eventually evolving into the semi-automatic Battle Rifle and Automatic Battle Rifle (also known as an Autorifle). The Battle Rifle is still a potent weapon after more than a thousand years in the field. Rifles are still popular for training, hunting, and many other uses, although their usage on the contemporary battlefield of 1105 IC is very limited except on less technologically advanced worlds.

Rifles come of age in the TL:4-6 epoch and are never really considered obsolete as they remain useful well into the TL:13-15 epoch. However, the Automatic Rifle tends to be superceded by the Assault Rifle, and eventually by more sophisticated Combat Rifles. By TL:13-15, Plasma Weaponry and Gauss Rifles tend to predominate.

Related Equipment

• Telescopic Sight

Selected Rifle Models

1. TL-5 Civilian Rifle
2. TL-5 Bolt-action Rifle
3. TL-5 Battle Rifle

References & contributors (Sources)

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Marc Miller. Characters and Combat (Game Designers Workshop, 1977), 42-43.Marc Miller, Robert Eaglestone, Don McKinney. Characters and Combat (Far Future Enterprises, 2019), 42-43.
• Matthew Sprange. Core Rule Book (Mongoose Publishing, 2016), 120.
• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science