Armory - Assault Rifle

Armory Concept Sketches (Summer of 2007)

Republic X2 G-R/MG

X2 "Second Series Future Combat System"
G-R/MG "Gauss Rifle/Machine Gun"

Magnus' Review:

"Commissioned by the Republic military about two years ago, this weapon is manufactured on a component basis by several major corporations then shipped to a Department of Defense factory to be assembled. Even though the military could conceivably equip every soldier in the field with plasma rifles, a recent cost/reward study came to the conclusion that, cheaper automatic coil or rail technology would be far more suitable to the military as they were more resilient to combat wear and tear and far less prone to catastrophic containment failure.

If I had a choice from all my weapons to take into a fight, I'd probably take this, as it has excellent to good effectiveness against most threats. That and it looks damn imposing."

Ammunition:
Primary
6.5 mm MRAP (Magnetically Rifled Armor-Piercing)
6.5 mm MRDU (Magnetically Rifled Depleted Uranium)
6.5 mm MRBE (Magnetically Rifled Burrowing Explosive)
6.5 mm MRHP (Magnetically Rifled Hollow Point)

Secondary
Any Munition Caliber between 6 and 150 grams, of width not exceeding 12 mm.

Explanation: The ammunition variability of this weapon is provided by permissive loading and firing mechanisms. Although specifically well suited to firing the 6.5 round, by replacing the floating barrel with a larger variant the gun becomes a slug thrower. Each individual round's rifling is provided by modification of the magnetic forces in the barrel, keeping the round equal-distance from all sides.

Of course this does inevitably render the gunpowder propellant of any round useless due to the lack of pressure in the barrel, the magnetic propulsion more than makes up for it. This has even resulted in an ammunition salvaging culture wherein foreign rounds are 'cut' so that only the casing of the bullet containing the gunpowder is retained, then reversed in the clip in the hope that one or more rounds "pops" after entering their target.

Concept © Me

Artwork © Celarent