Post by Talau the Ever-Lurking on Jul 6, 2011 16:40:00 GMT -5
Official Weapon Name: F-27 “Schutzhund**” Assault Rifle
Faction/Affiliation: Republic Military
Manufacturer: Kurrion Arms Tech
Classification: Assault Blaster Rifle
Stock/Custom: Stock
Dimensions:
Length: 947.3mm (extended stock) 838mm (stock retracted)
Weapon weight: 3.44 kg (empty), 3.46 kg (with charge pack), approx 4 kg (with charge pack and fully loaded underslung launcher)
Magazine Capacity:
Rifle: 200 rounds
Underslung Launcher: 2 rounds
RPM: 580 (at full-auto) with semi-auto and 3 round burst options (when not on stun setting)
Projectile:
Rifle: Particle beam
Underslung Launcher: 40mm grenades, 40mm incendiary rounds (other 40mm rounds, such as: flare canister, signal smoke canister, teargas cartridges, bean-bag rounds, and GLIMPS rounds**)
Features:
Rifle
Underslung Launcher
Additional
Description:
Please, Sir, I Want Some More
After their initial success with the SM-82 project, the Republic Army turned once more to Kurrion Tech with yet another request. This time, however, it wasn’t for a standard slug rifle, but a heavy blaster rifle.
With the knowledge that Kurrion Tech could perform ‘miracles’ in the weapons department, the Army had no qualms in handing over a laundry list of requests for the new rifle. It had to be no heavier than the SM-82, had to have a grenade launcher, had to be able to have some selective fire options…but those were just the necessities. Blasters, they had noticed…especially in rifle form, were notoriously inaccurate. They wanted, needed, more accuracy from the weapon if it was going to be more effective than other models. The reload time for a spent gas cartridge was also a serious problem. In a prolonged fight a soldier didn’t have time to waste in reloading that sort of thing…charge packs were simple, but a gas cartridge tended to be far more difficult to get to. Lastly, if there was a way to alert a soldier of a low charge or low gas for their weapon it could save precious moments between the time the wielder ran out of ammo and the time they could reload.
Needless to say, the Kurrion Tech R&D team was about beside themselves with how much work they had to do to try and fill the order.
Trial and Error
For the most part the F-87 started out just like any other blaster rifle. In fact, it was originally housed in an old model blaster rifle Kurrion had pulled from the markets as it became outdated. The stock, railing, main weapon body…they were all well and good, and considering it had been built to eject charge packs like a slug thrower would magazines, it was a good beginning. With two selective fire options, auto and semi-auto, it didn’t need much work their either, but…something had to be improved.
The idea came when one of the designers suggested a burst function that might allow the weapon to remain cooler, longer…rather than overheating from constant automatic fire. It seemed like a plausible enough idea, and it would certainly give the firer some good options in how to lay down cover fire or engage enemies. The trouble was, the original 5 round burst caused nearly the same heat-up as automatic fire did, especially if the bursts were close together. Cool down between bursts was sluggish and, over all, the idea wasn’t much different from automatic. However, the tests for a triple round burst were far more promising. Lastly, the old standby and perk of blasters, a setting for stun bolts was added to the selective fire mechanism…
A more well rounded weapon (as far as selective fire was concerned) they couldn’t have hoped for.
With an idea settled on for the selective fire, the next step was accuracy. Stripping down the original rifle to bare essentials and wiring, the team worked day and night to try and find a way to improve the accuracy of the weapon. From the design and shape of the internal barrel to the power and wiring needed to charge the gas enough to create the bolts, they left no proverbial stone unturned in their quest. Still, in the end they could only get a 10% accuracy increase. Far better than it could have been, but far short from their hopes of 30-40%. Well…they were good, but they weren’t gods, and the military would just have to understand that.
In their quest to hone the accuracy of the blaster rifle, Kurrion R&D hadn’t forgotten some of the other requests that had been made of them. For instance, they had managed, in all their toying with wires, to rather easily fill the order of a low charge indicator. It was a small, simple, light just behind the trigger grip that lit when the charge in a pack was down to enough energy for 25 rounds. That, they thought, should be plenty of notification time for any soldier watching their ammo. There was a slight problem, though, with putting an indicator in for the gas. However, that problem was most easily solved when combined with the question of “how the hell do we create a quick gas-reload chamber?”
The idea actually came when one of the researchers went to her doctor for a routine check-up and some blood work. She had been sitting there, watching the phlebotomist press a vacuum sealed tube into the back end of the needle when it dawned on her…what if something similar could be accomplished with a gas tube? What if the end of the needle that punctured the vacuum seal and allowed the blood to flow in might actually be a sensor gauge that would puncture the gas tube and allow the substance to be used in the weapon, as well as providing a way to measure the amount of gas within and allowing the tube to simply be inserted into the gun with little more than a push and expelled with little more than a tug on an end or the push of a button?! Impressed with herself and her discovery, she convinced the phlebotomist to give her the end of a butterfly needle and one of the vacuum sealed tubes. With no actual needle attached once he cut the end off at the thin tubing, there really was no problem with him giving them to her…and so, with her new show-and-tell objects in hand, she went home and started drawing up possible plans to pitch to the team.
Needless to say the idea struck a chord with the others, but getting it to work, much less honing it down to something mass producible was going to be…difficult. From the ‘mechanics’ of the chamber to the placement of it, from the concept and wiring of the sensor to its accuracy, from the build of the tubes the gas would be held in, to how they could be punctured by the sensor without being at risk to puncturing in the field otherwise…there were more than enough problems to solve. Flip off ‘corks’ were used to protect the puncture area, the insertion slot was placed near the stock behind the trigger grip to reduce wiring needs for the sensor, their top tech teams worked day and night on the sensor module to create a sort of pressure sensing valve to help measure the gas content…Bit by bit even this difficult order was filled until, finally, a small grip was added to the exposed end of the gas cylinder to make for easy removal.
Stopping to look at the weapon tested and nearly completed, the Kurrion Tech team almost breathed a sigh of relief. All that was left was the grenade launcher and that…that was simplistic. They already had one developed from a different weapon that held two grenades, was a simple pump action, and they already had the wiring ready for a ‘simple’ switch that would allow the primary trigger to become the ‘secondary’ trigger and back again.
When, at long last, the dust and debris were once again swept away and all the many (very many) rejected concepts and designs were stored away for ‘a rainy day’ or scrapped, the Kurrion Arms Tech team once again beamed with pride.
They had done it.
The F-27 “Shutzhund” (dubbed for its ability to move from swift and relentless attack capabilities to more defensive ones then back again, as well as the heavy ‘whuff’ sound emitted from the grenade launcher) was at last complete, tested, retested, and honed for mass production. All that awaited it now was the final unveiling.
I Want it All
When the CEO proudly presented the new weapon to the Republic Military officers there was little time wasted. Someone had been brought to the Corellian based Kurrion HQ with them in order to test the weapon before their own eyes and, much to the anxious parent’s (CEO Hollins) relief, her baby seemed to pass with flying colors. A deal was signed issuing several crates of the rifles once again to the ‘Lucky Sevens’ as a secondary choice in weaponry. Apparently they had proven to be a good testing ground for the usefulness of the SM82, so the F-27 “Shutzhund” would be ‘tried on for size’ in the same respect. However, the deal also included another several crates that were to be shipped to various Corellian sector naval ships for testing the feasibility and usefulness of the rifles aboard space faring ships.
It was more than Kurrion Tech could have asked for…certainly more than they’d gotten previously.
Over the span of the first year in use the Shutzhund saw decent use in the Sevens, though it seemed that the majority of the pilots preferred the SM82. Still, reviews for the weapon were, more often than not, high praise for the weapon’s capabilities. However, the weapon saw widespread use in Corellia’s fleets by their security teams and marines, the decently compact weapon making maneuverability more possible in small corridors, while keeping offensive and defensive fire capabilities. Smoke rounds were popular with the weapon aboard the naval vessels, providing even better cover, and the enhanced accuracy reduced potential damage to the ship itself. The only real, noted, problem was the one thing the military had requested…the low charge and gas indicators had the potential to be learned by enemies and taken advantage of. Duct tape, however, had its uses and some of the more cautious members of the navy and marines took to covering the lights. That…and the fact that the weapon did have a higher potential of overheating if used constantly in auto-fire or burst, leaving the handler with a cool down time of a couple of minutes, or (if they weren’t careful) a nasty burn from the barrel.
While…relatively…inexpensive, the weapons haven’t often seen use outside of Corellian fleet ships, even after several years, but they’re slowly getting around.
** notes: GLIMPS (Grenade-Launched Imaging Modular Projectile System). This is a projectile that contains a small camera which transmits images of what it sees.
www.gizmag.com/go/4419/ and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot_gun#Ammunition (only mentioned here, but this is where I first saw it.)
Stats based loosely on the IAR (Infantry Automatic Rifle)
IAR video link - www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YzGzeLh3mc
Schutzhund: dog that is specially trained and conditioned for guard and attack work.
Faction/Affiliation: Republic Military
Manufacturer: Kurrion Arms Tech
Classification: Assault Blaster Rifle
Stock/Custom: Stock
Dimensions:
Length: 947.3mm (extended stock) 838mm (stock retracted)
Weapon weight: 3.44 kg (empty), 3.46 kg (with charge pack), approx 4 kg (with charge pack and fully loaded underslung launcher)
Magazine Capacity:
Rifle: 200 rounds
Underslung Launcher: 2 rounds
RPM: 580 (at full-auto) with semi-auto and 3 round burst options (when not on stun setting)
Projectile:
Rifle: Particle beam
Underslung Launcher: 40mm grenades, 40mm incendiary rounds (other 40mm rounds, such as: flare canister, signal smoke canister, teargas cartridges, bean-bag rounds, and GLIMPS rounds**)
Features:
Rifle
- Four setting selective fire: Semi-automatic, fully automatic, 3 round burst and stun
- Swift charge pack and gas reload abilities
- Flip-up red dot sight
- Early reload notification lights (for charge and gas)
Underslung Launcher
- Pump action
- Two rounds
- Uses switch on rifle body to change the primary trigger to secondary (launcher) use and back
Additional
- Single top rail for scope, laser sight, or tactical light
- Bayonet lug
Description:
Please, Sir, I Want Some More
After their initial success with the SM-82 project, the Republic Army turned once more to Kurrion Tech with yet another request. This time, however, it wasn’t for a standard slug rifle, but a heavy blaster rifle.
With the knowledge that Kurrion Tech could perform ‘miracles’ in the weapons department, the Army had no qualms in handing over a laundry list of requests for the new rifle. It had to be no heavier than the SM-82, had to have a grenade launcher, had to be able to have some selective fire options…but those were just the necessities. Blasters, they had noticed…especially in rifle form, were notoriously inaccurate. They wanted, needed, more accuracy from the weapon if it was going to be more effective than other models. The reload time for a spent gas cartridge was also a serious problem. In a prolonged fight a soldier didn’t have time to waste in reloading that sort of thing…charge packs were simple, but a gas cartridge tended to be far more difficult to get to. Lastly, if there was a way to alert a soldier of a low charge or low gas for their weapon it could save precious moments between the time the wielder ran out of ammo and the time they could reload.
Needless to say, the Kurrion Tech R&D team was about beside themselves with how much work they had to do to try and fill the order.
Trial and Error
For the most part the F-87 started out just like any other blaster rifle. In fact, it was originally housed in an old model blaster rifle Kurrion had pulled from the markets as it became outdated. The stock, railing, main weapon body…they were all well and good, and considering it had been built to eject charge packs like a slug thrower would magazines, it was a good beginning. With two selective fire options, auto and semi-auto, it didn’t need much work their either, but…something had to be improved.
The idea came when one of the designers suggested a burst function that might allow the weapon to remain cooler, longer…rather than overheating from constant automatic fire. It seemed like a plausible enough idea, and it would certainly give the firer some good options in how to lay down cover fire or engage enemies. The trouble was, the original 5 round burst caused nearly the same heat-up as automatic fire did, especially if the bursts were close together. Cool down between bursts was sluggish and, over all, the idea wasn’t much different from automatic. However, the tests for a triple round burst were far more promising. Lastly, the old standby and perk of blasters, a setting for stun bolts was added to the selective fire mechanism…
A more well rounded weapon (as far as selective fire was concerned) they couldn’t have hoped for.
With an idea settled on for the selective fire, the next step was accuracy. Stripping down the original rifle to bare essentials and wiring, the team worked day and night to try and find a way to improve the accuracy of the weapon. From the design and shape of the internal barrel to the power and wiring needed to charge the gas enough to create the bolts, they left no proverbial stone unturned in their quest. Still, in the end they could only get a 10% accuracy increase. Far better than it could have been, but far short from their hopes of 30-40%. Well…they were good, but they weren’t gods, and the military would just have to understand that.
In their quest to hone the accuracy of the blaster rifle, Kurrion R&D hadn’t forgotten some of the other requests that had been made of them. For instance, they had managed, in all their toying with wires, to rather easily fill the order of a low charge indicator. It was a small, simple, light just behind the trigger grip that lit when the charge in a pack was down to enough energy for 25 rounds. That, they thought, should be plenty of notification time for any soldier watching their ammo. There was a slight problem, though, with putting an indicator in for the gas. However, that problem was most easily solved when combined with the question of “how the hell do we create a quick gas-reload chamber?”
The idea actually came when one of the researchers went to her doctor for a routine check-up and some blood work. She had been sitting there, watching the phlebotomist press a vacuum sealed tube into the back end of the needle when it dawned on her…what if something similar could be accomplished with a gas tube? What if the end of the needle that punctured the vacuum seal and allowed the blood to flow in might actually be a sensor gauge that would puncture the gas tube and allow the substance to be used in the weapon, as well as providing a way to measure the amount of gas within and allowing the tube to simply be inserted into the gun with little more than a push and expelled with little more than a tug on an end or the push of a button?! Impressed with herself and her discovery, she convinced the phlebotomist to give her the end of a butterfly needle and one of the vacuum sealed tubes. With no actual needle attached once he cut the end off at the thin tubing, there really was no problem with him giving them to her…and so, with her new show-and-tell objects in hand, she went home and started drawing up possible plans to pitch to the team.
Needless to say the idea struck a chord with the others, but getting it to work, much less honing it down to something mass producible was going to be…difficult. From the ‘mechanics’ of the chamber to the placement of it, from the concept and wiring of the sensor to its accuracy, from the build of the tubes the gas would be held in, to how they could be punctured by the sensor without being at risk to puncturing in the field otherwise…there were more than enough problems to solve. Flip off ‘corks’ were used to protect the puncture area, the insertion slot was placed near the stock behind the trigger grip to reduce wiring needs for the sensor, their top tech teams worked day and night on the sensor module to create a sort of pressure sensing valve to help measure the gas content…Bit by bit even this difficult order was filled until, finally, a small grip was added to the exposed end of the gas cylinder to make for easy removal.
Stopping to look at the weapon tested and nearly completed, the Kurrion Tech team almost breathed a sigh of relief. All that was left was the grenade launcher and that…that was simplistic. They already had one developed from a different weapon that held two grenades, was a simple pump action, and they already had the wiring ready for a ‘simple’ switch that would allow the primary trigger to become the ‘secondary’ trigger and back again.
When, at long last, the dust and debris were once again swept away and all the many (very many) rejected concepts and designs were stored away for ‘a rainy day’ or scrapped, the Kurrion Arms Tech team once again beamed with pride.
They had done it.
The F-27 “Shutzhund” (dubbed for its ability to move from swift and relentless attack capabilities to more defensive ones then back again, as well as the heavy ‘whuff’ sound emitted from the grenade launcher) was at last complete, tested, retested, and honed for mass production. All that awaited it now was the final unveiling.
I Want it All
When the CEO proudly presented the new weapon to the Republic Military officers there was little time wasted. Someone had been brought to the Corellian based Kurrion HQ with them in order to test the weapon before their own eyes and, much to the anxious parent’s (CEO Hollins) relief, her baby seemed to pass with flying colors. A deal was signed issuing several crates of the rifles once again to the ‘Lucky Sevens’ as a secondary choice in weaponry. Apparently they had proven to be a good testing ground for the usefulness of the SM82, so the F-27 “Shutzhund” would be ‘tried on for size’ in the same respect. However, the deal also included another several crates that were to be shipped to various Corellian sector naval ships for testing the feasibility and usefulness of the rifles aboard space faring ships.
It was more than Kurrion Tech could have asked for…certainly more than they’d gotten previously.
Over the span of the first year in use the Shutzhund saw decent use in the Sevens, though it seemed that the majority of the pilots preferred the SM82. Still, reviews for the weapon were, more often than not, high praise for the weapon’s capabilities. However, the weapon saw widespread use in Corellia’s fleets by their security teams and marines, the decently compact weapon making maneuverability more possible in small corridors, while keeping offensive and defensive fire capabilities. Smoke rounds were popular with the weapon aboard the naval vessels, providing even better cover, and the enhanced accuracy reduced potential damage to the ship itself. The only real, noted, problem was the one thing the military had requested…the low charge and gas indicators had the potential to be learned by enemies and taken advantage of. Duct tape, however, had its uses and some of the more cautious members of the navy and marines took to covering the lights. That…and the fact that the weapon did have a higher potential of overheating if used constantly in auto-fire or burst, leaving the handler with a cool down time of a couple of minutes, or (if they weren’t careful) a nasty burn from the barrel.
While…relatively…inexpensive, the weapons haven’t often seen use outside of Corellian fleet ships, even after several years, but they’re slowly getting around.
** notes: GLIMPS (Grenade-Launched Imaging Modular Projectile System). This is a projectile that contains a small camera which transmits images of what it sees.
www.gizmag.com/go/4419/ and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riot_gun#Ammunition (only mentioned here, but this is where I first saw it.)
Stats based loosely on the IAR (Infantry Automatic Rifle)
IAR video link - www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YzGzeLh3mc
Schutzhund: dog that is specially trained and conditioned for guard and attack work.
