Weapon Type: Heavy Assault Rifle Manufacturer: Federated Industries Operation: Single Shot Weight (w/o magazine): 6.0 kg Weight (5-round magazine): 2.0 kg Weight (10-round magazine): 2.6 kg Weight (15-round magazine): 3.0 kg Length: 110 cm Caliber: 12 mm Type of Fire: Selective: single shot or burst Rate of Fire: (cyclic) 400 rpm Magazine: 15-, 10-, or 15-round magazine Reload Time: 10 seconds Effective Ranges Single shot or burst: Short: 35 m Medium: 90 m Long: 140 m Weapon Reliability: 98% Base Cost: Cb 200 Reload Cost: (5-round magazine): Cb 1 (10-round magazine): Cb 2 (15-round magazine): Cb 3 Notes The Zeus Heavy Rifle is a military combat rifle patterned off of a civilian big game rifle, the Zeus-Hawkings Sporter. Its two primary claims to fame are its weight (8 kilograms with a 5-round magazine loaded) and its striking power. Both the Zeus and the Zeus-Hawkings Sporter are chambered for the 12-mm Thunderbolt Magnum cartridge, the most powerful rifle cartridge ever developed. The soft, blunt-nosed design of the round is designed for stopping power and penetration rather than range, and the Zeus actually has a shorter range than some other rifles. However, the Zeus-Hawkings Sporter is the only commercial weapon ever credited with bringing down an Althastan megarium. Doubters in the weapon's stopping power are referred to xenobiological texts which describe this massive, heavily-armored, and dangerous denizen of the jungles of Althasta II. The military version has been recorded--on at least one occasion--to have penetrated the armored canopy of a Shadow Hawk at close range and killed the pilot. Though considered to be a fluke, the incident, which occurred on 27 August 3025 during a Davion raid on Berenson, has created an extraordinary reputation for this rifle. The Zeus is heavily constructed. The stock is especially reinforced to withstand the recoil of the heavy magnum round. Though it is capable of firing four-round bursts, the need for conserving both ammo and the firer's shoulder generally limit the weapon to single shots only. Manufactured by Federated Industries, the same arms company which produces the Federated Long Rifle, the Zeus is common throughout the Federated Suns and has been exported in large numbers to the Lyran Commonwealth. Many of the weapons have also found their way by various means to the other Successor State Houses as well. At least two rifle-armed infantry regiments (4th Arc Royal Guards, "Dragon Slayers," and the 115th Arborean Militia, "Mech Hunters") are known to use the Zeus as a standard-issue arm, though available information suggests that both units fill out shortages in this weapon with Federated Long Rifles. The Zeus-Hawkings Sporter is identical to the military version but fires five rounds from an internal magazine rather than from a detachable box magazine, weighs only 5 kilograms, and is capable of semiautomatic, single-shot fire only. Assault Rifles Introduction Federated Long Rifle Federated Zeus Heavy Rifle Gallo Model 3003 "KRT AR" Bereiter Arms Model AR90 Thomas GPR Back to BattleTechnology 3 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1988 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com