Particle rifle

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The phase rifles were a type of hand-held phase-modulated energy weapon in use by Earth's Starfleet and Earth Cargo Service personnel and the MACO forces in the 22nd century.

Starfleet / ECS plasma rifle

File:Starfleet phase rifle.jpg

A Starfleet rifle with scope

A plasma rifle used on the ECS Fortunate

Plasma rifles in a weapons locker

The plasma rifles also known as pulse rifles were the standard-issue carbine weapons on Starfleet and Earth Cargo Authority starships. The Enterprise NX-01 and ECS Fortunate were equipped these weapons. The pulse rifles had the capability of firing both plasma bullets (ENT: "Broken Bow", "Fortunate Son", "The Council") and a beam with an adjustable level from stun to the kill setting. (ENT: "Vox Sola", "Regeneration")

In 2151, a Starfleet security officer stood watch in sickbay with a plasma rifle when the wouded Klingon courier Klaang was abducted by the Suliban. Captain Archer managed to kill one of the invading Suliban with plasma bullets. (ENT: "Broken Bow")

By 2151, Ensign Hoshi Sato had cleared training on the class-3 pulse rifles. (ENT: "Fight or Flight") Starfleet security officers on the Enterprise and Lieutenant Reed carried pulse rifles on several occasions from 2151 to 2154. A selection of rifles was stored in the ships armory. (ENT: "Broken Bow", "Marauders", "The Council", "Zero Hour")

In 2151, a Starfleet security officer with a pulse rifle was investigating the presence of a strange alien lifeform in Cargo Bay 2 with Captain Archer and Commander Tucker aboard the Enterprise. The security officer attempted to use his rifle, set on stun, to fend off the creature when it began to attack them, but was distressed to find out that the weapon had no measurable effect on it. (ENT: "Vox Sola")

In 2153, two security officers accompanying Lieutenant Reed attempted to use pulse rifles to fend off two Tarkaleans who had been assimilated by the Borg, but were unable to penetrated the Tarkaleans' personal force fields. (ENT: "Regeneration")

Later in 2153, several of these plasma rifles were stolen from the Enterprise by Osaarian pirates. (ENT: "Anomaly") Later on the same year, an EV team was able to dislodge and retrieve a sample of nucleonic particles accumulating on the hull with multiple hits from a plasma rifle. (ENT: "Similitude")

In 2154, Reed attempted to destroy a defensive claw inside a Delphic Expanse sphere with a plasma rifle on the mission to retrieve the redundant memory core of the sphere. The claw appeared to be impervious to the plasma bullets fired by Reed. It required the more powerful ship-mounted weapons of a shuttlepod to destroy the claw. (ENT: "The Council")

When Captain James T. Kirk recreated his uncle's farm in Idaho, inside the Nexus, a wall display of weapons and memorabilia there included a plasma rifle. (Star Trek Generations [1])

The type of the rifle was never clearly identified in dialogue. A weapons locker where the rifles were stored on the Enterprise was sold in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction. The label above the rifles read "UNIT G95-34942U" and identifies the "UNIT TYPE" as "0094-07" [2]. According to the script of "Broken Bow", the the Starfleet rifle was a plasma rifle and fired plasma bullets [3] and according to Startrek.com it was a pulse rifle [4], suggesting the terms are synonymous. According to the article, the pulse rifle was one of the weapons powered by a rechargeable sarium microcells as was mentioned in ENT: "Cogenitor". There were two slightly different variants of this rifle prop, both were called energy carbines [5] [6] in the It's a Wrap! auction.

The effects in "Broken Bow" and "Fortunate Son" and "The Council" suggest the weapon is the rifle version of the EM-33 pistol, while effects in "Vox Sola" and "Regeneration" suggest the weapon to be the rifle-version of the Starfleet phase pistol.

The Starfleet rifle was the same prop that was used in several Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes to represent the Hunter's crossbows, a Nol-Ennis rifles, the Albino's guards rifles, Kellerun assault rifles and most frequently as the Jem'hadar plasma rifles.

MACO particle rifle

File:S Money firing EM-41 phase rifle.jpg

S. Money aiming a particle rifle

File:Em41 extended.jpg

A MACO using a particle rifle with extended barrel

File:Em41 scope.jpg

The scope of the MACO particle rifle in night vision mode

The particle rifles were the standard-issue carbine weapons on of MACO personnel. The weapon fired blue bolts of concentrated energy discharges and was capable of multiple settings. The power settings ranged from stun, to kill, to a high-power shot capable of blasting through a Human torso. (ENT: "The Augments") Power levels could be changed by manipulating either of a pair of circular dials mounted on either side of the weapon. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly") The weapon featured a tubular stock, vertical foregrip, and a multifunction scope that could be retracted into the body of the weapon. (ENT: "The Xindi")

While extremely powerful when set to kill, its stun setting appeared to be somewhat ineffective against species that were more physically resilient, such as enraged Vulcans, Xindi-Reptilians and the Augments. (ENT: "Impulse", "Rajiin", "Borderland") At their highest setting, MACO particle rifles were extremely powerful, capable of penetrating a humanoid target. In 2154, Captain Archer used a MACO particle rifle to kill the Augment Malik in this manner, using the rifle to literally bore a hole through Malik's torso. (ENT: "The Augments")

Particle rifles were in use as late as 2161, when a team of MACOs utilized the weapons during a mission to rescue Talla, the daughter of Shran and Jhamel, from a group of alien kidnappers on Rigel X. (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...")

The designation and type of the MACO rifle was never identified on screen, but the weapon is called a particle rifle in Startrek.com. [7]. Based on effects it appeared to be the rifle-version of the MACO phase pistol and fire the same phase pulses. The MACO rifle was also called an assault rifle, [8] an assault carbine, [9] a phase rifle [10] and an energy rifle. [11] in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction. The Vulcan rifle props from ENT: "Shadows of P'Jem" were also called phase rifles in the auction. [12]

Based on a scene in "In a Mirror Darkly", rotating the power level selector forward / away from the user appeared to increase the power level. There may also be a sniper variant of the rifle, though it is unclear whether or not the sniper version featured in "The Xindi" was a distinct weapon system or a standard MACO rifle with a retractable barrel or separate barrel attachment.

A short, tubular-shaped part of the rifle beneath the muzzle of the weapon that is very similar to a set of three objects the MACO's carry in a specialized pouch / carrier on their utility belts, suggesting the ability for the weapon to be reloaded. The MACO phase pistol and EM-33 pistol feature an identical object, also beneath the muzzle of the weapon, which may also be storage space for spare power cells for the rifle and pistol.

Appearances

• ENT:
  • "North Star"
  • "Damage"
  • "Babel One"
  • "United"

External link

• Starfleet Pulse rifle at Phasers.net
• MACO Pulse rifle at Phasers.net