The 12.7mm High-Power Infantry Rifle is a Nepleslian Military rifle designed and developed by the young and unimportant, yet attentive, mind of one Lupin Kennedy in YE 42 during the start of his military service. He felt as though some of the rifles fielded by himself and his fellow NSMC snipers were beginning to feel somewhat outdated compared to what the rest of the sector was using.

So, the young man began constructing his prototype solution from 12.7mm Medium Chain Gun components that were deemed unfit for service due to minor imperfections. The prototype began life as a single-shot, breach-loaded, bolt-action rifle with two barrel assemblies fused together to make one longer barrel, though quickly snowballed into something that got the attention of some more grizzled personnel with higher ranks than his.

Soon enough, the prototype was upgraded with freshly-fabricated components and put forth as a contender for the likes of rifles such as the Designated Sharpshooter Rifle, Model 1 and other precision rifles. With his sudden disappearance Deidre Kirsty NicAlasdair took on the project and refined it into something that would be accepted into service.

The 12.7mm High-Power Infantry Rifle is a powerful and precise weapon designed to be fired from a static position. It is capable of taking down personnel with ease, as well as power armor and lighter vehicles so long as the shot is well-placed. The rifle’s stopping-power and accuracy at longer ranges makes it perfect for taking out high-priority targets, stopping a vehicle from charging a checkpoint, and even protection-detail from a sniper’s nest during VIP events.

The fact that its round is already commonly used by the Nepleslian Military was not a happy coincidence. No, Lupin figured that there was no reason to come up with some new proprietary ammunition when the destructive force he was looking for already existed with the 12.7 x 100mm Mass Driver Round. It simply needed to be fired from something with a longer barrel and more stability than a chaingun.

While Lupin did most of the footwork his sudden disappearance and the project being subsequently carried over the finishing line by Deidre Kirsty NicAlasdair means that most people associate it with her rather than him.

This section details the designer, manufacturer, and classification of the weapon.

• Designer: Lupin Kennedy, Deidre Kirsty NicAlasdair
• Manufacturer: Nepleslian Arms and Munitions
• Name: 12.7mm High-Power Infantry Rifle, H-PIR
• Nomenclature: NA-W-HP01
• Type: Gauss
• Role: Anti-Armor Sniper Rifle
• Length: 1.5 meters(5 feet)¹⁾
• Weight: 9kg(20 lbs)

The H-PIR is a relatively sleek and minimalistic weapon built to weather harsh environments and shoot straight at extreme ranges. It features a noticeably sleek barrel housing the electromagnetic coil array. The barrel is comprised of a rifled Nerimium insert sleeved inside a titanium housing. Its back-end is seated inside a body that shares some design queues with a DMR-kitted M3 Assault Weapon System constructed from anodized Durandium Alloy with Steenplast furnishings, though it features a sturdier barrel and stricter tolerances than the commonly fielded weapon.

Additionally, the rifle features a floating barrel and a right-handed bolt handle that can easily be retooled for left-handed shooters, though only the right-hand side of the chamber will open to ensure the design remains as simple as possible. The bolt handle and trigger guard are designed large enough to accommodate bulky and/or armoured gloves, and a stock that can have a cheek-weld formed on even with a full-coverage helmet.

Fresh from the factory, the H-PIR comes in a primarily matte-black base coat designed to be repainted with appropriate camouflage, and a pair of crisp flip-up iron sights.

This section explains what happens each time the weapon fires and what it is capable of.

• Muzzle Flash: Atmospheric gasses being displaced as the round leaves the barrel, if applicable.
• Retort: A quiet hiss followed by a supersonic boom as the round breaks the sound-barrier.
• Effective Range: 6km (3.7mi)
• Rate of Fire: As fast as the user can squeeze the trigger and cycle the bolt.²⁾
  • Someone extremely skilled and well-versed with this rifle could fire one shot roughly every second .
  • The average user can be as slow as, or slower than, one shot every 3-5 seconds.
• Recoil: Very heavy, requires the shooter to fire from a static, braced position or make use of sufficient strength-enhancements.

This section details the weapon’s ammunition and what it is capable of.

• Ammunition: 12.7mm Mass Driver Rounds
• Purpose: Tier 3, Heavy Anti-Personnel to Tier 5, Medium Anti-Armour depending on ammunition
• Round Capacity: 10+1³⁾

This section details how the weapon fires and is fed ammunition.

• Firing Mechanism: Straight-pull bolt-action coilgun.
  • While the weapon has no casings, it still features an ejection port that opens each time the spring-assisted bolt is pulled back so that any unlikely jams may be cleared. This lets the bolt close, strips a round from the magazine and seats it in the back of the barrel.
  • Each squeeze of the trigger causes the electromagnetic coils surrounding the barrel to pulse forwards in sequence, accelerating the round out the barrel where it discards its sabots⁴⁾ and breaks the sound barrier.
• Loading: A Durandium Alloy magazine release tab sits just ahead of the trigger guard. Depressing this tab allows the user to remove a magazine and replace it with another, with the user cycling the bolt each time they wish to chamber a round. Additionally, they may manually place a round directly into the chamber by pulling the bolt back and slipping a cartridge in, before letting the bolt slide forwards.
• Mode Selector: N/A
• Firing Modes: Manually cycled bolt-action
• Safety Mechanism: An ambidextrous switch is built into the top of the trigger guard. When the switch is pushed forward it means that the rifle is ready to fire. With the switch in the back position, the rifle will not fire. This safety also acts as the weapon’s on/off switch.
• Weapon Sight: A stiff set of flip-up, range-adjustable iron-sights are default. The rifle is often paired with a high-powered scope and, sometimes, even a prism⁵⁾ on top of that, in order to fulfill its long-range role.
• Attachment Hard Points: Heavy-duty rails made from anodized chromium-vanadium steel run the length of the rifle’s top, along the underside of the barrel, and on either side. Designed to remain perfectly straight no matter what abuse the rifle is put through, these are intended to accept a variety of attachments tailored to the shooter’s needs.

Each rifle is packaged with three battery packs so that one is always in use, with the other two acting as pre-charged backups incase something happens to the first. The loaded battery pack is housed beneath the weapon's fore-grip and a few hex screws. It can only be removed once the weapon's safety is activated and uses very little power passively. It is recommended that the battery pack is swapped out once a year, despite the fact that it is capable of providing enough power for up to 5,000 shots and can provide constant power for up to 5 years before depleting itself.

It is described as having a very nice stock trigger that, while able to be fine-tuned to the user's preference, comes with the “breaking a proverbial glass rod” feeling that most serious marksmen look for in their precision rifles - despite being an electronic trigger.

The weapon utilizes very little moving parts for how hard it hits. This is due to the fact that it has no need to bleed off gas, eject shell casings, or use many of the other mechanisms used found in traditional chemically-fired, cased ammunition. This makes the H-PIR a rather durable and robust unit. The Intelligence and Pacification Group has access to bullpupped, semi-automatic variants of this rifle, which are also rumoured to have nicer barrels.

This weapon is not sold publicly so no price is listed. As of early YE 42, it has not yet had time to find its way to the black market.

Various replacement parts are available from armourers and quartermasters to make repairs if needed. In a pinch, the barrel may be replaced with one taken from a 12.7mm Medium Chain Gun, though the rifle’s performance will suffer for it.

A list of officially-supported attachments available for the 12.7mm High-Power Infantry Rifle:

• 7-25x50mm high-powered scope⁶⁾
• 8-80x56mm high-powered scope
• Zen Kendo 4-34x56mm “Arbalest” Scope
• Multispectral Marksman Scope
• Prism⁷⁾ with magnetic mount
• Telescoping bipod
• PA-grade rifle sling
• semi-automatic conversion kit ⁸⁾

The NAM 12.7mm Ammunition is not for sale outside the SMDION and anyone seeking ammunition for this weapon outside of official channels must source it through shadier means.

SirSkully created this article on 2020/03/10 08:25.

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