Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki

A friendly reminder regarding spoilers! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy, the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG, Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online, as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant. Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{spoiler}}, {{spoilers}} OR {{majorspoiler}} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

READ MORE

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki
No edit summary
Line 19: Line 19:
 
* [[phaser rifle]]
 
* [[phaser rifle]]
 
** [[compression phaser rifle]]
 
** [[compression phaser rifle]]
  +
* [[Pipe gun]]
 
* [[plasma rifle]]
 
* [[plasma rifle]]
 
* [[polaron pulse rifle]]
 
* [[polaron pulse rifle]]

Revision as of 16:33, 10 November 2012

The term rifle is used to refer to a type of weapon, a hand-held weapon that has been specifically manufactured to fire in an extremely accurate straight line. The term originates in projectile weapons, which had a "rifled" pattern inscribed in their barrels, to create a spinning projectile that was extremely accurate and powerful due to the specific motion imparted upon it by the rifling controlling and harnessing the weapon's firing force.

In later usage, the term rifle has become much more generalized, and can refer to directed energy weapons that have similar modifications to ensure accuracy and power of their discharges.

Since the term "rifle" refers to a modification to a projectile-firing gun barrel, it is not clear how it could refer to an energy weapon.

Types of rifles

Links