Gas-Powered Air Guns

These use air or carbon dioxide, compressed and stored in liquid form. When the trigger is pulled, the liquid is released and expands into a gas, propelling the projectile.

Gas-powered air guns are quiet and have no muzzle flash. They are often used as sporting weapons, and tend to have a higher Legality Class than other weapons.

Weapons

Needler, 3mm (TL9): A small-caliber air gun that can fire a bullet, or a drugged dart holding one dose of any injectable biochemical poison. Also called a "needle pistol."

Needle Rifle, 3mm (TL9): A higher-powered air rifle, otherwise similar to the needle pistol.

Paint Carbine, 15mm (TL9): A large-caliber, low-velocity air gun used to fire plastic pellets containing paint or biochemical liquid ammunition. It is electrically powered (a B cell can fire 10 magazines of ammunition) and capable of automatic fire. It may be designed as a replica of an actual rifle or carbine.

Paint Pistol, 15mm (TL9): A large-caliber, low-velocity air gun used to fire plastic pellets containing paint or biochemical liquid ammunition. Some models are designed as replicas of pistols.

Tangler, 25mm (TL9): A compressed gas gun about the size of a shotgun, with a folding stock. It fires a 25mm projectile at a very low velocity. It usually fires tangler ammunition, but can also fire other 25mm warhead rounds or solid metal slugs.

Tangler Pistol, 25mm (TL9): A pistol-sized tangler that uses a less powerful compressed air charge.

Wrist Needler, 3mm (TL9): A needler designed to be strapped to the wrist and concealed up a sleeve. It incorporates a simple neural input sensor reading muscle signals. A trained shooter can fire it with no more effort than pointing a finger, but it's tricky to use without practice. Double penalties for lack of familiarity.

Ice Gun (TL10): These use compressed gas to fire needles of frozen liquid. The needles dissolve without a trace in the target's body. They are intended for survival or assassination. Each 20-shot magazine includes a self-contained refrigeration unit. Pour a cup of water into the magazine, activate the refrigeration unit, and in half an hour (five minutes at TL11, one minute at TL12), 20 new ice needles will be ready to fire. A single C cell can freeze 100 magazines' worth of ice needles.

An ice gun may also deliver drugged rounds. A dose of any hypo-injected drug or poison can be pre-frozen into a sliver and fired, with the normal follow-up effect if it penetrates. Add the cost of 20 doses of that drug or poison.

Partisan Needler, 3mm (TL10): This spring-rifle weapon is designed for low-tech guerrilla fighters, or for use by people planning a long stay in cultures that can't produce sophisticated ammo. The solar-powered flywheel foundry in the stock makes its own ammunition. It can produce 140 needles in an hour using a 2 3 1-inch metal block ($1), which can be made by any village blacksmith with access to ore. After that, it must recharge for 10 hours in the sun.

Option: Non-Metallic

All these weapons except the partisan needler may be made of non-metallic materials for 1.5 times normal cost, allowing an unloaded weapon to bypass ordinary metal detectors.

Gas-Powered Air Gun Table

GUNS (PISTOL) (DX-4, or most other Guns at -2)

TL	Weapon	Damage	Acc	Range	Weight	RoF	Shots	ST	Bulk	Rcl	Cost	LC
9	Needler, 3mmN	1d+2 pi-	1	50/150	1/0.3	3	100(3)	7	-2	2	$500	3
9	Paint Pistol, 15mm	1d-4 pi++	1	14/90	1/0.5	3	20+1(3i)	8	-2	2	$100	4
9	Tangler Pistol, 25mmT	1d pi++	1	20/130	2/0.5	1	4+1(3i)	10	-3	2	$300	4
9	Wrist Needler, 3mmN	1d-2 pi-	1	25/100	0.1/0.03	3	25(3)	3	-1	2	$200	3
10	Ice Gun, 3mm ice	1d-1 (0.2) pi-	1	50/150	1/0.3	3	20(3)	7	-2	2	$600	2

GUNS (RIFLE) (DX-4, or most other Guns at -2)

TL	Weapon	Damage	Acc	Range	Weight	RoF	Shots	ST	Bulk	Rcl	Cost	LC
9	Needle Rifle, 3mmN	2d pi-	4	75/300	5/1	3	100(3)	7†	-4	2	$600	4
9	Paint Carbine, 15mm	1d-4 pi++	2	20/130	4/1	10	50+1(3i)	6†	-2	2	$400	4
9	Tangler, 25mmT	1d pi++	2	30/190	5/1	3	8+1(3i)	7†	-4	2	$600	4
10	Partisan Needler, 3mmN	2d pi-	4	75/300	12/1	3	140(3)	10†	-5	2	$1,500	4

Air Gun Ammunition Table

TL	Ammo	WPS	CPS	LC
9	3mmN	0.005	$0.1	4
9	15mm	0.025	$0.5	4
9	25mmT	0.12	$2.4	4