Freelance
Traveller
This article originally appeared in the March 2011 issue of the downloadable magazine.
A different kind of body pistol, the One-Shot (2 shots actually) is a polymer-framed handgun 15cm long and weighing 200grams. The twin barrels are both polymer with thin steel liners and rotate along a central post to bring one barrel at a time in line with the striker. The sealed barrels each contain one 9mm round that does not eject when fired. Both rounds are semi-jacketed hollow point.
The trigger is locked in place by a thin plastic tab which the user breaks during the first trigger pull. The round is fired and then the user rotates the second barrel into place manually. The second barrel locks into place to prevent misalignment by use of a simple pin that pops into a hole in the frame. The rounds are actually part of the barrel sleeve itself, so the weapon can't be reused. They are caseless rounds molded into and sealed in the barrel at the factory and fired by the impact of the striker pin on the embedded primer.
Because the barrels are sealed the shelf life is effectively unlimited, though the manufacturer only guarantees the effectiveness of the rounds for one year after purchase. The guns are completely recyclable and the manufacturer offers a 20% discount on a new purchase when you return an expended one to the store for recycling.
The One-Shot comes blister-packed and in many colors and has also been marketed in special limited edition collecting lines, such as sport teams, celebrity and fashion designer stylings.
Price is only 250Cr. at any major sporting goods store, or in the sporting goods section of major department stores. Recently, it has also become available through vending machines and kiosks at starports and other low-law-level areas.
For weapon stats, other than the differences in length, weight, and number of shots per round, the One-Shot is treated as a body pistol. The One-Shot has a damage roll of 3D6-5. Rotating the barrel takes one combat round.
The Original One-Shot was a single barrel disposable polymer gun that used a shotgun round for ammo. That model was phased out because there was a consumer demand for a second round capability due to a lack of skill among the demographic that uses the weapon: mainly those people who feel they need either an “emergency” gun to keep in their glovebox or pocket when in the bad side of town, and those who just need a weapon in a hurry because they left theirs at home for some reason. Considering that the weapon is sold out of vending machines as well as over the counter one can imagine the sort of place these designs found a market in.
The Six-Shot is a more robust weapon that uses an electronic firing system combined with a non-rotating six barrel “magazine” to produce a future take on the old pepperbox pistol. The six barrels are mounted around the battery and fully sealed against the elements. The magazine is snapped onto the grip and trigger group and can then be fired one barrel at a time or all six barrels at once when a stud is pressed on the back of the battery cylinder. Changing magazines takes one combat round.
The Six-Shot is made of the same materials as a body pistol and is consequently undetectable by most weapons detection devices, but, it is closer in size to an autopistol and therefore not as easily concealed as a body pistol.
For Range and Armor DM’s the Six-Shot uses the same ones as a 9mm Autopistol. Damage is 3D6-3 per barrel fired. The barrels may be fired one at a time, or however many unfired barrels are left can be fired simultaneously. When firing more than one barrel at a time there is a -1DM applied for every 2 barrels fired to represent the decrease in handling quality since there is no recoil absorbing mechanic (like a slide) to the weapon. For example, firing all six barrels at once would incur a -3DM.
The Six-Shot weighs 800 gm loaded, each magazine weighing 300 gm. The length is 175mm. Price is 300Cr. for the grip/trigger group and 15Cr. per magazine.
