Strausse/Markam Mk XIII 4mm Gauss Pistol

Claude Murdoch created this one using FF&S.

The Strausse/Markam Mk XIII 4mm Selective Fire Auto-Pistol is one of the more common weapons issued to Imperial field operatives. While nowhere near as common as the Imperial Field Issue Mk XIII, the weapon does share a common heritage. In the Imperial year 990, the firm of Strausse/Markham was retained by the Imperial Ministry of Justice to design and produce a gauss handgun capable of being tailored in the field to a variety of conditions and operational needs. 990 marks the beginning of the Solomani Rim War, and speculation was the weapon would become standard issue for agents on penetration ops into the Confederation.

Since then, the weapon has attained a reputation of great reliability, and has proved capable of performing a large variety of tasks, when properly configured. While by no means a "concealable weapon," its smooth lines and lack of protrubences in its standard configuration, permit a more low profile carry than the IFI MkXIII.

The Mk XIII 4mm Selective Fire Auto-Pistol is an electrically operated, selective fire handgun capable of single round fire or fully automatic fire at 300 rounds per minute. This low rate of fire also allows a trained operator to fire three-round controlled bursts, using the appropriate amount of "time on trigger". As well as the "safe", "single", and "full auto" settings, the selector can be set to "low velocity", restricting current flow to the barrel's coils and decreasing the velocity of a round to subsonic, thus "silencing" the weapon at the cost of range and damage. The trigger guard is removable for operations with gloves.

The receiver is machined from a single piece of superdense metal with composite pistol grip furniture. The magazine well is located in the pistol grip and is capable of accepting standard 35-round magazines or 75-round 'snail drum' magazines. In all cases, the battery capacity in the magazine is capable of firing an entire clip. In case of battery failure, concealed within the pistol furniture, is a built-in backup battery capable of firing two 35-round magazines or most of a snail drum. Both the back-up battery and the magazine batteries can be recharged from any Imperial Standard power source. The back of the pistol grip is slotted and allows a buttstock to be fitted for greater long range accuracy especially when fitted with the barrel extension (detailed below).

The upper receiver group comprises the forward 20.24 cm of the barrel and is capable of accelerating the gauss round to 2530 m/s, delivering a short range of 20 m and a slightly increased damage capacity over the IFI MkXIII. This capability is attained at the cost of a marginally longer profile compared to its standard brother.

Extending over the rear loader group, and forward across the top of the barrel, is the integral recoil dampener. This assembly also holds the integral iron sights and 10mm rail, capable of mounting various optical/laser/illumination devices. The forward barrel is threaded, able to accommodate a threaded barrel extension, to allow the weapon to be used as a sniper rifle. Installation of this 8 cm barrel extension requires use of the pistol's integral battery to operate the accelerator coils and allows the firing of one 35 round magazine or connection to a direct power source for sustained fire. Alternately, the magazine can discharge a standard or snail drum magazine through the combined barrel at a velocity of 1658 m/s.

NOTES:

• ROF based on 5 second combat round.
• Short Range is in meters. () value is iron sight short range.
• *: 1D6-1 points of damage plus tranquilizer effects.
• **: Subsonic round data calculated at 330m/s, standard atmospheric density and pressure.

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