Written by Sofa & Cravitus:

BWN Rk-5

The RK-5 (Repetion, Karabiner) traces its roots to the Bersan Wapenfabriek National Hellstaal WNC rifle, which saw widespread service, albeit in many different variants to suit doctrinal and manufacturing requirements of individual services. A modernized "universal" version, the RK-5, would enter trials as the standard infantry rifle for the unified Federation armed forces, winning handily owing to its reputation, and showing no signs of leaving service any time soon.

DefTek Bulldog

Originally, the Bulldog lost in trials against the IAC SCARAB-L for the place of the Union's standard infantry rifle. Corner cutting by IAC in order to meet production quotas meant that the SCARAB-L suffered countless manufacturing defects, and the Bulldog - which had been relegated to secondary service with rear-line units and special forces - was brought forward to temporarily replace it while the issues were resolved. By the time they were, the Bulldog had usurped it, becoming an instant favorite owing to its versatility and lack of wandering zeroes or ill-fitting magazine catches.

BWN AME-556

Even after the end of the Great Wars, a number of veteran machine guns remained in service for decades afterwards. The AME-556 was not technically one of them, having entered service about fifteen years afterwards. Rather, it heavily borrowed mechanical elements from some of the most successful machine guns of the period, and was chambered in what would become the standard rifle cartridge of the Federation. Thus, it would be carried into action by every light machine gunner in the nascent Federation, and in turn, would become the standard issue squad automatic weapon in the Federal armed forces.

IAC Adder SAW

After its introduction, the Adder saw use in only a few states of the Union, with others insisting on using a variety of older or newer domestic light machine guns. As the realities of combat began to set in, and war with the Federation drew closer, arms came under greater scrutiny, and the Union followed in the Federation's footsteps of small arms standardization. Though not the cheapest option of the lot, the Adder proved itself in trials for its relatively light weight, good balance between rate of fire and ammo consumption, modularity, and generally good manufacturing quality.

Halle & Keller Keller-45

Designed by Ernst Keller, the Keller-45 would be Halle & Keller Co's breakout product. Compact, robust, affordable, and chambered in .45, this submachine gun would find itself in the hands of SWAT and counterterrorism units throughout the latter quarter of the 20th century. During every news-worthy police action, from drug busts to thwarting major terrorist threats, it earned a level of ubiquity that turned this small sporting pistol company into one of the world's largest defense contractors. Meanwhile, despite a persistent argument that submachine guns have become obsolete as a concept, the Keller-45 remains a constant presence in the Federation arsenal.

ReyTac PDW

Reymax corporation's Tactical Enterprises' bluntly named Personal Defense Weapon was developed during the IAC SCARAB scandal, as it was felt that demand would rise for a compact weapon system for rear-line units, tank crews, artillery gunners, and whoever else may find their Bulldog rifles taken from them and given to frontline units. Its design would evolve as a requirement was set for close-range armor penetration, as body armor became more common and the usual pistol cartridges were deemed insufficient. Chambered in ReyTac's proprietary 6mm CQ cartridge, its unique armor-piercing capabilities also caught the eye of special forces and police units, granting ReyTac unusual success for their single firearm design.


Baker M12

It's a shotgun.

Hunter ICW

It's a Baker M12, but tacticool.

Holdt 2011

Despite bearing the famous Holdt moniker, the 2011 is now produced primarily by Bersan Wapenfabriek National. Based on a design that dated back to the first years of the Great Wars and saw service throughout them, the 2011 was a modernization produced by BWN to earn goodwill with "the cult of Holdt", who boasted the original design's superiority. Though it was not a massive success from a PR standpoint, the 2011 was nevertheless seen as a practical and dependable sidearm, seeing its adoption in police forces and the Federal military.

Klauk 19

At the time of its inception, polymer furniture was not unheard of on firearms, but the Klauk 9 used them extensively in its construction. While it didn't take long for fears of "porcelain pistols" being snuck through x-rays and onto airplanes to subside, it did take some time for police forces throughout the Union to consider such a "fragile" piece of equipment. After all such misconceptions had cleared up, the Klauk 19 variant would enter military service as a standard issue sidearm as part of the Union's small arms standardization effort.

ATD-80

While its name calls it an 80mm "anti-tank device", the ATD-80 is, in fact, capable of fulfilling many roles. Intended to replace earlier disposable rocket launchers, the reusable ATD-80 is most commonly fitted with warheads capable of defeating both tanks and small fortifications, making it commonplace even among squads not intent on facing enemy armor.

Krul Tomahawk

A number of advanced, man-portable launchers exist within the Union's military inventory, but ironically, it is a decades-old recoilless rifle that bears the title of their standard man-portable anti-tank and anti-fortification system. Having entered service not long after the end of the Great Wars, the Tomahawk is one of the oldest, yet one of the most widespread, weapons in the Union's inventory.

Gewalt 500

Having spent his career servicing and firing the 12.7mm 12M.4 Arbalest machine gun, after his discharge, Oscar Gewalt developed a fascination with making a precision anti-material rifle using the same cartridge. After a number of failed attempts, this idea would be realized as the Gewalt 500, which now serves as the Federation's standard rifle for use against light armor and infantry cover.

DefTek Poltergeist

The Poltergeist was first devised for use in urban environments as a means to counter heavily-armored improvised fighting vehicles fielded by the Front, or "Magpies", and to defeat snipers hiding in buildings or other urban cover. Its portability in comparison to a man-portable launcher made it ideal for the task, and would be used against more conventional light armored vehicles as well in a variety of theaters.

Victorious 1879

A "highly esteemed" and "gentlemanly" revolver, steeped in history and coveted by collectors. While it is still produced by a number of manufacturers, it is obviously not standard military issue. However, that hasn't stopped the occasional nostalgic Federation officer or soldier from bringing this "distinguished" sidearm with them on deployment, nor has time reduced its lethality.

Matt-Eber Model 2014

Two Union infantry officers, Major Elston Matt and Colonel Victor Eber, conceived of the Matt-Eber 2014 over excessive drinking whilst off duty, in their words, "wishing (they) were cowboys". Although this revolver would primarily sell on the civilian market, it would be picked up as a non-standard sidearm by a small number of officers and enlisted personnel for its novelty and stopping power.

Faluchi .330
Retro in some regards like the Jaeger it serves with, the Faluchi .330 is one of the first and most notable attempts to scale the battle rifle concept into a sniper rifle, emphasizing capacity and follow-up married with a sniper's precision. Notable perhaps more for what it was made to prevent rather than what it was, the Faluchi is a reactionist Federation design that these days sees much competition, and is relatively uncommon among the arsenals of Military and Law Enforcement. However, it remains flat-shooting and considerably powerful, and while it doesn't offer the fine-tuning and compensation of modern competitors it does have a dependable track record.

SCARAB Sniper Support Rifle
A graduated bullpup exercise in poly-alloy mating, the SCARAB's full-length rifle cartridge labeled it mere battle rifle - but the full-length SSR engineers it for precision. Sub-Minute-of-Angle is a phrase often thrown around when describing the SCARAB SSR, and in the role of putting heavy lead on target across very large ranges it can do just that. Perhaps not as well suited to the sniper-job as a Spectre, the SCARAB is still a welcome sight among specialists for if it works - it works. Yet the rifle's function extended beyond sniper and into support, for when it comes tome to put more lead on target and to do it fast, a five-shot bolt action will not run as fast as a twenty-round mag on an automatic. The SCARAB isn't afraid to make heads roll, be it from afar or closer in, and the SSR is widely considered a worthy extension of the platform's adaptability.

Spectre MSR
A familiar and ancient mechanism within the trappings of the modern age, the bolt-action Spectre is capable of sending a range of full length and longer-than-full-length cartridges downrange. Stripped down to what is necessary and with a variety of front-end options for all sorts of attachments, the Spectre is very plainly (and as labeled) a Modular Sniper Rifle. Stock length, cheek rise, payload, extra sights, rails or the lack thereof - much can be tuned and adjusted to fit the individual sniper and his mission, and while there may be those who detest the look of both old and new, it can also be said that none of them have ever actually had to use the Spectre before.

Jaeger 7.62mm
A surprisingly nostalgic sight in an age of rails, risers, grips, and foldables - the Jaeger is in some regards a militarized sporting rifle, though the term implies far more than really has been done to the original design. A long-action bolt-action, the current spec of a given Federation Jaeger demands a detachable box-mag over the five-shot-internal magazines of old, and allows for a diverse range of specialty long-loads to be sent downrange. It has served predictably and faithfully in that role for decades, and among amateurs and some professionals inspires a certain holdout against the encroach of skeletonization, tactical rails, and more gimmicks associated with the high-speed-low-drag crowd.

RK-12
One of the many prospective upgrades and replacements to the BWN RK-5, Bersan Wapenfabriek National's Repetion-Karabiner-12 is both an evolution of the RK-5 and an ironic backtrack in the way it approaches being 'universal'. Bearing a number of upfront similarities, and in some regards appearing to be little more than an RK-5 with more rails on a weight loss program, the RK-12 does propose some considerable reductions in both weight and cost. More notable, though, is the ability to chamber both intermediate and full rifle cartridges - yet the caveat is here. While the RK-12 as a design is capable of acting both as a traditional intermediate-cartridge assault rifle and a full-power battle rifle, it was not designed to be a modular weapons system. In simpler terms - you cannot just change out a few parts and suddenly take bigger bullets. Thus, when dealing with the RK-12, you can effectively be talking about two different versions - the AR, or the BR.

The overwhelming majority are the former - so in the end, perhaps it really is just an RK-5 on a diet.

SCARAB-Heavy
Mating polymer together with lightweight alloys, the SCARAB is a Union Modular Weapons System come to fruition, adaptable as the bug whose name it shares. Compact, accurate, and flexible, it can jump from widespread AR mags to true rifle rounds with relative ease, and is often preferred configured as a battle rifle as the SCARAB-H. A certified wallbanger, the SCARAB is a relatively uncommon, but rather well regarded for the way it can apply that power - though credit is perhaps due as much to the operators as the weapon itself, for it's all too easy to punch through one too many things when clearing a building. Like any other gun, the SCARAB will punish you for being careless - and the lead it spits will punish whatever sorry sack is on the other side of the wall.