Quote:
Quote:M41-A Pluse Rifle is what I use.
Oh great, another syntax issue!
So we've got Pulse Rifles, Spulse Rifles, and now
Pluse Rifles!
Just kidding.
But seriously now, you got me thinking and I'd like to bring up an interesting point. The M41-A is
not a rifle, pulse or otherwise. It fires a handgun round in full-auto which qualifies it as a sub-machine gun (SMG) and
not a rifle. As a real-life Thompson M1A1 SMG it fires a .45 caliber 'handgun' round. As an M41-A it fictitiously fires a 10mm caseless 'handgun' round.
Strangely, the M56 Smart Gun has been reported to fire at least two different forms of ammunition according to different sources. A very early source was quoted in a well-known magazine (possibly Starlog or Famous Monsters, I don't recall which exactly) that the M56 fired an energy pulse or plasma beam, as apposed to traditional rounds. Other much later sources mention the use of M250 10 x 28mm caseless rounds in the M56. Keep in mind the M41-A supposedly fires an M309 10 x 24mm caseless round -- a 'handgun' round. Only a 4mm difference in length mind you.
In reality, the M56 was based on either an MG42 (actual German WWII Machine Gun) or an M53 (postwar Yugoslavian version of the MG42). The MG42 fires an 8mm (7.92 x 57 mm) rifle caliber round, and the M53 was built to fire either the same 8mm round or the smaller .308 (7.62 x 51mm) caliber rifle round. Ironically, either of these would more accurately fit the "pulse rifle" name than the actual M41-A itself.
So what does this all mean? Well, the M41-A Pulse Rifle should actually be called an M41-A SMG whilst the M56 Smart Gun should be called either an M56 Smart Rifle, M56 Pulse Rifle, or M56 Smart Pulse Rifle.
Crazy, ain't it?
Rick "Ripstick"