Tusken Cycler rifle

"We always know when the Tusken Raiders are on a killing spree. We can hear their *rifles cracking across the desert like lightning strikes."

- Huff Darklighter

The Tusken Cycler was the standard projectile weapon used by the Tusken Raiders of Tatooine for ranged combat. The cycler was an older design of rifle and fit into the Slugthrower class, firing solid shots enveloped in energy, not blaster bolts. The weapon had a very unique sound when fired, rather like a cross between a blaster and a musket making it very distinctive.

Characteristics
The Tusken Raiders generally modified their rifles as the basic variant lacks the targeting tools to enable it to be an effective sniping weapon. The weapons were modified normally with improved firing chambers for larger and more powerful slugs or the addition of scopes for better sniping. The rifles were similar to the Czerka produced 6-2Aug2 hunting rifle so it is possible that the raiders steal shipments of these weapons and modify them for their use. The raiders liked nothing better than camping out near the Boonta Eve Classic Podrace track during a race and taking pot shots at the pods as they zoomed past. The number of racers lost in this way is a statement to Tusken Accuracy.

Due to the length of the barrel, the cycler had better accuracy than more contemporary blaster designs, with the very best models being able to hit human-sized targets from distances exceeding 100 meters, possibly even 200 meters, and although the rate of fire was fairly slow, as many of the rifles were bolt action, cyclers are not used in the close combat arena where a fast rate of fire is necessary. It was used in the sniping role to pick off enemies who cannot be stabbed or clubbed with a gaffi stick, and is an effective weapon for its purposes.

Behind the scenes

 * In the Battlefront series, this weapon fires green bolts, not slugs, although this may depict energy enveloped projectiles in the same vein as the bowcaster. This weapon also makes a different noise, much more like a blaster, as opposed to the characteristic sound it makes in the films. In terms of gameplay, it is akin to a blaster rifle, with more damaging shots but a lower rate of fire. The Bolt Action Rifle weapon carried by Tusken Sniper units is probably the weapon commonly portrayed in the films.


 * In Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, the same weapon fires blaster-style bolts, as if it were a regular blaster rifle, and makes the same sound as the regular blasters.

Appearances

 * Episode I: Anakin Skywalker
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
 * Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace comic
 * Star Wars Republic: Outlander
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope novel
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * Star Wars Galaxies
 * Star Wars: Battlefront II
 * Children of the Jedi
 * Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
 * Lego Star Wars: The Video Game
 * Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
 * Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga