Verpine shatter gun

Verpine shatter guns were handheld projectile weapons produced by the Verpine. They ranged in size from small handguns to powerful sniper rifles. The weapon was based on a magnetic coil principle, similar to a rail gun. When shot, the weapon would make no sound, but would cause great kinetic damage.

Shatter guns launched metal alloy projectiles using advanced magnetic coils. They were nearly silent, had excellent range and accuracy, and inflicted extremely large amounts of kinetic damage. Verpine shatter guns were easy to use, and an inexperienced gunman could do massive damage with a single projectile. As such they were sometimes favored by assassins who wished to kill their target in one shot without giving away their position. The weapon also had the ability to fire nearly any kind of small (less than an inch in diameter) projectile, due to a very expensive feature: multicaliber magazine and bore. Kal Skirata, who owned several of these rifles, once joked that you could fire rocks if you had to. The weapon's projectiles were nearly impossible to block with a lightsaber due to their small size and extreme speed.

Variants
The Verpine sniper rifle was the sniper configuration of the Verpine shatter gun that allowed long distance shooting. Mandalorians Kal Skirata and Ghez Hokan favored the shatter gun/sniper configuration. Omega Squad used shatter gun/snipers in their Black Op on Coruscant to flush out the Separatist terrorists who had infiltrated the capital. The original variant of the Verpine weapon, the Shatter Gun, used magnetic coils to launch their projectiles, and according to Kal Skirata, could be "loaded with rocks, if need be". The weapons use of magnetism to accelerate projectiles at extremely high velocities allows it to be capable of inflicting heavy damage to even the most armored of targets.
 * Verpine Sniper Rifle

Behind the scenes
The image shows a custom-made Verpine Sniper Rifle with a bipod, made by the U.S. soldier Raymond Ramirez, a fan with a special connection to Karen Traviss and Star Wars. He made a Verpine Sniper Rifle on Karen Traviss's request which she posted on her livejournal.com blog - the entry has, unfortunately, been deleted, but an image of the weapon can be found at photobucket. Ramirez's blog has been featured on StarWars.com, where a smaller image of the Verpine sniper rifle with bipod can be found. One of his blog entries goes deep into the weapon's functions.

Appearances

 * Republic Commando: Hard Contact
 * Republic Commando: Triple Zero
 * Republic Commando: True Colors
 * Order 66: A Republic Commando Novel
 * Imperial Commando: 501st
 * Omega Squad: Targets
 * Odds
 * Dark Nest II: The Unseen Queen
 * Dark Nest III: The Swarm War
 * Bloodlines
 * Sacrifice

Notes and references
Verpinen-Scharfschützengewehr