Gauss Rifle (Fallout 3)

The scoped Gauss rifle is an advanced sniper rifle included in the Fallout 3 add-on, Operation: Anchorage.

The rifle uses a series of electromagnetic fields to propel 2mm rounds at tremendous speed. It has a knockdown effect that will knock enemies off their feet following a critical hit.

Unlike the German M72 Gauss rifle, which uses 2mm EC magazines containing both batteries and ammunition, this gun requires the user to load in the microfusion cells needed to magnetize each preloaded 2mm round contained in the magazine attached to the side of the weapon. Each round produces a small "explosion" on impact, dealing minor splash damage.

Locations
In the Capital Wasteland:
 * One is located in the VSS Armory after completing the Anchorage Reclamation simulation.

In the Anchorage Reclamation simulation:
 * During The Guns of Anchorage quest, a paratrooper gets shot down by Chinese soldiers, and leaves behind a Gauss rifle.
 * One can be obtained from the Quartermaster at the U.S. Army Field Headquarters after successfully passing a speech check.
 * One can also be found on an American power armored soldier during the fight with General Jingwei.

Comparison
The following table compares the stats of the various sniper rifles.

The Gauss rifle has greater reliability per shot than the Victory rifle for knocking down enemies, but its buggy V.A.T.S. performance and low magazine size limits its usefulness in close-quarters combat.

Bugs

 * The scope on the Gauss rifle, like on the sniper rifle, is not perfectly zeroed. The shot will travel up and to the right of the target at extreme distances.
 * (Xbox tested) Occasionally, shots dealt from the Gauss rifle will not do damage, regardless of the type of hit it was (crippling hit, critical strike, sneak attack critical). However, it can still knock down enemies and cripple them.
 * This weapon does not deal proper damage when in V.A.T.S. Any hit will do exactly 95.244% of the maximum damage, regardless of enemy DR, critical hits, or sneak attacks. This means that, with 100 energy weapons, a Gauss rifle shot will do 95.244 points of damage with every V.A.T.S. shot. This is still lower than free aiming, and no bonuses are applied to headshots.
 * If your character is knocked down, either by a gas explosion or a frag grenade, the Gauss rifle may go flying. It will stay wherever it lands, and pulling the trigger will cause the rifle to fire from wherever it landed. Holstering the weapon has no effect. Equipping another weapon will fix the issue.
 * If you have any type of power armor equipped at the same time the rifle is equipped, the air tanks and valve on the armor will disappear. This is because it has the "hide backpack" flag marked, despite not having a backpack component like other weapons with this flag (minigun, Gatling laser, etc).