Survivalist's Rifle

The Survivalist's rifle is a weapon in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Honest Hearts. It is the unique variant of the service rifle.

Background
This weapon was originally a U.S. checkpoint guard carbine used in Canada, issued from the Long Branch Arsenal in Ontario, USA territory. Chambered with the 12.7mm round, this rifle was supposed to offer guards the firepower necessary to intercept anyone attempting to breach a checkpoint, regardless of equipment.

Characteristics
This particular rifle once belonged to Randall Clark, an ex-U.S. army serviceman who found himself hiding out in Zion National Park after the Great War. The Survivalist's rifle was used by the Survivalist for decades and shows signs of improvised repair such as clamps on the foregrip wood and mismatched wood furniture. The front sight is also damaged. Randall Clark apparently couldn't repair it, using it as-is.

In terms of in-game performance, the rifle handles well and is particularly devastating at higher levels. It is pretty accurate and has solid stopping power; a Guns specialist is capable of putting down a swarm of cazadores with only one magazine. There is the issue of the iron-sights, but that can be easily rectified - see the Notes below. However, there are several disadvantages; the ammunition is both expensive and rare, except at high levels or when fighting Legionary assassins, and the rate of fire means that you will use it up fairly quickly. Also, it is does not have as long a range as other late-game weapons, such as the anti-materiel rifle.

Variants

 * Service rifle

Location
Found at the Red Gate in a duffle bag marked "The Survivalist's Duffle Bag" next to Randall Clark's skeleton. Yao guai, giant cazadores, green geckos and bighorners may be found here as well.

Behind the scenes

 * The French word "Arrêt", translated as the words "stop" or "halt", on one side of the stock is paired with "Stop" written in English on the other side of the rifle's stock. This, combined with information from Randall Clark's terminal entries, indicates that this rifle was used during the U.S. occupation of a bilingual area of Canada. However, the way it is written on the rifle is in noun form so it would be closer to "a stop" (e.g. a bus stop) as found on stop signs in French. In order to be in the appropriate imperative to be an order such as "Stop!" or "Halt!" it would need to be written as "Arrête" (singular) or "Arrêtez" (plural).

Bugs

 * The rifle may not appear in the duffle bag at all. However, it's possible that a nearby enemy picked the weapon up. It may appear on an non-player character, including a companion. It has been found in Waking Cloud's inventory without it having been previously found.
 * If you complete Honest Hearts before retrieving the rifle, and a non-player character has picked up the rifle you will lose the ability to find it.