Gauss Rifle (Fallout 3)

The Scoped Gauss Rifle is one of the deadliest rifles in the Fallout 3 expansion, Operation: Anchorage. The rifle uses a series of electromagnetic fields to propel rounds at tremendous speed. Its range, accuracy and stopping power are almost unparalleled. It has a knock-down effect that will knock enemies off their feet following a critical hit.

Features
Unlike the German M72 Gauss Rifle, which uses 2mm EC magazines containing both batteries and rounds, this gun requires the user to load in the Micro Fusion Cells needed to energize/magnetize each standard 2mm projectile round; those are already pre-loaded into the weapon, and are in the magazine attached to the side of the weapon. The Gauss Rifle looks similar to the real-world German weapon, the FG-42, but the magazine is attached to the right side instead of the left like the FG-42.

Location
Upon completion of the Anchorage Reclamation simulation you will gain access to the VSS Armory, which is located across the way from the simulation room. There you will find the Gauss Rifle.

Appearances
While this Gauss Rifle model does not appear in the main Fallout 3 game, it makes an appearance in the Operation: Anchorage downloadable content pack, instead of the M72 Gauss Rifle from Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics. Upon completion of the Anchorage Reclamation simulation, an armory containing the Gauss Rifle is opened and the rifle is unlocked and able to be used in the main game. The Gauss Rifle has been reassigned to the Energy Weapons skill and uses Microfusion Cells for ammo.

Gauss Rifle Repair
One way to repair the Gauss Rifle is through the unmarked quest Merchant Empire. One of the merchants, preferably Crazy Wolfgang, after reverse-pickpocketing a Red Racer Jumpsuit or RobCo Jumpsuit can repair Gauss Rifle at better than 75% condition.

Trivia

 * The rifle is featured in one of two Chinese propaganda posters within the simulation, which means that it was either of Chinese origin, or was sold to China and possibly the U.S. by another country.

Bugs

 * Sometimes (especially in free-aim firing,) the Gauss Rifle's projectile will travel straight through your foe, doing no damage and alerting him and his companions to your presence. This is more likely to happen in close range. Until it has been patched, it is suggested that players limit their use of the Gauss Rifle in free-aim mode. (The weapons seems to place the path of the projectile up and to the right of where the center of the sight is aimed.)
 * This weapon does not deal proper damage when in V.A.T.S., and only seems to cause normal damage even when causing critical hits in V.A.T.S. The knock-down effect is still there, though less powerful. When you target an enemy their health bar will still display the full potential damage. This is related to the small "explosion" effect disrupting standard VATS formula calculations. Hotfixes and plugins that remove the explosion effect seem to fix the issue.
 * When in 3rd person view and wearing power armor and an equipped Gauss Rifle (both in hand or holstered) the power pack on the back of the armor disappears (most obvious when wearing tesla power armor).
 * When in third person and firing and moving, the weapon may freeze in place and remain stationary in mid air while the character model appears to be holding nothing, but the hands are stationed as if the Gauss Rifle was being held. (This happened in Megaton while wearing the winter T51b. It's not clear if this occurs with any other armor or clothing or in any other location.)
 * When shot in VATS, your character might disappear while he/she is shooting in the VATS mini scene, though this doesn't have any effect on your character.
 * If the player aims straight at the ground while in 1st person mode and fires, it is possible to damage yourself but also causes your character to be disarmed and drop the rifle. In 3rd person mode, the rifle will be frozen in place and fire from that position, but will disappear in 1st person mode. Unequipping and re-equipping seems to solve this, but may leave lingering bugs with the sound.

YouTube Videos
thumb|left|Obtaining the Gauss Rifle thumb|right|The Gauss Rifle in the Anchorage simulation