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.

Location
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, there will be a deceased paratrooper with 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 Trooper when you end the simulation.

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, even more so in V.A.T.S. considering both weapons use the same number of action points. Which sniper rifle is preferable to use is dependent on the character build and the player's employed tactics.

Repair
The Gauss Rifle can be repaired with,
 * Merchants and vendors
 * Alien Epoxy (this is only available with the Mothership Zeta (add-on))
 * The simulation version from the Operation Anchorage simulation (can be obtained via the Gary 23 glitch)
 * The Haley's Hardware glitch (this is only available with the Point Lookout (add-on))
 * Console commands (e.g. "player.srm")

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 (Perhaps Germany, as the Germans are the developers of its predecessor, the M72 Gauss Rifle). It is also possible that the Chinese acquired and copied the technology.

Bugs

 * Sometimes (especially outside of V.A.T.S.) the Gauss Rifle's projectile will travel straight through your foe or even directly hitting them, 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. (Xbox 360 and PC)
 * This weapon does not deal proper damage when in V.A.T.S., and only seems to cause normal damage even with critical strikes in V.A.T.S. When targeting 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. The knock-down effect is still there, though less powerful. Hotfixes and plugins that remove the explosion effect seem to fix the issue.
 * While wearing power armor with an equipped Gauss Rifle, in 3rd person view the power pack on the back of the armor disappears (most obvious when wearing Tesla Power Armor). This may be because the Gauss Rifle may have been intended to be a heavy weapon which would have used an ammo pack replacing the power pack.
 * When in third-person holding the weapon, it will sometimes fly off your back when holstered. It may also "freeze" in place when un-holstered in third-person, or when switching from first to third-person. When un-holstered, and shot, it fires from the position it's frozen in, going way off where it was being aimed. Strangely, despite being frozen, the trajectory may change depending on the where you aim it. Also, the player character appears to be holding an invisible gun. This is fixed by going back to first-person.
 * When using V.A.T.S., the player character may seemingly disappear during the V.A.T.S. scene, though this has no effect on the player character.
 * Certain instances of when a player is holding a Gauss Rifle after picking up the Alien Blaster has made a glitch where it shows in the Pip Boy as equipped despite you choosing another weapon to equip. The Gauss rifle then appears invisible but your hands are positioned as if they are holding it....with a grenade on the left hand, but still fully functional.. Oddly, when the Shishkebab is equipped (theoretically in junction with the Gauss) the player will instead be holding the Gauss Rifle at the end and move it the same angle as the Shishkebab when zooming in, yet can still damage enemies with it. It is rather humorous to be whipping your opponent effectively with a Gauss rifle, and see them somehow catch on fire (since it is still using the Shishkebab's ability, think of it as a skin for the Shishkebab, being a Gauss Rifle.). The glitch can be removed by simply deselecting the Gauss Rifle in the PIP Boy. (1 Case Confirmed for Xbox 360)
 * When firing the Gauss Rifle at your feet, the game will zoom out into third person and show it fly out of your hands. It will then zoom back into first person. You can continue to fire normally from first person. However, when you zoom out into third person, the Gauss Rifle will be on the floor. When you try to fire it, it will shoot from where the gun is on the floor. Switching weapons will put the gun back into your hands in third person. Humorously, it can freeze in place where you can (in 3rd person,) walk in front of the gun, fire it, reload, and continue until you have essentially committed suicide with the rifle. (Confirmed on Xbox 360 & PC)
 * For getting unique items off of NPCs without killing them, use the Gauss Rifle to knock them down. While they are down, press "A" repeatedly and their inventory will show up to reverse pickpocket and subsequently pickpocket. The same applies to the Victory Rifle - jut make sure that you don't accidentally kill them whilst you shoot them down.

Videos
thumb|left

Appearances
While this Gauss Rifle model does not appear in the main Fallout 3 game, it makes an appearance in the Operation: Anchorage add-on 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.