Gauss Rifle (Fallout 4)

The Gauss rifle is a weapon in Fallout 4.

Characteristics
Unlike the earlier iterations of the Gauss rifle from Fallout 3 and New Vegas, this rifle appears to be a crude prototype weapon. Capacitors and exposed copper wiring run alongside the barrel, and a nixie tube display above the stock gives the weapon's charge percentage. The rifle operates on a charging principle: the user holds down the trigger to build up the charge, and releasing the trigger fires a round but even without charging it is still able to inflict a hefty punch (roughly 50% of a fully charged shot). It is fed rounds through a dorsal mounted cylindrical magazine and its projectile produces a momentary blue trail, similar to a lightning bolt.

Although heavy and crude looking, the Gauss rifle is able to deliver massive damage when fully charged, outclassing a hunting rifle chambered in .50 caliber in its base state. Its ability to be modded with more capacitors, a shielded barrel, and a compensator or suppressor make it a lethal tool for the patient marksman. Unfortunately, the weapon is not particularly accurate in its default state; it can be frustratingly inaccurate while attempting to hit a distant humanoid target with its default iron sights (particularly while attempting to use a charged shot to hit a target's head) and it is horrendously inaccurate when attempting to shoot from the hip. The reflex sight is also rather confusing and difficult to use compared to other similarly named sights on other weapons; it is essentially a rear sight aperture for a glowing front sight post so one of the main advantages of most reflex sights are lost when attempting to use one on a gauss rifle, the clear sight picture unobstructed by the weapon's bulk which is not the case on this weapon.

Upgrading the weapon with alternate sights or preferably a scope is highly recommended. However, with the sole exception of the short scope, the Gauss rifle requires a heavy investment in both the Gun Nut and Science! perk to make any modifications to it. Like the M72 Gauss rifle used in 2241, it is chambered for the rare and expensive 2mm EC rounds as opposed to the microfusion cells used by the Anchorage-era variants.

Gauss rifle shots produce a bluish, roughly man-sized explosion on impact. This is not merely a visual effect but actually deals heavy damage to anything in the blast radius. While the affected area is far smaller than those of grenades or missiles, it nevertheless enables the Gauss rifle to hit multiple targets with a single shot, provided they are clustered together in very close proximity to each other.

Variants

 * The Last Minute is a variant of the Gauss rifle sold by Ronnie Shaw after the quest Old Guns.

Locations

 * Up to five Gauss rifles can be found at Skylanes Flight 1981 and Skylanes Flight 1665. You need master lockpick to get them from a hidden compartment of the far most trunk under the cockpit. Note that this cache contains leveled loot (causing different versions of the corresponding manifest to spawn). Players below level 30 are unlikely to encounter Gauss rifles at this location.
 * A Gauss rifle is found on the Brotherhood of Steel's airship the Prydwen. It may be stolen as soon as the player character gets into the ship from the ship's armory. Requires Hacker/Locksmith perk level 3 or a key can be pickpocketed from a Knight-Captain.
 * Carried very often by level 35+ railroad heavies whether in quests or defending the checkpoint objectives after siding with the Institute or the BoS, and rarely by Brotherhood power armor troops during Institute faction missions.
 * The Gauss rifle can be purchased from weapons vendors after reaching level 25.
 * A large quantity of Gauss rifles can be found during The Battle of Bunker Hill, as the constantly spawning Railroad and Brotherhood troops will carry them. One must however be quick in picking them up because NPCs will pick them up at the first chance.

Bugs

 * When drawing the Gauss rifle, if holding 'attack', the weapon will charge a shot, but upon releasing, no shot will be fired, or ammunition consumed.
 * 'Aborting' a reload of a Gauss rifle (by either bringing up the pip-boy or using a weapon-bash) will make the next charge-up a dud that will not expend ammunition or fire as expected
 * Charging the Gauss rifle, then switching to another weapon, will keep the charging sound looping until the Gauss rifle is switched to again.

Gallery
Карабин Гаусса