Kainan Wolfe
Shadow of War
- Intent: To create a Designated Marksman Rifle for the Eternal Army
- Image Source: Killzone 3 Official Concept Art
- Canon Link: N/A
- Restricted Missions: N/A
- Primary Source: N/A
- Manufacturer: Karavin Concern
- Model: KC-M74S Designated Marksman Rifle
- Affiliation: Closed-Market | Confederacy of Independent Systems, Eternal Empire
- Modularity: No
Production: Minor
- Material: Durasteel
- Classification: Gauss Rifle
- Size: Average
- Weight: Heavy
- Ammunition Type: Magazine consisting of power cell and tungsten slugs
- Ammunition Capacity: 5 Shots
Reload Speed: Average
- Effective Range: Long Range - 1 Kilometer
- Rate of Fire: Low
- Stopping Power: Very High
- Recoil: Very High
- Magnetically Accelerated Projectiles: The KC-M74S uses a Gauss coil system to propel heavy projectiles at much higher speeds than conventional slugthrowers
- Self-Contained Magazine: The magazine of the KC-M74S incorporates the power cell of the weapon, thus encasing all of the weapon's ammunition in a single container that can be easily and quickly swapped out
- Bolt-Action: The rifle's action must be cycled manually by the operator, a feature intended to reduce the risk of accidental misfires
- Armor Piercing: The KC-M74S fires tungsten rods at very high velocities, imparting a very high kinetic energy to the projectiles, which increases their chances of piercing the armor of infantry and light vehicles. Because of this, the weapon has impressive stopping power for its size
- Ergonomic: The KC-M74S features a well-balanced, ergonomic design which make it much easier to grow accustomed to its controls, thus reducing the amount of time required by training
- Electromagnetic: The KC-M74S uses Gauss coils to propel its projectiles. Thus, it is vulnerable to Ion/EMP weapons, which can destroy its electronic components and render the rifle useless
- Packs a Punch: The KC-M74S imparts a lot of kinetic energy onto projectiles, some of which is transferred back onto the operator in the form of a very powerful recoil which makes the weapon unwieldy, increasing the time interval between shots
- Capacitor Recharge Rate: The KC-M74S uses capacitors to store and discharge power in order to propel its projectiles. These capacitors have to recharge after each shot, which further decreases the rate of fire
Combining all of the experience Karavin Concern has gained from its previous small arms, from the KC-47 to the S4C, the military-industrial conglomerate's team of small arms engineers set out to create a compact, powerful medium-range sniper rifle to be marketed towards the Eternal Army as a replacement for models previously utilized by its designated marksmen.
Early on during the design process, it was decided to forgo a more conventional blaster design in favor of a slugthrower, due to the concealment advantages it gives. The caveat was that most modern personal armor technologies are very effective at stopping kinetic projectiles, a problem for which the engineers adopted a very simple solution: increased power.
This once again led to a redesign of the weapon, combustion-propelled slugs being traded for a less conventional Gauss system which propels projectiles using electromagnetic coils, thus allowing an increase in kinetic energy without increasing the size of the cartridges (in fact, this system eliminates the need for cartridges completely), though it does nothing to mitigate the recoil and comes with the trade-off that the weapon's capacitors must recharge between shots.
Additionally, the rifle is also vulnerable to weapons that can disable electronics, such as Ion/EMP grenades, which can damage its components and render the KC-M74S completely useless.
The result was a compact, powerful, albeit heavy rifle which fires armor-piercing tungsten rods that can penetrate most common types of personal and light vehicle armor. Taking a cue from the S-series of blaster rifles that the conglomerate also manufactures, the slugs and power cell are contained within a single magazine, allowing easier reloading.
Impressed by the KC-M74S' performance, the Eternal Army placed a requisition order for a fairly large number of rifles which are due to be issued to its designated marksmen and law enforcement snipers. The Confederate Defense Force has also taken notice, purchasing a number of these rifles for some of its special forces units.
