Fallout 76

Work In Progress This article is still under construction. It may contain factual errors. See Talk:Fallout 76 for current discussions. Content is subject to change.

Fallout 76 Official game cover Release Date: 2018 Developer: Bethesda Game Studios Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Series: Fallout Platforms: PC PlayStation 4 Xbox One Genre: Action Role-Playing

Fallout 76 is a 2018 role playing game and the 9th overall title in the Fallout game series, developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. Fallout 76 is the first online Fallout title along with serving as Bethesda's first developed multiplayer game since 1997's An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire. It is a prequel to all previous games in the series and can be played in a first- or third-person perspective. Fallout 76 was released in November 2018, to much controversy. Updates since have made numerous technical fixes and continue to add content to the game.

Just like in previous titles, the plot centers on the player controller character leaving one of many fallout shelters built by Vault-Tec (this time, in Appalachia 25 years later) after a nuclear apocalypse from a result of conflicts between the United States and China.

Overview

A majority of Fallout 4's weapons and mechanics were reused for Fallout 76, with the latter including the ability to build weapons at workbenches and add various modifications to firearms such as alternative receivers, barrels, grips/stocks, sights and magazines by using various junk in the wasteland containing materials to craft the modifications. Crafting attachments and modifications for firearms usually requires nothing more than metallic components, oil and strangely, adhesive (which is apparently sourced from duct tape, glue and vegetable starch). Aside from requiring perks to craft modifications as was the case in Fallout 4, they can only be unlocked by the player after breaking down a copy of a firearm, learning their schematics or by redeeming a standalone modification piece.

As with Fallout 4, a weapon's name will reflect any non-standard attachments or mods it bears with it describing most of the accessories applied to it, such as a Hunting Rifle with both a compensator and "Marksman's" stock being displayed as "Marksman's Compensated Hunting Rifle".

The first firearms the player has access to in Fallout 76 are the "pipe guns" returning from Fallout 4, which are fictional improvised firearms visually made of metal and wood scrap. They start out as compact "pistol" variants with modifications such as stocks which reclass them as a rifle. The three pipe weapons available in-game are the "Pipe Revolver", "Pipe Bolt-Action" and the "Pipe Gun" (the autoloading counterpart), the latter of which can be either converted to full-auto or kept semi-automatic. Later on in player-progression, pipe weaponry is much less needed due to them only being viable as starter guns.

Until reaching level 50, a majority of weapons and armor pieces have a level limit. For example, a level 7 player may not use a level 15 item, but a level 47 may use level 45 gear.

Certain unique variants of weapons may be found in the game that possess a "Legendary" effect which is a special modifier that changes the statistics of the weapon and have three tiers, graded from 1 to 3 stars, with 3 star effects containing being less common. Since legendary modifiers are merely an RPG element, effects such as "Two Shot" (which turns a single fired bullet/grenade from a weapon into two projectiles) and "Quad" (a modifier that multiplies a weapon's ammo capacity by four) disregard the realism of the weapons they're applied to.

Item condition (which was previously absent from Fallout 4) returns in 76. Players will have to regularly maintain their weapons and armor so that they don't break. However, unlike Fallout 3 and New Vegas, weapon damage does not decrease nor do firearms jam when at poor condition. When firing weapons in first-person view, no casings will eject from them (with the exception of some firearms whose ejected cartridge cases are a part of their model) but in third-person, this is the opposite.

Unique variants of certain weapons can be obtained, mostly from quests or events. A majority of the game's unique weapons look exactly the same as their default variant and usually have pre-set legendary effects assigned to them. As such, not every unique weapon variant will be covered on this page unless it has a distinct characteristic or a unique appearance.

Handguns

"10mm Pistol"

The "10mm Pistol" from Fallout 4 returns and as its name suggests, chambers 10mm Auto ammunition and starts out as a semi automatic handgun. The pistol loosely resembles a Walther Volkspistole with some differences such as a steeply-angled grip and a Desert Eagle-esque slide. The 10mm can be modified with extended magazines (that increase its capacity from 12 rounds onwards), certain receivers that can increase damage or add a full auto conversion (essentially assigning the weapon a PDW style role). It becomes abundant at lower levels with random modifications applied and deals decent damage per shot, adding to its viability for starting players.

Desert Eagle Mark I - .357 Magnum

Walther Volkspistole - 9x19mm Parabellum

The "10mm Pistol" in the menu. Note that the default barrel for the pistol is now the "Long Barrel" from Fallout 4 instead of the "Short Barrel", though it is still oddly named the latter.

When drawing the 10mm Pistol, the user will always rack the weapon's slide. However, this is only shown in first person view along with other guns' drawing animations.

Holding the 10mm Pistol.

The 10mm in action.

Reloading the sidearm.

Utilizing the pistol's slide release. As in Fallout 4, the slide release lever itself does not lock open the slide (as with most real-world pistols), but instead lowers an arm at the front of the slide in order to release it; this arm also raises into a divot in the slide when in battery, presumably acting as some sort of locking or delaying mechanism.

Colt Single Action Army

The Colt Single Action Army with a 7.5 inch barrel makes an appearance as the "Single Action Revolver" (despite the fact that all of the game's other revolvers are also operated in single-action mode) and is chambered for .44 Magnum. It can be obtained at early levels but is inferior to both Model 29 due to the former having only two alternative modifications (that only includes ivory grips and a "Prime Receiver" that rechambers the weapon to a special type of radioactive .44 ammo, which is most potent against "Scorched" diseased enemies which roam the Wasteland around Appalachia) and a long reload animation in which each round is replaced one at a time (compared to the Model 29 having all 6 rounds reloaded at once) but deals slightly more damage than a normal M29. The SAA revolver appears to be missing a firing pin on its hammer. While reloading in third person view, the player character neglects the use of the revolver's ejector rod, instead inserting ammo directly into the chamber without removing spent casings. Oddly, the model for the revolver only has a single round of ammunition in its cylinder while viewing in third-person. The game's files label this gun as "ColtSAA".

The "Fancy Single Action Revolver" is a rare variant of the SAA, added in the Wastelanders update which also implemented human NPCs into the game. The revolver features pearl grips, a brass front sight, ejector rod tab and frame along with a brass finish on the fluted sections of the cylinder. Statistically, it has better range, a faster rate of fire and a faster reload speed than the standard SAA. However, modifications cannot be added to the the Fancy Single Action Revolver. The reason it is a rare weapon is due to there being only one way to obtain it; by turning in special claim tickets to a Protectron robot named "Bellhop" at the Pleasant Valley Ski Resort. Finding these tickets is a rare drop of their own, and handing them in to the bot only yields a 1.5% chance of receiving the special Single Action Army. Upon obtaining a Fancy Single Action Revolver, it will have a guaranteed random one star legendary effect, but is permanent on the weapon and cannot be reconfigured by the player.

The 2022 Nuka-World on Tour update introduced a number of unique weapons, one of them being a variant of the Single Action Army named "Gunther's Big Iron". Visually, it has a slightly worn out red and white "Nuka-Cola" (the Fallout universe's equivalent to Coca-Cola beverages) finish, with the brand's logo appearing on the barrel. The gun's grips have a faint red and white curved stripe pattern to them. The revolver is obtained with legendary effects that turns each fired bullet into two projectiles, increases fire rate and increases reload speed. This variant also has two additional stats only exclusive to this weapon in that it has a further increased reload speed (+45%) and also chambers .45 pistol cartridges instead of .44 Magnum (despite reload animations still physically depicting the latter being loaded/ejected). Gunther's Big Iron is given as a potential reward for completing "Most Wanted", an event where players are instructed to play a minigame that involves robbing a carnival western-style town. Gunther is the name of the individual who oversees this minigame and "Big Iron" is very likely a reference to the Marty Robbins song of the same name which is especially known for being featured in Fallout: New Vegas' in-game radio stations.

As a reward for progressing far into the item scoreboard (a chart in which the player unlocks in-game items by doing gameplay challenges to gain points that levels it further) from Fallout 76's 8th season update, players will receive a damaged Vault-Tec jumpsuit that also contains a holstered shorter-barreled Single Action Army. It is strictly cosmetic and does not have any interaction with weapons, including the usable Colt SAA.

Colt Single Action Army "Cavalry" model - .45 Long Colt

Viewing the Single Action Army in the inspection menu.

Inspection from the other side. Note the empty cylinder here.

Drawing the revolver prompts its user to spin the cylinder anti-clockwise, a feat impossible to perform with a real Single Action Army while its hammer is fully cocked. This drawing animation is reused from the S&W Model 29.

The revolver in idle.

Sight picture.

Firing while aiming. The muzzle flash here appears to be emitted at the rear of the bore.

Cocking the hammer.

Opening the gun's loading gate.

Appropriately using the ejector rod to dump out a spent casing; this action also somehow indexes the revolver's cylinder.

Preparing a fresh .44 Magnum cartridge...

...and inserting it into the free chamber. The in-game Single Action Army is incorrectly depicted as being reloadable with an uncocked hammer, while a real SAA requires the hammer to be set at a half-cock position in order to freely rotate the revolver's cylinder.

The previous steps will repeat depending on how many rounds are left to reload. The player character's hand will clip through most of the gun when reaching for the ejector rod.

Closing the loading gate.

The reload animation is concluded with a full cock of the hammer.

The "Fancy Single Action Revolver".

A "Big Iron", seemingly passed on by Gunther.

Crafting menu of the "Vault Survivor Outfit", containing a holstered SAA. Unlike the one the player can use, this revolver is fitted with differently colored grips and a shorter barrel.

A player with the latest apparel in the wasteland, plus a holster with a Colt inside.

"Crusader Pistol"

The "Crusader Pistol" is obtained after learning its plan and constructing it, with the plan being obtainable either from Minerva's vendor inventory or as a rare drop from completing "Daily Ops", which are daily cooperative missions that task a team of players to kill waves of a randomly selected enemy faction in order to deactivate or set up a communications system. In appearance, the Crusader Pistol is based on the "12.7mm Pistol" from Fallout: New Vegas, (in turn modeled after the "SIG-Sauer 14mm Pistol" from Fallout, and again in turn resembles a large and chunky Hämmerli 280 pistol). By default the Crusader Pistol is chambered in 10mm but doesn't feed through the grip like the New Vegas version, instead feeding through a coffin shaped magazine housed ahead of the trigger and also somehow holds 12 rounds. The pistol can also be rechambered for 5.56mm and doing this replaces the magazine model with a more rectangular one, but is still too small to plausibly hold 12 cartridges. There is an extended magazine modification which increases the ammo capacity to 18 rounds but visually, the gun's magazine remains the same regardless of the ammo it is chambered in. Three other modifications also change the appearance of the magazine: the "Fusion receiver" which apparently rechambers the pistol for "Fusion cell" energy cartridges, the "Cryo receiver" which gives bullets freezing effects that slow down hit targets (this however does not assign the pistol to use already existing "Cryo cell" ammunition for an energy weapon with similar abilities and leaves it to still use 10mm even though its magazine gets replaced by a futuristic component with wiring connected to a visible cryogenic cell) and the "Pyro receiver" which as its name suggests, gives bullets incendiary properties. However, this mod visually replaces the pistol's magazine with a tank of flammable fuel even though it still uses 10mm in-game. Other modifications for the pistol include a suppressor and a reflex sight.

Hammerli 280 - .22 LR

The "12.7mm Pistol" from Fallout: New Vegas.

Inspection view of the "Crusader Pistol". The bottom of its grip suspiciously looks like the underside of a pistol magazine.

Drawing the Crusader Pistol prompts the player to rack the bolt, but the gun's ejection port stays still when doing this.

The Crusader Pistol in idle.

Aiming through the Crusader's iron sights.

Firing the weapon.

Reloading. The magazine will magically drop downwards.

Loading in a new magazine; this is done by sliding it into place, even though it was just shown that ejecting a magazine causes it to drop down rather than unsliding from the gun first.

Pushing what is presumably the slide release.

Render of the Crusader Pistol with a "5.56 receiver" mod. Note the pistol round sized ejection port which not only is behind where a round could enter the chamber, but is also obviously too small to eject .223 caliber casings.

Render of the "Fusion receiver".

Render of the "Cryo receiver". This assembly appears to be partly clipping through the side "vents" on the pistol. However, this does not reflect its appearance in-game.

Render of the "Pyro receiver".

M1842 Cavalry Percussion Pistol

The M1842 Aston percussion pistol appears as the "Black Powder Pistol". Per its name, the pistol feeds and fires the powerful .50 caliber ball, though firing or loading it will not deplete gunpowder from the player's inventory nor do they replace the percussion cap in the reload animation. While it deals only slightly less damage than the Mississippi percussion rifle, the M1842 may be a more preferable choice due to it reloading much faster than the rifle.

A more uncommon variant of this weapon called the "Black Powder Blunderbuss" can be obtained but does not act as a blunderbuss, as it fires only one projectile while utilizing the same .50 caliber ball ammunition. The percussion cap appears to be missing on this model. It functions identically to the default muzzleloader pistol but according to the game, some have a range stat of 12, while others are at 204 (the default M1842's range is also 204). The main visual difference on the "Blunderbuss" is its lighter colored wood, a differently shaped barrel band and a slightly flared-out Blunderbuss-style barrel. It may be considered inferior to the default M1842 due to the inability to apply legendary modifiers to the former (this was possible however, before an update) as well as aiming being more difficult because of its flared barrel and the lack of a front sight.

A unique variant of the "Blunderbuss" version, named the "Pirate Punch" is a possible quest reward for the "Eviction Notice" public event (introduced in the "Test Your Metal" update) in which multiple players are tasked with defending a radiation-mitigating machine from waves of super mutant enemies who are attaching the point of defence. It is pre-configured in legendary effects that speed up reloading by 15%, has a 50% higher chance of hitting targets in V.A.T.S. (Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, a mechanic in which the game aims the player's attacks for them and their chance of hitting a target is determined by a percentage) and each shot releases two projectiles (the way "Two Shot" legendary weapons work in the game is that two bullets are fired from one round discharged in a gun, with the second projectile not being affected by any perks or effects that would increase the weapon's damage output).

US M1842 Dragoon's pistol, manufactured by H. Aston and Ira N. Johnson in Middletown, Connecticut in 1849 - .54 caliber

Inspecting the "Black Powder Pistol" via the menu. Part of the pistol's model includes a powder flask, which is appropriately used while reloading. It is missing a front sight, which makes hitting manually aimed shots a gamble.

Upon drawing, the player will cock back the pistol's hammer, ready for action.

The M1842 in idle.

Discharging the pistol.

Reloading starts by immediately pouring some powder into the muzzle...

...then, a ball is dropped down the barrel...

...after which the ramrod is then used (by its wrong end) to further push down the barrel's contents, rather violently...

...and this is followed by a "click" sound. Cocking the hammer isn't seen here, though the third person animation shows that the player does indeed cock it. Apparently the pistol is now "ready" to fire, even though its user didn't replace the percussion cap.

The "Black Powder Blunderbuss" in-game. Despite being named a blunderbuss, it still fires a single .50 caliber ball rather than a group of smaller projectiles as a real Blunderbuss would. Note the missing percussion cap.

The Black Powder "Blunderbuss" in idle.

The steps for reloading this pistol are exactly the same as its more practical variant.

Smith & Wesson Model 29

The ".44 Pistol" (which should more correctly be referred to as a revolver) also makes a comeback and is quite a powerful weapon to come across for low level players; it is based on the Smith & Wesson Model 29. Ammunition for it is quickly loaded using full moon clips. Despite being a double action revolver, the player character will always cock the hammer after each shot (which lacks a firing pin), a trait carried over from Fallout 4. Modifications for the revolver include longer barrels, scopes and grips.

The "Western Revolver" starts appearing after the player reaches Level 20, though in rare amounts. It is visually identical to the .44 Pistol but with a cleaner appearance and different grips but does not share its unlocked modifications with the more common M29 variant, requiring players to scrap this particular weapon in order to unlock attachments and upgrades for it. The Western Revolver is considered the best out of the .44 Magnum revolver category due to its better damage overall and high modding capabilities (although it is slightly less flexible than the common .44). This version of the Model 29 originally appeared in Fallout 4's Nuka World downloadable content.

"Medical Malpractice" is a unique variant of the standard M29. Its frame, cylinder and barrel have a black finish and wooden grips present on the gun are colored with a dark brown appearence. If rubber grips are applied instead, they will be two-toned in red and black. Hence its name, it has a small medical symbol attached near the cylinder latch and comes configured with legendary modifiers that causes critical shots to heal the user and their group members, critical hits to deal 50% more damage and reduces the cost in V.A.T.S. for firing each shot. This is the current version of the weapon as another one existed and could only be rewarded to the player for completing a number of objectives in Fallout 76's Survival mode, which had shut down in October 2019, making this version of Medical Malpractice a legacy item. The new variant's workbench schematics can mostly be obtained as a rare reward for finishing a Daily Operation within a certain time limit.

Smith & Wesson Model 29 - .44 Magnum. This is the screen used Model 29 carried and fired by Clint Eastwood in the movie The Enforcer.

Inspecting a Model 29 with standard attachments. By default, this revolver always spawns with a snub nosed 3" barrel. The right-side grip half appears to be a mirror of the other half as it has a thumb groove.

Viewing the cocked revolver's model from a different angle.

Ditto. In contrast to the real S&W, this gun's crane is rather thinly proportioned.

Another .44 Magnum being inspected. This particular one has an optical sight and a longer, 6" barrel.

Holding the revolver idly.

Getting a view of the sight picture.

Firing a shot.

Pulling the gun's hammer. Note the missing firing pin in the hammer.

Swinging out the cylinder, although the release latch isn't pressed. Instead the player's hand clips through the crane to push out the cylinder.

However, the player appropriately enough utilizes the cylinder's ejector rod to dump out the moon clip of spent rounds.

Here, the cylinder's bore holes are visible, although they appear to be smaller than the caliber they're supposed to represent along with the not-particularly-.44 Magnum looking cartridges about to be loaded. The extractor also appears to be incompletely modelled.

A new moon clip is inserted into the cylinder. Interestingly, the player's right thumb here can be seen clipping through the set of rounds.

This is followed by a careless flick of the wrist.

A tactical Model 29 with rubber grips and a bull barrel; the latter attachment is only unlocked after completion of the "Mother of Invention" quest for the Brotherhood of Steel faction, along with the named M29 variant (pictured here) being rewarded to the player. The .44 Magnum in this configuration (minus the attachment rail with a reflex sight on it) resembles the Smith & Wesson Model 629 Stealth Hunter.

The "Western Revolver" in the inspection menu. Its grips are more reminiscent of those on the .44 Magnum revolvers featured in Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, also modelled after the S&W Model 29 though with some physical differences between the 3/NV and 4/76 versions.

A Western Revolver with lighter toned grips and an 8 3/8" barrel.

Armed with the cleaner Model 29.

Inspecting the "Medical Malpractice" variant. If an optic is attached to the gun, it will have a red painted color.

The other side of the revolver. According to the text on the frame, it was manufactured in Austin, Texas by "Red Raptor Firearms". However, this is somewhat contradicted by how this variant can only be constructed by the player at a workbench once they have learned its building plan.

A view of the "Cryolator", a previously unique weapon that has somehow appeared hundreds of miles away from the sealed Vault it was developed in. Its model features part of the frame and the grip of a S&W-style revolver (likely recycled from the in-game Model 29) which is still recognisable beyond the wraps and junk covering it. Oddly, the frame is missing a trigger.

Submachine Guns

"10mm Submachine Gun"

The 10mm SMG from Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas appears again in a higher quality appearance. Like its previous incarnations, the 10mm Submachine Gun is in essence an SMG-ified Browning M2HB with a form factor similar to the prototype Heckler & Koch SMG. The Thompson-style trigger group and pistol grip from the original design have been removed, but now also has an M1A1 Thompson rear sight; the SMG's charging handle has also been redesigned to make more mechanical sense. It is now held with two hands (as characters in 3 and New Vegas held it only with one hand) and finally has a usable stock which are added via modifications (despite there being an unused folded stock already present). It deals a higher damage-per-shot than a standard 10mm Pistol (configured for either semi- or full-auto) and has a fair damage-per-second output, but produces a lot of recoil when continuously firing and is impractical for use in V.A.T.S. due to its unfairly high Action Point cost. It also lacks a front sight even though they are present in the game's files and even appear in promotional material for cosmetic paintjobs for the SMG. The attachments for the 10mm Submachine Gun which range from stocks to several barrel extensions seem to lean more towards turning the weapon into a pistol-caliber carbine and less as a compact submachine gun as the overall length of it is significantly increased.

The "Perfect Storm" is a unique variant of the 10mm SMG, given to the player as a reward for completing the quest "Cold Case", in which the player investigates the whereabouts of a child kidnapped before the Great War. The Perfect Storm looks visually identical to its standard versions but possesses an ability only unique to this weapon, in that it fires incendiary bullets which deals 24 fire damage over 3 seconds to a target. A downside however is that players cannot manually add random legendary effects to this weapon, limiting further potential to it.

Browning M2HB - .50 BMG

Heckler & Koch SMG II - 9x19mm Parabellum

The 10mm SMG from its previous appearances.

Inspecting a "10mm Submachine Gun" in its starting configuration. In comparison to its Washington and Mojave counterparts, the default barrel also comes with a some cylindrical attachment to the muzzle. Reusing the design of the FO3/NV SMG also carries over the question of how exactly rounds from the magazine are supposed to reach the chamber that is too high from the magazine well; the barrel on this design has traded places with the cocking tube area on an H&K-patent SMG. Oddly, the magazine isn't entirely seated in the magazine well.

Inspecting the same SMG from another angle. Note the cable assortment towards the rear; its purpose isn't exactly clear. The ejection port of the SMG (which is awkwardly positioned a little too far back) seems to have a permanently shut dust cover. Also visible here is the lack of buttplate for the folded stock that serves no purpose other than to add weight and style.

The only alternative magazine option for the 10mm SMG other than the reused 30-rounders with armor penetration and reload speed buffs is a 45-round drum magazine, visually based on the X-Products 50-round drum for the MP5.

A player holds his 10mm SMG, happy that Bethesda brought it back to the Fallout universe.

Aiming down the M1A1 Thompson sights reveals that it has the exact opposite problem of New Vegas' 10mm SMG. There is no front sight, even though a picture which advertises an in-game microtransaction skin for the weapon has one present.

Racking the submachine gun's charging handle as part of the reload animation. The bolt handle travels dangerously close to the start of the gun's unknown set of cables.

Thompson Submachine Gun

The hybrid Thompson Submachine Gun from Fallout 4 reappears. Again, it is mostly based on the M1928A1 Thompson, but with an M1-style barrel, rear sight, and charging handle, which is located on the wrong side along with the ejection port. The Submachine Gun is chambered for .45 rounds and deals low damage per shot, but its decent rate of fire and large magazine capacity makes up for this. It is depicted as firing from a closed bolt unlike the Thompsons it is referencing. Oddly enough, the default drum magazine equipped on the gun holds 50 rounds, even though it is much smaller than an actual 50-round Thompson drum, whilst the model for a larger drum magazine which holds 75 rounds sizes it up to a proper 50-round drum. Compared to its counterpart seen in Fallout 4, the Thompson hybrid in this game has an abnormally slow rate of fire, being roughly equivalent to that of a heavy machine gun's. Along with the 10mm SMG, the hybrid Thompson is oddly classed as an "automatic rifle" by the game, possibly due to the lack of a submachine gun category to distinguish the game's firearms.

The Nuka-World on Tour update introduced a variant of the replica Thompson, named the "Love Tap" after its associated event and the custom paintjob which it is applied on. The aformentioned paintjob gives the Thompson a faded black, pink and white finish with a pattern of differently colored love hearts across the drum magazine, receiver, grip, handguard and stock (if the lattermost is present). Statistically, the Love Tap comes equipped with legendary effects that grants a slower degradation to the weapon's condition (+50%), a faster fire rate of +25% and restores lost health to its user per hit. Aside from its legendary effects, this weapon may be considered a direct upgrade due to another added stat to the Love Tap which boosts its damage output by 20% compared to a standard Submachine Gun. The weapon has a chance to be given to the player after completing the event "Tunnel of Love".

M1928A1 Thompson with 50-round drum magazine - .45 ACP

M1 Thompson with 20-round magazine - .45 ACP

Inspecting the mutated Thompson SMG. Note the M1-style smooth barrel and amusingly small drum magazine. As in FO4, its default stock has been partly sawed off, which would make it impractical to use as one at nearly half its original length. The distance the bolt travels back (as this is a closed bolt gun) is very small, with it being about half as short compared to on a real M1. The SMG's "lightweight" barrel gives it the appearance of an M1928A1's finned barrel. The handguard is slightly longer and its rear overlaps with the gun's frame.

"Look how they massacred my boy".

Handling the weapon in first-person view.

The rather shallow rear sight assembly is also a hybrid of the M1928's and M1's, with the protectors from the M1928 but the sight itself resembling an M1/M1A1's. The player will always aim through the notch on top of the rear sight, which is actually intended for longer distance targets, while the circular peephole is more suited for closer ranges and in contrast is aimed through by the user with the 10mm SMG above.

Firing the Thompson-combo. For a .45, that is quite the muzzle flash.

Ditto, with an ejected casing. It appears mid-air, inches away from the actual gun's ejection port. This is likely due to a developer oversight because a majority of the game's weapons only visibly eject casings if the user is playing in third-person view.

Replacing the Submachine Gun's drum magazine.

Cocking the rather short bolt.

The "Love Tap" variant.

A fully modified Submachine Gun appears in a poster apparently advertising explosive ammunition for the gun. Note the right handed bolt and ejection port on the gun.

A Thompson with a full stock, finned barrel, compensator, and "Large Quick Eject Drum", which looks identical to the "Large Drum" modelled after a real 50-round drum magazine, but speeds up the reload animation and holds a still-incorrect 62 rounds.

Shotguns

12 Gauge Double Barrel Shotgun

A 12 Gauge Double Barreled Shotgun appears in the game. Parts of the shotgun's in-game model appears disproportionate, with the furniture being thicker and both barrels appearing larger. The double barrel can be modified with different barrels and stocks. Performance wise, it deals the most damage out of the game's other shotguns, but is set back by the constant need to reload as well as its theoretical damage potentially being partly negated by armor stats on targets.

The "Cold Shoulder" is a special variant of the double-barreled shotgun, added in the Mutation Invasion update in February 2023. Visually, it sports a futuristic appearance previously used by cosmetic skins for the shotgun albeit with different textures. In-game it is also covered in frost particles and emits vapour effects when the shotgun is drawn. Also true to its name, the Cold Shoulder deals an additional punch in the form of cryogenic damage and so inflicts a cryo effect on targets hit, temporarily slowing their movements. Other weapon-specific stats include a 50% damage bonus against "Cryptid" enemies and an illogical capacity of 8 shells (given that it's a double-barreled shotgun), though this is attributed to the "Quad" legendary effect which quadruples its affected weapon's capacity. The Cold Shoulder's crafting schematic is granted to the player quite early in its update's scoreboard, which is themed after cryptid hunting with this shotgun being based on the personal weapon wielded by "Rip Daring"; a fictional character part of Fallout's in-universe pulp fiction who is depicted as a cryptid hunter whose story is the focus of Season 12's scoreboard legend.

Savage/Stevens 311A Shotgun - 12 gauge

The weapon's model being inspected. Note the single trigger and awkward proportions carried over from the 4 model.

A Double-Barrel with a sawed-off buttstock, reflex sight and compensator.

A more bare sawed-off version of the Double-Barrel Shotgun. Regardless of barrel length, the front end of the barrels will always have a front sight.

The double barrel in first person view.

Aiming down the shotgun's sights.

Breaking open the barrels. The user's thumb doesn't actually push the gun's opening lever. Note the large overall size of the shotgun and its shells, which seem more akin to 10 gauge.

The shotgun with empty barrels and a slight view of the action's internals.

Placing in two new shells, which are conveniently spaced apart to insert with one hand. The reload animation slightly differs in third-person view as the user inserts one round at a time, with both shells being loaded in at once in first-person as shown here. The same reload animation will play when the user reloads the shotgun with one shell left unfired, a trait typical in many FPS games.

A double barreled shotgun with a visually futuristic skin. At least two variants of this skin exist, with this version, the "Dastardly Duo" being available in light grey.

A player holds his "sci-fied" shotgun.

The "Cold Shoulder". Its model is identical to the double barrels shown in the above two images.

"Combat Shotgun"

Since Fallout 3, the "Combat Shotgun"'s appearance in the franchise is based on the Soviet PPSh-41. By default, the Combat Shotgun has a sawed off stock and a very short box magazine that somehow holds eight shells. One of the magazine modifications for the shotgun resembles that from a Browning Automatic Rifle. By performance, it is an excellent weapon to utilize shotgun shells for due to its fast fire rate, high capacity that can be furthered to 12 rounds and modding flexibility. Adding modifications such as the drum magazine, front sight ring and a long barrel makes the shotgun closely resemble its variant in Fallout 3. This weapon is also the only shotgun in the game that can be modified to negate enemy armor to some extent (outside of legendary effects).

The "Test Your Metal" update added a unique variant of the Combat Shotgun, named the "Crowd Control". This variant has whitened furniture and bears a dark blue decal on both sides of its stock that features a white star insignia and the origin of the shotgun's name. The Crowd Control is obtained with pre-set legendary effects that add explosive properties to its shots, reduce its weight by 90% and the ability to temporarily decrease a target's damage output. This weapon is given to the player in the "Eviction Notice" event.

PPSh-41 - 7.62x25mm Tokarev

The "Combat Shotgun" from Fallout 3 for reference.

The "Combat Shotgun" as seen in the game's inspection menu. This weapon is the end result of a PPSh-41 on steroids.

The Combat Shotgun in idle, first person view.

Having just killed a hostile enemy, the player takes aim. There is no rear sight on the shotgun, with there instead being an optic rail in its place.

Removing the shotgun's magazine...

...inserting a new one...

...and racking the bolt.

A player reloads his Combat Shotgun. Note the ejection port, with the bolt having only moved back about half of the port's length. This is because the space the bolt has to travel back is inconsistent with the length of the shotgun's ejection port, as pulling the charging handle back such a short distance would not be enough to completely cycle the gun's action. The rifle variant of this weapon suffers the same logical issue.

A Combat Shotgun with a compensator, front ring sight, drum magazine and a version of the "Ported Barrel". The barrel modification adds a heatshield to the top half of the barrel which would be redundant due to there already being a barrel shroud fitted. The drum magazine in-game now holds 12 rounds like its Fallout 3 counterpart but unlike its Fallout 4 version which previously had an illogical capacity of 36 shells. Also, note the three holes at the front of the drum, similar to the cylinder drum of the Armsel Striker and its variants, although said holes appear to be blocked and do not show any shells nor an interior of the drum.

The model for the "Crowd Control" variant.

Remington Model 870

The Remington Model 870 shotgun appears as the "Pump Action Shotgun", with a left handed ejection port. It is quite a common weapon, can be obtained at very low levels and is superior to the Double-Barrel due to the former's capacity and spread. By default, the shotgun is modelled with a sawed-off stock, a short barrel and a four round magazine tube (which incorrectly holds eight shells) and an aperture sight by default. This form of the shotgun is somewhat similar to the real life "Witness Protection" configuration for the Model 870. Bizarrely, applying longer barrel modifications (which also changes the length of the magazine tube but not its actual capacity) decreases the accuracy of the shotgun. If one flips the text on the right side of shotgun's receiver, it reads "Romington 76 MAGNUM". Some modifications add a heatshield to the 870's barrel, a synthetic stock, and a tactical forend. When reloading, the player character will always pump the shotgun's forend backwards before inserting shells into the magazine tube. Likely due to a bug, spent shells are ejected from the loading gate, but while aiming down the sights, they correctly eject from the ejection port.

The "Fancy Pump Action Shotgun", like the Colt Single Action Army's "Fancy" counterpart is another rare weapon added in the same Wastelanders update. Visually, the Fancy Pump Action Shotgun is an ornately decorated Model 870 with dark furniture, golden floral engravings on the receiver, dark body finish, and a gold magazine tube clamp and trigger group. It is fitted with the longest barrel/magazine tube for the 870, which grants it a 12-round capacity. The Fancy Model 870 also reloads much faster than its more common variants and is permanently configured with legendary stats which grant its user a damage resistance bonus while aiming, a 50% damage bonus against targets' limbs, and nullifies 50% of a target's armor statistic. As with the Fancy SAA, this 870's components cannot be replaced by modification and only has a 1.5% chance of dropping after turning in a Pleasant Valley Claim Ticket to the Protectron robot stationed at the ski resort. Alternatively, the Fancy Pump Action Shotgun can be purchased from another player who owns one in their inventory.

The 2023 Once in a Blue Moon update added the first, non-exceedingly rare Remington 870 variant, named the "Kabloom". This version of the 870 has a slightly worn out green finish on its furniture, while its receiver has a blue finish with both areas decorated with illustrations of flowers. The Kabloom is a potential loot reward for completing the quest event "Safe and Sound" and will always drop with in 870's "standard" sawed-off configuration. Statistics wise, the Kabloom reloads 15% faster, fires explosive buckshot, cancels out 50% of targets' armor, and deals 50 poison damage to targets over 10 seconds (this stat is exclusive to this weapon). Unlike the unique customized variants of the game's firearms introduced in prior updates, the Kabloom's legendary effects can be reconfigured to the player's content.

Remington 870 with sawed off barrel and stock - 12 gauge

The "Pump Action Shotgun" in the inspection menu. Note the ATI Fluted Mag Extension Stand-off Cap and the sporter style checkering of the forend which is typically found on synthetic forends.

The Remington in first-person view.

Aiming down the "Romington 76's" sights. They appear to be the same default iron sights as present on the "Lever Action Rifle". Fitting a longer barrel will move the front sight further ahead, but the aiming animations do not re-adjust the sight picture. Note how the rear sight assembly is simply clipped into the shotgun's receiver.

Firing the Model 870.

Cycling the shotgun. Note how the oversized 12 gauge hull clips through from under the receiver when the action is cycled. Also, the bolt isn't fully backwards when the spent round is ejected due to the player never completely cycling the gun's action in time during shell ejection animations.

Ditto. The ejected shell appears to be unfired as its primer is unstruck and the crimping hasn't expanded.

Reloading the Remington will always begin with its user lowering the gun and racking back its forend before inserting new shells. Despite this, the user never actually inserts a shell into the seemingly void chamber.

Inserting fresh rounds into the magazine tube, one round at a time.

Finishing the reload by shutting the 870's action. In reality, the user would have to cycle the shotgun again in order to chamber a round if one already hasn't been inserted.

Close up of the receiver's inscription, parodying the Remington logo. On the in-game gun's model, this text is inverted, suggesting the shotgun was originally modelled with right handed features but was simply flipped in order to continue the "left-handed firearms" trope a number of FPS games contain.

The Remington 870 with a short barrel, tactical forend, and full stock. This stock has a synthetic finish which is only added when a specific type of receiver is applied to the shotgun, otherwise the stock appears as wooden only.

A Remington with a short barrel, forend more correctly resembling that of a typical 870's (along with a permanent synthetic finish), and a Magpul SGA-style stock, included with duct tape.

An 870 with the longest barrel and magazine tube available in-game, heatshield attached, a synthetic forend, and the Magpul stock.

The same shotgun but with a "Medium barrel". This one adds the ATI fluted magazine tube extension, which now visually justifies the weapon's in-game 8-round capacity.

Rifles

AK-47

Reused from Fallout 4's Nuka World DLC, the left handed Type 1 AK-47 reappears as the "Handmade Rifle"; however, due to a naming bug, all Handmade Rifles are instead called "Handmade". Unlike in said game, this rifle no longer chambers the "7.62" ammunition due to it not existing in this game (likely as an effort to minimize lesser used ammunition from the previous game) and is instead chambered in 5.56mm rounds, despite using curved magazines which visually contain the aforementioned 7.62mm cartridge. The Handmade Rifle can be modified with different stocks, barrels, magazines and scopes. Despite the AK-47 being a select-fire rifle, the in-game version requires the player to build a new receiver in order to convert it from semi-auto to full auto (or the other way round).

Type 1 AK-47 - 7.62x39mm

Inspection menu view of a "Handmade" in its default configuration, consisting of a stubby barrel and makeshift shovel handle stock. The short magazine, which in Fallout 4 held 10 rounds, here somehow holds 20 rounds (of 5.56mm now).

The AK-47 in idle.

Aiming down the AK's sights, which also appears to have "front sight lacking syndrome" that many weapons in post-apocalyptic Appalachia suffer from.

Removing a used magazine...

...rocking in a fresh one...

...and racking the rifle's bolt.

A differently configured AK-47, featuring a very SVD-looking stock, PSL-style barrel/handguard setup, PBS-1 suppressor, reflex sight (attached to a fixed scope mount), and 75-round drum magazine (which in-game has a severly underloaded capacity 30 rounds). This specific AK's receiver cover has been removed, which is generally not a good idea in a post-apocalyptic setting and yet it still seems to be done in every post-apocalyptic setting.

One player observes another from Miami reload his customized AK, with trigger discipline.

American Percussion Combination Gun

"The Dragon" is a mid-19th century American-style quad barreled percussion combination rifle/shotgun. It is chambered in .50 caliber balls and firing will discharge all four barrels despite the fact that in reality the top two barrels are rifle barrels typically around .38-40 caliber and the bottom two barrels are shotgun barrels typically around .69-72 caliber. Strangely, the rifle only expends a single ball of ammunition despite releasing four projectiles and like every other muzzle loaded firearm in the game, the player character makes no effort to replace the rifle's missing percussion caps while reloading. Since the rifle which "The Dragon" is modelled after is a combination gun, it has four percussion nipples, one for each barrel. The game version depicts the bottom two percussion nipples rigged to a wire coming from an unknown power source, which could possibly explain how the rifle fires all four barrels at the same time. Performance wise, The Dragon deals an extremely high amount of damage but takes around ten seconds to reload as well as being very hard to find.

Mid 19th century American percussion combination rifle/shotgun of unknown make. This exact weapon appears to have been used as reference when modeling "The Dragon".

Overview of the model for "The Dragon".

Close up of the percussion nipples on the gun's bottom barrels. They are connected to a wire which may explain their discharge being in sync with the top two barrels. However, no visible power source is seen.

Reloading "The Dragon". In this screenshot, the player is using the ramrod on all four of the gun's barrels, one at a time.

ArmaLite AR-10

The player character can obtain a microtransaction from the in-game "Atom Shop" called the "Screaming Eagle skin" (very likely a reference to the 101st Airborne Division, whose nickname is "Screaming Eagles") which cosmetically changes the Handmade Rifle's animations and appearance from an AK-47 to a Portuguese-model ArmaLite AR-10 rifle; this does not alter the weapon's performance nor statistics, and so the in-game weapon is essentially a 5.56mm version of the AR-10. Visually, the AR-10 style rifle lacks a carrying handle and instead utilizes a rail (similarly to the A4 models), has no charging handle but rather a knob placed on the bolt that is accessible by a cutout in the receiver's left side (with right-handed ejection being retained).

As of mid-2023, there are a number of AR-10 variants, each with a different skin. The first four include: a standard wood furniture appearance, a woodland camouflage skin, a custom "flyboy" skin that adds a decal of a bald eagle to the magazine well along with an olive-green handguard and a dark crimson tinted grip and stock and the "Enclave" variant which features the AR-10 with mostly a dark green finish including a single band of lime green on each piece of furniture and as per its name, the Enclave faction's emblem is stamped onto both sides of the rifle's stock. The woodland camouflage skin variant of the AR-10 is named the "Tropic Lightning", which may also reference the 25th Infantry Division with the nickname of "Tropic Lightning".

When any AR-10 skin is selected and used, modifications for the AK-47 can still be applied and attachments such as scopes/optics and PBS-1 suppressor will appear on the rifle. When equipped with a drum magazine, the rifle oddly reuses the model for the Handmade Rifle's 75-round 7.62x39mm drum, instead of a more appropriate one for a rifle that uses a straighter cartridge. Regardless of whether a player's Handmade Rifle is semi or fully automatic, the AR-10's selector switch is set to auto. Due to how its model was made, the AR-10 skin's bolt does not reciprocate when firing but only the knob fixed to it does. When the first AR-10 model replacers were added into the game, attaching reflex or telescopic sights to the rifle would incorrectly place onto it the AK-47's mounting bracket which visually blocked part of the gun's ejection port. Also, when wearing power armor, the game incorrectly assigns the AK-47's original reload animation when the AR-10 skin is used, causing clipping from the mag being incorrectly rocked into the magazine well.

ArmaLite AR-10, Portuguese model - 7.62x51mm NATO

ArmaLite AR-10 A4 - 7.62x51mm NATO

Inspection of the "Screaming Eagle" rifle. Hence the skin's name, the magazine well contains a decal of a bald eagle. Note the left handed bolt.

A slightly closer view of the rifle's receiver which has the "CAL 7,62mm NATO" inscription of a Dutch manufactured AR-10 (correct for the Portuguese model featured in-game) and then "7.6mm" underneath.

Inspecting the modified AR-10 on its right side.

Idling with the alternative-universe AR-10 in first-person view. This rifle in particular has a reflex sight attached. As a result of the rifle's handling animations originally being designed for the AK-47, the player's left thumb is visibly clipping through the AR-10's handguard.

Aiming down the sights. Although not present here, if the default option in the "Sights" category is applied to the gun, only the (partly incomplete) front sight will be present to provide some way of aiming. Oddly enough, if the "Glow Sights" modification is selected, the rifle will have a rear aperture sight added, with the front sight containing a luminescent dot as per the mod's name.

Firing the weapon. Note how only the bolt knob is cycled; the bolt itself remains fixed.

A mag-less AR-10, waiting to be fed another more.

Inserting a new magazine.

Gripping the bolt's knob...

...and charging it back, slightly more than it should.

Equipping the "Glow Sights" modification restores the missing center piece on the front sight while also installing the rear aperture sight.

A player character holds his modified AR-10.

Reloading the rifle in third-person view shows that only half of the bolt actually moves back despite the user pulling its knob farther back than that. The Vault 76 Dweller has remembered his trigger discipline.

Comparison of the original three paintjobs the skin is available in. As easily seen in the upper two rifles, the magazine for the AR-10's model is slightly misaligned with the magazine well.

Atomic Shop preview of the "Enclave" variant, added in the February 2023 update.

"Chinese Assault Rifle"

A recreation of the "Chinese Assault Rifle" from Fallout 3 was to appear in 76. However, it was cut from the game at the last moment. This model has no relation to the scrapped Fallout 4 mesh of the same firearm. The unused model for 76's Chinese rifle consists of an AK-47 receiver reused from the "Handmade Rifle" instead of the fictional RPD-like receiver design from its original incarnation, but with a proper AK-style grip (unlike said Handmade Rifle), the barrel/gas piston assembly of an RPD (flipped upside down with the front sight now attached on top of the gas tube), the stock of an AS Val, and the handguard appears to be a cross between that of an AK-style and an RPD, unlike its previous incarnation. While the Fallout 76 rendition of the Chinese Assault Rifle is unusable as a standalone weapon, its model is available as a cosmetic skin for the Handmade Rifle when using certain weapon mods with it. This version is painted an olive color with a Chinese Communist-style finish.

A sign inside Vault 76 depicts the Vault Boy firing a Chinese Assault Rifle.

The "Chinese Assault Rifle" from Fallout 3.

Type 1 AK-47 - 7.62x39mm

RPD Light Machine Gun - 7.62x39mm

AS Val - 9x39mm

Unused model for Fallout 76's Chinese Assault Rifle. This rifle's handguard appears to be a mix between an AK rifle and RPD's handguards whereas in Fallout 3, the Chinese Assault Rifle had a handguard resembling only that of an RPD's.

An image promoting the "Communist Style" paint for the Handmade Rifle, as seen in the microtransaction "Atomic Shop".

Inspection overview of a Handmade Rifle, with the Chinese paintjob applied.

The low-resolution illustration with a still recognisable rifle.

"Combat Rifle"

The Combat Rifle, yet another weapon recycled from Fallout 4, is again heavily based on the PPSh-41 submachine gun. It looks exactly like the "Combat Shotgun", though the barrel, magazine, charging handle and sights are different. The Combat Rifle is chambered in .45 caliber (.45 ACP, as the Submachine Gun is chambered in this ammunition as well) and can alternatively be rechambered for the weaker ".38" (presumably meant to be .38 Special judging from the box, although the model for the cartridges themselves are the same as the 10mm round) even though the gun's magazine model is rifle sized with .308 cartridges being present in it. This was because a .308 receiver for the rifle existed in Fallout 4 but was not carried into 76.

The "Fixer" is a unique version of the Combat Rifle, obtained (along with its plan) from the side-quest "Wolf in Sheep's Clothing". Its stock, magazine and handguard have an olive color finish and provides stealth bonuses such as granting its user a 20% faster movement speed when sneaking and improved sneak in dark areas. It also deals 20% more damage than a generic Combat Rifle and can be modified with said rifle's upgrades that the player has unlocked. The Fixer is very frequently used by players as a fully automatic rifle due to its damage output and ability to have legendary effects added on top of its weapon-specific bonuses.

PPSh-41 - 7.62x25mm Tokarev

Menu inspection of the "Combat Rifle". The game's developers appear to have modelled the "Combat Shotgun" first due to the rifle's receiver and magazine well being too wide for a rifle sized magazine.

The player racking the rifle's bolt after reloading it. The "Combat Rifle" uses the exact same animations as its shotgun counterpart.

A fully modified "Fixer". The model for this suppressor is shared for the Combat Shotgun, Radium Rifle, Submachine Gun and the Combat Rifle even though the suppressor is inscribed with "MODEL 12GS, 12ga Only" text.

Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr MP 507

Another rifle recycled from the Far Harbor DLC in Fallout 4, the Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr MP 507 makes a comeback as the "Radium Rifle". It is a Volkssturmgewehr rifle with random sci-fi parts installed on it which include gamma cartridges and wires. Like in its previous appearance, the Radium Rifle is chambered in .45 pistol cartridges and can deal some sort of radiation damage to its victims, with humans being the most effective targets.

Gustloff Volkssturmgewehr MP 507 - 7.92x33mm Kurz

Inspecting a "Radium Rifle"; this one apparently has a 20 round magazine.

The Radium Rifle in idle.

Aiming down the Volkssturmgewehr's sights, despite its picture being blocked.

Removing the magazine.

A fresh magazine about to be inserted. Despite the rifle's in-game chambering of .45 Auto, the round shown here in the magazine better resembles something akin to .45 Long Colt.

Rocking in a loaded magazine. Doing this is somewhat incorrect due to how the Volkssturmgewehr's magazine well was built.

Racking the Volkssturmgewehr's slide.

An even more modified Volkssturmgewehr. This specific example is equipped with a hollow stock, a 30 round magazine (the "stinging magazine" actually holds 25 rounds in-game), wire and foil dish (presumably it improves the output of radiation it emits), scope (whose line of sight would be partly blocked by said dish) and a compensator which has the same appearance as one meant for a high-caliber long range rifle, despite a majority of the game's firearms using this compensator model.

Kentucky Flintlock Rifle

A skin released for the in-game "Atom Shop" changes the Black Powder Rifle's appearance to that of a maple and ornate Kentucky Flintlock Rifle. This is cosmetic and does not change the performance of the rifle. Applying the skin also doesn't change the weapon's reload animation and as such, the player character will not reload the rifle's action mechanism (in this case, adding powder to the flintlock's pan).

A different skin for the "Dragon" percussion gun mentioned above called the "Nighthawk" is also obtainable from the Atom Shop. It has the exact same stock as the Black Powder Rifle's flintlock reskin and its percussion system is replaced with dual flintlocks.

Kentucky rifle - .36

The image used for the rifle's skin in the "Atom Shop".

The promotional image used for the Dragon's skin. Because the Dragon's four barrels are discharged at once in gameplay, this skin doesn't explain how the lower set of barrels are fired, with only the default model justifying this with electrical wires being hooked to the bottom-facing percussion nipples of the gun. Though, this skin could be interpreted as having a "chain-firing" ability similar to the Nock Gun.

A Dragon refitted with the "Nighthawk" replacer.

A "Nighthawk" Dragon in first-person.

"Lever Action Rifle"

The "Lever Action Rifle" which originally appeared in the Fallout 4 Far Harbor DLC now returns in 76. Visually, the rifle is a cross between a Marlin Model 336 and a Marlin 1895G Guide Gun, with a barrel similar to the former with the straight stock of the latter, aperture sights, a thicker trigger guard, and a left handed receiver. Its lever loop is also enlarged. In the case of Fallout 4, the Lever Action Rifle was chambered for .45-70 which no longer exists in Fallout 76 and instead loads .45 caliber pistol cartridges (despite animations still using .45-70 Gov't casing and round models) with the same 5 round capacity. This rifle begins appearing roughly after level 35 (though in rare quantities) and deals reasonably high damage, outclassing a .308 caliber hunting rifle in damage (somehow) and cycling rate but the lever gun still possesses a slower fire rate than other rifles. Like almost every other shotgun and rifle in the game, the Lever Action Rifle by default has a sawed off barrel and stock, both of which can be restored by modifying. In third-person view, the rifle's hammer does not lock back. Unlike in Fallout 4, the player properly reloads the necessary amount of cartridges into the Lever Action Rifle instead of always inserting 5 rounds into the loading gate regardless of how many were left in the tube. Although, when performing a partial reload, the rifle's user will cycle the action when finished, inaccurately causing a spent casing to eject. If one sets their game's field of view to an extremely high setting, it will reveal that in the Lever Action Rifle's animations, the user's right hand does not move to cycle the gun's action and instead the lever moves on its own.

The "Sole Survivor" (not to be confused with the protagonist from Fallout 4) is a variant of the lever-action, originally being given to players by doing certain objectives in the now-defunct Survival mode, similarly to the Model 29's "Medical Malpractice" variant. A newer, updated version of this variant now exists and its crafting plans can be obtained by the gold bullion vendor Minerva or as a rare drop from "Daily Ops" missions. This version of the Sole Survivor has a worn out, rusted body, a discolored stock with numerous tick marks inscribed on it and an also discolored handguard with a strip of duct tape wrapping part of it along with the marked words "This is not the end!". The rifle comes pre-set with legendary effects which increases damage by 25% when aiming, provides 50 damage resistance to the user when also aiming and add a 50% damage bonus to human targets. When crafted, the Sole Survivor will by default be equipped with a full stock, barrel, suppressor and a long range night vision scope.

Added by the Nuka-World on Tour update is the unique "Western Spirit" variant of the Marlin repeater. Its custom paint finish features a black finish to all metal exterior parts of the gun (excluding the hammer and trigger, which are purple), the "Nuka-Cola" logo stamped onto the receiver's left and a faded purple/beige pattern with stars on the furniture. It is pre-set with legendary effects that grant additional damage on consecutive hits scored on the same target, a damage bonus while aiming (+25%) and a faster reload speed (+15%). Another attribute exclusive only to this weapon is its increased ammo capacity; it loads 7 rounds at a time. Unfortunately, longer barrel modifications for the repeater still do not raise its capacity. The Western Spirit is given as a possible quest reward for the "Most Wanted" event.

As part of a bundle for the Amazon Prime Gaming service, those with an Xbox Game Pass or Prime Gaming subscription could claim from November 2022 to February 2023 a skin for the Lever Action Rifle that gives it a finish that includes receiver inscriptions similar to those on "Lincoln's Repeater", a weapon from Fallout 3. This rifle itself is based on the customized Henry 1860 rifle which was presented to Abraham Lincoln.

Marlin 336A Carbine - .30-30 WCF

Marlin 1895G "Guide Gun" - .45-70 Government

Visual inspection of the "Lever Action Rifle". Adding a longer barrel modifcation also increases the length of the gun's magazine tube but this does not raise the rifle's ammo capacity.

The repeater rifle in first-person view.

Aiming down the rifle's aperture sights. The rear sight appears to be based on those present on some Benelli shotguns.

Firing the weapon.

Cycling the lever-action. Note the ejected .45-70 Government casing, which has an unstruck primer.

Cycling the gun's lever, this time while aiming.

Inserting .45-70 Gov't rounds into the rifle's loading gate, despite its in-game chambering of .45 Auto. In contrast to Fallout 4, reloading the lever gun is done at a much faster rate...

...and, presumably due to bugs in the animation interpolation, results in loaded rounds clipping through the receiver back into the user's hand.

The Lever Action Rifle with a longer and ported barrel, compensator, scope and full stock. The stock appears to be equipped with shell holders containing .45-70 Government cartridges.

The current, obtainable version of the "Sole Survivor" variant.

The Nuka-Cola themed "Western Spirit".

"Lincoln's Repeater" as it appears in Fallout 3.

A Marlin combo rifle with the "Lincoln's Repeater" skin.

An Abraham Lincoln impersonator armed with his Henry impersonator.

M1841 Mississippi Percussion Rifle

The 1853 version of the M1841 Mississippi Percussion Rifle is featured as the "Black Powder Rifle". Like the muzzle loading pistols, it is chambered in .50 caliber balls, deals devastating damage and does not deduct gunpowder from the players inventory upon firing. In its reload animation, the player character completes the proper steps for reloading but does not replace the percussion cap which is already missing nor is any wadding used in the rifle's barrel (none of the muzzleloaders in the game utilize wadding in their reload animations).

M1841 Mississippi rifled musket - .58 Minie ball

The "Black Powder Rifle". The rifle uses the same powder horn as "The Dragon" above.

First person view of the Mississippi Musket being held.

Remington Model 700

This "Hunting Rifle" which first appeared in Fallout 4 is based on the Remington Model 700 with a left handed bolt. The Hunting Rifle is common very early in-game and at first is only found with a short barrel/handguard and sawed-off stock, but modifications can extend the overall length of the rifle. It is chambered for .308 caliber but optional modifications can rather bizarrely convert the Hunting Rifle to load either .38 or .50 caliber rounds. Equipping a scope changes the Remington's name to "Sniper Rifle".

Remington 700 BDL - .308 Winchester

Inspection menu view of the "Hunting Rifle", in sawed-off configuration.

Holding the faux-Obrez in first-person view.

Aiming through the rifle's iron sights; the sight picture is more or less the same as the Combat Rifle's standard sights.

Pulling back the (left handed) bolt after firing; no casings are ejected in this view. The rounds in the rifle's magazine aren't visible either.

Reloading the weapon. This is done by replacing the magazine before pulling the bolt, whereas in previous games, their bolt action rifles were reloaded the other way round.

Chambering a round after inserting a fresh magazine.

A Hunting Rifle with complete modifications including a scope and suppressor. Unlike its counterparts in Fallout 4, a Hunting Rifle with a full stock does not have a black colored tip on its handguard; both of these are correct, on some models of the 700.

A player holds his Hunting Rifle; the 30-round magazine loaded into it bafflingly holds only 7 rounds in-game (a downgrade to the already underloaded 10 rounds in the previous game). This is likely a balancing measure as most magazine upgrades in this game hold significantly less rounds than their counterparts in Fallout 4.

Remington Model 700 VTR - .308 Winchester

A Hunting Rifle in a Remington Model 700 VTR-like configuration, though the buttstock appears to be based on the "Sniper Rifle" from Fallout 3. This particular rifle is also implausibly chambered for the game's equivalent of .50 BMG.

A similar rifle, but with an extended magazine, no scope, and no muzzle brake.

Machine Guns

"Assault Rifle"

The evil creation from Fallout 4 known as the "Assault Rifle" returns. It is an amalgam of real life machine guns such as the grip and receiver resembling that of the French MAS AA-52, the handguard of an M249 SAW, a side loading box magazine similar to one from an FG42 (but chambered in 5.56mm rounds), and an anti-aircraft type front sight; the weapon's default cooling jacket is now the rather more Vickers-like "Ported Barrel" from Fallout 4, but the Lewis gun-style jacket can be restored through modifications. Despite being named an assault rifle, the weapon starts off as firing in semi-automatic (and assault rifles require select-fire capability in order to be truly classed as one) until the player character decides to modify the receiver which gives the gun full-auto capabilities. Other modifications include longer barrels and extended magazines. During the development of Fallout 4, the "Assault Rifle" was originally named the "Machine Gun" and its bulky appearance was apparently a design choice in order to fit the look of power armor wearers who have the weapon in their hands.

The "Whistle in the Dark" is a variant of the "Assault Rifle". Similarly to the "Sole Survivor" version of the Lever Action Rifle and the "Medical Malpractice" Model 29, the Whistle in the Dark was originally rewarded to the player for completing challenges in Survival mode. A new version of this variant was added and sports an orange and yellow striped paintjob, along with legendary effects that grant the player a single point to the Perception stat, a 50% higher chance of hitting targets in V.A.T.S. and an increased damage bonus at nightly hours in-game. Also like the aforementioned Sole Survivor, the crafting schematics for the Whistle in the Dark "rifle" can be obtained either as a rare reward from doing Daily Ops or by buying it from the gold bullion vendor Minerva.

Vickers Gun - .303 British

MAS AA-52 - 7.5x54mm French

FN M249-E2 SAW - 5.56x45mm NATO

It appears this gun got too close to a vat of FEV. This specific "rifle" has a short barrel and a wooden grip, both of which can be replaced with alternative counterparts.

Close up of the "rifle's" ejection port. Note the strange charging handle, which is implied to be pulled back over a 45-degree angle but the gun's carry handle is in the way, not that it would matter since the player never racks the handle in the reload animation.

Aiming the weapon, with no aircraft in sight, but instead a wrecked boat.

Pulling out an empty magazine. Although this particular magazine appears to be long enough to hold at least 30 rounds (ignoring any potential feed issues due to its straight shape given the cartridge it uses), it only holds 20 rounds at a time, likely as a balancing measure. The Fallout 4 version of this "rifle" held 30 cartridges in the default magazine.

A view of the mag-less gun.

Jamming in a new magazine. This reload animation is reused from that for the makeshift "Pipe Gun", another side-mounted-magazine-fed firearm in the game.

The "Whistle in the Dark" variant as seen in the crafting menu. This striped finish is also available on the "Gutter" melee weapon upon crafting or as a skin to add onto pre-existing 10mm Pistols and power armor pieces.

Browning M2HB

The ".50 Cal Machine Gun" is based on the Browning M2HB and is chambered in .50 caliber cartridges which are fed by belt in an ammo box, with an incorrect feed of 250 rounds per belt box. The M2 appears to be in a handheld configuration, carried by the player character using with a chainsaw-type grip; one is mounted onto the gun's top cover and the other quite high above the trigger mechanism, which raises the question as to how exactly the gun is fired. It also lacks iron sights and weighs significantly lighter in-game than in real life (18 lbs compared to 84 lbs). The machine gun deals reasonable damage for heavy weapon-centered player builds (though is somewhat unrealistic for a .50 BMG) and has quite a high rate of fire compared to a real M2. The M2HB becomes accessible to the player when they reach level 25 but has only two modifications: a "Heavy Barrel" (although the standard barrel is modelled after the M2's actual heavy barrel), which increases damage while visually installing a barrel similar to one from the Aircraft version and a "Prime Receiver".

Browning M2HB on M3 tripod - .50 BMG

A stock M2HB. Note the newly added grips to suit this M2's handheld use and the removal of the rear's spade grips.

Viewing the machine gun from another angle.

Holding the M2 in first-person view.

Aiming at nothing in particular.

Taking away an emptied ammo can...

...and placing a full one onto the box frame.

The player opens the feed tray cover with ease, neglecting the need to access the cover latch first.

A fresh belt of .50 BMG is loaded...

...then shutting the top cover...

...and finishing the M2's reload by working its charging handle. This appears to be done offscreen with only a backwards/forwards motion of the whole gun being visible when it is chambered. During this process, the entire gun's weight is shifted to the carry handle atop the feed tray lid.

Browning M2 Aircraft (flexible) - .50 BMG

An M2 with the "Heavy Barrel" mod.

A section of the Season 14 scoreboard art featuring a USMC M26 Pershing with an M2HB atop.

MG42

The German MG42 without a bipod appears as the "Light Machine Gun"; this is somewhat incorrect, as the MG42 is a general-purpose machine gun, though the in-game version lives up to its name by weighing a mere 8 pounds (over 17 pounds less than the real steel). The Light Machine Gun is chambered in .308 Winchester, similar to the MG42's modern counterpart, the MG3, which is chambered for 7.62x51mm NATO. It deals a decent amount of damage per shot and can deal even more per second thanks to its fire rate (lower than a real MG42's, but still rather high), however one needs to monitor how much they fire as the gun can eat through a large amount of .308 cartridges. The machine gun is modelled with a 50 round "assault drum", but has an incorrect capacity of 75 rounds. The schematic plan to build the weapon refers to it by its real life name as "MG42 light machine gun". In-game, the MG42 is classed as a heavy weapon, with it being affected by perks that modify stats of this weapon class.

MG42 with 50-round belt drum - 7.92x57mm Mauser

The MG42 in the inspection menu. Although the naming of the attachments in the "Current Mods" tab implies that they're not the default ones, they are actually the only existing ones for the MG42 in-game.

Inspecting the MG's other side. Its exterior has seen better days.

The MG42 in first-person view.

Taking aim with the machine gun.

Firing away at some grass. When firing the MG42, its charging handle will begin to shake, which is true to the real weapon.

Taking aim with the machine gun.

Reloading begins by lifting the MG's top cover...

...which is proceeded by the player removing the empty belt drum...

...then a fresh drum is hitched...

...and the top cover is shut, followed by the charging handle being racked. The player doesn't even bother to position the ammo belt, and due to this the gun wouldn't fire for obvious reasons.

A sharply dressed player fires his German relic, ignoring the fact that there are no casings nor belt links being ejected from the gun.

"Minigun"

The Minigun from Fallout 4 returns. It similar to the GE M134 Minigun with its design based on the M61 Vulcan, has a capacity of 500 "5mm" rounds which are stored in a large drum mounted underneath the barrels and has a very low damage per shot stat, with its fast fire rate (still slower than a real life minigun) making up for this. Strangely, the ammo box model used for the fictitious "5mm" cartridge contains inscribed text that reads "7.62x51mm NATO" and "USE IN M.G.GAU-2B/A OR M134". The Minigun can have its barrels swapped out with the "Tri Barrel" modification which gives it a General Dynamics GAU-19/A barrel assembly. One of the "muzzle" slot modifications for the Minigun, the "Shredder", covers the weapon's barrels in slabs of metal that are wrapped with barbed wires, saw blades and metallic shards which serve as a deadly melee weapon for when its user runs out ammunition, after when the gun's barrels can be endlessly spun and used like a chainsaw to mow targets.

The "Test Your Metal" update added a variant of the Minigun, "Foundation's Vengeance". This Minigun has a rusted finish, with a cyan color paintjob and white stripes on both its body and ammo drum. It can be received as a reward from the update's "Eviction Notice" event. Foundation's Vengeance is included with a set of legendary effects that grant its bullets explosive abilities, a large damage bonus the more injured its user is, and a 250 damage resistance buff while reloading the Minigun.

Phalanx CIWS - 20x102mm

Airsoft handheld M134 Minigun - (fake) 7.62x51mm NATO

Inspection view of the "Minigun".

Inspecting it from a different angle. Its ammo drum configuration is quite similar to the "Minigun" and "Natascha" weapons from Team Fortress 2.

General Dynamics GAU-19/A - .50 BMG

A Minigun with the "Tri Barrel" modification. At this point, the weapon slightly resembles a downscaled GAU-19/A.

Inspecting a Minigun with the "Shredder" attachment. The barrels on this specific Minigun are shorter than the standard set.

A player holds his Minigun, equipped with the "Shredder".

A Minigun equipped in first-person view.

"Aiming" the weapon will angle it closer to the player. It can be equipped with a flimsy-looking ring sight (named the "Gunner Sight") which sits at the right corner of the gun's carry handle which makes sense for context in the animations where it is handheld, but not for stationary situations where the gun would be level with the surface it is placed on.

Firing the Minigun. Interestingly, firing the weapon for about 5 seconds results in the barrel ends flaring up which is unrealistic as the multi-barrel design on rotary guns is specifically meant to prevent this issue.

When reloading, the player appears to shake the Minigun while mechanical shuffling sounds are heard; not much is seen in first-person view.

Third-person view reveals that the user apparently reloads the Minigun by swapping the internals of its ammo drum, however the reload animation does not show the Minigun's feeding chute being adjusted with the linked ammunition belt. Note that the sides of the internal ammo belt are untextured.

The model for "Foundation's Vengeance".

Model 1874 Gatling Gun

The "Gatling Gun" is based on the camel Model 1874 Gatling Gun which in the game is available in a makeshift handheld configuration (despite a real life Gatling Gun being far too heavy for a single person to be able to carry, run with, and reload without issue). The Gatling Gun is chambered in the fictional "5mm" cartridge and uses straight .45-70 Gov't magazines by default (which somehow hold 250 rounds) and a modification may equip it with a short .45-70 Gov't Broadwell drum which unrealistically doubles its capacity to 500. The Gatling Gun in the game is operated by a left handed crank that appears to be located further ahead of the gun's action (which would not succeed in rotating the barrels in reality) and is also incorrectly depicted as firing one round per full crank rather than consecutively discharging rounds the more the crank is turned, resulting in an extremely slow rate of fire. The Gatling Gun is a better alternative to the Minigun due to the former's higher accuracy and range, damage output, and more manageable preservation of ammunition (as a result of the gun's slower firing rate which doesn't eat through too many rounds). Optionally, the player can add a large drillbit shaped bayonet which attaches to the center on the front of the gun's chasis. There also is a patent plate present at the rear of the Gatling Gun's frame, just like on a real Gatling.

Colt Gatling Gun with Bruce Feed Guide - .45-70 Government

Menu inspection of the in-game Gatling Gun.

Inspecting the Gatling Gun from another side.

Ditto. There appears to be an iron sight piece at the left side of the gun's frame, but aiming with it in reality would be impossible due to the Gatling's heightened crank assembly blocking its view. Despite being unusable, the front sight ring mod removes this.

A Gatling Gun in a different configuration. It sports an iron ring sight, enhanced carry grip and a set of barrels whose ends are externally grooved (for some reason named the "Long Barrel" despite not actually changing its length).

The Gatling Gun in first-person view. Note the octagonal ends on the default barrels.

"Aiming", which visually just tilts the gun past its magazine. The aiming animation changes when the front sight mod is applied due to its position.

Cranking the Gatling Gun.

Replacing the Gatling's magazine. For some reason, the weapon's magazine well is modelled as part of the magazine itself.

Sticking the magazine above the feed chute, in a stabbing motion.

In third-person view, the player character cranks his Gatling Gun. No casings appear to be ejected.

Gatling Gun with short Broadwell drum magazine - .45-70 Government

Model inspection of another upgraded Gatling Gun, this time featuring a Broadwell drum. If aiming in first-person view with this configuration, the sight picture for the front sight is partly blocked by the Broadwell drum's handle, making aiming with the two mods difficult.

The same Gatling Gun, wielded by a player. Their left hand appears to be outside of the gun's crank handle due to an alignment bug. When firing a Gatling Gun that is equipped with the Broadwell drum, the player character makes no effort to rotate each stack of ammunition housed by the drum (which is required to bring the cartridges into position) and its follower tabs remain static.

The patent stamp on the Gatling Gun. This one reads "GATLING'S BATTERY GUN, PAT. NOV 8. 1874, MAR 14. 1884, FEB 22. 1891, MADE BY COLT'S PT. FIRE ARMS, MFG CO, CHARLESTON WV, U.S.A", however it appears to be written in the Impact font, which was created over a century after the Gatling Gun's invention. The normal map texture (used to give textures an appearance of depth) is shown for ease of reading.

"Appalachian Thunder Pipe"

The "Appalachian Thunder Pipe" is an optional cosmetic skin for the Gatling Gun that was obtainable in the game's first season in mid-2020. It remodels the weapon as a steampunk-style Gatling Gun, with some inspirations from certain versions of the Mitrailleuse, a French rapid firing volley gun. Some parts of the original Gatling Gun's model are retained, such as the cartridge chute/drum mounting assembly, vertical magazine (though the Broadwell drum is reskinned with its own mesh), drillbit bayonet and carrying handle. Occasionally, the Appalachian Thunder Pipe skin is temporarily added to the in-game Atomic Shop for purchase by any players who were not present in the 2020 game seasons.

As a note of trivia, "thunder pipe" is the literal translation of the Dutch word "donderbus", from which the word "blunderbuss" is derived; whether this was intentional or not on Bethesda's part is difficult to say.

Modèle 1869 Reffye Mitrailleuse

3D render of the "Appalachian Thunder Pipe". Strangely, it has an unused magazine well secured just inches behind the Gatling's cartridge chute assembly. The grey sheet fixed to the left side of the gun's body is inscribed with the same text that is present on the default Gatling Gun's patent plate.

Menu inspection of the Thunder Pipe.

A player holds his new Gatling Gun. At this angle, the hopper assembly from the Gatling Gun and its lever is visible.

Close-up of the gun's Mitrailleuse-esque muzzle shape. Note how the muzzle ends of the barrels are placed farther out from the center than the outside edges of the of the barrel shroud behind them; this means that the barrels are either bent, or short enough to fit inside the flared muzzle section alone (with the entire narrower section of the barrel shroud serving no functional purpose beyond a needlessly-long feeding/ejection system).

PKM

While the in-game "Gauss Rifle" is largely fictional, its default stock resembles that of a PKM, but is missing the butt plate.

PKM - 7.62x54mmR

Inspecting the "Gauss Rifle". The stock has obvious marks of where the PKM's butt plate would be.

Launchers

"Broadsider"

The "Broadsider" is what appears to be an 18th century swivel gun attached to a metallic frame with an assembly of recoil dampeners and two handles that the user holds the weapon with. The back handle has a button connected to wiring which leads to the touch hole of the cannon. In reality, the cannon would be too heavy for a single person to carry, fire, and reload with their two hands. Strangely, during the Broadsider's reload animation, no powder is loaded into its muzzle and the player character simply inserts the cannonball. There is a modification for the Broadsider, the "multi shot cannister", which adds a tube to the underside of the cannon. This mod somehow increases the capacity of the weapon to 3 cannonballs, although the reload animation still shows one cannonball being dropped into the muzzle.

The Nuka-World on Tour update added a special variant of the Broadsider, named the "Grand Finale". Visually, it has a red, white and blue paintjob similar to some circus cannons and statistically it bears legendary effects that fire two cannonball projectiles with one shot, grants extra damage (+25%) when aiming and also provides the user with 250 damage resistance while reloading. A stat unique only to this weapon is that it deals +10% more damage than a normal Broadsider along with fired balls producing a firework style effect upon exploding. It has a chance of dropping as an event reward for completing "Seismic Activity", also added by the Nuka-World on Tour update.

Swivel gun

Menu inspection of the "Broadsider". In reality, these dampeners would be far from enough to make a handheld cannon's recoil somewhat manageable.

Ditto, from a different angle. In order to reduce polycount, the inside of the cannon's barrel is not modelled past a certain point.

Inspecting the top reveals King George II's royal cypher and "1820" engraved on the cannon. These markings were based on those present on replica guns mounted on the USS Constitution; while this made sense for Fallout 4's Boston locale and the mission for which this weapon is awarded, it does not fit the West Virginia setting of 76.

Holding the Broadsider in first-person view. Note the set of wires which go into the cannon's touch hole, suggesting how the weapon's non-existent gunpowder is ignited.

Firing the man-portable cannon at a billboard provides its user with a sense of relief that their arms haven't been ripped off by the resulting recoil.

After firing, the cannon itself magically pivots itself downwards and the player prepares to insert a low-quality cannonball, neglecting the need to pour any type of propellant.

The player prepares to drop the cannonball down the muzzle.

Once again the cannon spontaneously swivels, this time back up ready to fire.

Melee bashing with the Broadsider prompts its user to swing the rear of the cannon towards the crosshair. Note the makeshift trigger button.

A player character reloading the Broadsider in third-person.

A Broadsider modified with the "Multi Shot Canister" and a "Light Barrel". The "Comfort Grip" mod is visually identical to the default one.

A Broadsider with a boxing glove contraption, present in the "Rusty Pick" bar. This particular cannon cannot be interacted with as it is merely a prop and is also locked behind a fenced-off area in its location.

The "Grand Finale".

Cannon

Added in October 2022 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Fallout franchise, a cosmetic carriage-mounted cannon named the "Ceremonial Cannon" was added to the in-game Atomic Shop for free on day 1 of the Fallout 25 event. This cannon is painted with US flag colors, and is fixed to a carriage bearing bronze plates and Vault Boy-themed caps on the sides of its wheels. The cannon can be built in player-occupied workshops or in their "C.A.M.P." (a portable base built by the player character) and the only use of it is as a harmless firing prop that can be activated and discharged multiple times by the player without the need to reload.

Cannons can also be found in locations such as Philippi Battlefield Cemetery (the in-game equivalent of the Grafton National Cemetery), mounted in carts and positioned in various numbers. However, they are static objects and are thus unusable by players and NPCs.

A cannon on a gun carriage

Viewing the "Ceremonial Cannon" in another player's base.

The rear of the cannon.

Interacting with the weapon will discharge the cannon, producing red, white and blue smoke.

18th century naval cannon with ramrod and projectile

The cart-mounted cannons in-game.

Greener Percussion Harpoon Gun

The "Harpoon Gun" (originally appearing in the Fallout 4 add-on Far Harbor) appears to take inspiration from the Greener Percussion Harpoon Gun, though some differences include the player holding it with two hands (as is the case with every heavy weapon in the game) in a makeshift handheld configuration and each harpoon instead being loaded a breech from the gun's left side rather than from the muzzle with black powder. The Harpoon Gun's model has a grip-mounted button connected to wiring which leads into the percussion mechanism, although reloading it is dismissed by the player character, leaving how exactly the gun launches its projectiles a mystery. Modifications for the "Harpoon Gun" include a barbed modification to the harpoons which adds a "health drain per second" effect to targets or alternatively, a "flechette" mod may be applied which transforms the single loaded harpoon into a cluster of several projectiles, making the weapon function like a heavy shotgun.

A Greener percussion harpoon gun, circa 1845.

A Harpoon Gun without any in-game modifications. Differences from the real Greener percussion weapon include: a makeshift vertical grip, fixed above the wooden one which has been sawed off; an electronic switch on said back grip which is wired to a cable that runs into the percussion system; a second vertical grip for two-handed carrying that is connected to some type of frame fitted into a slot cut out from the gun's wooden body; a lack of iron sights; and harpoons that are loaded into the side of the gun that appears to house some sort of receiver with a forward sliding door (unlike on the real Greener which is strictly a muzzleloader). The barrel is also slightly larger in diameter.

A modified harpoon launcher with anti-aircraft style sights equipped.

A Harpoon Gun with a scope.

Holding the Greener-inspired weapon.

Reloading the Harpoon launcher starts with sliding open its chamber...

...inserting a harpoon...

...and shutting the chamber. That's the reload animation. No black powder, no percussion cap.

"Hellstorm Missile Launcher"

The "Hellstorm Missile Launcher" appears to take inspiration from the M202 FLASH incendiary launcher. The body of the launcher resembles the M202 but lacks flap lids and a scope (by default, the launcher has iron sights but a modification adds on the scope, replicating that from the M202's); its gripstock assembly are identical to that of the default "Missile Launcher", being based on the Heckler & Koch MP7 and PIAT. Instead of loading rockets through the rear in a clip like the real M202, the Hellstorm's chambered "missiles" are loaded in a bulky clip that makes up a portion of the launcher's front. One of the weapon modifications can convert the standard four barrel assembly into a revolving chamber 6-shot launcher that fires through a single barrel. The left side of the Hellstorm Missile Launcher contains an inscription that reads "LAUNCHER ROCKET 4 BARREL 66MM" and the capacity mod changes it to "LAUNCHER MISSILE 6 BARREL 58MM"; this does not affect the in-game missile ammunition that both launcher weapons use. Alternatively, the Hellstorm launcher can have its missile properties modified with either a plasma, incendiary or cryogenic blast. These modifications change the front end of the launcher with a more sci-fi appearance. The Hellstorm Missile Launcher was added in the game's Steel Dawn update and plays a part in its questline.

M202A1 FLASH - 66mm

PIAT - 3.25 in

Heckler & Koch MP7A1 - 4.6x30mm

Preview of the "Hellstorm" launcher; the "Recon Scope" modification present mimics the scope on a real M202 FLASH. The in-game reticule for this sight is depicted not with a circular, but with a rectangular shape rather unpredictably. This is because the "Recon Scope" modification for other weapons share a cuboid-shaped scope model and reticule

The rear of the launcher. It appears to only have a singular exhaust port at the rear. Note also the Brotherhood of Steel logo present on the weapon.

Holding the launcher in first-person view.

Firing the Hellstorm.

Ditto. Interestingly, the projectile exhaust effect appears spawns before the actual fired missile itself.

Despite having just fired the weapon empty, the removed clip still contains unfired missiles.

Viewing the launcher's exposed muzzle.

Inserting a reloaded clip.

A player recreates a scene from Commando with his fake M202.

A Hellstorm launcher equipped with the "Plasma Payload". The explosion-altering modifications for this weapon do not add a seperate explosion for its related effect (in this case, plasma), but instead replaces a fraction of the launcher's damage output.

Render of the "sextuple barreled M202".

Said weapon in the workbench menu.

A Hellstorm Missile Launcher configured to fire cryogenic missiles. Oddly, the muzzle's barrels are squared.

The modified cryogenic launcher in first-person person view.

Aiming through the launcher's iron sights; these are default for the weapon.

Leuchtpistole

The German Leuchtpistole reappears as the "Flare Gun" and is the only weapon in the game chambered for the "flare" ammo. In Fallout 4, the main purpose of the Leuchtpistole was to signal the Minutemen faction for help, which leaves owning one in 76 largely pointless as it is also highly impractical as a combat weapon. However, one potential use for this "weapon" in-game is to attract the attention of other real players in the event of an emergency, though whether they respond or not is up to them. Amusingly, scrapping a Leuchtpistole will yield the player with only rubber junk materials.

Leuchtpistole - 26.65mm

A Leuchtpistole in the inspection menu. Due to it hardly being a weapon, it can only be crafted as a level 1 item. Nonetheless, the Leuchtpistole will always benefit from perks that give all handgun weapons a damage bonus (despite being minimal).

Firing a flare.

Pulling out a spent cartridge.

Inserting a new round into the barrel. Note the lit flare projectile in the background.

M79 Grenade Launcher

The M79 grenade launcher is referred to by its real-life name (a rare sight in a Fallout game since Tactics). It correctly chambers 40mm and by default has a sawed off barrel and stock, both of which can be brought back by modifying means. Aside from this, no other mods exist for the launcher and it can easily be replaced in favor of the Mk 19 (mentioned further below) that happens to deal the exact same explosion damage per shot. It does however carry a potential upside of being much lighter than the obviously heavier aforementioned Mk 19,

M79 grenade launcher - 40x46mm

An M79 grenade launcher which for some reason has been cut down. Its breech latch appears to be bigger than on a real M79. The shortened barrel on this example lacks the M79's leaf sight, which would be completely pointless anyway on a launcher like this.

As such, aiming the "obrezed" M79 results in this view. When equipping the "long barrel" mod, the sights are restored but the rear sight remains folded with the front sight being the only usable way of aiming shots.

Reloading the weapon; the lettering on the grenade indicates that it's an M433 high-explosive dual-purpose round, meant for both anti-armour and anti-personnel roles. The animation in first-person is the exact same for the double-barreled shotgun's; but has its own seperate third-person animation.

"Missile Launcher"

The "Missile Launcher" returns from Fallout 4. It is loosely based on the RPG-7 and has the sight assembly and trigger group of the PIAT. Part of the diagonal area near the muzzle and the foregrip resembles sections from a Heckler & Koch MP7. The weapon appears to be a breech-loading (which flips open from the top) single-shot launcher that fires caseless "missiles". It can be upgraded with a targetting system which enables the user to fire homing projectiles after locking onto a target. The capacity of the launcher can be increased by either a "Triple Barrel" attachment; despite its name, this replaces the breech with a detachable box device (which presumably contains the missile ammunition but is unclear as to how they are fed) and increases the launcher's capacity from one missile to three, or alternatively, a "Quad Barrel". This latter mod replaces the weapon's breech with a 2x2 barrel assembly; however, only the bottom-left barrel is connected to the launcher which still remains as a single tube with no explanation as to how the other three barrels are discharged as well as any regard to their potential backblast. The quad-barrel appearance gives the Missile Launcher in this configuration one similar to the M202 FLASH. The Missile Launcher deals decent explosive damage (which can go up for players investing in an explosive weapons build). However, its default single shot capacity proves weak against higher level enemies along with its ammunition weighing a lot to unprepared players. Fired projectiles will travel in a straight line until detonating upon impact. A stationary variant with four barrels can be built as an unmanned and automated defence turret in player-managed areas.

RPG-7 - 40mm

PIAT - 3.25 in

Heckler & Koch MP7A1 with factory magazine and iron sights - 4.6x30mm

Overview of the "Missile Launcher".

The Missile Launcher's other side. The padding on the launcher's shoulder-rest area appears to also take inspiration from the PIAT.

The weapon in idle.

Aiming through the unmarked ladder sights.

Firing.

Opening the launcher's breech, revealing a smooth bore.

Inserting a live projectile into the chamber.

Closing the breech. The missile is apparently seated still in the chamber.

Having not closed the breech fully, the player prepares to smack it completely shut.

The Missile Launcher is reloaded.

A launcher with the "Triple barrel" and "Targeting computer" mods. The "Triple barrel" is actually a box which presumably holds the three missiles. The "Targeting computer" enables users to fire missiles that actually fit the definition of one.

A view inside the same launcher's barrel. It isn't exactly clear as to how the triple-capacity box works because it lacks a hole which would be necessary for feeding. This is further confused by animations depicting this ammunition box as sliding aside when the launcher is fired.

A mounted version of the launcher, which appears to be a tripod-mounted vice clamping a Missile Launcher's barrel with an extended quadruple barrel at the rear. It isn't clear how exactly missiles are supposed to pass through the bores with the vice clamps blocking them let alone how they are discharged. The barrel also contains the breech which is normally present only on single-shot handheld Missile Launchers.

A Missile Launcher in an alternative configuration: Quad Barrel, scope, and for some reason, a "bayonet". Despite the scope's presence, the stock iron sights have been left unfolded.

Mk 19 Grenade Launcher

The Mk 19 grenade launcher makes an appearance as the "Auto Grenade Launcher" and is chambered for 40mm grenades along with being fed a short belt of only 12 grenades at a time (despite its large seated ammo can). The weapon incorrectly shares its 40mm grenade ammunition with the M79; the Mk 19 uses a high-velocity 40x53mm round, whereas the M79 uses low-velocity 40x46mm rounds. As with all heavy weapons in-game, the launcher is in a handheld configuration with similar carry handles as the game's Browning M2, which still doesn't explain how the player character pulls the trigger while carrying the weapon. In reality, the Mk 19 grenade launcher weighs almost 80 lbs, while the in-game version weighs only 18 lbs. The launcher's model has rear sights which are unfortunately folded and unusable (aiming will only shift the weapon's angle). When fired, it does not eject spent grenade shells. Unlike a real Mk 19, the in-game version fires extremely slowly with a long pause between shots, even when holding down the trigger. The only modifications for the Mk 19 are two alternative barrels which increase the weapon's range stat (but only changes the model of the flash hider and not the length of the barrel). The default barrel contains the Mk 19's older flash hider while another barrel upgrades adds on the current production flash hider. The reload animation for the Mk 19 is more or less identical to that of the M2 Browning's but it differs between perspectives - first-person view depicts the belt can being replaced, the weapon's top cover is opened and the ammo belt is loaded with charging handle being worked lastly (as with the M2). Third-person view only shows the feed tray cover being opened which is then proceeded by the ammo box being replaced and later, the charging handle racked; the grenade belt is never lined with the feed tray.

The Nuka-World on Tour update added the "Nuka-Launcher", a legendary variant of the Mk 19. Its pre-set legendary effects include: a 50% damage bonus to targets' limbs, a 90% lighter weight (only at 1.8lbs) and the ability to fire two projectiles with one shot. As with other unique weapons introduced with this update, it has a weapon-specific bonus with the Nuka Launcher's being that it deals 50% more damage against "Mole Miners", mutated pre-War mine workers often encountered as enemies. This special Mk 19 also has a faded red and blue paintjob with white stars stamped over the weapon and a "Victory" text decal on its exterior, referencing one of the Nuka-Cola beverage flavors. Unlike the other unique weapons from this update however, the Nuka-Launcher (or rather its crafting plan) can only be obtained by reaching level 85 out of 100 in the Nuka-World on Tour update-specific scoreboard. As a new update in February 2023 replaced this scoreboard with a newer one, the Nuka-Launcher cannot be gained unless its schematics are added elsewhere.

Mk 19 Mod 3 grenade launcher on M3 tripod with a 32-round belt box and current production flash hider - 40x53mm

Preview of the game's Mk 19. Note the older production flash hider.

Viewing the Mk 19's other side. Unlike the M2 Browning, the Mk 19's spade grips are retained, albeit made redundant by the single handle at the very back.

Idly holding a handheld configured Mk 19.

"Aiming" simply re-angles the launcher.

Firing away some grenades.

Taking away an empty ammo can.

Seating in a full can.

Lifting the launcher's top cover. As with the M2 Browning, the player does not utilize the latch on the side of the feed tray cover in order to open it.

Dragging in the belt of 40mm rounds...

...shutting the top cover...

...and completing the reload process by seemingly pulling back the Mk 19's charging handle offscreen.

The Mk 19's current production flash hider is added with the "Long Barrel" modification, which (as the name suggests) also extends the barrel.

A Mk 19 with the "Heavy Barrel" attachment.

Preview picture of the "Nuka-Launcher" variant. Given the weight, one can only assume it's made of styrofoam.

Explosives

"Fragmentation Grenade"

The seemingly Mk 2-inspired "Fragmentation Grenade" returns from Fallout 4. They are relatively common, as they are frequently found on the corpses of raiders or other human enemies. As with all grenade weapons in-game, throwing a Fragmentation Grenade is done by holding down and releasing the melee bash key, after which the player will immediately throw it at its target. There is no animation where the grenade's pin is removed; holding down the throw key will play a "tick" sound to simulate this.

Mk 2 hand grenade

The in-game model of the Fragmentation Grenade.

A perk card with an illustration of the in-game frag grenade.

Unusable Weapons

1911 Pistol

On the illustration for the "Modern Renegade" perk card, Vault Boy is equipped with a dark toned M1911-pattern pistol.

Colt Gold Cup National Match (Mark IV, Series 70) with Pachmayr grips - .45 ACP

The image for the "Modern Renegade" perk.

Blunderbuss

A cut weapon skin for the in-game "Atom Shop" would have changed the appearance of the Black Powder Rifle into a Blunderbuss, though this would be cosmetic and the weapon would still function as a rifle. The Blunderbuss would have likely required a separate animation, which could have been a reason as to why Bethesda cut the item from the game.

Flintlock Blunderbuss

The model for the Blunderbuss skin. It would have reused the powder flask model from the game's Aston pistols.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat

On the cover for one of the "Live & Love" in-game magazines (reused from Fallout 4), a woman is shown armed with what appears to be a Beretta Tomcat-style pistol, which is fitted with a suppressor.

Beretta 3032 Tomcat - .32 ACP

The in-game cover for the magazine.

Browning Hi-Power

One of the in-game "Guns & Bullets" (an in-game parody of the real life Guns & Ammo firearms publication) magazines features a Browning Hi-Power in the hands of a US soldier.

Browning Hi-Power MK III - 9x19mm

This magazine cover was reused from Fallout 4. This image is based on a real life picture of a British soldier in Iraq holding a Hi-Power.

Daisy Red Ryder BB Gun

On the card image for the "Gunsmith" perk, the Vault Boy is shown taping a Red Ryder BB gun, which was likely based on the specific BB gun from Fallout 3 or Fallout: New Vegas. The Red Ryder also previously appeared as a usable weapon in all previous Fallout games except for Tactics and 4.

Daisy Red Ryder with brown stock - .177

The image for the "Gunsmith" perk card.

Derringer

A Derringer pistol appears on the "Little Guns for Little Ladies" issue of the Guns & Bullets magazine. This magazine is also reused from Fallout 4.

Remington 1866 Derringer with silver engraving and pearl grips - .41 rimfire

The cover for the issue of Guns & Bullets.

Double Barrel Over Under Shotgun

Another "Guns & Bullets" magazine cover includes a Mr. Handy robot holding some type of over/under double barreled shotgun.

Browning 5.25 O/U - 12 gauge

The "Guns & Bullets" magazine issue featuring an over/under shotgun. This is another item carried over from the previous Fallout game.

Heckler & Koch G3

In an attempt to bring back the "R91" rifle from Fallout 3, the "R91 skin" was due to be released as a cosmetic reskin for the "Handmade Rifle", but was cut from the game for unknown reasons. The rifle is based on the earlier model of the Heckler & Koch G3 and contains features from the CETME Model C, such as the curved magazine, selector switch, and rear sight. Unlike both rifles however, the in-game version erroneous has a reciprocating charging handle located on the left side of the receiver, likely in order to fit with pre-existing animations from the AK-47. The rifle appears to be a recreation of the "R91 assault rifle" from Fallout 3, whose name references the HK91. As with Fallout 4, many in-game illustrations for perk card and quest images in 76 feature the R91 rifle, usually in the hands of the Vault Boy mascot despite the rifle's physical absence from those games.

Heckler & Koch G3 - 7.62x51mm NATO

The "R91 assault rifle" from Fallout 3.

The rifle's in-game model. Note the painful-to-look-at receiver-mounted charging handle, compressed trigger group, and the missing magazine release lever. The magazine also has a slightly curved shape, a trait present in the original "R91" rifle. Note the rear sight and selector switch, which both appear to have been based on those from a CETME Model C.

The perk card for "Master Commando". These perks as their descriptions suggest, add a damage bonus to "automatic rifles" which the game classes as fully automatic, two-handed non-heavy arms (semi-auto and single-action rifle weapons are considered "non-automatic" by the game).

Henry 1860

The Country Flair Bundle in the in-game Atomic Shop is promoted with an illustration featuring a woman holding a Henry 1860 rifle.

Henry 1860 - .44 Henry rimfire

Atomic Shop bundle promotion image.

Ingram MAC-11

The "Guerrilla" list of perk cards feature a picture of the Vault Boy mascot firing an Ingram MAC-11 without a folding stock.

RPB M11A1 without stock - .380 ACP

The perk card featuring the submachine gun. Note that the drawing of the gun appears to be reversed as features present on a MAC-11's right side are visible on the left.

M1928 Thompson

Other than the odd hybrid model usable in-game, an illustration of a proper M1928 Thompson with a vertical foregrip and 100-round drum magazine appears on the cover of the "Trapped in the Dimension of the Pterror-dactyls!" issue of the "Unstoppables" magazine, which also appeared in Fallout 4. Some wooden cutouts also feature Thompson submachine guns with a foregrip.

M1928 Thompson - .45 ACP

The cover art for one of the "Unstoppables" magazines in-game, featuring an M1928 Thompson with a 100-round drum magazine.

M84 Stun Grenade

The M84 stun grenade would have made an appearance in the game's Wastelanders update, under the name "Flashbang". However, it was cut for unclear reasons. The in-game M84 when thrown, would impair the senses of player targets and physically stagger creature targets.

M84 stun grenade

The model for the cut M84; note the single, long pin, similar to the New Vegas version of the grenade.

Smith & Wesson J-Frame Revolver

A silhouette of what seems to be a J-frame Smith & Wesson revolver appears on the ammo box pickup for ".38" cartridges.

Smith & Wesson Model 36 Chief's Special - .38 Special

Item pickup for ".38" ammo. Although the box art implies it packages a rimmed cartridge such as .38 Special, it is actually used in-game by box magazine-fed weapons including some that fire in full-auto, despite it being difficult in real life to build reliably working .38 Special magazines for autoloaders.

"Soundmaker"

The "Soundmaker" is a cut thrown item from the Wastelanders update that visually consists of the base from a Model 24 Stielhandgranate with a trio of siren speakers tied to where the explosive head of the grenade would be (which happens to be missing). The purpose of this weapon was to produce loud noises, causing a blast that would knock down and stun targets. It is not known why this item was cut from the game.

Model 24 Stielhandgranate with fragmentation sleeve

The model for the "Soundmaker".

Sten Mk II

The Sten Mk II is a cut weapon, appearing as the "Black Knight". Strangely, it is exactly identical to the Hunting Rifle (obviously excluding its appearance) as the game's files lists the Sten as using .308 ammunition, bearing a capacity of 5 rounds along with dealing the same amount of damage as said rifle. The "Black Knight" would have been a variant of the Hunting Rifle that would allow players to add on a cosmetic skin, but Bethesda had scrapped it in favor of adding appearance altering skins to existing weapons.

Sten Mk II - 9x19mm

Side view of the "Black Knight" model. Note the inscription above the trigger, which gives the weapon its name.

Right side view. The Sten's bolt is locked back, showing the 9mm rounds in the magazine.

Why exactly the game's developers chose a submachine gun to be a bolt action rifle's cosmetic replacement is anyone's guess.

Winchester Rifle

On the cover for the "Starlet Sniper" magazine of the in-game "Astoundingly Awesome Tales" series, there appears to be an illustrated Winchester-style repeater, likely a Winchester Model 1892.

Winchester 1892 - .38-40

The cover of this magazine's issue. This is once again another magazine cover carried over from Fallout 4. The stylized Winchester rifle in this cover incorrectly has its trigger guard drawn significantly ahead of the lever loop and the rifle itself is somehow held as if it has a pistol grip. Also of note is the scope mounted over where the repeater's action would need space to eject casings despite there appearing to be one mid-air ahead of the scope.

Walther PPK

The Walther PPK originally appeared in Fallout 4 as the "Deliverer", a one-of-a-kind pistol. However, despite it not being obtainable in this game, a picture of it with a suppressor is present on a poster, which fittingly advertises suppressors.

Walther PPK with a sound suppressor and brown factory grips - .380 ACP

The poster ad for "A&X Silencers", along with a side profile of the PPK (which appears to be mirrored).

A perk card depicting Vault Boy armed with a recognisable PPK. This one, too, has been mirrored.