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In use by
Hapan Blaster class-5 Assault Rifle (HB-5)
The HB-5 assault rifle was put into circulation in 4028 and remains in production today. Developed and produced parallel to the HB-1 Blaster Pistol, the HB-5 uses many of the same components as the HB-1 which allows the factories to keep production costs down on both of the weapons. The HB-5 Assault Rifle was designed to be the primary weapon of Hapan ground troops and security forces. The HB-5 was the second firearm to be produced in the new factories of Charubah, and replaced the aging RAGC-A45 as the official assault rifle of the Hapan Armed Forces. After reviewing the HB-1, the Royal Council felt it necessary to upgrade the rest of its blaster arsenal, as well. The HB-5 was designed to help fulfill that goal, complementing the HB-1 Blaster Pistol and the HB-11 Heavy Assault Rifle. Each of these new designs were included in a contract to the Royal Council in which the entire armed forces would be rearmed at a fraction of actual cost. While the contractor took an initial loss on this contract, the profit expected over the course of the ten-year contract is estimated to be quite generous, even in less-than-favourable circumstances.
The HB-5 assault rifle, like most other firearms, is used by simply pointing the gun at your target and squeezing the trigger. Due to the length of the barrel, the HB-5 has an average range for a blaster rifle, which is nearly 3 times the range of a blaster pistol. While the blast from the HB-5 is less powerful than many other publicly available blaster rifles, the extreme precision and high quality of craftsmanship makes the HB-5 significantly more accurate than most other rifles on the market, making it far easier to use and become proficient with, with less than 1% of the total shots fired going astray from its target. The gun has two different firing modes, semi-automatic and stun. Each mode can be quickly switched between via a switch near the users thumb on their firing hand. This switch is present on both sides of the gun, allowing both right and left-handed users to switch between modes without having to remove either hand from the gun, or taking their sights off a target. The gun can be set to two different modes. The first and most commonly used mode is semi-automatic, which is used most frequently in close quarters combat where the risk of hitting a friendly target was very real. In this mode, with each squeeze of the trigger, one blaster bolt is fired from the barrel, making it easier to ensure the bolts fired hit their intended target. The second mode is stun, in which each squeeze of the trigger fires a paralyzing bolt of energy at the target. This mode is mainly used when it is necessary to use non-lethal force to capture or restrain a target instead of killing them.