The Survivalist's rifle is a weapon in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Honest Hearts. It is the unique variant of the service rifle.

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Background Edit

This weapon was originally a U.S. checkpoint guard carbine used in Canada, issued from the Long Branch Arsenal in Toronto, Ontario, USA territory. Chambered for the 12.7mm round, this rifle was supposed to offer guards the firepower necessary to intercept anyone attempting to breach a checkpoint, regardless of equipment.

This particular rifle once belonged to Randall Clark, an ex-U.S. Army soldier who sought refuge in Zion National Park after the Great War. The rifle was used by the survivalist for decades, evident by the heavy wear and sun damage on the wood and metal of the gun. It also shows signs of improvised repairs, such as the foregrip wood being made from mismatched furniture wood held in place with metal clamps.[1] The barrel is noticeably shorter than a typical service rifle, and the front sight is bent out of shape. The word "Arrêt!" (French for "Halt!") is carved into one side of the butt of the gun, with "Stop!" on the other.

Characteristics Edit

The rifle has a high rate of fire, relatively low spread, respectable AP cost and high damage that can be raised considerably with the Grunt perk.

However, the rifle uses rare 12.7mm rounds which generally must be bought from vendors, and the high rate of fire makes it relatively easy to overuse if one is not mindful of ammunition conservation. The damage threshold multiplier from 12.7mm JHP rounds and lower damage from normal 12.7mm rounds may also cause the Survivalist rifle to be less than optimal against armored targets. The bent iron-sights, which can be rectified (see the notes below), may require a bit of practice if using true iron sights.

Durability Edit

The Survivalist's rifle can fire a total of about 2,495 standard rounds, the equivalent of 250 reloads, from full condition before breaking.

Ammunition type Durability Shots Reloads Standard, HP & JHP 2495 250

Variants Edit

Comparison Edit

Legend - Weapon name (melee or unarmed) - Attacks in V.A.T.S. - Weapon name (gun, energy or explosive) - Action point cost - Damage per attack (damage per projectile) - Damage per action point - Damage per second - Weapon spread - Area of effect damage - Magazine capacity (shots per reload) - Effect damage & duration - Durability (number of attacks before breaking) - Bonus effects - Weight - Attacks per second - Value in caps - Critical chance % multiplier - Value to weight ratio - Critical damage - Skill required - Critical effect damage & duration - Strength required - With all mods attached

Service rifle 18

75.6 4.2 x1 18 15 1.2 0.55 20 1995 8.5 540 63.5 25 2 Service rifle 18

98.3 5.46 x1 18 15 1.2 0.55 20 2995 8.5 2040 240 25 2 Survivalist's rifle 48

187.2 3.9 x1 48 20 2.4 0.08 10 2495 8.5 5400 635.3 75 4

Location Edit

The rifle is found at the Red Gate in a duffle bag marked "The Survivalist's duffle bag" next to Randall Clark's skeleton. Yao guai, giant cazadores, green geckos and/or bighorners may be found here as well. At the summit of the Red Gate, the Courier will see three trees and the bag containing the weapon is wedged between some boulders underneath the trees, propped up on the rocks. Alternately, it can be reached by climbing up the backside.

Notes Edit

The damage is slightly higher than This Machine when loaded with regular .308 rounds if Grunt perk is taken, but the Survivalist's rifle fires nearly twice as fast and far more accurately. Even if This Machine is loaded with .308 JSPs, the difference in damage is not substantial and can be mitigated by using 12.7 JHPs from the add-on Gun Runners' Arsenal .

. When looking through the iron sights to aim, the forward sight is bent out of line with the rear channel on top of the carrying handle, thus not creating the sight picture seen when using an undamaged service rifle. However, using the upper right side of the bent front sight as the aiming point corrects this, providing a usable, albeit confusing, solution to this problem.

A star in a circle similar to that seen on the U.S. flag is seen above the magazine on the rifle's right side, along with the words: "PROPERTY OF U.S. GOVT CHKPNT CARBINE 12.7MM CAL."

Above the trigger, the words "LONG BRANCH ARSENAL ONTARIO, USA TERRITORY" are present. Long Branch is actually found in the southwest end of Toronto, Ontario. Historically during WWI and WWII a small area further west of Long Branch known as Port Credit manufactured rifles used by the Canadian forces during the wars. This is a reference to the American annexation of Canada in the Fallout timeline.

timeline. During The Advance Scouts quest, White Legs may find the rifle and use it. The player character will have to kill them in order to retrieve it.

Nearby NPCs or companions may take the rifle from the bag it appears in. If Honest Hearts is completed before retrieving the rifle, and a non-player character has picked up the rifle, it can not be acquired as all non-player characters apart from enemies disappear from Zion upon completion of the add-on.

Compared to the standard variant, the barrel of the rifle is shorter in length, but wider in diameter. This is a correct real world characteristic, as the 12.7mm is more than double the diameter of the 5.56mm round. The shorter length can be attributed to the fact that it is called a carbine while the service rifle is not a carbine.

Despite being chambered in a far larger round compared to the standard 5.56mm, the magazine and receiver both have the same dimensions as the service rifle.

When experiencing a malfunction with the Survivalist's rifle (or any other weapons which share its reload animation) the Courier will use proper procedure and utilize the forward assist to fully seat the bolt carrier group.

Even though it is a variant of the service rifle, it does not count toward the Gun Runners' Arsenal "Against All Tyrants" challenge.

Behind the scenes Edit

The French word arrêt on one side of the rifle's stock, which translates as "a stop" or "a halt," is paired with "stop" written in English on the other side of the stock. This, combined with information from Randall Clark's terminal entries, indicates that this rifle was used during the U.S. occupation of Canada. Though it is a French word, the correct way of telling someone to stop in French would be to use the imperative "Arrête" or "Arrêtez," not "Arrêt." "Arrêt" replaces "Stop" on Stop signs in French-speaking parts of Canada, as each is a stop, but not a command to stop.

on one side of the rifle's stock, which translates as "a stop" or "a halt," is paired with "stop" written in English on the other side of the stock. This, combined with information from Randall Clark's terminal entries, indicates that this rifle was used during the U.S. occupation of Canada. The Survivalist's rifle was loosely based on the .50 Beowulf AR-15 platform conversion.[2]

Gallery Edit