C-14 rifle

The C-14 Impaler gauss rifle is a terran standard issue marine weapon of the Confederate and Dominion Marine Corps. It is very common in the Koprulu Sector.

Overview
In use by 2478, the C-14 fires hypersonic 8 mm armor-piercing metal "spikes" which can penetrate up to two inches of steel plating.

The Impaler is fully automatic with a fire rate of 30 rounds per second, although fully automatic fire is discouraged under most circumstances. A capacitor system is used to fire the weapon in short bursts, conserving ammunition and minimizing power requirements. Due to this, the C-14 rifle has high recoil; CMC armor is designed to suppress this. The armor can also supplement the rifle's power supply.

The C-14 has been used as automatic base defense weapon, mounted on a tower.

Ammunition
The C-14 is capable of firing a wide variety of ammunition;


 * Armor piercing: Used against heavily armored targets.


 * Depleted uranium: Encompass U-238 shells/spikes. The most popular variant among marines given that they extend the rifle's range up to 25%.


 * Hollow point spread: Flatten and expand on impact for maximum wounding efficiency. Custom made by Ardo Melnikov.


 * Incendiary: Used against structures.


 * Steel tipped: Used to maim rather than kill an enemy.


 * Kal .50 Auto: Used during the Second Great War.

Variants
Many variants of the C-14 exist. While mostly reflecting the changing artwork of the StarCraft universe, there are some key changes in function.

The C-14 should not be confused with the AGR-14 rifle. Both are referred to as "assault rifles" but the latter may be a scaled down version of the former.

1st Variant
The first known variant of the C-14 was in use in the Great War. Although bulky, it featured a far more streamlined design than later versions and CMC armor was not required to operate it. The rifle featured two grips; a smaller one, used by unarmored shooters, requires the user to use both hands to keep the barrel steady. The other, larger grip is used by CMC armored soldiers, who are able to operate it with just one hand, at the expense of accuracy.

The rifle has an LED (light-emitting diode) magazine capacity indicator, showing how much ammunition is left in its 500 round magazine.

In addition, the rifle can launch fragmentation grenades and can accept a laser designator and RPG (rocket propelled grenade) components. Grapples may also be fired from the muzzle.

2nd Variant
The current variant of the C-14 was in use by 2500. It features a torch function, a retractable bayonet and can be used in conjunction with a ballistic alloy combat shield. It carries at least 200 rounds per magazine.

3rd Variant
The third variant of the C-14, known as the "Heavy Gauss Rifle" came into service after the Brood War. It is the most bulky of the variants, featuring a handle for easier portability and an integrated grenade launcher.

Known Rifles

 * Mayumi

Trivia
*A weapon using electromagnets to propel its projectiles would be virtually, if not completely silent. The only sound produced would be that of the projectile possible contacting the bore and breaking the plane of the barrel. *A gauss weapon would produce no muzzle flash as there is no propellant charge or superheated gas exiting the barrel following the projectile. *The C-14 is shown prominently in many cut-scenes ejecting dozens of .50 caliber shell casings with visible primers as it fires. For a gauss weapon this makes little sense seeing as there is no reason for gauss weapon projectiles to have shells casing which, in traditional firearms, would have held the propellant charge and primer used to propel the bullet. *A plausible explanation for all of these inconsistencies is that the C-14's electromagnet suite is located farther down the barrel to prevent unintentional propulsion of chambered rounds and rounds are fired traditionally into the electromagnet suite's EM field. Another possibility is that the C-14's first gaussian predecessor was put into service while there were still large stockpiles of traditional ammunition and the weapon was designed with the ability to fire them. Such a function would have likely been passed down to the original weapon's successors. Yet another possibility is that the developers didn't really care about such a minor inconsistency and figured the average person wouldn't know enough about gauss technology to notice, or just didn't think marines firing silent weapons with no shell casings was cool enough.
 * The ammunition counter on the first variant is similar to the counter on the pulse rifle in the movie Aliens.
 * It appears that the original C-14 was originally intended to remain in use for StarCraft: Ghost, as early screenshots depict.
 * Being a "Gauss" weapon, or a weapon which uses a series of powerful electromagnets to propel a projectile down the weapons barrel, the C-14 is portrayed incorrectly in several ways. In cutscenes and during play the weapon is shown with muzzle flash, ejected shell casings and an audible report. These traits are all inconsistent with a gauss weapon.