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The floor cleared quickly as Morgan began the firefight. Solidus was holding a Witness Protection 870, ready for action.

Solidus pointed a finger at Morgan and said: "I'm out of ammo...darn."

Smoke poured from the back of Solidus's head as Morgan continued firing his SIG Sauer P-10 without mercy.
Solidus's body twitched as the unfortunate soul expired.
Morgan's SIG Sauer P-10 ejected its spent 10mm Grimm Reaper clip.

--Julius, describing a typical night in the Syndrome Lounge.

The fires of World War III have burnt down into muted, glowing embers of urban combat and gang skirmishes. In Cybersphere's world of hard-edged survival, guns are vital elements of style and defense: Don't leave home without them.

Most firearms in use are over 50 years old, refurbished and scavenged remnants of military stockpiles. High technology gun research continues, with most modern weapons reserved for clandestine militaries and corperate security forces. A pervasive black market trades in the most high-end models, while low-end firearms are as easy to obtain as a pack of cigarettes or a pair of sunglasses.

Cybersphere incorporates a dizzying array of firearms and ammo too numerous to list here; most Solos and gunslingers select their tools from experience and word of mouth. Inspecting a gun yields some insight into what type of firearm category it represents... with a little bit of research below, you can choose the right gun to suit your tactics, fighting styles, and adversaries.

firearms

Handguns
Also called "pistols", the handgun's simplicity, single-handed use, and concealability have made this gun class popular with urban fighters and gangers. Their small size sacrifices a degree of accuracy, power, and range; but they can be used in a pinch for close-quarters combat. Handguns come in two flavors: revolvers and autoloaders. Revolvers are simpler to use and more dependable, but suffer from small magazine sizes and inconvenient reloading. Autoloaders are quicker and easier to reload, but complex and slightly less dependable.
Initiative Fast
Penetration Medium
Range Short
Accuracy Medium
Damage Low
Concealability High
Skillset Pistol

Shotguns
The shotgun is a unique weapon class with striking advantages and equally striking disadvantages. Shotguns are enormously powerful: They spray shot over a wide area, making precise aim less important. On the other hand, they suffer at long ranges, where their low muzzle velocities result in poor penetration and accuracy. Pistol-grip and rifle-style models all see wide use in Cybersphere's room-to-room urban warfare.
Initiative Medium
Penetration Low
Range Short
Accuracy Low
Damage High
Concealability Low
Skillset Pistol/Rifle

Rifles
Rifles (including semi-automatic and assault rifles) are moderately bulky firearms that fire high-velocity ammunition, have large magazine capacities, and while lethal at medium ranges, tend to lose accuracy and penetrating power at extreme range. Assault versions tend to be more compact with autofire and burst capabilities: In single-shot (semi-auto) mode, these firearms possess the accuracy of a longarm rifle, but autofire modes require strength and training normally associated with SMG users. With their large size, restrictive cost, and relative complexity, rifles see limited close-range urban use but are popular amongst Nomads and Wastelanders.
Initiative Slow
Penetration High
Range Long
Accuracy High
Damage High
Concealability Low
Skillset Rifle/SMG

Submachineguns
Submachineguns (or "SMGs") are compact guns designed to autofire pistol-type ammunition. In form and function they resemble a cross between pistols and assault rifles. In single-shot mode, they can be fairly accurate and most resemble the feel of a rifle. In full auto modes, SMGs are notorious for inaccuracy, recoil, and shot dispersal, especially at long ranges.
Initiative Medium
Penetration Medium
Range Short
Accuracy Low
Damage Medium
Concealability Medium
Skillset Rifle/SMG

Nonlethal Guns
Nonlethal firearms (also called "stun guns") are designed to render targets helpless rather than kill them. They rely on electric shock, anesthetics, rubber bullets, or capsules of entangling polymers. Dedicated stun weapons tend to be compact and built around the feel and weight of heavy handguns and pistols. Regular firearms can sometimes be loaded with specialized stun ammunition. Both dedicated and converted stun guns suffer from slightly reduced ranges and accuracy.
Initiative Medium
Penetration Medium
Range Short
Accuracy Low
Damage Medium
Concealability Medium
Skillset Pistol/Rifle

Launchers
While not strictly firearms, launchers include rifle-like weapons designed to project grenades and other special-purpose ammo downrange. At the extreme end of the spectrum are shoulder-fired launch tubes and recoiless rifles suited to high intensity milspec operations. All launchers are bulky, somewhat unwieldy, heavy weapons with long ranges but limited accuracy against point targets.
Initiative Slow
Penetration Variable
Range Long
Accuracy Low
Damage Variable
Concealability Low
Skillset Rifle/Gunnery

Grenades

 Grenades are small explosive devices designed to deliver payload to a wide area. They range from smart milspec ordnance to improvised molotov cocktails. Most are thrown, but some fit into special-purpose short range launchers. Several varieties exist:

Fragmentation Damages several targets with blast, frag, and concussion effects.
Flashbang Stuns targets with light, heat, smoke, and concussion effects.
Thermite Disperses incendiary gel, intense heat, and flame over an area.
CS Disperses "tear gas" over an area, affecting respiratory systems of unprotected targets.
EMP Electromagnetic pulse shorts electrical systems, damages electronics, disables computers and cyberware.
Polymer Disperses polymer "goo" across an area, entangling and immobilizing targets.

Due to poor storage conditions, ambient radiation, and acidic rainwater moisture, many grenade fuses become unstable after a few weeks of unused storage. Decayed fuses can cause duds and "zero fuse" detonations, where the grenades explode without safety delays.

Ammunition

In general, basic pistol ammo tends to be low velocity and high mass, while basic rifle ammo consists of high velocity, lighter rounds. Basic shotgun ammo is an opposite extreme, with very heavily loaded rounds fired at extremely low velocities. Choosing the right kind of specialized ammunition is important: Firearm performance against targets of various hardness and armor will vary widely depending on proper (or improper) selection. The main tradeoffs are between armor penetration and damage, because a penetrating round will tend to blow through an unarmored target, leaving it relatively undamaged, while a damage maximizing round will tend to shatter against even a lightly armored target, leaving it unharmed. Some representative ammo classes are listed below:

Standard Technically known as "ball ammo", a metal-jacketed bullet.
Hollowpoint Increased damage against unarmored targets, poor penetration against armor. Nicknamed "dum-dum" ammo.
AP Armor piercing: dense penetrating slug or teflon tip tends to blow through unarmored targets.
Flechette Rare, expensive dart-like projectiles penetrate light armor, delivering high damage.
Baton Short-range soft "rubber" rounds, while nonlethal, can cause serious injury from blunt trauma.
Polymer Round contains a capsule of polymer "goo" which spreads across impact area, entangling the target.
Hot Load Increased propellant load results in better penetration, damage at the expense of reliability.
Cold Load Decreased propellant load sacrifices damage, penetration for stealth and silence.
HESH Hi Explosive Squash Head: Milspec ammo with an embedded warhead, devastating against unarmored targets.
HEAP Hi Explosive Armor Piercing: Milspec ammo with a shaped charge, most effective against armor.
Shot shell Standard shotgun pellet ammo. Reduced penetration overall, but powerful at close range.
Slug shell Dense shotgun penetrator ammo. Increased penetration overall, greatly reduced impact at medium-long range.
Web shell Nonlethal shotgun ammo disperses a polymer web across the target.
CS shell Disperses "tear gas" across a small area, affecting respiratory systems of unprotected targets.

High radiation levels, acid rain, and a host of other environmentals have rendered most ammunition powder and propellant unstable; stockpiles often decay a few days after being unsealed.

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