bolter
post #30990 post #30991 post #1599340
Bolters are a fictional gun from Warhammer 40,000. They are .75 calibur pistol grip assault rifles. The shells a bolter fires are an armor-piercing, rocket propelled, high explosive micro-grenade with a mass-reactive fuse and a depletalloy-backed diamond penetrator. Specialized ammunition may be issued for different threats, such as "Hellfire" rounds, which fire a syringe of acid, or "Inferno" rounds, which have a proximity fuse and incendiary gel filling.
Bolter rounds utilize a two-stage (or cold-launch) firing sequence. A caseless propellant cylinder launches the rocket at speed, which then ignites as soon as it reaches the muzzle, jetting flames out of the weapons distinctive muzzle brake. This is to keep the barrel from becoming damaged by the rocket. The real-life Gyrojet pistol the bolter is based on also had an abysmal muzzle velocity; such that it could be prevented from firing by covering the barrel with a single sheet of paper. The cold-launch system also nicely fixes this issue.
They are normally wielded by the Adeptus Astartes (Space Marines), Traitor Astartes (Chaos Space Marines), Adepta Sororitas (Sisters of Battle) and other adepts of the imperium (the last two use smaller versions in comparison to the first two).