favorite Starfleet PHASERS?

[C.E. Evans]

I never understood the need for long rifles as phaser weapons. Doesn't make a lot of sense.

One idea I've heard is that the bigger size allowed for a bigger power pack. It doesn't mean that the rifle is more powerful than the pistol, but the bigger power pack enables the rifle to go for much longer than a pistol before needing a new "clip"...

 

[Praxius]

Simply, a longer weapon that used both hands to aim and stabilize will always be more accurate then a one-handed firearm, regardless if it fires a straight-line shot and your hand during aiming is less shaky.

And as in the TNG technical manual, they do show that the phaser rifles not only have more settings, but also more power then a typical hand phaser.

It's the difference between a police officer using a handgun and a SWAT member using an SMG..... both weapons can kill your target, but depending on the situation, one is more effective for the situation at hand.

With that in mind, my fav. phasers are as follows:
Originally these:

But I always was a fan of these:

 

[C.E. Evans]

...in the TNG technical manual, they do show that the phaser rifles not only have more settings, but also more power then a typical hand phaser.

The TNG Technical Manual actually said that phaser rifles and hand phasers have the same settings and power levels, but the rifle can fire for a greater period of time before it runs out of juice...

 

[SchwEnt]

So if the pistol/rifle settings are the same, the rifle only offers more
power for more sustained firing?
Why not then just have more power packs for the hand phaser,
like a belt clip or bandolier?

 

[C.E. Evans]

So if the pistol/rifle settings are the same, the rifle only offers more
power for more sustained firing?
Why not then just have more power packs for the hand phaser,
like a belt clip or bandolier?

That may have been the case during TOS, in which security teams may have carried an additional phaser power pack or two somewhere about their persons.

But I tend to think that phaser rifles are considered special-issue weapons--rather than general-issue ones--and are used when prolonged/heavy combat is very likely. Otherwise, a hand phaser is probably more than sufficient for most situations, IMO.

 

[T'Girl]

There might also be a question of durability, because of it's heavier construction the phaser rifle (what exactly is "rifled" anyway?) can be fired both longer durations and make a higher number of individual shots. Modern rifles need to have their barrels replaced periodically, high pressure, high intensity magnum cartridges can ruin a barrel in several hundred firings. Military automatic weapons after a several thousand firing.

A phaser set to stun couldi fire all day, just change out the power packs. A TNG era hand phaser set to level 16 might be useful for only a limited number of firings (seconds or minute) before it's internal components have to be replaced and refurbished.

A phaser rifle in a military situation can fire at level 16 for a certain number of cumulative minutes or hours, before it needs to be refurbished. It's components are not light and compact, like a palm sized phaser.

 

[Nero's Shadow]

I liked the phasers from The Cage. They looked mean and they had a cool twisting barrel to adjust power output.

I'm assuming that's what the twisting did - surely it wasn't there only to setup an overload.

They were laser pistols and not phasers but I liked them as well. But my fav is the TOS phaser and I also liked the TSFS phaser that u see briefly !!

 

[22 Stars]

I like them all, here is my collection!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1542516&id=1450274147&ref=fbx_album

 

[Akiraprise]

I like the phasers from Voyager, but that's because I spent so much time playing Elite Force.

This is pretty much what I was thinking too.

The FC rifle and hand phasers are my favorites.

 

[KJbushway]

I would have to say that my favorite one though its primitive, would be the ENT phaser. Though does anybody know why none of those phaser from the series had sights?

 

[Starbreaker]

I like the phaser rifles from First Contact.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I wonder if Starfleet could ever build a phaser directly into a uniform. Imagine a weapon that doesn't need to be carried and can't be confiscated? Indeed, I think DS9's Millennium trilogy has this very thing.

 

[KJbushway]

seriously, how come there is no sights on any of the phasers. beyond enterprise they could dissolve a person on the highest level-better not miss.

 

[C.E. Evans]

seriously, how come there is no sights on any of the phasers. beyond enterprise they could dissolve a person on the highest level-better not miss.

Most phaser rifles have sights on them, and I suppose with the latter-era phasers, one could use one's thumb or knuckle as a sight if necessary.

But I recall an idea that phasers have auto-targeting systems built into the emitters or something. During TNG, the beams would sometimes be at a slightly different angle than the direction the phaser is actually pointed in...

 

[sojourner]

^Sorry, now your just rationalizing bad effects shots.

 

[bullethead]

^Sorry, now your just rationalizing bad effects shots.

I do know at least one was done because the person aiming the phaser was aiming at the target's head, so they had to do an absurd angle for a body shot.

 

[AstroSmurf]

The older cobra-head and dustbuster style phasers were not ergonomic and hard to aim. Many of the "bad fx shots" were done to correct what the actor was doing with the prop. The later versions were specifically designed to correct this and making them easier to hold and aim.

 

[C.E. Evans]

^Sorry, now your just rationalizing bad effects shots.

Not really, because it would make sense if phasers had such a feature.

 

[KJbushway]

He's right.
Phasers are like a grenade-tnt-gun in one helps to have sights

 

[SilentP]

^Sorry, now your just rationalizing bad effects shots.

Not really, because it would make sense if phasers had such a feature.

How would a phaser know who you were intending to shoot at? For example, you have a friendly somewhat close to an enemy, how do you get it to choose the enemy? Or say you want to shoot at a particular inanimate object thats near something easier to be picked up an auto-targetter?

Sorry, I just have a slight problem with these 'auto-targetting' hand weapons that pop up in sci-fi, it hardly makes for an easy to handle weapon, from the sounds of it.