Autogun

The Autogun is a fully automatic Auto Weapon that fires solid-slug ballistic rounds at the intended target in rapid sucession. Cheap, rugged and reliable, it can be found throughout the Imperium, where it is appreciated for its decent stopping power and accuracy. Its main drawbacks are its weight and the need to carry a large amount of cumbersome ammunition for prolonged operations, with the latter drawback leading to the Imperial Guard being equipped with Lasguns as their standard armament instead beginning in the early 32nd Millennium.

History
The origin of Autoguns lay in Mankind's past, to its precusors, the Automatic Rifle and Assault Rifle, to at least the early 1st Millennium, and came into their own during the early 2nd Millennium. These ancient automatic rifles used large calibre, low velocity bullets which were made from brass. At the time of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy at the end of the 30th Millennium, most members of the Imperial Army were issued with Autoguns, as the weapon proved easy enough to use and maintain for the average trooper, while at the same time being cheap and efficient enough to be furnished to the masses of human warriors. The only disadvantage of the Autogun were the nightmarish logistics problems faced in ensuring a stable supply of ammunition, and so the Autogun was eventually phased out as the standard weapon of the Imperial Guard in favour of the Lasgun by the Departmento Munitorum in the early 32nd Millennium, as both weapons were roughly equal in efficiency and ease-of-use, but the standard Power Packs that powered the Lasgun could be easily recharged in the field while crafting more ammunition for the Autoguns proved arduous.

Characteristics
The Autogun is a ballistic projectile weapon similar in appearance and operation to the assault rifles of ancient Terra, but the Imperium's technological advances allow these weapons to use caseless ammunition with projectiles made of metal, plastic or ceramics. The weapons are themselves constructed with plasteel, increasing their rate of fire and reliability. There are many different patterns and models of Autogun produced across the width and breadth of the Imperium. The typical Autogun may not be incredibly accurate or as reliable as a Lasgun, but will make up for it with a higher rate of fire and cheap and readily available ammunition, standardised in preloaded clips.

There are innumerable models and variants of the Autogun in use around the Imperium, but most have characteristics close to those detailed below:


 * Length: approx. 125 centimetres
 * Barrel: approx. 55 centimetres
 * Weight: approx. 4.5 kilograms (empty)
 * Calibre: Varies (usually between 4 to 15 millimeters wide and 20 to 120 milimeters long)
 * Feed: 20 or 30 rounds box magazine
 * Cyclic rate of fire: approx. 625 rounds per minute
 * Muzzle velocity: approx. 825 metres/second

Use
Cheap and easy to produce even on very low-tech planets, Autoguns are a staple weapon across the Imperium, as widespread as the ubiquitous Lasgun. Durable, rugged and easily stocked with readily available ammunition, these weapons are a common sight especially in the rougher parts of the galaxy. The simple technology needed to manufacture Autoguns makes them common on frontier worlds and also with gang members on Hive Worlds. Autoguns are not as common as the Lasgun amongst Imperial Guard regiments, but they are still issued in substantial numbers, especially to second or third line Planetary Defence Forces or militias.

Known Patterns
Agripinaa Pattern Type II - A pattern of Autogun hailing from the Forge World of Agripinaa, this Autogun is chambered for the largest standard ballistic round in the Imperium, and posesses a simple fire selector allowing the user to fire single shots, three round bursts or fully automatic streams. The oversized round grants the "Agripinaa Two" decent stopping power, range and precision, but at the cost of an excessive recoil and large muzzle flash. The Tech-priests were forced to add a counterweight to the barrel to dampen the recoil's tendency to lift up the barrel during automatic fire, which resulted in an overall heavy and bulky but efficient weapon.

Agripinaa Pattern Type III - Another pattern of Autogun hailing from the Agripinaa Forge World, the "Agripinaa Three" is a slightly reworked version of the Type II intended to speed up production. It uses the same heavy-caliber rounds, and suffer from the same drawbacks as its older counterpart. The Type III only includes a basic iron sight and a flash supressor, but even with this supressor, the muzzle flash remains large and very visible.

M40 Armageddon Pattern - This pattern of Autogun is produced on the Hive World of Armageddon, and is regularly issued to local Planetary Defence Forces and militia forces. Lightweight in comparison to other models, it only sports a 12 shot magazine.