Gyrojets

Gyrojets are small, explosive-tipped, self-propelled, self-stabilizing projectiles fired from a man-portable firearm. Initially designed with a limited number of designated roles in mind, the popularity as a military-grade weapon increased as battlegrounds moved further and further into space as the war went on. The self-propelled nature of the firearm has greater ease of use in zero gravity, as there is virtually no recoil or discharge from the weapon itself, avoiding the problem that slug throwers inherently have that propels the operator backwards with the recoil. Gyrojets can be outfitted with a wide variety of different ordnance, from standard AP shaped charges, to Anti-Personnel "shredder" rounds, to wire-guided or heat-seeking "smart fire" rounds, to hull-breeching "fat boy" rounds. After extensive battlefield testing, field data showed that the utility, percussive and explosive force, and armor-piercing capabilities of a single gyrojet accomplished what hundreds of rounds of conventional ammunition did with standard-issue slug throwers. Initially, the military adopted a complex, double-barreled design with a slug thrower on top and an underslung gyrojet magazine, before dispensing with conventional weaponry entirely and replacing them with dedicated gyro jet combat rifles. The double-barreled "gyroc" schematics remained popular with plutonian forces, and are still found being used by criminals and scavengers operating in the outer system. The final design is largely the same as slug throwers, with a hermetically-sealed exterior. The primary difference is the smaller magazine capacity, at about 4-12 rounds, and the more robust design to compensate for the larger size of the magazine. The size of the rounds, as well as the slower loading cycle, means gyrojet clips are usually less than the full capacity of the magazine, and operators are expected to top the magazine off between shots or bursts.