The Survivalist's rifle is a weapon in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Honest Hearts. It is the unique variant of the service rifle.
Background
This weapon was originally a U.S. checkpoint guard carbine used in Canada, issued from the Long Branch Arsenal in Toronto, Ontario, USA territory. Chambered for the 12.7mm round, this rifle was supposed to offer guards the firepower necessary to intercept anyone attempting to breach a checkpoint, regardless of equipment.
Characteristics
This particular rifle once belonged to Randall Clark, an ex-U.S. Army soldier who sought refuge in Zion National Park after the Great War. The rifle was used by the Survivalist for decades, evident by the heavy wear and sun damage on the wood and metal of the gun. It also shows signs of improvised repairs, such as the foregrip wood being made from mismatched furniture wood held in place with metal clamps.[1] The barrel is noticeably shorter than a typical service rifle, and the front sight is bent out of shape. The word "Arrêt!" (french for "Halt!") is carved into one side of the butt of the gun, with "Stop!" on the other.
In terms of in-game performance, the rifle has a high rate of fire, relatively low spread, respectable AP cost and a high damage that can be raised considerably with Grunt; the damage is slightly higher than This Machine loaded with regular .308 rounds if Grunt is taken, but the Survivalist's rifle fires nearly twice as fast and far more accurately. Even if This Machine is loaded with .308 JSPs, the difference in damage is not substantial and can be mitigated by using 12.7 JHPs from the Gun Runners' Arsenal add-on.
However, it uses rare 12.7mm rounds which generally must be bought from vendors, and the high rate of fire makes it relatively easy to overuse ammunition if one is not mindful of ammunition conservation. The damage threshold multiplier from 12.7mm JHP rounds and lower damage from normal 12.7mm rounds may also cause the Survivalist rifle to be less than optimal against armored targets. The bent iron-sights, which can be rectified (see the notes below), may require a bit of practice if using true iron sights.
Durability
The Survivalist's rifle can fire a total of about 2,495 standard rounds, the equivalent of 250 reloads, from full condition before breaking.
| Ammunition type | Durability | |
|---|---|---|
| Shots | Reloads | |
| Standard, HP & JHP | 2495 | 250 |
Variants
Comparison
| Legend | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | - Weapon name (melee or unarmed) |  | - Attacks in V.A.T.S. | |
 | - Weapon name (gun, energy or explosive) |  | - Action point cost | |
 | - Damage per attack (damage per projectile) |  | - Damage per action point | |
 | - Damage per second |  | - Weapon spread | |
 | - Area of effect damage |  | - Magazine capacity (shots per reload) | |
 | - Effect damage & duration |  | - Durability (number of attacks before breaking) | |
 | - Bonus effects |  | - Weight | |
 | - Attacks per second |  | - Value in caps | |
 | - Critical chance % multiplier |  | - Value to weight ratio | |
 | - Critical damage |  | - Skill required | |
 | - Critical effect damage & duration |  | - Strength required | |
 | - With all mods attached | |||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service rifle | 18 | 75.6 | 4.2 | x1 | 18 | 15 | 1.2 | 0.55 | 20 | 1995 | 8.5 | 540 | 63.5 | 25 | 2 |
| Service rifle | 18 | 98.3 | 5.46 | x1 | 18 | 15 | 1.2 | 0.55 | 20 | 2995 | 8.5 | 2040 | 240 | 25 | 2 |
Survivalist's rifle  | 48 | 187.2 | 3.9 | x1 | 48 | 20 | 2.4 | 0.08 | 10 | 2495 | 8.5 | 5400 | 635.3 | 75 | 4 |
Location
Found at the Red Gate in a duffle bag marked "The Survivalist's duffle bag" next to Randall Clark's skeleton. Yao guai, giant cazadores, green geckos and/or bighorners may be found here as well. To specify, it is right up the climb to the top of the Red Gate. There are three trees and he is lying wedged between some boulders underneath two of the trees, propped up on the rocks. Alternately, you can reach it by going up the back side.
Notes
- When looking through the iron sights to aim, the forward sight is bent out of line with the rear channel on top of the carrying handle, thus not creating the sight picture seen when using an undamaged service rifle. However, using the upper right side of the bent front sight as your aiming point corrects this, providing a usable, albeit confusing, solution to this problem.
- A star in a circle similar to that seen on the US flag is seen above the magazine on the rifle's right side, along with the words: "PROPERTY OF U.S. GOVT CHKPNT CARBINE 12.7MM CAL."
- Above the trigger, the words "LONG BRANCH ARSENAL ONTARIO, USA TERRITORY" are present. Long Branch is actually found in the southwest end of Toronto, Ontario. Historically during WWI and WWII a small area further west of Long Branch known as Port Credit manufactured rifles used by the Canadian forces during the wars.
- During The Advance Scouts quest, White Legs may find the rifle and take it to use. The player character will have to kill them to get the rifle.
- Nearby NPCs or your companions may take the rifle from the bag that it appears in.
- If you complete Honest Hearts before retrieving the rifle, and a non-player character has picked up the rifle, you will not be able to acquire the rifle because all non-player characters besides enemies disappear from Zion upon completion of the add-on.
- Compared to the standard variant, the barrel of the rifle is shorter in length, but wider in diameter. This is a correct real world characteristic, as the 12.7mm is more than double the diameter of the 5.56mm round. The shorter length can be attributed to the fact that it is called a carbine while the service rifle is not a carbine.
- Despite being chambered in a far larger round compared to the standard 5.56mm, the magazine and receiver both have the same dimensions as the service rifle.
- Even though it is a variant of the service rifle, it does not count toward the Gun Runners' Arsenal "Against All Tyrants" challenge.
Behind the scenes
- The French word arrêt on one side of the rifle's stock, which translates as "a stop" or "a halt," is paired with "stop" written in English on the other side of the stock. This, combined with information from Randall Clark's terminal entries, indicates that this rifle was used during the U.S. occupation of Canada.
- Though it is a French word, the correct way of telling someone to stop in French would be "Arrête" or "Arrêtez," not "Arrêt." "Arrêt" replaces "Stop" on Stop signs in French-speaking parts of Canada.
- The Survivalist's rifle was loosely based on the .50 Beowulf AR-15 platform conversion.[2]
References
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
