The varmint rifle is a weapon in Fallout: New Vegas.
Contents
Characteristics
Varmint rifle expanded
The varmint rifle is a low-powered hunting rifle, designed for hunting varmint and small game such as geckos. It utilizes a magazine-fed bolt-action system and is chambered for 5.56mm caliber rounds.
Although its damage and damage-per-second (DPS) are low, it can be very accurate at long ranges if used to manually target outside of V.A.T.S. With good Guns and Sneak skills, one-shot kills with Sneak Attack Critical headshots are possible against low level non-player characters. With the addition of the night scope and silencer modifications, its usefulness later in the game is extended.
The varmint rifle has one of the best scope modifications for low light vision. Though it doesn't always make the opponent light up, it does let the player character make out their details.
Durability
The varmint rifle can fire a total of about 595 standard rounds, the equivalent of 119 reloads, or 75 reloads when modified with extended magazines, from full condition before breaking.
| Ammunition type | Unmodified | W/ Extended mags | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shots | Reloads | Shots | Reloads | |
| Standard, HP, AP & match | 595 | 119 | 595 | 75 |
| Surplus | 195 | 39 | 195 | 25 |
| .223 caliber round | 745 | 149 | 745 | 94 |
Modifications
- Varmint rifle night scope: Adds 2.86x magnification night vision scope.
- Varmint rifle silencer: Silences the weapon.
- Varmint rifle extended mags: +3 rounds per magazine.
Variant
Ratslayer, a unique version found in broc flower cave with all the mods pre-attached. It boasts better damage, critical damage, critical chance, spread, rate of fire and lower Action Points for usage in V.A.T.S. and a synthetic black stock.
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 | |||
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Varmint rifle | 18 | 21.9 | 1.22 | x1 | 18 | 35 | 0.5 | 0.024 | 5 | 595 | 5.5 | 75 | 13.6 | 0 | 3 |
| Varmint rifle | 18 | 21.9 | 1.22 | x1 | 18 | 35 | 0.5 | 0.024 | 8 | 595 | 5.5 | 375 | 68.2 | 0 | 3 |
| Ratslayer | 23 | 30 | 1.3 | x5 | 23 | 33 | 0.7 | 0.0225 | 8 | 995 | 4.5 | 2000 | 444.4 | 0 | 3 |
Locations
- Cap counterfeiting shack - on the shelves opposite the entrance.
- Dixon carries one.
- Goodsprings - one is given to the player character by Sunny Smiles during the quest Back in the Saddle.
- Lucky Jim Mine - on the shelves in the corner of the mine house.
- NCR Correctional Facility - Located in the northwest watchtower.
- Powder Gangers commonly carry these.
- Primm - in the sheriff's office, behind the table in the corner opposite the bed with the corpses of Sheriff McBain and Mrs. McBain
- Carried by convicts in the Bison Steve Hotel.
- Sometimes carried by recruit legionaries.
- Silver Peak Mine - located inside the shack on the shelves.
- Viper gunslingers will sometimes carry one at lower levels.
- Vikki and Vance Casino - on top of the wall of safes in the casino cashier's office.
- Wolfhorn ranch - on the shelves in the shack.
- Jackal gang members generally carry these.
- One can be bought from the Vendortron at the Gun Runners kiosk.
- Fiends will usually carry them.
- The NCR trooper who greets the player character when arriving at Primm for the first time carries one.
Notes
- In first-person, when chambering a round the player character will bring their hand palm-up and grasp the bulb of the bolt handle within their fist. However, from third-person, they will seem to simply grab the bulb with their forefinger and thumb, palm-down.
- Even though there is a thumbhole in the stock, it is unused by both NPCs and the player character.
Behind the scenes
 | The following is based on Fallout: New Vegas cut content. |
|---|
The varmint rifle was intended to be chambered for .22LR rounds at some point during development. Among the indicators is the "Reduced Limb Damage" effect previously shown in the Pip-Boy for both the silenced .22 pistol and the silenced .22 SMG (prior to patch 1.3.0) being named "DummyNVVarmintRifle", as well as Dixon carrying a varmint rifle in his inventory along with 16 .22LR rounds, rather than 5.56mm rounds. The .22LR variant was so unpopular due to the low damage that its ammunition was changed to 5.56mm.[1] The magazine that the varmint rifle uses was actually meant to be a long, curved magazine that would hold a large number of .22 rounds, but because of the switch from .22LR to 5.56mm, it was changed into a small box magazine. Despite the change, however, the UV map for the magazine is still in the shape of the original magazine.
| End of information based on Fallout: New Vegas cut content. |
|---|
Bugs
After applying the silencer to an already scoped rifle, aiming towards the Freeside's north gate from next to the Mick & Ralph's crier causes the screen to completely glitch out; however it returns to normal after exiting zoomed mode or by looking away. [verified]- While zooming in with the weapon holstered with the scope, a black line will run across the screen. [verified]
- While carrying multiple rifles, attempting to access them in the pip boy will show only one rifle. Dropping or otherwise removing the rifle from your inventory will cause the remaining rifles to be shown. The hidden rifles will also be at 100% condition no matter what condition they were previously at. This can make repairing a varmint rifle problematic. [verified]
Sounds
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