M41A pulse rifle
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The Armat M41A is a fictional pulse-action air-cooled assault rifle used by the U.S. Colonial Marine Corps and the U.S. Army in the Alien films. In Aliens, it is described as using 10mm calibre, caseless ammunition, and is seen with an over-and-under configuration incorporating a PN 30 mm pump-action grenade launcher. The M41A props, repainted and given a different gunfire sound effect, appear at the end of Alien³.
In the movie, the weapon has the fictional NATO Stock Number (NSN) 3055-00-721-4790.
Prop design
The M41A Pulse Rifle was designed by James Cameron and built by British armorers Simon Atherton and Andrew Fletcher from the parts and components of three firearms supplied by prop armory Bapty & Co., U.K. The rifle component utilised a World War II-era Thompson M1A1 submachine gun while the grenade launcher component was built around the action of a Remington 870 pump-action shotgun and the shotgun was encased inside the shroud and foregrip of a Luigi Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun. It was originally designed around a Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun but the MP5 is said not to have produced a muzzle flash as large as desired for the impression of a futuristic infantry rifle.
Depiction
The M41A Pulse Rifle is an air cooled, fully automatic, short- to mid-range combat rifle. Made of light alloy plates, it fires 10x24mm Armor Piercing Caseless Rounds from a 100 round U-bend magazine in either semi automatic, four-round burst, or fully automatic rates of fire. In the Aliens versus Predator computer game, the rifle can practically hold 99 rounds; according to the Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual, the weapons were usually underloaded to 95% capacity to avoid jamming. The pulse rifle has a battery-powered digital display that displays the number of rounds left in the magazine. With a retractable stock and an underslung 30 mm PN grenade launcher, this weapon can be used as a carbine and an assault rifle.
M41A and Airsoft
There are several kits available to convert the Tokyo Marui M1A1 Thompson airsoft gun into an M41A Pulse Rifle. One version is available from Monsters In Motion.[1] Monsters in Motion/Tek Arms also created a non-functional model kit that could be modified to house the TM M1A1. A less expensive kit (with a 100% static non-working shotgun) is currently under development at Arnies Airsoft.[2] Several manufacturers of infrared gaming guns also make a Pulse Rifle model, such as Battlefield Sports.[3]
Cameo appearances
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- The Pulse Rifle also makes an appearance in another James Cameron film, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, being carried by members of John Connor's resistance force. They are not featured prominently, however. In Terminator 3 T-X's on-screen display also list the M-41 Pulse Rifle as an available weapon.
- In an episode of The Simpsons entitled "The Lastest Gun in the West", a black version of this gun appears.
- The rifle is also mentioned in the movie Soldier.
- Several models of the Pulse Rifle are shown in the Sony PlayStation game G-Police, where they are used in a few FMV cutscenes.
- Black Versions of the M41A Pulse Rifle have been featured in one episode of the Anime Excel Saga, though their function is questionable at best.
- The Pulse Rifle is the weapon held by the main character on the cover of D.E. White's book Jettison.
- The Pulse Rifle is a main weapon in the Half-Life mod Desert Crisis.
- The Pulse Rifle made an appearance in South Park in the ending of the episode "Go God Go".
- It is also used in the opening FMV sequence of the expansion pack Defiance of the game I-War. Here it is seen used by a team of marines boarding an Indie ship.
- The Pulse Rifle can be seen briefly in one episode of the anime Galaxy Angel.
- The Pulse Rifle is the weapon wielded by the GDI Light Infantry in CGI cutscenes of the game Tiberian Sun (labeled as the M16 Mark II in the instruction manual).
- It appears in the B movie Battle Queen 2020.
- The rifle's features are possibly an influence to many of the weapons of the Halo series of video games, as are many other aspects of the Alien franchise.
See also
References
- Brimmiscombe-Wood, Lee, and Dave Hughes. Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual. New York: Perennial Currents, 1996. ISBN 0061053430.
- Foster, Alan Dean. Aliens: A Novel. New York: Warner Books, 1986. ISBN 0-446-30139-6.
