Bluebell rifle

The Empire Arms Bluebell is a single shot, lever-action, self-cocking rifle firing standard breech-loaded Nezzu calibre rounds. The Mark III is the standard issue infantry rifle of Brazak West.

History

The rifle was originally designed by the Zenya Design Bureau of Great Brazak in the closing years of the Nezzu War. In 9307, Great Brazak fell under Ganzabi occupation. The head of the ZDB secretly sold the weapon design to their western counterparts, Empire Arms of the USK, for much less than it was worth; driven by the desperation of keeping it out of Ganzabi hands. Empire took the design and refined it into the modern Bluebell. It would be of limited use to them directly; being based on the Nezzu standard calibre, which was hard to come by in the western nations. But as an export, they saw it had lucrative potential.

During the early years of the Liberation War, the Brazak rebels were mostly armed with older rifles or captured Ganzabi Harolt-Fayers. Toward the end of the war, more and more were being equipped with Bluebells, which proved superior to the Harolt-Fayer. After the war, in 9322, it became the standard firearm of Brazak infantry forces. It is now built by Empire Arms factories in Brazak West itself.

Characteristics

The superb balance of the rifle distributes recoil effectively, requiring less strength to handle. This was reportedly a requirement that stemmed from the larger proportion of female infantry in the Brazakker army. It is considered to be accurate at longer ranges than most other nation's rifles. In addition to this, the lever action makes reloading much quicker than previous rifles. However, early versions suffered from jams of the lever due to fouling of the chamber.