Bolt pistol
From Lexicanum
A Bolt Pistol is a Bolt Weapon and a smaller version of the boltgun in standard use by the Space Marines, but can also be used by many other Imperial forces as well as the Chaos Space Marines. It is commonly used in conjunction with a Close Combat Weapon by officers and veterans to make them into a combat specialist squad. The bolt pistol is favoured over the laspistol due to its improved killing ability, although it is less reliable and generally holds less shots in its magazine. The current version in use is the Astartes Mk III.
A bolt pistol magazine carries only 6 to 10 rounds of standard bolt rounds, each weighing about 0.08kg and with a diameter of .75 calibre (19.05mm). Also, the bolt pistol will only fire a single round or in very short bursts of up to 3 rounds.
While standard boltguns are rarely used by the Imperial Guard, bolt pistols are quite popular amongst the Commissariat, and are frequently used by Junior Officers and NCOs in place of their regular laspistol sidearms. It is likely that Bolt Pistols used by the Imperial Guard are smaller than the Astartes Mk III, based upon observations of the Inquisitor Thaddeus.
Sources
- 1:Codex: Space Marines (4th Edition)
- 2:Codex: Imperial Guard (3rd Edition, 1st Codex)
- 3:Codex: Imperial Guard (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex)
- 4:Codex: Chaos Space Marines (3rd Edition, 2nd Codex)
- 5:Codex: Daemonhunters
- 6:The Bleeding Chalice by Ben Counter
- 7:Warhammer 40,000: Wargear
