SAG N.01 Needler

Overview

Built from a joint Armatech and SAG Weapons Corporation concept, the design is simple in concept, but innovative in its creation. The N.01 Needler uses its high firing rate, combined with high-velocity, to fire a tiny 2mm slug (Needle) to a greater lethal effect than the projectile would ordinarily be capable of. Each of the 2mm "Needles" it fires is made of Tungsten Carbide, designed to slide through armored vests. The Needler is designated a Personal Defense Weapon , and is designed to level a high volume of fire into a direct threat; however, in its usage, it has become an offensive weapon, with the integration of a five-round burst function, and is commonly issued as a shock weapon.

Design

The entire Needler design is ultra-compact and light, only six point four inches long and weighing a mere two and a half pounds unloaded. The back of the Needler can be removed, and a Sag rechargeable battery (Number 6) can be inserted if the last battery burns out, but this is rare. The pistol grip, with molded finger grooves, extends from the base of the gun, and there is no safety. As the trigger moves, it manually engages the battery, and this serves as its own guarantee against misfire. Just forward of the trigger, a stick clip descends. Due the high-firing rate of the weapon, the clip doubles as a forward pistol grip, and each of the clips is standard in a heat-resistant, no-stick polymer, so as to be easily held in combat. Along the side of the receiver, there is a small lever for releasing the clip, and another forward to release the barrel assembly.

The entire body of the gun is sleek, but covered in two parallel vent ports, designed to purge out the excess explosive residue with the back blast, as well as to lower recoil. It is these ports, with the distinctive whining-scream upon firing, that have given the Needler its fearsome trademark screech, although muffling ports are often installed when stealth is required. Forward of the ports, the gun abruptly terminates into a tri-barrel assembly, three barrels bound into a ring and locked into the front of the gun. They spin during firing, to allow the Needler to maintain the high rate of fire without fusing, and their rotation pushes a charge back to the battery, firing the next round.

The Needler is easily modifiable, as it can readily accept and occluded or laser sights on its top and bottom dovetail mounts, and various vents can be mounted to either increase or decrease noise of firing. There is also an off-brand “wrist-mount” available, to lock the N.01 to the firer’s wrist, and allow for accurate off-hand firing.

Action

Small (2mm) caseless micro-darts, or "needles", wrapped in a molded explosive, are fed from a clip just in front of the molded pistol grip. The Needler possesses no mechanical action, so the first round is loaded as soon as the clip is inserted, leaving the Needler always cocked and locked. When the trigger is pulled, the rear-inserted battery moves forward to create a complete circuit, and a small spark arcs through the explosive mold and detonates it. This fires the bullet through whichever of the three barrels is currently aligned. The vacuum pulls the next round into the chamber almost immediately, and the recoil is diverted to spin the next barrel into alignment. This in turn, charges the spark chamber, and triggers the next round. As soon as the barrel is aligned, the circuit is re-completed, and as long as the trigger is held, the next spark is generated. The current is checked by many sources, including a resistor plate over the clip, the removal of the trigger/primer, and an alignment groove on the barrels. Through this nearly complete removal of mechanical action, the Needler is capable of firing at speeds of over sixty rounds per second.

With a flip of a release switch the clip falls away, and the tri-barrel assembly detaches. To load another assembly while the first cools, one must simply push the barrels into the receiving end and turn them, much like one loads bits into a drill, which serves the secondary purpose of charging the battery. SAG has incorporated many redundant current safeties into the gun to prevent misfire or misuse, including palm-coding and an overheat breaker that prevents firing into a fused barrel.

The clips are available in 30, 60, and 120 round variants, double-stacked. More could be loaded, but the barrels generally fuse at about 200 rounds continuous, and with the firing speeds, that is no time at all. Like all of the Sag caseless weapons (SAG ACR, SAG Commando, SAG-2, and SAG N.02 Dragoon Needler), the N.01 Needler has the distinctive blue muzzle-flash, due to the chemical composition of the caseless propellant.

Capability

This gun was designed for defense only, as it depletes its clip in under a second with 60 or less rounds. It is a guaranteed kill on the target, but in a multi-target engagement, the firing rate becomes a deficiency rather than a boon. As such, later versions of the N.01 come standard with a five-shot burst. With this addition, the Needler took on an offensive role, and became popular as a side arm on rear-echelon troops, and several units of Hunter/Killers became notorious for carrying braces of six Needlers and volleying firepower into CQB.

The Tungsten Carbide needles fired, escpecially at these rates, are more than capable of compromising heavy armor, and can cut through any vehicle that stays still long enough. Do to the high fire rate, it is almost impossible to find a body with a few needles embedded. Rather, the corpses are often cut in half, as with a long range buzz saw.

Although it fires at ludicrously fast speeds, the Needler is actually quite controllable, do to the light cartridge load and forward grip. There have been many cases of soldiers utilizing the Needler offhand with ease, and some reports of double-fisted utilization, although without a wrist-mount, the accuracy is horrid.

Because of its ability to inspire fear, the civilian models have become a fad among the criminal element, and it has gained the street nicknames of "Buzz-saw" and "Banshee". As such, the Needler has gained popularity is several groups: the military, the criminal element, hired bodyguards, and personal defense enthusiasts.

The SAG N.02 Dragoon Needler is based upon this original design.

• Produced by the Category:SAG Weapons Corporation of Kaukolastan. See our Catalog.