Bolt weapon

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Ranged Close Combat

Electric (Arc • Tesla) • Flame • Gauss • Graviton • Grenade • Ion/Plasma • Laser • Melta • Missile • Bolt • Ordnance • Projectile • Grenade launcher • Monofilament/Web • Sonic • Volkite

Chain • Force • Electric (Arc • Taser) • Power • Miscellaneous

The bolt weapon is the characteristic Imperial weapon type used most famously by the Space Marines and Adepta Sororitas. They are also used in more limited numbers throughout the Imperium's armed forces, and are popular with its enemies, particularly Orks.[2] Bolt weapons are purposefully unsubtle weapons, with very obvious and bloody effects. The Leagues of Votann also use bolt weapons [2].

Some models are designed specifically for normal humans which include smaller grips and lighter construction, though these variations are rarely as finely fashioned as Space Marine weapons. Many such weapons are ancient heirlooms and relics passed down through a family's generations. Cheap bolt weapon models can be found on black markets and backwater planets, but will often break down quickly because of the specialised nature of their ammunition.[1a]

History of Bolt Weapons

The Emperor of Mankind possessed "one of the very first boltguns; a progenitor of its kind - not a relic of the Dark Age of Technology but an invention of the Emperor's design."[22] There is also a "a clear shared ancestry" between the Bolt Weapons of the Leagues of Votann and the Bolt Weapons of the Adeptus Astartes.[23]

Operation

A standard boltgun
Storm bolter, with attached drum Magazine
Heavy bolter, with Belt Feed

Bolt weapons fire self-propelled mass-reactive munitions known as bolts at hypersonic velocities[21][Conflicting Sources], which are timed to explode just after penetration for maximum lethality. The standard bolt is .75 calibre with a super-dense metallic core and diamantine tip. Overall bolt ammunition is expensive and difficult to manufacture and the weapons themselves regularly require maintenance and rituals to appease their spirits, but they are no doubt terrifying and destructive weapons.[1a]

Each bolt is contained within a cartridge which includes a small conventional powder charge. When fired, this charge launches the bolt while simultaneously igniting its solid fuel propellant, which is timed to do so once it is clear of the barrel. The cartridge is then ejected[Conflicting Sources], clearing the breech for the next round, while the bolt accelerates towards the target under its own power. This system helps alleviate the problem in using rocket-propelled munitions, as the gases are not trapped within the barrel and cannot cause problems due to over-pressure. The two-stage process also keeps the weapon's recoil to manageable levels, compared to conventional weapons of similar calibre.[4]

Using this method, personal bolt weapons can easily fire in bursts of three to four rounds in rapid succession. However, in order to keep the ammunition capacity high, bolt shells lack a subsequent booster stage or fin stabilization.[4] This limits their effective range, though this is seen as less of a problem given their role as a shock and assault weapon.[2] Heavy Bolters fire a larger round with extra propellant, giving them superior range and hitting power to hand-held bolters and bolt pistols.[4]

The explosive warhead within the bolt is triggered by a mass-reactive detonator; any sudden increase in local mass triggers the explosive, causing the weapon to explode inside the target.[2] This can have a gruesome effect on the target, often killing them in a single shot as their chest cavity or head is blown apart, while simultaneous hits can render the corpse unidentifiable.[5] However, the detonator has a minimum arming distance, during which it will not arm the warhead. At point-blank ranges the bolt will instead pass through the target and explode behind it, though its sheer size and velocity still makes it capable of causing damage.[6]

Bolt weapons have little in the way of muzzle flash, but the ignition of their mass reactive ammunition have similar flashes of brightness.[38]

Types of bolt weapons

Available bolt weapons include:

See the respective articles for details.

Bolt ammunition

The Tech-Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus have developed many types of bolter ammunition over the millennia. The most common variants are:

  • Standard Bolts comprise the following components: Outer casing, propellant base, main charge, mass reactive detonator cap, depleted deuterium core, diamantine tip. The standard bolter shell is standardized at .75 caliber, whereas heavy bolter rounds are larger, at 1.00 Cal.[26]
  • Hellfire Rounds have devastating results on organic matter, as the rounds are developed to combat Tyranids. The core and tip are replaced with a vial of mutagenic acid with thousands of needles that fire into target upon the shattering of the vial, pumping the acid into the target. Heavy Bolters can also utilise a large calibre version known as a Hellfire Shell, sometimes carried by Scouts.[27]
  • Stalker Silenced Shells are rounds with low sound signatures, meant for covert fighting and used in conjunction with an M40 targeting system and an extended barrel and stock on a bolter to produce a sniping weapon system. A solidified mercury slug replaces the mass-reactive warhead for lethality at sub-sonic projectile speed. A gas cartridge also replaces both the propellant base and main charge for silent firing.[27]
  • Asphyx Shells were created by the Thousand Sons during the Great Crusade. Originally as simple projectile ammunition for use against Psychneuein on Prospero, these psycho-reactive toxic shells were used in their elite units. However they were difficult to mass produce and thus their deployment was limited.[18]
  • Inferno Bolts are designed to immolate their targets and destroy them with superheated chemical fire. The deuterium core is replaced with an oxy-phosphorus gel, known as Promethium. It should be noted that the Chaos Space Marine Thousand Sons have their own similarly-named but unrelated type of inferno bolts, which are actually psychically-bound slugs that release arcane energies; these slugs explode with sorcerous energies upon impact.[28]
  • Dragonfire Rounds are similar to Inferno Bolts, but contain superheated gas instead of Promethium. They are effective against enemies hidden behind cover as the superheated pocket of gas expands and immolate the foe even as they hide.[29]
  • Odysseus Bolts are bolts which are psychically impregnated. Fired into large objects, the distinctive signature of the bolt can then be tracked through the Warp by an Astropath.[30]
  • Metal Storm Frag Shells are best against multiple lightly-armoured targets. They detonate before impact and spray shrapnel, shredding their victims. A proximity detonator replaces the mass-reactive cap, and the diamantine tip and deuterium core are replaced with an increased charge and fragmentation casing. They are similar to flak rounds and are used against clusters of enemies.[27]
  • Kraken Pattern Penetrator Rounds are powerful armour-piercing rounds. The deuterium core is replaced by a solid adamantine core and uses a heavier main charge. Upon impact, the outer casing peels away and the high velocity adamantium needle accelerates into the victim, where the larger detonator propels shards of super hardened metal further into the wound. These are effective against heavily-armoured infantry.[27]
  • Vengeance Rounds utilise unstable flux-core technology for lethal penetrative power, and are highly effective at anything up to and including Power Armour. The trade off is that the rounds have a shorter range than standard bolts and the flux-core's unstable nature makes it hazardous to the firer, not unlike a Plasma weapon.[29]
  • Gas-Powered Bolts are propelled only by the gas expelled from the barrel. As they lack the secondary rocket ignition, they are substantially more quiet than standard bolt rounds. As a result, they are used for stealth operations.[8]
  • Tempest Bolts incorporate tiny plasma shock generators that emit electromagnetic and thermal radiation when the shell detonates. Produced only on Mars, Tempest shells are noted as particularly effective against machines and mechanical targets.[9]
  • Bloodshard Bolts are ammunition used by the Blood Angels for their Angelus boltguns. Its payload of razor-filament is very effective against most armours.[12]
  • Banestrike Bolts are mysterious shells believed to have been developed in secret by the Alpha Legion during the Great Crusade. Their sole purpose seems to have been to breach the ceramite Power Armour of Space Marines. It was used openly for the first time at the Drop Site Massacre where they proved devastating[11]. The ammo was also infamously used by the Sons of Horus in various sizes[19a][19b]. Known weapons that the Sons of Horus used the ammo in, included the modified Banestrike Fusilade bolt pistols[19a] and Banestrike Bolt Cannons.[19b]
  • Korvidari Bolts are utilized by the Raven Guard. These are etched with raven-feather charms and sport an abnormally long range. The bolts are packed with extra propellant for superior range and accuracy. Each bolt also houses a minute, hyper-sensitive targeting and flight correction relay, allowing for a marksman's accuracy even against heavily obscured foes.[13]
  • Nullbolts are used by the Grey Knights and fire anti-Warp shards.[17]
  • Psycannon Bolts are used by the Inquisition, primarily the Ordo Malleus and Grey Knights. They are very similar in nature to the rounds fired by their namesake, the Psycannon, and are similarly used against psychic and daemonic targets. Of all the rounds these are the most expensive, as each and every bolt is inscribed with runes on a microscopic level. Other sources say that they contain an anti-psychic substance that still others claim is a byproduct of the Emperor's Golden Throne. The psychic nature of these rounds are not only effective at destroying daemonic targets but also highly efficient at piercing the powerful barriers created by forcefield generators (such as the Tau Shield Generator and the Imperium's own Iron Halo and Storm Shield).
  • Quake Bolts are crafted individually by a Magos, each bolt contains a warhead that emits a pulsed shock wave.[10]
  • Witch Seeker Bolts are used by the Black Templars. These consist of metal casings forged from the blades of fallen Battle-Brothers and blessed by Ecclesiarchy Priests. These bolts have an unnerving talent for finding their way into the heart of a Psyker.[7]
  • Tranquilizer Rounds are a rare variety of boltgun ammunition. As the name suggests, they are filled with a powerful tranquilizing agent in lieu of explosives. Silent when fired from a Stalker Bolter, a single shot is capable of incapacitating a full-grown Ork. Issued one to a magazine, Tranquilizer Rounds saw service with Raven Guard forces seconded to the Deathwatch during the War of the Beast in mid-M32.[14]
  • Vortex Bolts were crafted long ago in forgotten times. These immensely rare rounds create miniature vortices within the target upon detonation. Such an event causes catastrophic damage to even the largest enemies and psykers who miraculously survive are driven mad by the creatures of the Warp that pour from the tear in reality.[16]

Conflicting Sources

TriviaScrollTrans.png

The following information is not to be regarded as officially sanctioned and/ or is not written from an in-universe point of view. A detailed explanation of the term "Trivia" as used in the Lexicanum can be found here.

Caseless vs Cased

Even as of 2025, there has been somewhat of a longstanding conflict between boltgun ammunition being cased or caseless:

Caseless

  • Bolt round depicted as a self-propelled caseless munition

Cased

Reconciliation

  • A potential reconciliation is offered in Imperial Armour Volume Two - Space Marines and Forces of the Inquisition. According to the book, each bolt is contained in a "cartridge" loaded with a small conventional powder charge, which initially launches while igniting its solid fuel propellant, which is timed to do so once it is clear of the barrel. The cartridge is then ejected. It is feasible that spent bolt "casings" as depicted/described are instead these cartridges.[4]
  • This description matches and may possibly have been written by one given by Andy Chambers. According to him in an in an interview with Bill King[25]:

"Bloody Bolters! 'Mass-Reactive Caseless Ammuntion' says it right there in 40k, Rogue Trader, right from the get go: caseless. What do artists always do with boltguns? Cases flying everywhere! Because it looks awesome, alright. Anybody whose seen particularly late 80-90s action movies - 'Dakka-dakka-dakka' brass flying everywhere - knows its one of those things that conveys kinetic violence happening. So when it comes to doing a static image that you're trying to show a guy firing a big rapid fire gun of course an artist is going to reach for having casings flying out of it or it's a heavy battle so there's loads of brass on the ground and things like that, because it's a visual key for people to clue into even subconsciously about what's happening. So actually 'caseless' was useless as a term to describe them because it fought against what the art wanted to do. So eventually we kind of lampshaded it basically, or I did, and wrote in that they use a little kind of like sabot thing to launch them out of the barrel kind of like RPG-7s do. So at that point it's fine, I no longer have to shout at artists whenever I see brass coming out of bolters cause it's fine, we need it, and it looks good."[25]


  • In the real world, the RPG-7's rocket munition is initially is propelled by a gunpowder booster charge, followed then by a main "motor propellant" from the rocket.

See also

Sources

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