The Real Guns of Star Wars

The E-11 Blaster is is the standard for Imperial Stormtroopers during the days of the Empire. You can see them being used by almost every standard stormtrooper unless that stormtrooper had a special unique purpose. The E-11 is multipurpose blaster that was used on most Imperial ground missions due to it’s versatility in close and longer range engagements. This light blaster had a couple of settings including lethal and stun. 

You cannot blame the inaccurate shooting on this weapon since Luke, Leia, and Han had no issue hit their targets. Regular stormtroopers are just bad shots in general. Many rebels and rebel supporters took these weapons from fallen stormtroopers and used it against them. Due to this, it’s one of the most commonly used light rifles in the Star Wars galaxy.

Ah, the smuggler’s weapon of choice – that is, the smuggler Han Solo‘s weapon of choice. The DL-44 is like the .44 Magnum of the Star Wars world. It’s full of power. You will usually never see Han Solo without it. One close range shot from this bad boy and it’s “lights out”. The DL-44 was a great sidearm during the reign of the Empire because it could penetrate stormtrooper armor easily.

With Han’s personal DL-44, he had his modified with with a scope to help take long range shots. With this modification, scouting out enemy terrain to plan his smuggling runs (or destroying Imperial probe droids) was also a bonus feature.

A lot of rebel weapons get overlooked because we don’t see much of them throughout the original trilogy. The A295 (pictured) and the slight variation A280 rebel rifles were common weapons for both The Empire Strikes Back and the Return of the Jedi. You can see this rifle in the hands of rebels on Hoth and Endor respectively. Compare this to the E11 as the standard rifles for Rebel troopers.

These rifles were a more appropriate rifle for real warriors. Since the Rebel Alliance was outnumbered in comparison to the Empire, it was necessary to outfit the soldiers with the best gear possible to even the odds with the strength of the Empire in battle. You can see that this rifle has a bit more tech than many Imperial weapons. The rebels relied on quality over quantity. In the hands of a trained soldier, this weapon is as deadly as it looks.

I always found this to be a unique weapon. Especially when it came with a grappling ascension gun attached to it. The Naboo S-5 Heavy Blaster is a one of a kind pistol used by the Naboo security forces. You can see them being used in the first of the Star Wars prequel trilogy movie The Phantom Menace.

This was a powerful pistol that was able to stop even the toughest soldiers. This unique looking pistol was more suited for special operations due to the fact that it came equipped with an ascension gun which was able to hold 500 kilograms.

Now for an upgrade to the standard E11 that the Imperial Stormtroopers use. The DLT-19 Heavy Blaster is a squad automatic weapon that is generally used by Imperial Heavy Stormtroopers to provide fire for higher-end infantry and suppressive fire. Heavy troopers are usually part of full stormtrooper platoon and not a smaller patrol so, if these troopers get called in, they mean business.

The DLT-19 fires at a high fire rate to keep the damage high while keeping a sustained fire on enemy soldiers. Cool down rate is a minimum and the DLT-19 can outfitted with a scope for longer range engagements.

The Bounty Hunter Boba Fett is one of the most feared bounty hunters in the Star Wars galaxy. He uses a EE-3 carbine which is a upgraded modified version of an E-11 that the Imperial Stormtroopers use. Unfortunately for Boba, his EE-3 got sliced when Luke Skywalker chopped it with his lightsaber when Luke and friends were trying to rescue Han Solo from the dreaded Jabba the Hutt.

Overall, an improved weapon over the E-11 without all the moving parts and general clunkiness that the E-11 has. The EE-3 usually doesn’t come with a stock or a scope. Boba had his personally modified to support these attachments for multi-role use.

If you have noticed, Leia was using two different pistol blasters throughout the original trilogy. The one pictured above is the one used in A New Hope called the DDC Defender. It is designated a sporting blaster because it is a light weight blaster design for killing small game and not for full-on battle. Leia wielded this pistol because it was popular among high society socialites.

The pistols Leia had were low-powered so using them as an offensive weapon would be a bad choice. As a concealed weapon, though, these pistols were ideal. It can be broken down and rebuilt quite quickly when needed. The power pack could be changed out quickly as well and had enough power for around 100 shots.

As an alternate heavy blaster to the DLT-19, the T-21 Repeater was an extremely high damage, low fire-rate blaster design to take out heavy infantry or light armored targets. While capable of firing at full-auto, it was not recommended due to recoil and overheating tendencies the T-21 came to have when firing for long periods of time.

The T-21 was also a low capacity weapon. Due to it’s sheer power, it only had a 25-30 shot capacity. This is why many Imperial Stormtroopers wore generator backpacks to provide additional power to the T-21 so they could sustain continuous fire.

Here is one of the latest entries in the Star Wars franchise. The Mandalorian is a new Star Wars show that takes place right after The Return of the Jedi. The main character uses a new pistol that we have never seen before. The name of this pistol in the Star Wars universe has yet to be unveiled.

It is definitely a combat pistol. Crafted and used by high-end mercenaries to accomplish big tasks. Extremely accurate and deadly in the hands of a great marksmen, this pistol was designed to compliment a warrior and his other weapons.