FR-27 Sanction Flechette Rifle

The FR-27 SFR (Sanction Flechette Rifle) is a weapon in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Background
The FR-27 SFR is a modern fully automatic combat rifle developed by Steiner Bisley. Instead of firing bullets, the FR-27 SFR fires flechettes. The FR-27 SFR fires .303 caliber fin-stabilized bullets separating from a discarding sabot, these rounds are manufactured by Osprey Ltd. The flechettes that it uses are faster and more powerful than conventional bullets (an effect of being larger, heavier rounds), these rounds are fin-stabilized and fired by a smoothbore barrel. This power comes with a cost though as only 20 rounds can be held in a single magazine.

The reloading procedure is unusual; the entire forward section of the rifle hinges near the muzzle to expose an internal loading port, into which the magazine is inserted. The feed direction appears to be upwards, meaning that despite appearances, the combat rifle is not actually a bullpup layout. Following loading, the rifle is closed up and the cocking handle on the left side is rotated clockwise.

Characteristics
The combat rifle is the standard jack-of-all-trades lethal weapon in the game, standing between the machine pistol and heavy rifle in terms of overall firepower, but providing more control and accuracy. The default magazine is relatively small at 20 rounds, though with upgrades the weapon can have a magazine size of up to 50. Ammunition is common, and takes up 2x1 inventory spaces per stack, with each stack holding up to 50 rounds.

Despite that protracted fire will make the combat rifle's barrel glow orange and steam escape from the loading port during reloads, the combat rifle cannot overheat like the heavy rifle.

The combat rifle is very versatile when upgraded, being able to mount a silencer while still having a usable iron sight, and can also mount a laser sight for medium range shooting. The flechette targeting system is an unusual active weapon mod; when activated, the next valid target (civilians included) will be highlighted with a trail of crosshairs leading from the muzzle to the target; shots will seek the target, often marking themselves to their head. The trail of crosshairs will turn from white to red when the current target cannot be hit, either because it has taken cover, the path the projectiles would take is obstructed, or the player has turned too far away.

Enemies with combat rifles are a moderate threat, with good range and damage-dealing capacity, though since their rifles lack upgrades they frequently have to pause to reload.

Locations

 * Detroit - Adam Jensen's apartment, three can be found.
 * It is widely used by Belltower mercenaries and is a common weapon in high-security settings.

Behind the scenes

 * The design of the FR-27 is somewhat similar to the fictional Seburo MN-23 assault rifle from Masamune Shirow's Dominion Tank Police.
 * The FR-27 is also based on the HK G11 caseless assault rifle for the rotating charging handle.
 * The carrying handle is also the same as the HK G36C.
 * The unusual break-action loading procedure seems to be based on a double barreled shotgun. The weapon has a hinged upper receiver, similar to an AR-15, this usually allows the bolt group to be removed rather than to allow reloading. This method greatly increases reload time compared to other weapons.
 * The rifle has also some resemblance with the Steyr ACR considering that both use flechette ammunition.
 * The rifle appears to use an En-Bloc Clip, normally a Design for caseless ammunition. An En-Bloc-Clip is better for storage in a weapon and also minimizes the risk of being stuck with the magazine in lianas and such. however, it needs a place in the rifle, meening that the reload is needed.