Tsunami Arms Helix (2020)

This article is about the Shotgun in Cyberpunk 2020. For the Assault Rifle in Cyberpunk RED, see Tsunami Arms Helix (RED).

The Helix is a massive weapon and arguably one of the most devastating arms for close-range and house-to-house combat. A hex-barreled gatling shotgun, it fires binary 10-gauge shells at 1300 rounds per minute. About one meter in length, the gun's six barrels are all a respectable 45cm long.

The Helix has an inclined rear pistol-grip, as well as a top-mounted fore-handle; it has no stock, since it was built to be fired "from the hip", and to aid in aiming, there is a top-mounted laser-sighting system with adjustable pattern-matching capability. The Helix is also constructed with a mix of high-tech composites and lightweight alloys, weighing a total of 15kg. Its projectiles consist of conventional 10-gauge slugs, packages of shot, or flechettes stored in a synthetic canister.

The ammo feed, centered beneath the tubular body of the gun, accepts either a belt feed or box magazine, containing an ample supply of binary propellant and storing up to 60 projectiles. A rotor in the feed aligns the projectiles as they are loaded. While the weapon's binary propellant eliminates the bulk of a stabilizing element in its ammunition, and instead uses two gasses, which while separately stable, are volatile when injected together into the ignition chamber.

The overall design of the Helix keeps the line of recoil low and aligned with the grip, lessening muzzle climb in full auto, while the six barrels, all rotating around a central axis, have long, flared muzzles with four compensation ports each. This, combined with the weapon's recoil management system, allows for relatively controllable autofire. The sound made by the Helix is distinct: a heavy, metallic scream.