Type 3 Phaser

A phaser rifle (often referred to as a type-3 phaser) is a rifle variation of the standard phaser used by the Federation.

24th century phaser rifles have sixteen power settings, fully-autonomous recharge capability, multiple-target acquisition, and gyro-stabilization. They are slightly less powerful than Cardassian phase-disruptor rifles, and are considered by some to be less effective as a field weapon due to their complexity, despite being more powerful than the standard phaser.

History
Phaser rifles were not standard equipment aboard Starfleet vessels prior to the early 2370s. Spock had to make a special request for one to be brought down to Delta Vega in 2265. Typically, rifles were equipped when firepower heavier than that of the type 2 phaser was required.

Facsimile phaser rifles were created by the Romulan Star Empire in 2367 and given to rebels on the Klingon planet Krios, in an attempt to destabilize relationships between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. The only difference between the standard Federation rifle and the facsimile was the power output of the phaser beam – the emission crystal had an efficiency rating of 94.1%, eight percent above the standard model, while the initial output spike of the beam was inverted, a sign that the power cell had been charged with a forced pulse in the terahertz range – a method used in Romulan disruptors.

The 2360s version of the rifle could be modified with the use of a tracking light mounted on the central body, as well as a shoulder strap designed for ease of carrying.

The compression phaser rifle was a new phaser design used aboard Intrepid class starships such as the USS Voyager.

More advanced phaser rifles capable of firing pulse bursts as well as the standard beam were used in the 2370s. These rifles had a pistol grip in back and either an "underbarrel grip" or a second vertical grip underneath the barrel (similar to conventional firearms of times past), and were capable of being modified with various types of scope, barrel and power cell. When Worf's rifle ran out of power on Baku, he improvised when he swung his at a Son'a drone when it was firing transporter tags at Baku villagers and Starfleet crew.

Another rifle variation was in service at the same time, and used during zero-gravity operations in the Borg incident of 2373/2063. This phaser rifle was a return to the two-handed grip seen earlier, possibly due to the awkwardness of handling a rifle from inside of a pressure suit. This variant was able to be magnetized against a surface, further proving its usefulness in zero-gravity environments.

Phaser rifles were also used by the Bajoran Militia, based on the design of their own hand phasers.

Related Episodes
DS9 - Return to Grace

DS9 - The Way of the Warrior

TOS - Where No Man Has Gone Before

VOY - Caretaker

TNG - The Mind's Eye