Heavy Rifle

"The no-holds-barred 30-round answer to that eternal question, how do I get this guy off my back?."

- Ammu-Nation and Social Club description.

The Vom Feuer Heavy Rifle is an assault rifle that was cut from Grand Theft Auto V during development, but later added to Grand Theft Auto Online as part of The Contract update.

Grand Theft Auto V
Not much was known about the rifle's original design other than early renders found of its original version and the HUD icon. The weapon seemed to take design cues from the, specifically the FN SCAR-16 CQC as evident by its iron sights and foregrip. This version also makes a cameo appearance in The Simian's trailer, in the hands of a chimp. One can also notice that the chimps' hand did not fit correctly into the weapon's physical handguard, likely due to an issue or unfinished state of the weapon holding animation.

The rifle was redesigned with a different stock and a darker colour for the Enhanced Version of GTA V, but was not included in the game. This version combine design elements from the FN SCAR and series of assault rifles, with the barrel and gas block resembling that of the CZ 805 BREN A2 carbine. The stock seems to be designed from the SCAR-H, albeit somewhat more blocky and straight.

Grand Theft Auto Online
The Heavy Rifle eventually debuted in the The Contract update, largely unaltered from its second rendition save for some minor changes; it has a shortened barrel and its magazine is tilted forward by a few degrees. There have been some small alterations to the handguard vents and charging handle positioning. Despite the lower receiver being modelled after the 7.62mm SCAR-H, the Heavy Rifle uses the same magazines as the Special Carbine, indicating that it actually fires 5.56mm cartridges, which would make it a SCAR-L. This is further evidenced by its magazine capacity of 30 rounds compared to the conventional 20 rounds from its 7.62mm counterpart.

Grand Theft Auto Online
The Heavy Rifle is a uniquely balanced weapon that features traits from several weapons. It has a comparable rate of fire to that of the Carbine Rifle at approximately 444 RPM, but features the elevated damage profile of the Advanced Rifle at 34 per shot (though still far lower than the Assault Rifle Mk II that has a damage of 40). This allows the rifle to stay relatively competitive with other at closer ranges, maintaining decent damage output at the same capacity as other rifles. It would be best described as being in the middle of its class, in relation to its performance.

When compared to its peers, the Heavy Rifle outperforms the Assault Rifle, Carbine Rifle and Compact Rifle, but fares worse when compared to the Special Carbine, Advanced Rifle and Bullpup Rifle in terms of rate of fire, and is outclassed in damage by the Military Rifle (37).

However, the primary drawbacks of the Heavy Rifle, at least when compared to the Mark II variants of previous rifles, manifests itself in greater recoil and spread, making it much worse when engaging targets at a distance. With its lacklustre accuracy, the rifle is difficult to use and can often lack the consistency to perform reliable take downs when fighting at longer ranges.

This means that the Heavy Rifle is best used within a close-mid ranged band, encouraging the user to capitalize on its higher damage per shot, providing respectable damage per second.

Grand Theft Auto Online

 * Can be bought at any Rank at Ammu-Nation for $450,000 or at the Agency Armory with the owner's discount of 5%.