Projector gun

Projector guns, also known as bolters, were projectile weapons that fired physical rounds using explosive gas as a propellant. The first projectors were introduced circa 11000 BBY as the result of several innovations to earlier musket and slugthrower designs. Projectors were the first self-loading weapons used by military forces of the Galactic Republic, with earlier ranged weapons using bolt or lever action mechanisms. Like standard gunpowder-based firearms, most early projector rounds relied on their velocity to inflict damage, though explosive rounds were also used during this time to counter metal armor. By 4500 BBY, Republic gunsmiths, using lightsaber and phaseblade technology, began manufacturing projectors that fired projectiles encased in superheated gas, effectively making these "energy projectors" the predecessors of the later blaster design. Though blasters became far more prevalent than projectors among Republic soldiers by 3000 BBY, projectors, like slugthrowers, would remain commonplace on many backwater or underdeveloped worlds well into the Imperial Period.