Ludlum Laser Pistol

Ludlum Industries was a producer of laser weapons, both handheld and shipborne. As part of their research, they turned their attention to building a pistol sized weapon as demand was high for something that was concealable, but had the unique characteristics of this type of laser weapon. Ludlum was the first to meet the challenge, and quickly went through the first production design and focused on quickly making improvements. Sales skyrocketed, but the original model quickly became a collector's item.

History

The first generation consisted of a "production" run of 50 weapons with three having been built as prototypes for testing purposes. Originally built by Buzz Ludlum of Ludlum Industries on Westholm System, he was able to make speedy enhancements which allowed him to introduce the second generation with a 12 percent reduction in weight (very important for a single handheld weapon) along with power and damage increases. They are considered collectibles and only three are known to exist and have been authenticated. There are at least seven others that are rumored to exist in private collections, but none of these have been confirmed or acknowledged and even the owners identities are not known, leading to much speculation that it is just that - speculation and an attempt to drive potential sale prices on the authentic examples.

Significance

The Ludlum Laser pistol is an extremely rare artifact during the early design of laser weapon technology. It was the first practical single handed laser weapon that did not depend on external power sources or other unwieldy add-ons. Ludlum proved that the technology could be miniaturized below the rifle/carbine size weapon that was then the current mainstay of personal energy weaponry.

Item type

Weapon, Ranged

Rarity

Extremely rare. There were only 53 built.

Weight

4.3 kg

Base Price

Priceless