Tesla Guns

Once upon a time a friend and I were working on a steampunk setting.  This is something from those notes that I came up with that may be worth sharing.

TESLA GUNS

There are two sizes available for use. First is the pistol version, light weight, more portable but only delivers a moderate 'hit' of electricity. Second is the rifle version, much heavier, very obvious but on the damage end it packs a wallop. Rumors of larger guns abound, usually claimed to be attached to zeppelins or trains for massive amounts of damage.

Charges.

Crank charges. Pistols are the ones that usually come with this option. Since they use less electricity per shot a single blast can be cranked up rather quickly.

Battery charges. Both the pistol and rifle use this. Each battery provides a single shot but the sizes are different. In a pistol they about the size of a AA battery and loaded into a copper cylinder on the gun. Based on model they may hold anywhere between one to four rounds. On a rifle they are about the size of a Pringles can and mostly hold one round although there are some newer version that hold two. It's also common to see a rifle team where one person fires the weapon while the other carries the batteries.

Wireless charges. Only the rifle has the receivers equipped to use this mounted along their barrels. The New Science Guild has set up the ground in areas they control to transmit electricity without the use of wires. Usually used to power the lighting, radio and other devices. The rifle can pull from this also and is quite spectacular when used as you can see the electric arc from the ground and into the rifle and then fired at the target. This ability alone has led others to reason that fighting the New Science Guild on their own ground is futile and suicidal.