Because of its atypical machinations, the Empire never standardized the weapon for mass production, nor awarded a secure contract to BlasTech for it. The Alliance received a few hundred of these rifles from a smuggler, and then, at the prompting of its soldiers, made every effort to acquire more of them in raids and underhanded deals. The rangefinder dramatically increased accuracy, while the overcharger put a bit of added punch to each shot. The two most devastating features of this weapon are the integrated widevision rangefinder and the galvan circuitry overcharger.
Army camp stories told of A280's blowing Stormtroopers in half. The sledgehammer of rifles, the A280 packs an enormous punch into a superbly constructed frame. But the most outstanding trait is its power it's reputed to be the best armor-piercing battle rifle in the galaxy. What it has going for it, though, is range, accuracy, and all-round ruggednes. Not the best choice for the 'spray and pray' approach. Its rate of fire is a little slower than most military blaster rifles, meaning that it's probably One of the beloved weapons of the Rebellion, the BlasTech A280 heavy blaster rifle is almost as infamous as the ubiquitous E-11.
