The Pulse Rifle’s ‘Other’ Appearance

When playing Alien: Isolation recently (I wouldn’t recommend it, the game is rote and repetitive) I kept an eye out for the M4A1 Pulse Rifle.  It doesn’t appear in the game, at least not in the first few hours.  But it did get me trying to recall if this weapon has ever appeared in anything else that’s canon besides Aliens.  To me, the only thing that is officially canon in that universe is an official movie, those being Alien 1-4 and Prometheus.

I’m sure most had long since spotted it, but for those who haven’t, the rifle does make a second appearance, of course, in Alien3.  Even if you’ve seen it before, it’s very brief.  So below are pictures of the weapon, being used by Weyland/Yutani by what looks like some type of breaching unit.

“Lieutenant, what do those Pulse Rifles fire?“
“10 millimeter explosive-tip caseless. Standard light armor-piercing round, why?“

Another thing to notice about the Pulse Rifle in Alien3 is that the gun report (i.e. the noise it makes) is incorrect.  The gun is described in Aliens as using a caseless propellant, in other words no gun powder.  That’s what gives it its distinctive sound.  But in Alien3 a standard firearm report is heard, as in a noise coming from a gun using gunpowder.  Also, it was not a shotgun round from the under barrel either, the muzzle flash is coming from the top barrel and is automatic anyway.

It would’ve been nice if they had been faithful to the original, but this is probably being a bit too pedantic.  A separate note on canon, the precursor to the Pulse Rifle, the WSR (Weyland Storm Rifle) was included in P.R. packs for the movie Prometheus.  It was basically an older version of the Pulse Rifle, supposedly stored aboard the ship Prometheus, however it did not appear in the movie at all.