Pulsebow

The Adeline Arms "Pulsebow" is a somewhat niche civilian pulsed maser longarm designed for use in remote environments. The defining trait of the Pulsebow is the detatchable charging crank that, along with a pair of optional heat sink extenders, gives the weapon the distinct appearance of a windlass-driven crossbow.

Mechanics & Inner Workings

The Pulsebow takes its aesthetic cues from traditional firearms, featuring a rifle stock and associated longarm furniture. Often, the furniture is comprised of a wood or faux wood polymer veneer. Where a firearm would have a long barrel to stabilize the trajectory of a bullet, slug, or pellets, the somewhat lumpy-looking barrel of the Pulsebow exists to give extra space over to radially-mounted trios of microwave laser emitters, as well as the prisms and focussing lenses used to collimate their beams. The 'barrel shroud' is actually three layers of heat sink material separated with air channels to allow for convective cooling when the weapon is cranked; special louvers direct air across each emitter in turn before focussing air outwards and forwards, away from the face of the operator.
The defining gimmick of the Pulsebow is the chunky, splined axle that runs through where the reciever would be on a traditional longarm. As the weapon is intentionally designed to be ambidextrous, a crank may be attached to either side of this axle and wound to turn a dynamo, the axis of which runs forward from this assembly via a collection of bevel and reduction gears. Turning this crank also spins an impeller that forces air through the series of channels along the 'barrel' to provide extra cooling for the maser emitters. The Pulsebow does accept a large, detatchable foliated graphene capacitor that can be charged separately, but the crank provides additional endurance in the field where electrical power might be scarce; portable solar panels and wind turbines exist, but if the wind doesn't blow or the sun doesn't shine, the enterprising owner of a Pulsebow can still fill his 'magazine' so long as his cranking arm doesn't tire out. A backup capacitor bank fills the stock, which also contains a small rechargable battery to power special optics packages or cybernetic uplinks.
The Pulsebow fires a series of tightly-focussed microwave laser pulses into a target, flash-boiling any water it finds and causing a steam explosion that disrupts flesh. Because it operates in the microwave spectrum, even a shot that doesn't fully penetrate will prove lethal to small or medium game if it makes contact with part of the central nervious system as a result of sudden disruptions in the electrical signals of nerve cells. Importantly, this also makes the weapon surprisingly potent against inorganic life forms, such as artificial intelligences and their platforms, because the maser induces heat and a sharp current spike in any metal it makes contact with. Nevertheless, shots from a Pulsebow have less penetration and stopping power than conventional projectile weapons, making the Pulsebow more of a deterrent than anything else for large game.
Unfortunately, the fact that the Pulsebow uses masers is also a serious drawback in high humidity environments or where the target can flee to water, as intervening water molecules will absorb the beam's energy. Because all breathable atmospheres include some degree of moisture, this means that the Pulsebow is only effective at a short or intermediate range. Moreover, because they flash any water they contact into steam, shots from the Pulsebow have a tendency to leave visible heat moires - or even vapor trails - in the air, clearly delineating both the shooter and their intended target.

Significance

Pulsebows are popular among small game hunters, farmers, and other outdoorsmen because of their economical nature, but not more popular than projectile weapons of a similar size. Pulsebows can be used to plink at (hopefully matte) targets all day for the price of a few calories expended on cranking, saving the user a mint on ammunition costs. The Pulsebow is generally regarded as a weapon for dads and weekend warriors, but that association, coupled with the baroque image of hand-cranking a futuristic energy weapon, also makes the Pulsebow instantly nostalgic for those of a certain mindset.
Pulsebows are much more popular among the first few generations of space colonists than they are among long-settled populations because laser-based weapons and their assorted power supplies tend to be lighter than the equivalent traditional firearms and their ammunition, making laser weapons the first choice for those expecting to take passage on starships where mass translates directly into fuel costs. Even so, the Pulsebow is a second-tier choice in comparison to weapons like the Modular Pulse Pistol that have the additional advantage of compactness.
The supposed tendency of Pulsebow users to develop their cranking arm muscles more than those of their off hand is the subject of many a meme on weaponry-focussed extranet groups. Usually, these memes allude to similarities between this tendency and certain other behaviors that result in uneven muscle growth. There are also numerous memes involving the interjection of a cranking motion or an exclaimation like "but I (was still) crank(ing)!" juxtaposed with situations of an overly serious nature or where the owner of the Pulsebow might have been paying better attention to his surroundings. Pulsebow owners, for their part, usually take this good-natured ribbing in stride.