The planet Venus, with its savage natives and large, aggressive wildlife, is the ultimate testing ground for the guide and big game hunter. The conditions call for heavy armament and sufficient ammunition; but the weather, fungii and other pests will take their toll on an explorer's weaponry (and body).

The perpetual clouds and mists of Venus, and the nearly-constant rainfall, hamper visibility greatly ... even a mighty dinosaur might not be visible a hundred yards [50" on the hex map] away. Periods of even lower visibility are common; and at night, the clouds and lack of a moon make any kind of distant vision impossible. Thus, long-range weapons are normally considered un-needed, except in the Highlands.

The metal parts of guns must be kept well-oiled, and brass cartridges should preferably be also kept in oil or grease until just before their use. Most wooden gunstocks are warped and cracked by the extreme heat and humidity, if they are not consumed by fungii and other pests. Preservatives such as creosote may be forced into the wood under pressure; and like many other items of equipment, gunstocks should be wiped down with carbolic acid frequently. Wooden pistol grips and other small parts can be replaced with hard rubber or gutta-percha versions; for larger guns, stocks of preservative-soaked yew, teak, molave, black locust, and swamp cypress have proven reasonably durable and pest-repellent.

Pistols

The Webley Mark 3 has much to recommend it: good damage, and rapid fire. The Smith and Wesson 'Russian' revolver is slightly more powerful, but is alas not 'double action' and so cannot be fired rapidly without careful training. Both can be loaded quickly, and can be kept clean easily -- which cannot be said for the new self-loading pistols.

Rifles

Persons of even slight stature might find the Winchester Model 1876 in 45-75 Winchester calibre a useful tool against any but the largest opponents; its magazine holds 8 cartridges. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police certainly find them useful in 'getting their man'! The Winchester Model 1886 is also useful, and is slightly more accurate -- and expensive.

Among the bolt-action rifles, the Remington-Lee Sporter might be considered for being both hard-hitting and easily-reloaded: the manufacturer offers additional five round detachable magazines at a cost of a few shillings each; these might be carried about in a pouch by the gunner, to be quickly exchanged with the empty magazine in the weapon. The adventurer choosing the Mauser Gewehr 1888, also known as the 'Kommission-Gewehr', cannot fail to be pleased by its accuracy, power, and speed of reloading (using en bloc clips, which are simply pushed into the action along with the five rounds which they contain). This weapon, and the Mauser Heavy Sport Rifle, also have the advantage of being easily re-supplied with ammunition on German-dominated Venus.

For heavy game, the heaviest double or cape gun that can be managed by the adventurer is recommended. Even the 4 bore is not too much gun for a charging v. tyrannosaurus rex.

Other Weapons

The use of 'howdah' pistols is most often sadly necessary when other firearms have failed, by want of accuracy skill cartridges or power, to bring down some onrushing beast intent on viewing and possibly digesting an adventurers most private and vital organs. Except for the Lancaster Howdah in .577 Boxer calibre, few persons can effectively wield these weapons.

German explorers are fond of the Drilling or Vierling guns, versatile but heavy weapons.