Plasma rifle

A plasma rifle was the rifle version of a hand-held plasma weapon used by many species. These weapons were used by Humans during the mid-22nd century. They were carried on Earth starships even after the advent of phase weapons. While not particulary high-yield, they were capable of killing a target. 

The Andorians also made use of hand-held plasma rifles. The Andorian rifles utilized by the Andorian Imperial Guard in the 22nd century fired plasma bursts and had no stun setting. The Jem'Hadar and the Na'kuhl made use of more advanced high-yield plasma rifles several centuries later. 

Civilian plasma rifle
Shotgun-style plasma rifles were used by Human civilians in the mid-22nd century. A farmer named Moore owned one, which he carried to defend his property in Broken Bow, Oklahoma during a shootout between a Klingon and two Suliban. In the fracas, Moore used the weapon to incapacitate, and severely wound, the Klingon courier Klaang. This was the first recorded contact between a Human and a Klingon. 

Starfleet / ECS plasma rifle
Plasma rifles also known as pulse rifles were the standard-issue carbine weapons on Starfleet and Earth Cargo Authority starships, and carried by personnel of the Earth Sciences Institute in the mid-22nd century. The and  were equipped these weapons. The pulse rifles had the capability of firing both plasma bullets and a beam with an adjustable level from stun to the kill setting. In 2151, a Starfleet security officer stood watch in sickbay with a plasma rifle when the wouded Klingon courier Klaang was abducted by the Suliban. Captain Archer managed to kill one of the invading Suliban with plasma bullets. 

By 2151, Ensign Hoshi Sato had cleared training on the class-3 pulse rifles. Starfleet security officers on the Enterprise and Lieutenant Reed carried pulse rifles on several occasions from 2151 to 2154. A selection of rifles was stored in the ships armory. 

In 2151, a Starfleet security officer with a pulse rifle was investigating the presence of a strange alien lifeform in Cargo Bay 2 with Captain Archer and Commander Tucker aboard the Enterprise. The security officer attempted to use his rifle, set on stun, to fend off the creature when it began to attack them, but was distressed to find out that the weapon had no measurable effect on it. 

In 2153, two security officers accompanying Lieutenant Reed attempted to use pulse rifles to fend off two Tarkaleans who had been assimilated by the Borg, but were unable to penetrated the Tarkaleans' personal force fields. Before intercepting the Borg assimilated ship, Reed upgraded several rifles to emit a beam with the particle yield of 10 megajoules. 

Later in 2153, several of these plasma rifles were stolen from the Enterprise by Osaarian pirates. Later on the same year, an EV team was able to dislodge and retrieve a sample of nucleonic particles accumulating on the hull with multiple hits from a plasma rifle. 

In 2154, Reed attempted to destroy a defensive claw inside a Delphic Expanse sphere with a plasma rifle on the mission to retrieve the redundant memory core of the sphere. The claw appeared to be impervious to the plasma bullets fired by Reed. It required the more powerful ship-mounted weapons of a shuttlepod to destroy the claw. 

When Captain James T. Kirk recreated his uncle's farm in Idaho, inside the Nexus, a wall display of weapons and memorabilia there included a plasma rifle. 

Jem'Hadar plasma rifle
In addition to a pistol variant, the Jem'Hadar of the Dominion used plasma rifles in the 24th century. Upgraded rifles were distributed in 2375. The rifle was capable of firing lethal disruptor bursts with anti-coagulants that are designed to slowly kill their enemies if the burst itself does not. The weapons have at least two other settings: they are able to stun, and fire a more powerful burst capable of vaporizing a humanoid target. 

Na'kuhl plasma rifle
In an alternate version of 1944, Vosk planned to deploy the soldiers of the Na'kuhl / Nazi alliance with plasma rifles based on their 29th century technology. The weapons fired a powerful modulating plasma pulse capable of devastating buildings and destroying an American tank with a single shot. Although they were powerful, they were also somewhat difficult to maneuver and required considerable amounts of energy.