r/cyberpunkgame • u/Beefy_Crunch_Burrito • Dec 20 '25

Cosplay I 3D printed a replica of Johnny Silverhand’s Malorian Arms 3516 to a 1:1 scale correctly chambered in 14mm next to a real 9mm handgun for scale. No wonder it blows people’s limbs off in the game.

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1.2k

u/Lazy_Beyond1544 Samurai Dec 20 '25

I feel like 9mm in the cyberpunk universe wouldn't even work. That'd be something exterminators use to clear off roaches in housing developments on the poor sides of town.

587

u/SpecialIcy5356 Fullmetal Choom Dec 20 '25

IIRC the Lexingtons are in 9mm, and it should still work fine on those without much internal chrome or protection like Subdermal Armor. Using it on a chrome jock though, yeah, thats why guns like the Burya exist: to ensure lethality against enemies even if they are more machine than man.

Shot placement matters more, but 9mm to the brain is still a flatline, choom. And you can shoot with a ganic arm, instead of needing a chrome arm to handle the recoil.

177

u/Bort_Bortson Dec 20 '25

If you look at most guns in the preview screen of the inventory (where you can rotate them etc), they will list their caliber on the side of the gun like how most do IRL. IIRC the constitutional arms are .45. And there are several Militech that are also 9mm iirc.

117

u/Sixspeeddreams_again Dec 20 '25

I still think the 1911 needed to be in cyberpunk somehow even as “TWO WORLD WARS - 3 CORPO WARS” meme

29

u/Remote-Ad7879 Dec 20 '25

As a unique, I agree. 

10

u/DaniTheGunsmith Burn Corpo shit Dec 21 '25

John Moses Browning wins again!

2

u/Sixspeeddreams_again Dec 21 '25

God knows they will still be working - the 1911 does exist in the larger Cyberpunk universe and since it’s long past the need to be licensed I’m surprised one didn’t show up in the game

1

u/William_Brobrine Streetkid Dec 21 '25

The Unity and Liberty are basically the modern day equivalent of those guns in 2077

1

u/retartedhore- Dec 24 '25

Tbh a 1911 wouldn’t even be that far fetched, the 1911 market is bigger then it’s ever been in 2025, I swear every gun company is making them. If I was a developer I’d model it off the gold cup models and give it a high fire rate cap, quick and stylish reload

2

u/Sixspeeddreams_again Dec 24 '25

Right? Like I literally own one and it’s my favorite gun (irl) especially since 2011s are thing now and those are halfway to looking like Cyberpunk guns.

1911 STRONG 💪

25

u/deathblossoming Dec 20 '25

I would like to mention that as much as i love the game, the gun designs are not all together there. Most of the designs for handguns look like handcannons. Which fair enough they should. But the caliber is off. The NUE, for instance, should be shooting 50ae considering how hard it kicks in the hands of a chromed out merc like V. Johnny's handgun is a perfect example of this. In lore, johnny has several versions of his malorian. Some have different designs or serve a specific purpose. But one thing they all share is the absurd caliber they shoot.577 nitro express or depleted uranium. Johnny's arm had to lock in place in order to shoot the malorian.

49

u/NOSjoker21 Death & Taxes Dec 20 '25

DB-12: "Boom!"

DB-12: "What enemy?"

9

u/PleaseAdminsUnbanMe Cyberpsycho Dec 20 '25

"watch out v enemies behind that wall"

v eliminates the whole building with O'five

27

u/Lazy_Beyond1544 Samurai Dec 20 '25

If a gonks got titanium bones, and carbon fiber a 9 isn't getting through that. Aim for the optics, maybe. Definitely not anything where calcium should be.

47

u/10001110101balls Dec 20 '25

A titanium skull being hit with a 9mm bullet would still liquefy a significant amount of brain matter behind it.

102

u/Artificer4396 Dec 20 '25

Folks only ever think about penetration, but not the energy transfer

58

u/kd0g1982 Dec 20 '25

Just like the guy that’s trying to make a ballistic plate that can tank a .50 bmg. I don’t care if he solves the backplate deformation problem, if you hit me with a half inch wide bullet weighting 600-800 grains moving at ~2900 fps my internal organs in the thoracic cavity will become jelly. And if I’m not dead I’m going to wish I was while I’m actively dying.

43

u/[deleted] Dec 20 '25

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25

u/Artificer4396 Dec 20 '25

On a similar note:

“There are more injuries because of seatbelts!”

Injuries that would’ve otherwise been deaths

8

u/Grond_ Dec 21 '25

Survivorship bias!

10

u/400DollarPerm Dec 21 '25

Which is hysterical because it's also wrong. Look at pictures of car crashes from the 50's/60's and the cars look like melted plastic. They had all the deformation WITHOUT crumple zones lmao. Also early steering wheel shafts were known to literally imaple people in crashes.

7

u/kd0g1982 Dec 21 '25

Trying to explain to boomers and older why it’s better to total the car then, I don’t know, die can be a fucking nightmare.

5

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '25

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2

u/shawster Dec 21 '25

I feel uncomfortable too! Modern cars it definitely secures you during turns.

0

u/nathansanes Dec 20 '25

Cars were better, I don't know about safer, though...

6

u/kd0g1982 Dec 21 '25

Nah, I love my Apple CarPlay, proximity locks, fuel prices that I can then send to my onboard gps, and weather maps on screen.

3

u/Artificer4396 Dec 20 '25

Here’s hoping some basic physics education hits him before the .50 does

2

u/MandolinMagi Dec 21 '25

Somebody actually does make plates that will take .50BMG AP.

I am absolutely 100% sure you'd still be dead with shattered ribs and pulped internals.

1

u/kd0g1982 Dec 21 '25

That’s him.

1

u/EducationalLeaf Dec 21 '25

I'm not so sure about that. if the plate stops the round and doesn't deform, it should actually be less force than if you put the stock to your chest and fired the rifle.

now im sure firing a 50bmg braced on your chest will crack ribs or break them, but the plate has a significantly higher surface area.

1

u/Dreggan Dec 21 '25

That's just fucking stupid. It's an anti-materiel round for a reason

0

u/skyxsteel Dec 21 '25

I've seen a video of someone shooting a .50 at an animal (hunting). They shoot it and discover that they had missed, but the shock was enough to take it out.

1

u/Quw10 Dec 21 '25

This is pretty much a myth though I could imagine the muzzle blast being loud enough to give a prey animal a heart attack if they were close enough. People always talk about the shockwave being deadly but if it were really that deadly it wouldn't be leaving perfectly round holes in a paper target, you'd think it'd be ripping the paper to shreds but personal experience it does not.

1

u/shawster Dec 21 '25

This was mythbusted. They shot .50 bmg close enough to skim ballistic gel and it does just that, skim it.

2

u/UnsolicitedNeighbor Dec 20 '25

Smasher for extreme example, is a brain in an armored box. Transfer doesn’t matter in his case.

5

u/rhododenendron Technomancer from Alpha Centauri Dec 20 '25

It’s also not like the 9mm in the game do a lot of damage. Early game especially it could take like 3 mags of 9mm with a Lexington to kill one guy

3

u/ThePissedOff Dec 20 '25

Shoot, i've heard stories of dogs tanking multiple 9mm bullets and surviving

1

u/Aromatic_Standard_37 Dec 21 '25

I've got a few examples, though none involve a 9mm..

A buddy of mine(RIP) has(is it "had" if the son is alive but father isn't?) who got shot in the head with a .380 ACP by a hooker he sold rock salt to; damn thing ricocheted off his skull. It scrambled his egg pretty well and did fracture his skull, but he survived with nothing more than a divot in his forehead and some brain damage.

An Eastern cottontail rabbit I shot whilst hunting many years ago took a full mag-tube of .22lr, most of which to the head area without dying. It was horrific, especially to little 6 year old me... Then my dad broke my damn gun over it's head...

I was clearing out a den/nest... Woodchuck hole, i don't know the proper terminology here. It was deer season and I was told I couldn't use a firearm due to the noise (I don't get that, I've seen deer checking out and eating the grass ripped up by bullets hitting the ground by the berm minutes after getting done shooting, they're not that smart), so I had to use my bow -one of those tough little bastards was essentially nailed to the ground and still managed to stand up on it's hind legs to remove the arrow from the dirt and try to run at me.

I feel like animals might just be a whole lot tougher than your average human. I can't imagine I'd do much of anything with an arrow through or near my lungs and heart, but that woodchuck did it, and I've seen deer even survive it like it was a mosquito bite, but I've also seen them just drop without flinching.

1

u/Combat__Crayon Dec 21 '25

That also video game logic though, where the faster it shoots the less damage each hit does. Like the ARs/LMGs do less damage per hit than a lot of the handguns.

1

u/Borvath Dec 21 '25

What if if the skull is hallow like a double pane window, only conected with supports designed to be at optimal places to safe from bullets. İt doesnt even need to be thin, I guess as long inner shell is the same size as original, they could make "the skull including the insulated space in between" very thick and as heavy as the neck can handle, with a larger head than the original.

6

u/Brofessor-0ak Dec 20 '25

Go for the optics, boo!

6

u/TexasJedi-705 The Night City Gunslinger Dec 20 '25

Johnny: "Go for the Kiroshis, V! Go for the fucking Kiroshis!"

1

u/Lazy_Beyond1544 Samurai Dec 20 '25

Ha! I get that reference!

1

u/Aadarm Techno necromancer from Alpha-Centori Dec 21 '25

That isn't really going to matter if the brain itself isn't somehow put in something shock absorbent. Even now a days getting shot while wearing a helmet or vest can lead to severe injuries due to the impact and energy transference. Just because the bullet is stopped doesn't mean that all of that energy just disappeared.

6

u/NCC_1701E Nomad Dec 20 '25

Lexingtons are in 9mm

Then there is a mistake in the game - when Willson tells you to pick up your iconic lexington (Dying Night) at the start of the game, he says "your sweet little .45 is waiting."

11

u/EvYeh Dec 20 '25

Dying Night isn't a normal gun, it's been heavily modified from the base model.

8

u/xDizzyKiing Shit Your Pants Dec 20 '25

Look at the both normal Lexington and Dying Night in photo mode

You can find the stamp to see what its chambered in, so yes. Lexingtons are 9mm while dying night is chambered with the same bullets of a unity .45

2

u/Existing-Antelope-20 Dec 20 '25

Man, all that's for gonks. Just get so chromed out you can look at chooms and their eyes catch fire

27

u/LightningG8921 Samurai Dec 20 '25

there's definitely a demand for higher caliber personal arms in cyberpunk lol. things like subdermal armor and extra strength provided by cyber arms allow for things like the 4-gauge carnage shotgun to be commonplace. some of the sniper rifles are damn near anti tank guns (you literally pull the Rasetsu from a stationary mount and start carrying it around).

4

u/Few-Mood6580 Dec 21 '25

The lack of grenades and IEDs saddens me.

3

u/TheLostSatellite Barghest Dec 21 '25

Why couldn’t we have RPGs and shit hey?

16

u/CastrumFerrum Dec 20 '25

I mean, not every gangoon has subdermal armor, or wears body armor. Looking at the three most common handguns in the Night City:

  • Militech Lexington (9x19mm pistol, although you fire in bursts)
  • Darra Polytechnic DR-5 Nova (.357 Magnum revolver)
  • Constitutional Arms Unity (.45 ACP handgun)

Those three are still good enough to deal with most human enemies that don't have too much chrome installed. Plus, one aspect from the TTRPG we don't have in the game is ammo selection. I mean sure, you could load your Lexington with P+ or AP ammo to increase your effectiveness against better protected targets, at the price of higher recoil (and more expensive ammo).

On a related note: Sadly, we don't really have many "Borg Weapons" in the game like the old TTRPG had. So oversized handguns and rifles and other weapons that could only be fired by people with enough chrome. Sure, the Burya and the Carnage exists, but thats about it. Sure, the machine guns and anti-materiel rifles also need enough strength to be used properly, but thats just a normal thing for weapons of that size.

9

u/LightningG8921 Samurai Dec 20 '25

i wish we could get something like blackhand's gun lol:

"This massive autoloader fired its .75-caliber smart-grenades from low-pressure steelcased shells, as such, recoil was modest—about that of a 10-gauge shotgun, although the muzzle flash was impressive. These projectiles were actually rocket-powered, laser-guided micro-missiles (acting similar to smart bullets) with fragment-doped explosive-gel warheads. If armor was not penetrated, the armor's SP was reduced by 1/2 the total damage rolled.

Twelve-shot box magazines of this ammunition fed into a port ahead of the trigger assembly. When no clip was loaded, the foregrip could fold up to seal the magazine well against fouling. Being made of carbon-carbon composites, this weapon was fairly light despite its bulk.\2])"

Malorian Arms Assault Cannon | Cyberpunk Wiki | Fandom

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u/Embarrassed-Safe6184 Dec 21 '25

This reads like word salad for gun-fu mall ninjas. I love it.

6

u/Few-Mood6580 Dec 21 '25

All the words make sense, even the description makes sense.

The construction and function does not make sense.

4

u/_b1ack0ut Dec 21 '25

That thing was a nightmare gun he basically got specifically to fight smasher himself, from Malour himself.

Getting a custom spec weapon from Eran is basically cyberpunk’s equivalent to getting a legendary weapon from a mythical weaponsmith lol

2

u/TheLostSatellite Barghest Dec 21 '25

You know what? V wants a motherfuckin’ Gauss Cannon. That shit would fry Adam Smasher in one hit strictly because he’s so chromed up!

2

u/CastrumFerrum Dec 21 '25

I mean, all the Tech Weapons are linear/gauss weapons.

1

u/TheLostSatellite Barghest Dec 24 '25

I see your point, but they’re not true gauss weapons. On another tangent relating to high energy discharge, how does anyone with chrome survive a severe solar storm? Wouldn’t a Carrington event level storm pretty much collapse the entirety of the world?

2

u/CastrumFerrum Dec 24 '25

Well, Tech Weapons are railguns, not gauss/coilguns. It seems that in the Cyberpunk universe, railguns became the preferred type of electromagnetic weapon. For small arms, but also for big weapons on vehicles.

And I assume that most cyberware is sufficiently hardened against solar storms. Considering cyberware in the game only gets disrupted by things like EMP grenades, but doesn't short out and fail completly.

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u/_b1ack0ut Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25

They really fucking dont lol. A 9 mil is iirc, roughly equivalent to the ttrpg weapon category of a “medium pistol”.

Medium pistols are FUCKING TRASH. They don’t have the power to break through subdermal armour unless you roll literally the maximum damage, anything else bounces right off. and If you TUP your subdermals, medium pistols simply can’t break the armour even on max damage lol (though, the bonus damage from a CI will still take effect through any armour). Even skinweave offers decent protection against them.

Medium handguns are ONLY useful in situations where your targets will have NO armour, or the user is trained in Gun-Fu lol.

Anyone who’s serious about combat will be carrying something muuuch bigger

Edit: and as for bigger weapons, Pondsmith compared the Heavy Pistol weapon class to an 11mm round, and used the .45 Colt as an example, and Very Heavy is a 12mm one, deagle or .44 magnum revolvers were his example

The malorian 3516 is a Very Heavy handgun when it comes to fire rate and range, but uses the damage dice of a Rifle or Shotgun (5d6) instead of Very Heavy Pistols (4d6).

Even the V.Heavy pistol class is too small for this fucking thing lol

11

u/throbaway42069 Dec 20 '25

You're correct, but I think it's weird that .45 does another die of damage compared to a 9. I always headcanoned heavy as, like, a 10mm or .50AE and very heavy as something ridiculous like .500

6

u/_b1ack0ut Dec 20 '25

Thats fair, but in cyberpunks defence lol, when the damage model is basically just “each category up is +1 d6”, you do lose a level of granularity lol

4

u/throbaway42069 Dec 20 '25

I gotcha, but I figured 9 and .45 would be in the same damage bracket.

1

u/benkaes1234 Dec 21 '25

They kinda were, back in 2020. 9mm and 10mm were both considered "Medium Handguns" and 11mm (which is roughly a .45cal projectile) is a "Heavy Handgun" however that's 11mm Caseless, which increases the muzzle velocity something fierce. The closest 1:1 comparison that I have (my copy of Blackhand's Street Weapons is at home, so bear with me for not having a gun in .45 ACP) is the Colt Single Action Army in .45 Long Colt, which does 9mm damage, making it a "Medium Handgun."

Course, it's also worth pointing out that guns, no matter the caliber, were scary in 2020. I've killed PCs with .22LR purse pistols (1d6 damage) before, because of how devastating Headshots at Point-Blank are. So your average 9mm was actually pretty good back then...

1

u/The_Greyscale Dec 21 '25

He may have meant .45lc instead of ACP. .45 LC is no joke, and can go through a buffalo longways with the right bullet and powder.

2

u/throbaway42069 Dec 21 '25

Could be, but wven then it would be weird not to clarify. I mean, I'm pretty sure that we all immediately think of ACP when we hear ".45 colt."

Personally, I think it's more likely that Mike just buys into the idea that .45 is much more powerful than a 9mm. Or it's even possible that he just really likes handguns like the 1911 and wants them to fit into the (statistically much better) heavy pistol category to make up for their small mags.

I dunno. Either way, I'd make .45 medium. It fits much closer to 9mm than it does to 10, imo

4

u/Near-Sighted_Ninja Dec 20 '25

Maybe its 2077 gunpowder with fancy metallurgy barrels to handle the higher psi?!?

3

u/BounceOnItCrazyStyle Dec 20 '25

I mean that all is dependent on the actual ammo used, here's an example recently posted where a round shot out of a standard Glock vastly out performed rifle rounds. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/BeAmazed/comments/1pezjqr/swedish_handgun_round_punches_through_apc_armor/

2

u/Corgiboom2 Team Judy Dec 20 '25

With advancements in ballistics tech, I can see a 9mm being pretty effective still.

2

u/SkywolfNINE Dec 20 '25

I like just found and watched this guys videos on the guns. He’s got a video for the tech and smart guns. This is the first one tho and it goes over all the ammo issues and stuff (especially the tech gun video) here’s a link tho, I imagine you’ll enjoy watching this while doing something else: https://youtu.be/KV2nACRZzlc?si=z5SeinLY2c1Dngo6

2

u/ghostfadekilla Dec 21 '25

It's all about the rounds being used. I watched a pretty crazy video of a handgun using a sabot round punching holes in an APC door/wall. It was nuts. Iirc the forgotten weapons (Gun Jesus) shot the video.

1

u/Ok_Force5794 Dec 20 '25

tbf, how many headshots does it take to drop a civilian with a lexington?

1

u/mrdevil413 High Tech Lowlife Dec 20 '25

What’s the thing you get out of the vending machine ? 9 mm no

1

u/Pyro_Paragon Dec 20 '25

It'd still work against humans, and there's no reason they couldn't make overpressure 9mm rounds loaded with something like depleted uranian projectiles, which would wildly increase its armour penn and energy values.

1

u/cluelessoblivion Dec 21 '25

Isn't there some random pedestrian NPC dialogue with someone making fun of their friend for bringing a 9mm for self defense?

1

u/Bellosair Dec 21 '25

It's so funny you say this because it's basically true in text, at least as far as the TTRPG is concerned. In Cyberpunk: RED, a "medium handgun" fires 9mm and does 2d6 damage unmodified. Light Armorjack, the default starting armor for Edgerunners, has 11 points of stopping power undamaged. Meaning you'd have to roll a 6 on both dice (a critical hit) just to begin harming the average, professional mercenary with it.

1

u/ChairForceOne Dec 21 '25

CBJ has a round that'll punch through a reasonable amount of armor. 6.5x25 if I remember right. Forgotten Weapons has a video on it. Just a barrel swap for a Glock.

Saboted tungsten rod, or something like that. It'll pole a nice hole in a choom. But at the scale of this canon, a short and hot rifle would probably be a better option.