Manufactured by members of the Dressellian or Bothan species, the Dressellian Projectile Rifle was made of the planet Dressel's native woods along with easily smelted metals. The slugthrower rifle was medium-sized, weighed four kilograms, and cost 300 credits. Capable of firing to a range of 200 meters, the rifle had a clip of twelve piercing shots and a multifire capability. For the rifle's shells, replacement twelve-round clips cost five credits each.
The rifle included a long barrel with a scope, a cartridge loader, trigger, large stock, and a carry strap. Colored brown, the weapon's scope, strap, cartridge loader, and trigger were black. The rifle also had a black ring above the strap as well as between the barrel and scope. It was a crude weapon that was normally hand-built with primitive tools. Typical of projectile weapons built by native species, the Dressellian Projectile Rifle was similar to the Tusken Raider species' Tusken Cycler rifles.
A Dressellian serving the Alliance to Restore the Republic carrying a Dressellian Projectile Rifle
During the Dressellian resistance against the Galactic Empire, their projectile rifles were among the weapons used to drive off the Imperial presence on their homeworld. With some of the rifles made by Dressellians, others were smuggled to their world by the Bothan species. The Bothans were able to conceal their involvement, as their aid to the Dressellians was limited to delivering slugthrower rifles. Overall, the Dressellian Projectile Rifle was an excellent example of slugthrower rifles produced by low-technology societies.
By 4 ABY, several Dressellians joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic and participated in the Battle of Endor. The former Dressellian resistance fighter Orrimaarko participated in the Battle of Endor, using their species' Projectile Rifles around that time. The battle ended with an Alliance victory over the Empire.
The Dressellian Projectile Rifle first appeared in Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi, the 1983 third film of the original trilogy. It was held by a Dressellian aboard the MC80 Home One type Star Cruiser Home One, with all of the scenes aboard the cruiser filmed throughout the week of Tuesday, February 16, 1982. In 1997, the rifle was first named as the "Dresselian projectile rifle" in The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology before 2002's Arms & Equipment Guide capitalized it as the "Dresselian Projectile Rifle." 2003's Ultimate Alien Anthology identified it as the Dressellian Projectile Rifle. While the 2011 Star Wars: Head-to-Head Tag Teams once more referred to the weapon as the "Dresselian projectile rifle," and the 2013 Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook repeated the "Dresselian Projectile Rifle" identification, this article treats "Dressellian Projectile Rifle" as the proper name as it matches the species' name's spelling with the double "l."
A Dressellian Projectile Rifle's appearance for the Kenner Star Wars: Return of the Jedi toy line
A number of other inconsistencies exist with the rifle. The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology lists the weapon's maximum range as 300 meters, with an optimum range of 150 meters, while listing it as carrying six shells in its clip. This is contradicted by Arms & Eqipment Guide and Ultimate Alien Anthology, which list the two 200 meter range and twelve-shell statistics that are presented in this article. The rifle's appearance is also inconsistent. While the way this article describes its appearance is matching with the prop's design, Orrimaarko's figure for the 1984 Kenner Products Star Wars: Return of the Jedi toy line showed the entire rifle as brown, and his 2012 Star Wars: The Vintage Collection figure does not include the black ring between the barrel and scope or above the carry strap.
- Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Coloring Book (Max Rebo)
- Star Wars: From Concept to Screen to Collectible
- "Galactic Bazaar: Strange Tales of Collecting Aliens" — Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 3
- "Communiqués" — Star Wars Galaxy Magazine 6
- The Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology
- Star Wars: The Action Figure Archive
- Star Wars Encyclopedia
- "Who Is That Alien?" — Star Wars Kids (1997) 13
- Arms & Equipment Guide
- Ultimate Alien Anthology
- The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia, Vol. II
- "A Long Time Ago.... 1984" — Star Wars Insider 107
- Star Wars: Head-to-Head Tag Teams
- Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook