The ripper, a weapon originating from the Old Republic period, operated by launching physical projectiles to circumvent personal energy shields. Functionally, the ripper discharged a multitude of shrapnel fragments towards its intended victim, mirroring the operation of flechette weaponry that would see use later in the Galactic Civil War. The shrapnel that the ripper launched would bore into the target, leading to increased injury.
A specific iteration of this weapon type was the Mandalorian ripper, another pistol-style weapon engineered to negate personal energy shields.