The La Longue Carabine is a unique Cowboy Repeater that comes with a scope and its magazine is reloaded all at once, rather than round by round. In this guide, I’ll go over how to acquire this weapon, compare it to its base variant, and give you a few tips on how to use it.
A few quick tips before I get into the guide.
- Carried by a high-ranking NCR soldier. The La Longue Carabine is carried by a soldier named Corporal Sterling, a high-ranking member of the NCR. This means that, if you have made the NCR hostile on your playthrough, he will attack you (even if you have an NCR disguise).
- Can be acquired without killing anyone. As long as the NCR isn’t hostile towards you, you can acquire this weapon without killing anyone (and thus without losing NCR reputation).
- Made far easier with Stealth Boys. If your Sneak skill is low, consider bringing one, or even two Stealth Boys, as they will greatly increase your likelihood of successfully pickpocketing Corporal Sterling.
- Corporal Sterling will move to Camp Forlorn Hope if you finish one specific part of the Three-Card Bounty quest. Corporal Sterling is a member of the First Recon, which will move to Camp Forlorn Hope after you kill Driver Nephi. If you do this, follow this guide as usual, but go into the Camp Forlorn Hope Command Center instead of Camp McCarran.
Acquisition
To acquire this weapon, make your way to Camp McCarran, located south of the New Vegas Strip.
Once there, go inside through the large metal gate.
When you enter, go forward until you see a tent inhabited by a group of people wearing red berets. That’s the 1st Recon tent.
Once there, look around to find Corporal Sterling. You’ll recognize him by his signature flat-brimmed ranger hat.
Once you find him, find a place where you can sneak without being seen by Sterling, but where you are also within pickpocketing distance away from him. A Stealth Boy can make this much easier.
If you can’t find a good position to pickpocket him from, try waiting for an in-game hour. He should move to a different place.
Once you enter a [HIDDEN] state while close enough to Sterling, make a save and pickpocket his .357 ammunition. If you are caught, simply load that save you took and try again.
Once you succeed, fast-travel to a different location, wait for a few in-game days, then come back.
Once you’re back, he should have his gun in his inventory, rather than equipped. If his weapon is still equipped, fast-travel away and wait for a while longer.
Repeat the steps you took to pickpocket his ammunition but pickpocket his rifle instead.
Keep in mind that your chance of success is far lower while pickpocketing heavy objects like weapons, so it may take a few tries before you successfully pickpocket the gun.
Comparing the La Longue Carabine to the Cowboy Repeater
- Deals slightly more damage (35 damage vs 32 damage).
- Deals slightly more critical hit damage (35 critical damage vs 32 critical damage).
- Has a higher critical hit chance multiplier (1.5x vs 1.25x)
- Has a slightly lower spread (0.05 vs 0.06)
- Fires faster (2.15 attacks/second vs 1.69 attacks/second).
- Takes fewer AP to fire in VATS (24 AP to fire vs 27 AP to fire).
- Has a larger magazine than the base version, but equal to the fully upgraded version (11 rounds vs 7 rounds)
- The weapon’s magazine is reloaded all at once rather than bullet by bullet (3.3-second reload time vs 0.5-second reload time per bullet).
- Comes with a scope.
Usage Tips
- Thanks to its quick fire rate, large magazine, magnified scope, and fast reload, this weapon works as a great all-around weapon from the mid to late game. In the end game, the weapon’s effectiveness is far outclassed by weapons like the Medicine Stick (guide to acquire that weapon here).
- The Handloader perk will allow you to craft the JFP ammo type, which deals 25% more damage and reduces the target’s DT by 3. If you are going to be using this weapon often, JFP ammunition is a must-have.
