The entry appears to be discussing the 2 weapons as if they have the same characteristics. This might just be sloppiness, but it's an indication that they produce the same plasma packets. OTOH, a more energetic packet would be harder to confine, so you could end up with effective ranges close enough to cover with the one discussion.
Weird Harold wrote:darrell wrote:Based on HoS text, I suspect that the plasma carbine and rifle fire the same power of charge, we still don't know if it's power is more powerful than the plasma cannon on individual shots.
I suspect the relationship is similar to the relationship of M1 Garand and M1 Carbine -- similar actions but different cartridges with greatly dissimilar power. (30-06 and .30 Carbine.) The Plasma Rifle having two power cells vs one for the Plasma Carbine suggests the possibility of twice the power for the same number of shots instead of twice as many shots.