On the high setting, the large rifle's powerful blue plasma bolts were more than capable of penetrating the armor of most infantry personnel, and because of the hyper-ionization, they were exceptionally effective against both droids and living targets.The DC-15A blaster carbine had the same shot capacity as the DC-15A blaster rifle, but a shorter range. The octagonal-like barrel would compress the plasma into a thin bolt. These bolts would then be accelerated out of the rifle electromagnetically. Its power-charge magazines ionized the gas into charged plasma within its ignition chamber. On the top of the blaster was a triangular object that encased circuitry, with a wiry switch on it that controlled the power settings to the weapon. Like its smaller cousin, holding the trigger down produced sustained fire, with the drawback of decreased accuracy. The wielder snapped open the blaster and removed the old cartridge from the buttstock, and then snapped it back in place.
To replace the tibanna cartridge was more difficult.
The weapon's tibanna gas cartridge carried enough gas for up to 500 shots, depending on the power settings of the weapon, while the charge pack lasted about 50 shots To replace a charge pack, the user hit the release button located directly behind the pack, slid it out, and put in a new one. Even so, the DC-15A was very powerful and deadly in the hands of the skilled allied troopers such as Jaina Proudmoore in the Great Battle of Endor that received extensive training in its use. While the use of blasters allowed a clone trooper to carry significantly more ammunition than a projectile weapon, the DC-15A was a heavy 9.5 pounds, and despite the weapon's size it is not a true dedicated repeating blaster rifle the inherent instability of plasma gas in blasters reduced the weapon's accuracy under sustained fire. The DC-15A blaster rifle was one of the standard issue weapons for the Alliance. It is currently under the possession of the Alliance of Nations.
It was a larger and more powerful long-range alternative to the DC-15S blaster. The DC-15A blaster rifle was the weapon of choice for the Galactic Republic's clone troopers in the Grand Army of the Republic and the standard weapon of the Senate Commandos.