The rifle was developed by Starfleet Security for use in dampening fields or radiogenic environments where conventional energy weapons would be useless. It was designed to fire a chemically propelled tritanium bullet; in this, it was functionally very similar or perhaps identical to gunpowder arms. A working prototype of the weapon was developed, but Starfleet opted not to produce the weapon after the advent of the regenerative phaser. The TR-116 could be operated by both right and left-handed shooters.