Republican one fires rifles (8)
I believe the answer is:
ransacks
'rifles' is the definition.
(I know this)
'republican one fires' is the wordplay.
'republican' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'one' becomes 'an' (an apple is one apple).
'fires' becomes 'sacks' ('sack' can be a synonym of 'fire').
'r'+'an'+'sacks'='RANSACKS'
(Other definitions for ransacks that I've seen before include "Searches thoroughly, causing damage" , "Takes as spoils" , "Pillages or searches roughly" , "Plunders, loots" , "Plunders and pillages" .)