Assault Rifle

The MA5B Individual Combat Weapon System (MA5B ICWS or MA5B Assault Rifle) was a standard-issue service rifle of the United Nations Space Command. It is a fully-automatic infantry rifle that uses a bullpup configuration. The MA5B was widely used from in the early to mid-2500's and supplemented various other small arms, such as the BR55 Battle Rifle. In 2552, this rifle was replaced by a more accurate variant of the MA5 family, that saw action during the final battles of the Human-Covenant War.

Design Details

The MA5B Assault Rifle is a bullpup (magazine behind trigger) fully-automatic rifle. Its magazine can completely fit inside the weapon; therefore, it must be double, triple, or even quadruple-stacked to carry 60 rounds of 7.62mm.

The weapon houses a compass-like ring and a display that shows the remaining number of rounds in the current magazine. It was used by Marines in Halo: Combat Evolved. Even though its use didn't continue in the sequel Halo 2, the weapon remained in solid infantry use in the background of the Halo Universe until the introduction of the MA5C. This rifle was the basic and most widely used rifle by the UNSC forces until the introduction of the newer and more accurate MA5C Rifle.

Ammunition

The MA5B Assault Rifle uses M118 7.62x51mm Armor Piercing, Full Metal Jacket Rounds. These rounds are designed to pierce human-made armor and unfortunately, perform poorly against the Covenant. The rounds are reasonably large, and are surrounded by a molded jacket of either steel or titanium, which enhances its armor-piercing capabilities. The round might also have a carbide or similar hardened tip, and might also be coated in copper or another metal over the steel, titanium, etc. shell.

However, despite these advanced rounds, the damage done by them is very limited, made even more so by the Assault Rifle's low accuracy at long ranges. Although performing poorly against Covenant shields, the AP-FMJ round can easily penetrate the lightly armored Grunts and Jackals and finish unshielded Elites very quickly. The AP-FMJ round is especially effective against all manners of Flood, an advantage against these unarmored monsters. This is somewhat paradoxical, since the AP FMJ round is traditionally less effective against flesh and unarmored targets due to its tendency to overpenetrate.

Accuracy

The most pressing negative aspect of the MA5B is it's inconsistent accuracy. Firing the weapon in short bursts will allow much higher accuracy as opposed to holding down the trigger. One round fired may produce a perfect bulls-eye (then again it may not), but the next may fly out of the targeting reticule circle and slam into the dirt a dozen meters from the same target.

This has lead to the belief that the rifle is very incapable of hitting targets greater than close-range, but this is untrue. If one is to fire bursts at an enemy at even surprisingly long-ranges, one can effectively wound or kill that foe by firing in single shots or bursts.

Unfortunately, this lack of consistent accuracy, has tarnished the image of the rifle, and the problem has kept the MA5B out of the hands of those who prefer less spontaneous weapons. Below are several instances that better describe the niche the MA5B plays on the battlefield, as well as describe situations when another weapon would be preferable. It also seems that if you strafe back and forth the accuracy drops a bit more, which means that when used against Hunters you're less likely to hit your mark when he uses his armor shield.

In the novels, the MA5B tends to be far more reliable, even accurate, in comparison to its game counterpart. Spartan IIs demonstrated the lethality of the weapon system throughout their campaign against the Covenant, often times hitting the mark with more accurate bursts of fire over full-auto -a trait that carries over to the game.

Advantages

The MA5B is a very solid and reliable weapon. When fired in short bursts, or even single shots, there is a significant increase in accuracy, although at medium to long range it becomes quite inaccurate. The assault rifle is effective at killing all types of opponents(especially when they are in larger groups) at short-to-medium range This includes Covenant Grunts, Jackals, Elites, and all varieties of Flood. The high rate of fire also disrupts the Camouflage on Stealth Elites and makes it very easy to center on them for a quick finish. Also, if needed, the high rate of fire and the high ammunition capacity allows players to spray the whole area with suppression fire. The rifle also has one of the fastest melee attacks in the Halo game, second only to the plasma pistol. It is also capable of taking down Banshees using less than one magazine.

As an added bonus, the gun gives the player an at-a-glance ammo count on its digital readout, as well as an arrow pointing toward the gas giant Threshold which serves as an arbitrary "north" due to the lack of a magnetic north or south. In the hands of someone who can control their trigger finger, the MA5B becomes a deadly weapon. It is extremely useful for bringing down huge numbers of Infection Forms, because the Shotgun is "wasted" and will quickly run out of ammunition if used as such. The MA5B is a good all around weapon in a tight situation.

At point blank range in standard multiplayer or Campaign mode, the MA5B is without equal, even capable of taking down a shotgun user. When used on maps such as Battle Creek in relative close quarters it is probably even preferable to Shotguns. When used on full automatic with a reasonable amount of timing, it is an excellent method of taking down Elites, even on Legendary.

This weapon is recommended to use against the Flood, in combination with the Shotgun for the utmost success. Its final advantage is that its ammunition is quite plentiful, single player and multi-player, which means you'll rarely have to scrounge for an extra magazine during a fight.

Disadvantages

The Assault Rifle has one main disadvantage. It is grossly inaccurate when fired at a range of more than 40 meters. At that range, enemies may not be hit by any bullets at all, or they will be hit by a few bullets and a single shot out of the Assault Rifle isn't very powerful even when firing it in full automatic (only taking up 10 points of damage, unless the target in question is an Elite, in which case the MA5B only does seven damage when the Elite is shielded). The Assault Rifle performs poorly against shields unless firing on full automatic at close ranges without giving Elites time to recharge. The assault rifle is almost useless against Major Elites and using it against Zealots with energy swords is almost suicide, because of their speed and stronger energy shields. Later in the game, it is almost completely overshadowed by the Shotgun, especially when dealing with hordes of the Flood but is recommended in combination with the Shotgun; though in Multiplayer this is less apparent, as the amount of ammo available for the Shotgun is much less than for the Assault Rifle. In comparison to modern assault rifles it can be more related to an over sized sub machine gun, as it is seriously underpowered and lacks the ability to select a fire mode (burst, semi-automatic, etc). Also when firing in full auto, you can run out of ammo fairly quickly with a 60 round magazine.