- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
For those of you saying "Why keep the pistol, we have the battle rifle now!" The battle rifle as I've seen it in halo behaves much like an M16 with a scope, granted it look slightly like an Aug or maybe an FA-MAS, but anywho. The M16 is accurate, only fires in three round bursts or semi-auto fire(since the A3 upgrades), and uses 5.67mm ammo. Even with all this the Army still issues eather a 9mm or .45 cal. side arm to all its officers, they do this for a reason. The Battle Rifles is an excellent all purpose weapon, but sometimes nothing will beat that CQC heavy hitter you get with a pistol.
Nicley said but the primary reason for a secondary weapon (such as the 9mm beretta) is to save your ass in a firefight when your PRIMARY weapon( m-16 A3) runs out of ammo, jams, etc. the only weapon I would reccomend using as your primary weapon(being a pistol) is the desert eagle .357 Because in the armed forces today, you are taught to use your primary at all times in a combat situation. The last time pistols were preferred to a rifle was WWII. Also sidearms are issued to EVERYONE not just officers and even then, officers carry an assault rifle. Although officers have a choice on wether they prefer a pistol or a rifle. And I havent met a single officer yet that would rather take a .45 to an M-16. Even all helicopter pilots for the army(and other branches too) are issued a sub-machine gun AND a pistol. In today's day and age pistols are a secondary weapon.
[Edited on 4/23/2004 7:23:58 AM]