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This topic has moved here: Subject: MA5 Magazine size
  • Subject: MA5 Magazine size
Subject: MA5 Magazine size

Did they ever say in the novels (I can't remember) the magazine capacity of the assault rifle? Because I hated how they just changed it from 60 rounds in Halo: CE to 32 in Halo 3 and Reach. They claim it's a different version of the AR, but it sounds like they were purely doing it for game mechanic purposes to make the weapon different, and just slapped a different label on it. I mean, because why would, the UNSC, in their right mind cut how many rounds a weapon can fire in half to 32? It all sounds like the same gun to me.

  • 07.04.2011 3:12 PM PDT

"A LIE is a LIE"


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My personal canon explanation for the AR is that marines stationed on ships like the POA are outfitted with the 60 round version since they are fighting in extreme close quarters while marines and army usually stationed in atmosphere are outfitted with the more accurate, 32 round version.

That, or the UNSC just had budget cuts - you can have twice as much ammo mags around if you half the size.

[Edited on 07.04.2011 3:41 PM PDT]

  • 07.04.2011 3:41 PM PDT

You didn't hear it, you didn't see it.

Practicality. Having that much ammo not only is extremely heavy but it gives guys behind the trigger too much incentive to just spray and pray. When you have less rounds in a magazine, it makes it easier to move as well as forces shooters to practice better trigger control.

  • 07.04.2011 4:01 PM PDT


Posted by: Pipboy 3050
My personal canon explanation for the AR is that marines stationed on ships like the POA are outfitted with the 60 round version since they are fighting in extreme close quarters while marines and army usually stationed in atmosphere are outfitted with the more accurate, 32 round version.

That, or the UNSC just had budget cuts - you can have twice as much ammo mags around if you half the size.


I could see that, I guess, possibly a combination of the two. It's explained that the MA5 is a very modular weapon system, and different magazines could be used.

  • 07.04.2011 4:12 PM PDT


Posted by: xxxJack Bauerxxx
Practicality. Having that much ammo not only is extremely heavy but it gives guys behind the trigger too much incentive to just spray and pray. When you have less rounds in a magazine, it makes it easier to move as well as forces shooters to practice better trigger control.


That is true as well. It's just, it's the future, and you would expect them to have improved, and added more firepower, and the AR from Halo CE was awesome and fun to use, and then they just made it into something more like what we have today. But 60 rounds of 7.62 NATO does sound heavy, and realistically would never work, the magazine would be huge, and heavily weighted in the buttstock. Then again, it's a video game.

  • 07.04.2011 4:16 PM PDT
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Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I'd also like to add that I think it says somewhere in the Halo-verse that one of the canon reasons for the change is because with the larger magazine, the Marines (and I assume soldiers as well) were getting a lot of miss feed and spring malfunctions.

  • 07.04.2011 6:30 PM PDT

See my vids on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/user/Chronicler177

Canon reason is the spring of the MA5B was getting weakened very quickly by the huge amount of rounds.

  • 07.04.2011 7:00 PM PDT


Posted by: Chronicler 177
Canon reason is the spring of the MA5B was getting weakened very quickly by the huge amount of rounds.


Where did it ever say this information?

  • 07.04.2011 9:24 PM PDT
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Posted by: MisterBraz

Posted by: Chronicler 177
Canon reason is the spring of the MA5B was getting weakened very quickly by the huge amount of rounds.


Where did it ever say this information?


It may be in Halo 3's manual under the MA5C's section in the weapons info. I'm not sure where exactly, but since he posted the same thing as I did, we probably got it from the same place.

  • 07.04.2011 9:28 PM PDT


Posted by: SubjectNameHere

Posted by: MisterBraz

Posted by: Chronicler 177
Canon reason is the spring of the MA5B was getting weakened very quickly by the huge amount of rounds.


Where did it ever say this information?



It may be in Halo 3's manual under the MA5C's section in the weapons info. I'm not sure where exactly, but since he posted the same thing as I did, we probably got it from the same place.


Okay, I just think 32 is a little too less, 40 or so would be alot nicer.

[Edited on 07.11.2011 10:10 PM PDT]

  • 07.11.2011 10:09 PM PDT

Didn't it say in First Strike in castle base that it has like bigger round therefore less bullets needed? Or was that the pistol? I can't remember.

  • 07.11.2011 10:35 PM PDT

Brains beats brawn get used to it

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Posted by: GohanRules 12
Didn't it say in First Strike in castle base that it has like bigger round therefore less bullets needed? Or was that the pistol? I can't remember.


It was in reference to the Battle Rife and why it had a shallower magazine compared to the MA5B.

  • 07.11.2011 10:37 PM PDT

You must be joking OP

There's different variants of weapons you know. For example:

MA5B- Halo CE, 60 rounds. Used by Marines
MA5C- Halo 3, 32 rounds. Used by Marines
MA37- Halo Reach, 32 rounds. Used by Army

Their not all the same weapon, nor many other different variants in the Halo games. Haven't you ever looked at arsenal pages in the game manuals, or at least ever been to Halopedian.com?


[Edited on 07.11.2011 10:43 PM PDT]

  • 07.11.2011 10:43 PM PDT

Posted by: Pipboy 3050
My personal canon explanation for the AR is that marines stationed on ships like the POA are outfitted with the 60 round version since they are fighting in extreme close quarters while marines and army usually stationed in atmosphere are outfitted with the more accurate, 32 round version.

That, or the UNSC just had budget cuts - you can have twice as much ammo mags around if you half the size.


Budget cuts?

When a technologically superior alien empire declares genocide on your race, martial law probably kicks in. You don't need money when everyone is ordered to man the factories and "do their part" for the war effort.

  • 07.11.2011 11:12 PM PDT


Posted by: The Seraphim
You must be joking OP

There's different variants of weapons you know. For example:

MA5B- Halo CE, 60 rounds. Used by Marines
MA5C- Halo 3, 32 rounds. Used by Marines
MA37- Halo Reach, 32 rounds. Used by Army

Their not all the same weapon, nor many other different variants in the Halo games. Haven't you ever looked at arsenal pages in the game manuals, or at least ever been to Halopedian.com?


THEY'RE not all the same weapon? Yeah, they aren't but they kind of are. I realize they are called something different and the MA5C is the new and "improved" version, but it all seems phony to me, because it seems like the same weapon tweaked for gameplay purposes (the way they wanted the game to be played), with a new label slapped on it. Not something the UNSC actually procured for practical purposes or combat effectiveness.

They wanted the AR to be more like a rifle in Halo 3, but in doing so (in their own way), made it not so fun (or effective) to use and everyone just threw it down for the BR, and if you'd played Halo 3 enough, you could easily kill some noob charging you with the AR with the BR in 4 headshots. No fun to use. It was nill, but in Reach, it was improved imo, and had a more defined role, but still didn't stack up to the original. Sigh.

And if the springs were getting weak from so many rounds ran through, why couldn't they just reduce it to like 40 or so, and reduce the ROF? 60 to 32 is just too dramatic imo.

[Edited on 07.12.2011 2:01 PM PDT]

  • 07.12.2011 1:57 PM PDT

Am I supposed to write something funny here?


Posted by: bat out of h3ll
Posted by: Pipboy 3050
My personal canon explanation for the AR is that marines stationed on ships like the POA are outfitted with the 60 round version since they are fighting in extreme close quarters while marines and army usually stationed in atmosphere are outfitted with the more accurate, 32 round version.

That, or the UNSC just had budget cuts - you can have twice as much ammo mags around if you half the size.


Budget cuts?

When a technologically superior alien empire declares genocide on your race, martial law probably kicks in. You don't need money when everyone is ordered to man the factories and "do their part" for the war effort.

Actually, they still had money around. And budgets.

  • 07.12.2011 2:01 PM PDT