BR55 battle rifle

"When nothing else gets the job done, the BR55 Battle Rifle will do."

- Halo Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Halo Universe

The BR55 Service Rifle is an infantry battle rifle in service within the armed forces of the United Nations Space Command. Among UNSC service personnel, the BR55 has accumulated a number of nicknames including the "Monkey Wrench", "BR", and the "Big Boy". It is notable for its powerful three-round burst fire and accurate 2× scope, making it more efficient at farther ranges than the MA5 series assault rifles.

Design details
The BR55 Service Rifle is a gas-operated, magazine-fed, mid-to-long range weapon capable of three fire modes; semi-automatic, fully automatic, and a three-round burst-fire. The weapon is most commonly fired in the latter of these modes. The rifle has a bullpup layout, with a detachable 36-round box magazine loaded behind the grip and trigger, with a safety switch located above the handle. While serving to reduce the weapon's length, the rifled barrel of the weapon extends its total length to 89.9 cm. It is typically equipped with a three-pronged flash suppressor, though this attachment can be swapped out for others such as a suppressor. As with the other weapons in Misriah Armory's battle rifle line, the BR55 fires 9.5x40mm M634 HP-SAP, and 9.5x40mm SAP-HE.

The BR55 is fitted with an optics rail above the barrel, complete with a mounting point for a telescopic sight. By default, the weapon is equipped with a so-called (and retroactively-named) "classic sight", capable of x2 magnification. It features no iron sights.

Overall, the weapon is considered to have high accuracy and high rate-of-fire, leading it to be popular among UNSC service personnel.



Usage
While newly introduced into UNSC service at the onset of the Human-Covenant War, the BR55 quickly came to dominate all aspects of the military - becoming an extremely popular rifle throughout most of the military's branches. While formally designated a battle rifle, in practice the weapon fulfils the battlefield role of a Designated Marksman Rifle, and by 2548 had entirely eclipsed the pre-existing M392 DMR in all UNSC service except for the UNSC Army - with the BR55HB upgrade fully-replacing it. Although the heavy barrel variant was an upgrade of the BR55, in practice the two operate almost identically.

As such, by 2552 almost all soldiers in the UNSC had trained in use of the BR55 - ensuring that what defects the weapon has are somewhat mitigated. By this time, the weapon was considered one of the standard firearms in use by UNSC forces.

Operational history
While battle rifles began to see popularity throughout the UNSC beginning in the mid-2400s prior to the Insurrection, the BR55 did not enter service until the onset of the Human-Covenant War in 2525. The weapon was prototyped as the XBR55 battle rifle around the time of the First Battle of Harvest, and was in the hands of Spartan-II supersoldiers by December of that year. During these early encounters with the Covenant, BR55s also fell into the hands of Insurrectionists of the United Rebel Front. As the war progressed, the battle rifle proved itself an extremely popular weapon particularly in the service of the UNSC Navy and Marine Corps, in which it all-but replaced the older M392 marksman rifles. By 2548, the introduction of the BR55's upgraded model the BR55HB fully-replaced the M392 DMR in all services except for the UNSC Army.

The BR55's popularity ultimately contributed to the design of its successor models, the BR75 and BR85 battle rifles.

Advantages
The BR55 has reasonably high power, a decent rate of fire, and high accuracy with an electronic 2× telescopic sights attachment; it can be used to deliver three-round bursts at medium ranges. In multiplayer, three body shots and one head shot will kill a fully shielded opponent, assuming the player does not have an overshield. This weapon will kill an unshielded enemy in a single head shot. Target the head and if you're within range a red dot will appear in your reticule. This requires that only one of the three rounds from a burst actually hit and kill an enemy. Therefore, it is possible to kill up to three unshielded opponents in a single burst if they are grouped close enough to each other, though this is an uncommon occurrence. However, right after you shoot, it is possible to only shoot one round rather than three bullets, with a melee attack to disrupt the burst. Against vehicles like the or, an experienced player can easily take out the driver, rendering the vehicle immobile, however, this is harder with the Warthog.

In Halo 5: Guardians, the BR55 provides a slightly faster weapon switch and reload time compared to the BR85N. Most notably, however, the BR55 has higher bullet magnetism, which allows targets to be hit with less-than-perfect aim.

Disadvantages
At longer ranges, it is necessary to minimize strafing movements when firing to avoid "splintering" the shot grouping too much. Since each "shot" is actually a three-round burst, certain movements can break up your shot's grouping, and could greatly reduce accuracy. To avoid this, either swap it in for the Covenant Carbine, or get up to medium range. The Carbine has the same degree of firepower, and it lacks the splitting effect although it is slightly less accurate. This also affects accuracy when firing from a moving vehicle such as a Warthog (especially when firing at a 90-degree angle from the vehicle's heading).

The BR55 is not as effective at long ranges. Each bullet also acts as a tracer which gives away the shooter's position. Also, the range is limited compared to the Sniper Rifle. It is also not effective against Sentinels, and does negligible damage against vehicles. Neither is it an effective weapon at close range, as the low fire rate and average stopping power of the weapon makes any fully-automatic weapon far superior in close-quarters combat.

Compared to most other UNSC firearms, those using the BR55 have access to limited amount of ammo as they can only three spare magazines, not including the loaded magazine in the rifle.

Silver Timeline
BR55 battle rifles are used by Silver Team and other UNSC personnel in battles against the Covenant.

Trivia

 * On the side of the BR55 opposite the charging handle there are two Chinese symbols, "猴王", which translate to "Monkey King".
 * On the level Quarantine Zone in Halo 2, the player can acquire a BR55 from a dead Marine that, when reloaded, can have a total of 236 spare rounds instead of the normal 108 spare rounds.
 * In the Halo 2 E3 Demo, the BR55 was the only weapon shown used in making a melee combo, a feature that was originally meant to be in the final version of the game but was scrapped. It was also shown firing semi-automatically in both the demo and in the E3 2004 multiplayer alpha demo, in which the semi-auto mode was engaged when zoomed.
 * Like the sniper rifle, the BR55 is modeled without a trigger in Halo 2.
 * The BR55 was featured in Bungie's 30th anniversary event as the solar pulse rifle BxR-55 Battler in Destiny 2.

List of appearances

 * Halo 2
 * Halo: The Cole Protocol
 * Halo Wars
 * Halo Legends
 * Homecoming
 * Halo: Evolutions - Essential Tales of the Halo Universe
 * Dirt
 * Halo: Blood Line
 * Halo: Mortal Dictata
 * Halo 2: Anniversary
 * Halo: Last Light
 * Halo 5: Guardians
 * Know Your Enemy
 * Halo Mythos
 * Halo Wars 2


 * Halo: Envoy
 * Halo: Retribution
 * Halo: Collateral Damage
 * Halo: Silent Storm
 * Halo: Official Spartan Field Manual
 * Halo: Outpost Discovery
 * Halo: Oblivion
 * Halo: Divine Wind
 * Halo: The Television Series
 * Contact
 * Unbound
 * Emergence
 * Homecoming
 * Reckoning
 * Allegiance
 * Transcendence