M7 Caseless Submachine Gun

"I’ve seen a Spartan use two at once—tearing the s**t out of the little ones; sending the big ones down in bloody heaps. But I guess that’s what ya gotta be to pull it off: an action-movie hero or a seven-foot-tall walking tank."

- Anonymous Marine

The M7/Caseless Submachine Gun, or more commonly known as the M7 SMG, is a United Nations Space Command infantry and special operations weapon.

There is also another silenced version, the M7S Submachine Gun, which is equipped with a external suppressor to mute gunshots and increase stealth advantages.

Introduction
The M7/Caseless Submachine Gun is a dual wieldable weapon seen in Halo 2 and Halo 3. Alone it is a flexible and reliable close-quarters weapon, but when dual wielded, SMGs are capable of causing extreme damage in a small amount of time.

Summary
The M7/Caseless Submachine Gun is a fully automatic, gas-operated, magazine fed, dual wieldable, short range sidearm. The SMG fires 5x23mm Caseless FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) rounds from a 60-round magazine at a velocity of 427 m/sec (1300 ft/sec) with an extremely high rate of fire (15 rnds/sec or 900 rnds/min). This high rate of fire combined with the weapon's relatively low weight leads to tremendous recoil and forces the barrel steadily upward after continuous fire. It also sports a telescoping stock and fore-grip. The SMG lacks range (only being effective up to 50 meters) as well as accuracy so it is strictly a short range weapon.

Physical Description And Appearance
The M7/Caseless Submachine Gun is an automatic UNSC submachine gun that fires 5x23mm Caseless FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) rounds. It fires from a 60-round magazine which is placed horizontally on the left side of the weapon. Due to the odd horizontal placement of the magazine on the weapon, it can be assumed that the magazine utilizes a circular ramp where the magazine meets the breech. This rotates the vertically stacked rounds in the magazine 90 degrees until they align with the horizontal breech. An example of this can be seen in the present day Fabrique Nationale P90 SMG, as well as the HK G11 experimental assault rifle, which utilized a vertical loading system.

The SMG has a polymer handle, foregrip, and retractable stock, as well as a titanium body, and is gas-operated with a rotating breech. The SMG must be cocked before it can fire the first round. The handle to cock the weapon is located on the right side of the gun and does not move during operation. Once the first round is fired, the gases from previous rounds force the breech to rotate and chamber a new round. Once the magazine is empty, the handle (although not illustrated in-game) can either be pulled back and locked or it can be fully cycled after a fresh magazine has been housed. If it is first pulled back and locked, then it must be pushed forward in order to chamber a new round. The mag release button is located between the red dots on the reciever and needs to be pressed before it can be flicked off. There is no ejection port due to the nature of the rounds fired.

The SMG has a rifled barrel that is 15 cm (5.9 in.) long. The weapon is 47.4 cm (18.66 in.) long with the stock retracted, and has a maximum length of 62.7 cm (24.68 in.) when the stock is fully extended. The stock is also fully adjustable. The Halo 3 SMG is basically the same but has a slightly shorter foregrip and has red dots at the receiver end of the magazine. This weapon does not possess a safety and is dual-wieldable.

Changes in Halo 3

 * Red dots at the receiver end of the magazine.
 * Slightly shorter foregrip.
 * Increased accuracy.
 * Increased range.
 * Increased rate of fire.
 * There is now a delay before the barrel actually starts to climb.
 * Slightly more damage.
 * The sound of the gun firing is slightly different.

Advantages
The SMG is an excellent suppressive weapon. When firing upon a Battle Rifle user or a Sniper Rifle user, the scope will be turned off once the target is hit, reducing their accuracy and giving you the advantage. Also, since it has more ammo than the Assault Rifle (in Halo 3), you will have to reload less often than if you were to use the MA5C. Because of their large magazine, one can easily continue through targets with little pause for reload. Like other UNSC firearms, the SMG performs well against unshielded targets, and can kill them rather quickly. The SMG can also form part of the most effective dual-wield combos in the game. In particular, the SMG/Plasma Rifle combo is very effective due to the Plasma Rifle's ability to quickly break shields and the SMG's relatively high damage against unshielded targets. Another favored combo is dual-weilding the SMG with the Plasma Pistol; fire a charged shot to completely deplete the shield of your opponent, and then following through with the SMG. Other combinations include, but are not limited to, spikers maulers, dual SMGs, and the SMG/Magnum combos. When dual wielded they become an extremely formidable close range weapon. An SMG/ Spiker combo can be more effective than an SMG/ Plasma Rifle combo, providing the player can cope with the recoil.

Disadvantages
The SMG's primary limiting factor is its poor accuracy, which limits its use to close range. At close ranges it is completely overpowered and outperformed by the Shotgun and Energy Sword. Like most other human weapons, the SMG performs relatively poorly against shields, though this weakness is negated by wielding it in conjunction with a plasma rifle or plasma pistol. As stated before, the gun has a recoil which causes the barrel to climb after continuous fire. This forces you to continually move your reticule down to keep the enemy in your sights.

In Halo 3 the SMG has been much improved. Simply by itself can be an extremely devastating weapon in CQB. This is because of its high ammo capacity and lightning fast melee. Many players prefer a SMG to an assault rifle because of these traits. While the AR has better range and damage, the SMG is better in close quarters. Only close quarters.

Against the Covenant
Employed against certain members of the Covenant, the SMG can be a useful weapon. When fired in short bursts, it can easily decimate whole squads of Grunts or Drones. The SMG is also very useful against Jackals, with the 5 mm round curiously "stunning" the Jackal. It is not as effective against Brutes or Hunters. The SMG performs poorly against the shields of Elites (but they do take them out quickly, just not as fast as a plasma weapon like the Plasma Rifle would). However, once the Elite is unshielded, they can be killed rather quickly. Against Elites, it is recommended to dual wield the SMG with a plasma weapon due to the latter's superior anti-shield capabilities

Against the Flood
The SMG performs well against all Flood forms (except shielded Elite combat forms) due to the Flood's preference to close quarters combat. An SMG is capable of taking out large groups of infection forms. It is commonly used to shoot off a combat form's arms to prevent them from attacking you.

In Halo 3 the SMG rips through the Flood like paper, especially unarmored forms like the human combat form and the infection forms. It's not so good against the tank forms and other pure forms, due to their high resistance to all weaponry (except fire).

Ammunition
The SMG uses M443 Caseless rounds, a radically different kind of ammunition than the kind found in other UNSC weapons. This ammunition is classified as "caseless," meaning it does not have a metallic casing surround the powder and sealing the bullet, propellant, and primer together. Instead of using this casing, the round uses a combustible adhesive to seal these components together. Because the chemical "casing" is vaporized when fired, there is no need to eject spent brass casings.

This feature is very beneficial. It reduces friction inside the magazine, one of the main causes of jamming in weapons. It also negates the need to expel casings, which also is a major cause of jamming, as mentioned above. This is important, as a user wielding two M7s at once would not want to have hot brass flying in his face from the eject port of the weapon in his left hand. The projectile itself is "jacketed," or coated, in metal (possibly copper or steel) to aid in penetration of the target. Caseless rounds are actually embedded into the block of propellant, reducing their length, allowing more ammunition to be stored in a smaller space.

The SMG's 5x23mm (.197 caliber) rounds, while smaller than most other SMGs, could classify it as a PDW (Personal Defense Weapon), which it has already taken several design cues from (read below).

Influence
The M7 appears to take its design from three real-world firearms. The first is the Heckler and Koch G11, a caseless prototype assault rifle developed in the 1980's. The second is the Fabrique Nationale de Herstal P90. The last one is the H&K MP7. The M7 takes its caseless ammunition concept from the G11, and its design from the latter two. As the MP7 and P90 are both personal defense weapons, it can be assumed that the M7 falls under this classification as well. Its slanted front, foregrip, and expandable stock come from the MP7, while its ergonomic grip and the horizontal magazine in a bullpup configuration come from the P90.

Observations
Recoil from all but sustained fire is very controllable. Although the M7 submachine-gun is primarily issued to vehicle crews, it is also a favorite of commando teams in its sound suppressed version – the M7S.

UNSC Remarks
“The recoil isn’t bad but the M7 itself is relatively light. Not unpleasant to shoot, but a little tricky to control—it’s all about controlling the impulse.”

“It’s actually comparable in weight to the M6 — favorably, in fact. That and not having to worry about the odd casing dropping down your boot makes it a pretty clear choice which one I think is the better system.”

“Yes; I have fired it one-handed with the stock collapsed and the foregrip folded. No; I was not driving at the time—I was shotgun. Did I hit anything? Don’t know—probably never will—no more bogeys afterwards, though.”

“It’s not a deathray but nobody likes getting shot. Not even bravo kilos. And you can fill the air with a lot of lead with an M7."

“I’ve seen a Spartan use two at once—tearing the s**t out of the little ones; sending the big ones down in bloody heaps. But I guess that’s what ya gotta be to pull it off: an action-movie hero or a seven-foot-tall walking tank.”

“The M7 is the wave of the future. Hopefully the Romeo Echo Mike Foxtrots will finally realize the benefits of caseless ammunition.”

Character Compatibility

 * Spartans
 * Marines
 * Flood Combat Form (Human)
 * Flood Combat Form (Elite)

Trivia

 * In Halo 2, this weapon fills a similar niche as the MA5B Assault Rifle of the original Halo, featuring the same rate of fire and ammo capacity, and even offers very similar power and combat capabilities when dual wielded. It also has the same aiming reticule as the MA5B.


 * Spare ammunition packs for the M7 SMG in Halo 2 are marked in red.


 * It seems to be SPARTAN-117's weapon of choice in Halo 2, when dual-wielded, and he is frequently seen dual-wielding SMGs. This image is seen on the cover of Halo 2 and its strategy guide.


 * Bungie was not happy on how the M6D Pistol and the MA5B behaved in Halo: Combat Evolved. They complained that the M6D behaved more like a rifle and the MA5B behaved like an SMG. Thus, in Halo 2, the M6C, BR55, and the SMG were born. Robert McLees, a weapons designer in Bungie, commented, "Now we have a rifle that behaves like a rifle, an SMG that acts like an SMG, and a pistol that acts like a pistol."


 * Although the M7 Submachine Gun is primarily issued to vehicle crews, it is also a favorite of commando teams in its sound suppressed version – the M7S.


 * While encountering the SMG throughout campaign mode, they are only usable in the levels Crow's Nest, Floodgate, Cortana and Halo in Halo 3.

Related Links

 * M7S Submachine Gun