Vostu-pattern carbine

Were you looking for the Type-25 Carbine?

"Oh man! You really need to learn to recognize the symbols on top of the charger— count your shots too. First time I picked one up I just about brained myself when it ejected."

- Anonymous serviceman

The Type-51 Carbine, otherwise known as the Covenant Carbine, is a Covenant infantry weapon.

Summary
The Type-51 Carbine, is the Covenant equivalent of the UNSC BR55HB SR Battle Rifle and the BR55 Battle Rifle. It is a semi-automatic weapon that combines high accuracy with decent stopping power, used primarily for mid-range combat. When a round is fired the bolt goes back and forward. Unlike most standard-issue Covenant weapons such as the Plasma Rifle, the Carbine does not run on a battery. Instead, it fires solid, radioactive crystalline projectiles from an 18-round cylindrical magazine, sometimes suggested as being analogous to a "stripper" style magazine. It has a similar feature to the Assault Rifle and the Battle Rifle in that it tells how much ammo is in the magazine. It is sometimes carried by Brutes and Elites, though this is not usually their preferred weapon, as they prefer the more common Spiker (Brutes), the Plasma Rifle, and Energy Sword  (Elites). They are most often found wielded by Jackal marksmen. In the hands of an enemy Brute or Elite they can be extremely deadly, allowing them to engage their enemies at mid range with deadly accuracy. This weapon is the weapon of choice for a Sniper Jackal, along with the Beam Rifle.

Advantages
With a 2x zoom ability, it's possible to make deadly head shots from afar. When you get your hands on one, be sure to take advantage of it. It is also quite effective at killing an unshielded opponent in multiplayer, and has equal effectiveness to an unshielded enemy as that of a Battle Rifle and the M6C, M6D and M6G pistols. Like those weapons, it will kill an unshielded opponent with one shot to the head.

Because the Carbine fires green crystalline projectiles, (not plasma bolts) it is more useful against the Flood than the other Covenant weapons, excluding explosives, as it can destroy the embedded Infection Form. One of the best uses for this weapon is to shoot the armored headpiece off of Brutes, after which another headshot from the weapon will dispatch them.

The Carbine, when used correctly, can take down an enemy slightly faster than a Battle Rifle can, though it requires more aim, taking at least seven shots to the head in Multiplayer. Damage done by the Carbine is slightly lower than that of the Battle Rifle (if all three bullets hit), but it fires about twice as fast making it equally deadly.

The Covenant Carbine has one other advantage over the Battle rifle. It is able to do damage to Jackal Point Defense Gauntlets, Enforcers shields, Stationary Shield Generators, Brute Power Armor, and other shields of such nature, though not as much as other Covenant weapons.

It also very useful in the Halo 2 campaign against Brutes. The weapon can do head shots, and can be used at almost all ranges. Because Brutes have very little head protection, a skilled player can take out three or four Brutes with one clip or with one shot to the head when playing on easier difficulties.

Disadvantages
The Carbine's only real disadvantage is that your position is shown by a yellowish-green trail with each shot, just like the Sniper Rifle's vapor trail or the Battle Rifle's tracer trail. Its sound may also attracts the attention of nearby players. Also in Halo 3, a green mist is ejected from the ammo slot, giving away the player's position if reloaded. It also has weaker firepower so it usually only gives an advantage to more skilled players, though less skilled players with some degree of luck may be able to use it effectively as well. A sniper with good aim and that can take cover well can be deadly with a carbine.

Reloading Speculation
In the final version of Halo 3, when the Carbine is reloaded, it emits a small cloud of steam, or gas from its breach. Fans have speculated that the gas comes from the weapon overheating. Although the Carbine doesn't "overheat", the pressure used to propel the shot out of the Carbine may, in fact, produce some internal overheating, meaning that the pressure causes gas to form inside the weapon. So, when reloaded, the fully used magazine has all of that condensed pressure inside, and the gas comes out along with the magazine. Another speculation, based off the fact that the carbine's ammunition is similar to the Fuel Rod Cannon and a remark made by an anonymous marine that the carbine's "gas" can give you Borens Syndrome, is that the gas is actually residual nuclear radiation left from the ammunition itself, which is known to be radioactive.

Halo 3
During the Halo 3 Beta, there were concerns that the Carbine was overpowered compared to its counterpart the Battle Rifle. This disparity was attributed to an excessively high rate of fire, which allowed it to inflict more damage over time than the Battle Rifle did. In the final game, the Carbine's rate of fire has been reduced to about that of the Halo 2 version. Furthermore, its power has been reduced slightly from its Halo 2 counterpart. It now takes eight head shots to kill a fully-shielded opponent in multi-player, as opposed to the shorter seven in Halo 2 and the Halo 3 Beta. In addition to the reduction in per-shot damage, the Carbine also starts with two spare magazines when found in multi-player, whereas it only started with a single spare magazine in Halo 2 multi-player.

Also, in the Beta, when reloaded, it did not seem to emit a small cloud of gas as it does in the final version of the game.

As far as the Covenant Carbine's role in the campaign, it is still occasionally found to be used by Brutes, but it can most frequently be found in the hands of Jackals, who utilize it in a marksman role.

Unfortunately, due to a coding error, Bungie has announced it is impossible to spawn with a Carbine, making Halo 3 SWAT Carbines matches impossible.

Covenant Carbine tactics
With a 2x zoom ability, it's possible to make deadly headshots from afar, comparable to it's UNSC counterpart the Battle Rifle. When you get your hands on one, be sure to take advantage of it. It is also quite effective at killing an unshielded opponent in Multiplayer, and has equal effectiveness to an unshielded enemy as that of a Battle Rifle and the M6C, M6D and M6G pistols. Like those weapons, it will kill an unshielded opponent with one shot to the head. The Carbine, when used correctly, can take down an enemy slightly faster than a Battle Rifle can, though it requires more aim, taking at least seven shots to the head in Multiplayer. Damage done by the Carbine is slightly lower than that of the Battle Rifle (if all three bullets hit), but it fires about twice as fast making it equally deadly. The Covenant Carbine has one other advantage over the Battle rifle. It is able to do damage to Jackal Point Defense Gauntlets, Enforcers shields, Stationary Shield Generators, Brute Power Armor, and other shields of such nature, though not as much as other Covenant weapons.

Another advantage that the Carbine has over the battle rifle is while use in vehicles. Since the Battle Rifle fires a 3 round burst, perhaps only one or two of the rounds would hit, resulting in less damage then the carbine. The tracer wouldn't matter, as you're in a vehicle, so for someone trying to take out infantry, this is a good weapon.

UNSC Remarks
“So—it’s just their projectile weapons that we’ve figured out how to reload? I guess I’m cool with that.”

“It’s almost a direct analog of the BR55. I just wish it had a more—um—conventional scope.”

“In my youth I used to board Olympus a couple o’ times a year—you see where I’m going with this? Yeah. That foxtrot gun is the size of my old board.”

“Wish it was smaller; wish it had a proper stock—or at least a butt pad.”

"Hey—don’t inhale immediately after the charger ejects. I heard that shit will give you Boren’s Syndrome.”

Character Compatibility

 * Elites
 * Spartans
 * Marines
 * Brutes
 * Jackals
 * Flood Combat Form

Trivia

 * The ammo of the Type-51 Carbine is loaded similarly and correspondingly to most modern Human weapons, a rare generality unlike many other Covenant weapons.
 * When the entire magazine of the Carbine is spent, it will automatically eject itself from the weapon, which can be startling for someone who has never used the gun before. This feature is also similar to the workings of the U.S. M1 Garand Rifle of World War II.
 * In Halo 2, if you give a Marine a Carbine with a partially used clip, he or she will discharge the clip, a rare instance of a Marine actually reloading a weapon.
 * The Covenant Carbine is Frank O'Conner's weapon of choice.
 * In Halo 3 Campaign when The Arbiter or one of the Elites die they re-spawn with a Carbine.
 * In the Halo 2 and Halo 3 instruction booklets, the Carbine is incorrectly labeled as having 36 rounds, instead of the actual 18 rounds. Ironically this is the number of rounds the Carbine's human equivalent, the Battle Rifle, has.
 * Despite having a 2x zoom scope capability, the Carbine doesn't appear to have a scope mounted on it. A theory speculates that the ammo cartridges are in fact the scope, explaining the symbols in the center of the the ammo count as well as to why there is no other scope on the Carbine or like the plasma rifle it relies on the users HUD.
 * Inhaling the gas of the Carbine is believed to cause a disease known as Boren's Syndrome.
 * In Halo 2, Jiralhanae are seen holding this weapon with only one hand, though they hold it with both hands in Halo 3.
 * The Carbine is one of the only Covenant weapons that has a visible clip popping out of the gun.
 * In Halo 3, Elites do not wield the Carbine as much as they did in Halo 2.
 * If you give a Jackal a carbine and then melee it, it will drop the carbine and pull out a plasma pistol. This is done for the Unlimited Plasma Pistol Glitch.
 * Many believe the Carbine is the most underrated gun in Halo 2 and 3.
 * If you give a Jackal a carbine in Halo 2, it will hold both the Carbine and its shield, and the Carbine will protrude from the shield projected by the Jackal Point Defense Gauntlet.

Related Articles

 * Covenant Weapons