Vostu-pattern carbine

"Oh man! You really need to learn to recognize the symbols on top of the charger—and 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 ground firearm.

Background
The 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. It is used primarily for mid-range combat. Unlike most standard-issue Covenant weapons such as the Plasma Rifle, the Carbine does not run on a battery. Rather, it fires solid, radioactive projectiles from an 18-round cylindrical magazine, sometimes suggested as being analogous to a "stripper" style magazine. It is sometimes carried by Brutes and Elites, though this is not usually their preferred weapon. In the hands of an enemy Brute or Elite, they can be deadly, allowing them to engage their enemies at mid range with deadly accuracy.

Advantages
With a 2x zoom ability, it's possible to make lethal headshots 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, M6D, M6C and M6G. Like those weapons, it will kill an unshielded opponent with one shot to the head.

Because the Carbine fires projectiles, not plasma bolts, it is more useful against Flood than the other Covenant weapons, excluding explosives. 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, and other shields of such nature.

Disadvantages
The Carbine's only real shortcomings are that your position is betrayed by a yellowish-green trail with each shot, just like the Sniper Rifle's vapor trail or a Battle rifle's tracer trail.

Halo 3
The Covenant Carbine has undergone a noticeable upgrade for its use in Halo 3. Each round delivers more damage.

Some, however, say that with this new upgrade, it is overpowered, compared to the Battle Rifle. The reasons of this is because the Carbine has a much faster rate of fire than the Battle Rifle has for each burst, and since the damage per shot for the Carbine are more powerful now it has a big advantage over its human counterpart.

Bungie has said in one of their recent podcasts that the Carbine has been balanced since the Halo 3 Beta. After the Beta was finished, Bungie added in an explosion of green mist upon ejecting a magazine. It is likely that an enemy could find you by listening to the "pop" of the reload and then seeing the green mist.

As far as the Carbine's role in the campaign, it is still occasionally wielded by Brutes, but it can most frequently be found in the hands of Jackals.

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.”

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

“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 ____ will give you Boren’s Syndrome.”2 NOTE: There are no conclusive tests that indicate that the Type-51 Carbine puts a user at risk for contracting Boren’s Syndrome.

Character Compatibility

 * Elites
 * Spartans
 * Marines
 * Brutes
 * Jackals
 * Drones
 * Flood Combat Form (Human)
 * Flood Combat Form (Elite)

Trivia

 * In the Sacred Icon level the dead Brutes will have Carbines with ammo levels at 104, but when reloaded the extra ammo is 99.
 * The ammo of the Type-51 carbine is loaded similar to most modern human weapons, 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 the level Gravemind after you rescue the Marines, one Marine will take a Carbine that has 120 rounds in it.
 * In the level High Charity and Sacred Icon, you start out with a Carbine with 78 rounds.

Related Articles

 * Covenant Weapons