M7 Caseless Submachine Gun

The M7/Caseless Sub-Machine Gun is a United Nations Space Command infantry and special operations weapon.

There is also a version, the M7S Sub Machine Gun, which is equipped with a external suppressor.

Introduction
The M7/Caseless Sub-Machine Gun is a dual wieldable weapon seen in Halo 2, as well as the Halo 3 Beta, and is going to be in Halo 3. It is a relatively weak and inaccurate weapon, and is used primarily at close range.

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.

Summary
The M7/Caseless Sub-Machine Gun is a fully automatic, gas-operated, magazine fed, dual wieldable, short range sidearm. The SMG fires 5x23mm Caseless rounds from a 60-round magazine with an extremely high rate of fire (which leads to tremendous recoil and forces the barrel upward after continuous fire). It also sports a retractable stock and foregrip. The SMG lacks range as well as accuracy so it is strictly a short range weapon. The Halo 3 SMG is relatively the same, but with minor design and technical changes.

Physical Description And Appearance
The M7/Caseless Sub-Machine Gun is an automatic UNSC sub-machine gun that fires 5x23mm Caseless rounds. It fires from a 60-round magazine which is placed horizontally on the left side of the weapon.

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 bolt to cock the weapon is located on the right side of the gun and does not move during operation. From then on, the gases from previous rounds force the breech to rotate and chamber a new round. Once the magazine is empty, the bolt (although not illustrated in Halo 2 or Halo 3) 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. There is no ejection port due to the nature of the rounds fired.

The SMG has a rifled barrel, is 47.5 cm long with the stock retracted, and has a maximum length 62.8 cm when the stock is fully extended. The stock is 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.

This weapon first appeared in Halo 2 and is returning in Halo 3.

Advantages
The SMG is an excellent suppressive weapon. When firing upon a Battle Rifle user or a Sniper user, the scope will be turned off once the target is hit, reducing their accuracy and giving you the advantage. Like other human 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. Other effective combos include dual SMGs and the SMG/Magnum and SMG/Plasma Pistol combos.

Disadvantages
The SMG's primary limiting factor is its poor accuracy, which limits its use to close range. Also, compared to most other close range weapons, the SMG is relatively weak. In multiplayer, it is mostly useless unless dual wielding. At close ranges it is completely overpowered and outpeformed 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.

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 short delay before the barrel actually starts to climb
 * Slightly less damage
 * The sound of the gun firing is different

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 also good at shooting off a Combat Form's arms and can gib them to keep them from being reanimated.

Ammunition
The SMG uses a radically different kind of ammunition than the kind found in other UNSC weapons, called the M443 Caseless round. 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, 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.

Character Compatibility

 * Elites
 * Spartans
 * Marines
 * Brutes (have animation but not used)
 * Jackals
 * Drones (have animation but not used)
 * Flood Combat Form (Human)
 * Flood Combat Form (Elite)

Related Links

 * M7 Caseless Suppressed Sub Machine Gun

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 xxxx 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.”

Trivia

 * This weapon fills a similar niche as the MA5B Assault Rifle of the original Halo, featuring the same rate of fire and ammo capacity. It even offers very similar power and 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.