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 M7/Caseless Suppressed 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.

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 FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) 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 FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) 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.

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 mag
 * 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

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. 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 enemies (except shielded Elite Combat Forms) due to the Flood's preference to close quarters combat. An SMGs is capable of taking out large groups of Infection Forms. They are 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 Full Metal Jacket 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.

Although 5x23mm (.197 caliber) rounds would normally be considered small by modern SMG standards, the caseless layout might have an effect on the amount of gas produced when the propellant is ignited, causing a higher velocity, while the full metal jacket would ensure higher penetration than a normal lead point. This, combined with the weapons very high rate of fire, would make it powerful at close range from a realistic standpoint. The muzzle climb of the weapon would also indicate higher pressure inside the weapon, higher than what would normally be expected for such a modestly sized cartridge.

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

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.


 * 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.