Ukala Workshop Mauler

The Type-52 Pistol, more commonly known as the Mauler, is a Covenant Jiralhanae infantry weapon featured in Halo 3.

Introduction
The Mauler is a cross between a shotgun and a revolver pistol. It is not as powerful as the UNSC shotgun, but its compact design allows two to be held simultaneously to double its firepower. Like most Brute weapons, the Mauler has a blade mounted on the underside, allowing for more brutal melee attacks.

Tactics
While the Mauler is weaker than the human shotgun because it cannot perform instant kills, there is a way to achieve an almost instant kill. To this you must be in melee distance of the target. When your Mauler's target goes red fire one shot. Follow this up with an immediate melee. This kills the opponent instantly and if you master the skill you will be able to do this before the target has time to shoot you. You must be careful though if they have a human shotgun because that will kill you before you can use your Mauler tactic. This tactic does not work when the opponent has an overshield. Whilst, dual-wielding a pair of Maulers, a single double shot at close range will kill most enemies, with no damage/shield modifiers in the case of Multiplayer. Sometimes, staggering your shots is effective as well, but this seems to work best when your out of melee range chasing someone down, or backpedalling while being chased yourself. Duel wielding a Plasma Rifle, SMG, Spiker, or Plasma Pistol and a Mauler is also an effective combo. Drain your opponents shield (preferably with one of the Plasma weapons), then move in closer and shoot. However, just like the other tactic, watch if your opponent has overshield or a shotgun, as they may try and shoot you with it before you shoot them. If you're reloading your Mauler when you have one of these combos, drain his/her shield with the weapon that's not the Mauler, and melee. It doesn't matter that you drop your weapon, just pick it up after the enemy is dead.

The Mauler also has one of the shortest reloads in Halo 3, so remember to take advantage of that. Even when dual wielding, it will reload quickly.

Trivia

 * The Mauler was originally the name of a vehicle in the early stages of Halo 3's development.
 * The original Covenant Mauler appeared in the Pre-Xbox Halo as an actual Covenant weapon, it can be seen here>>> beginning at the 2:49 mark.
 * The Mauler was the firearm for the alien race Skedar in the FPS game Perfect Dark for N64.
 * The Mauler was also a weapon used by the Fremen in Frank Herbert's Dune series, using what is then considered crude projectiles.
 * As of the December 11, 2007 update, many of the Maulers that appeared in smaller maps have been removed. The affected maps are Construct, Epitaph, Guardian, Narrows, and Snowbound.