Type-52 Pistol

"Firing the Mauler at an enemy from anything other than extreme close range is akin to insulting his mother: it's all just hot air and noise and is only going to make him mad."

- Halo 3 Strategy Guide

The Type-52 Pistol (commonly known as the "Mauler") is a Jiralhanae "sidearm" used by the Infantry and Security forces of the Covenant Loyalists during the Human-Covenant War. The Mauler is a cross between a shotgun and a revolver, but is not as powerful as the UNSC M90A shotgun, however its compact design allowed for dual wielding, doubling the firepower. The Mauler has a blade like all other Jiralhanae weapons, however it is used to stab rather than cut. It is the Brutes' weapon of choice for close-quarters combat.

Tactics
The Mauler is generally unable to inflict the one-hit kill damage that the shotgun can, unless dual wielded. It is possible to replicate the Shotgun's lethality with fast reflexes at close range. To do this, you must first be within melee distance of your target. Fire your first shot and immediately strike with a melee attack. This will often dispatch the opponent instantly. Although that is not entirely true, it is possible to score an instant kill, however, you just have to be very close to the enemy. If you master this skill, you can shoot the target before they had time to react. Take care when using this tactic against a shotgun-wielding opponent; they will usually not need to melee you after his first blast, though if he fails to kill you with the first shot, he will usually shoot again or melee. While dual-wielding a pair of Maulers, one double-blast at close range will kill most enemies.

Firing at an enemy with the Mauler while right above them will usually kill them in one shot, or if not, just melee to finish them. Staggering your shots could be effective as well, but this seems to work best when you were outside of melee range. Dual-wielding this weapon in tandem with a Plasma Rifle or Plasma Pistol is a highly effective combination. Draining your opponent's shield (preferably with one of the Plasma weapons), then moving in and shooting also works well. If you are reloading your Mauler when you have one of these combos, you can drain their shield with the other weapon and melee. It doesn't matter that you dropped your weapon; you can just pick it up after the enemy is dead.

The Mauler also has one of the fastest reloads in Halo 3. Even when dual-wielding, it reloads quickly.

Unless dual-wielded, the Mauler is the weakest of other close-range weapons, such as the Shotgun, Gravity Hammer, or Energy Sword. Thus, you should never attempt to have a close-quarters fight against someone who has any of these other weapons. Switching to another, longer-range weapon is often a better option. The Mauler also has very limited ammo. The Mauler is very effective against The Flood.

When you have a Mauler, try to dual wield it with almost anything. A Plasma Rifle or Plasma Pistol will do a good job. Use the plasma weapon to take down their shields, then charge up to them and fire it close enough to kill them. A Magnum can also be used this way, using a headshot instead of a shot-kill. This will most likely help on The Pit and Pit Stop.

Tactics When Facing A Mauler
When facing an enemy armed with a Mauler, the best tactic is to stay back and take your opponent out from a distance. As with the Shotgun, Energy Sword, or Gravity Hammer, the weapon is virtually useless at long distances, since both the Shotgun and Mauler's ammunition scatters at distances. It is inadvisable to get too close unless you have a devastating close-range weapon of your own (however beware that on Legendary, a Brute can kill you with one shot if you're close enough). You can snipe the user but it would be harder to tell if they have a Mauler holstered as it is kept on the thigh. Also, use weapons like the Battle Rifle or the Carbine due to its range. Using the sword is sometimes dangerous because if the person with the Mauler fires twice when you are lunging at just the right time, you usually die and your would-be victim will get a Bulltrue medal.

Reduction In Matchmaking
Several maps have been altered to remove or reduce the number of Maulers in matchmaking. It is believed that this change was caused by near-constant complaints regarding the large number of Maulers in many levels combined with the Mauler's ability to nearly-instantly kill an opponent at very close range. Many people felt that the weapon was unbalanced because of the close-quarters prowess of the Mauler, especially in CQB-style levels; this is a misconception. The problem was a combination of the somewhat large number of Mauler spawn locations, the fast respawn time on a lethal close-combat weapon (usually only 45 seconds), and players not changing their play style to compensate for a number of camping and / or charging Mauler wielders.

Trivia

 * The Mauler was most likely made to replace the Brutes wielding Human shotguns, as the Brutes looked odd holding them. In addition, the Covenant have a hatred for human weapons.
 * The Mauler was originally the name of the Brute Chopper in the early stages of Halo 3's development.
 * The original Covenant Mauler appeared in the pre-Xbox version of Halo as a Human weapon, it can be seen here beginning at the 2:49 mark.
 * Players often refer to this weapon as the Brute Shotgun or the Mini-Shotgun. They also (less commonly) refer it as the Eagle, due to its resemblance to an eagle-like icon when shown.
 * It is unknown why Bungie set the Mauler's respawn time at 45 seconds on majority of the levels, including Close-quarters style maps, as its Shotgun, Gravity Hammer and Energy Sword counterparts' respawn times on these maps were either 120, 150 or 180 seconds respawn times. Thus, newly updated versions of the affected maps have Maulers' respawn times to 90 seconds.
 * Mauler spawn points were modified on Epitaph, Construct, Narrows, Guardian, Snowbound and High Ground (Note: No Maulers were removed on High Ground and Snowbound, the respawn time for the weapons was just increased).
 * Interestingly, the grip of the Mauler appears to be intended for Elites, as it looks similar to the energy sword handle, though the bump may act as a trigger, as no trigger is present otherwise.
 * The Maulers could be Halo 3's equivalent to Marathon's dual-wieldable WST-M shotguns.
 * It should be noted that the Mauler and Spiker are the only Covenant weapons with iron sights. This can perhaps be explained as being because they are Brute weapons.
 * Like most Brute weapons, the Mauler is equipped with a blade, making melee attacks more potent.
 * The Mauler is one of the few weapons used by the Covenant that doesn't fire plasma.