Talk:MA5B Individual Combat Weapon System

Whats with the ICWS after the MA5B.--Ryanngreenday 23:38, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

ICWS stands for "Individual Combat Weapon System". Which really means it's modular with a number of different parts and accessories. CommanderTony 19:37, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Is there anywhere that isn't a fan site were the "Individual Combat Weapon System" is mentioned? -- Esemono 04:40, 23 December 2006 (UTC)

Yes, in "The Art of Halo", page 98.

Is there an MA5A? "Is there anyone here?" ... "No!" 

Maybe ^^ Maybe just the "MA5" I think.

What about the shredder ammunition? Shouldn't that be mentioned somewhere? Diaboy 20:56, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

I always assumed that the MA5B was 7.62x39 mm, not 7.62x51 mm, from the amount of recoil, 7.62x51 has a load of recoil, where as the 7.62x39 has about the recoil that the MA5B has. (yes ive fired it) Just throwing it out there to consider changing. Coviekiller5 19:21, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

MA5C Link
The MA5C link goes right back the MA5B page, it's pointless. I clicked on the link to see information related to the Assault Rifle seen in the Halo 3 Beta only to come back to the page with the Halo: Combat Evolved rifle. -Lord Hyren 17:49, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Flashlight?
I suspect that the think beneath the barrel on the assault rifle is a flashlight. I think its highly likely, but I'm asking for confirmation just in case. Can anybody confirm that is a flashlight and not a laser sight or something else I'm not aware of?


 * You can tell it's a flashlight by going into multiplayer and having one character turn the light on. You can see the beam coming from "the think" beneath the barrel of the rifle. Also when you melee with the MA5B you can see the beam of light from the flash light track with the gun. -Lord Hyren 17:51, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Just like the FN_2000?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_F2000

No..it looks nothing like it, im taking this Trivia out: "There is dispute over whether Bungie copied the design from Fabrique Nationale's FN2000 assault rifle, or vice versa. Look for it, they're nearly exactly alike. "--JohnSpartan117 07:37, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

That looks like a P-90 and the MA5B Assault rifle all in one and i still don't know were the ICWS comes from.--Ryanngreenday 07:43, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

Its probably a fictional weapons company in the Halo Universe, either that or it stands for (Something) (something) Weapons System.--JohnSpartan117 19:23, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

apparently it stands for Individual-Combat-Weapons-System

That gun at the link looks more like the Battle Rifle not the Assualt Rifle.

The only similiarity, is that they are both Bullpups.--User:JohnSpartan117 16:16, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

I thought that in Art of Halo they said the similarity in appearances was a fluke: ''McLees's familiarity with the subject matter had one unintended consequence, however: During Halo's development, a firearms manufacturer developed a cutting-edge military assault rifle that bore a striking resemblance to McLees's design. "I don't know when the images of the FN2000 first appeared, but I didn't see them until three or four months after the game shipped," McLees says. "And I thought, 'Oh great. Now everyone's going to think I swiped the design from Fabrique Nationale.' It was surreal to see how close the Halo Assault Rifle was to its real-world counterpart...and it was totally by accident."''

I always assumed that the MA5B was 7.62x39 mm, not 7.62x51 mm, from the amount of recoil, 7.62x51 has a load of recoil, where as the 7.62x39 has about the recoil that the MA5B has. (yes ive fired it) Coviekiller5 19:21, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

its pathetic power would indicate something like a 5.54x39 russian round. but it is easy to conferm that it is supposed to uses 7.62x51mm NATO rounds because thats what is written on the ammo bags

MA5C
1up confirmed the Halo 3 Assault Rifle to be the MA5C.

Three-Shot Burst Rifle
In First Strike, the Spartans on Reach find a number of experimental assault rifles. They fire "thumb-size" rounds, and a three-shot burst can cut through an elite's shields and kill the elite. That ain't no Battle Rifle, and sure as hell ain't no MA5B. What is it? 75.31.138.94 03:58, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

How do you know its not a Battle Rifle? Sounds like a BR to me.--User:JohnSpartan117 16:17, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

It could be a Battle Rifle prototype--The Chazz025 and Clan [Razu'Kuzumee] 19:11, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

That would be one hell of a Battle Rifle. Given that it's four headshots to kill a Minor Elite on Normal difficulty, I think its just another one of Nylund's little inaccuracies. -Azathoth 14:59, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Ya probably, and what about that pistol they had? it killed elites in 3 shots and it said it was diffrent from the M6D--User:The Chazz025 and Clan [Razu'Kuzumee] 15:22, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

The thumb sized slugs were from the larger HE pistol, where as the three round burst, skeletal rifle with an autozoom scope is the battlerifle, or as mentioned above, an early prototype. The pistol, however, raises great interest fro me, because that is the only place where it is mentioned. Diaboy 20:52, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

I don't really know. It seems that in the books, the Spartans and the Elites shields are weaker than in the games. It's like both sides are playing legendary shield strengths.66.245.216.157

Technical Considerations
Please guys, seriously. A clip is not a magazine is not a clip. The MA5 uses a box magazine for ammunition. Not a clip. Bolt action rifles use clips to load their internal magazine. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XozgC-hr3Q @ 20 sec for what a clip is. (The thing that he throws away.) --Sephirius 21:36, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Clean up
I edited the page to improve clarity. 168.169.114.157 15:31, 6 June 2007 (UTC)

Yeah I also fixed some misspelled words.--User:Redwarrior005 | 22:25, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

High capacity Magazine
Of course, that very small magazine on the MA5B couldn't conventionally contain sixty rounds of ammunition, and rightly so the article mentions double or triple stacking the rounds. I understand double stacking, but triple stacking...? Could some knowledgeable person come to my aid?

On top of that, is it possible even with triple stacking to hold the large ammount of ammo in that magazine?

Diaboy 10:18, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Easter Egg for PC
I used to play Halo PC, and at the beginning of Keyes, across from the room with the Proto-Gravemind in it, sometimes is an Assault Rifle. You can't pick it up, it doesn't have ammunition, and it doesn't always appear, but usually does. Most of the time its in the first door to the immediate left. Anyone else see this? -- Specops306 ,  Kora 'Morhek  21:09, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

I've encountered that before. I kind of just brushed it off and kept going, but that is weird now that I think about it. Smoke. 00:49, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Main Marine rifle...Battle Rifle?
In the infantry weapon section, it says that the MA5C is actually a naval weapon for tight quarters on ships, while the standard Marine weapon is the BR55HB from halo 2 onward, after replacing the MA5B. Is this true or only canon?24.15.64.119 04:13, 13 August 2008 (UTC)jake

Book References
In The Fall Of Reach, the Master Chief asks for .390 Cal ammunitionon their infiltration mission, that should be mentioned. Also, 7.62x51 mm NATO ammo is what they used in the M14, and on full auto, it became an anti-aircraft gun, 7.62x39 is what they used in the AK-47, it has a hell of a lot of recoil, but it's manageable. Oh yeah, if it's not accurate passed 10 meters, with 7.62x51 ammo, even at single shot, then something's wrong with the distance, or your barrel's shaped like a piec of macaroni (7.62x39 in an AK is accurate to 300 meters, give or take.--Chainsaw911 22:54, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

If you were to compare it to real weapons from today (540 years before halo) it is absolutley pathetic and usless. even the 5.45x39 russian can get 100+ meters no questions asked, 5.56x45 NATO is effectiveish to 500m give or take(depending on rifle) and real 7.62x51mm NATO rounds are used in light sniper rifles for gods sake. this is fireing 15 of them a second so should be able to mow down absolutely anything in a fraction of a second but insted it takes like 5 rounds minumum to kill a grunt? god, a weapon like this is more akin to a medium machinegun by calibre(not power. its more like a automatic pea shooter in terms of power)...with no barrel so the bullets just tumble out of the chamber without any spin or centering...but somehow it is one of the weakest weapons in the trilogy and its 60cm barrel somehow gives a bullet spread you would expect from a real shotgun shell.

On a more scientific note, the US army minimum standard for accuracy in an assault rifle is 3 Minutes of Arc, a spread about the size of a human head at 100 meters or 1/20 of a degree. so its spread - realisticly - should be more like the size of the unscoped sniper reticule yours sientficaly, gunnery sergeant --Maiar 04:01, 27 January 2009 (UTC)