M6L Personal Defence Weapon System

The is a UNSC sidearm issued to all branches of the UNSC armed forces. Hard hitting, highly accurate, and reliable in all conditions, the M6L is a favourite amongst personnel for it's infamous man-stopping fire power. 
==History and Development==
By 2562 the UNSC had almost a dozen models of M6 pistol in circulation, with surprisingly little in terms of shared parts. This made individual weapons difficult to maintain over the course of interstellar warfare, often leading to replacement rather than repair, and also created a logistical nightmare for armouries, with infamous 'cludge' pistols becoming common. This lead to the Pistol Commonality Program, an effort to replace all active M6 pistols in service with a common platform, that can then be modified to suit specific needs. The M6H2 was chosen as the core platform, and further updated, resulting in the M6L platform. From here, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, SOCOM and ONI all draw their preferred variants from a single platform, improving commonality of parts massively. 
From here, all branches of the UNSC share one M6 platform, with no more than 88% common parts between them. 
==Role==
The M6L is a sidearm used by all branches of the UNSC. It is a heavy duty pistol, with high stopping power, that is resilient enough for survival on frontier worlds with harsh environments. Its overall lethality and stopping power make it the preferred weapon for weapons crew, airmen, and naval crew, who can utilise the weapon in personal defence. Officially the primary sidearm of the UNSC, it has been somewhat succeed by the M57 Pistol and M19 Modular Pistol in certain roles, but is still often seen on the front line. 
==Description==
Very little has changed from prior versions, with some modifications to the material construction, improving weight without sacrificing performance. Small improvements to ergonomics and handling have been implemented in the latest versions.
The weapon has a sturdy construction, with the slide and frame being constructed from titanium. The grip is made from moulded polymer, with texturing to improve the grip surface. The pistol grip can fit a lanyard loop, and a stock attachment. and This gives it its legendary resilience. For improved service life, the barrel is chrome lined. It has fully adjustable and removable day/night iron sights, and a smart scope capable of projecting to the user's HUD through augmented reality. This allows for integration with HUD systems to provide ammunition details, holographic sight, and cross-hair for weapon use. It features two mounting points for accessories, one above and one below the barrel, allowing it to mount flash lights, laser aiming modules, or optics. It features a threaded barrel, allowing for the addition of a suppressor or other barrel devices. The weapon is available in a number of finishes, with hard chrome, black polymer, and electroless nickel. 
The weapon is highly reliable, capable of surviving, and firing after full immersion in water, snow, mud, or sand. It can be dropped on concrete or metallic surfaces without damage of failure, and can be used in extreme temperature and pressure environments, including the vacuum of space. It is also rated to survive slipspace reinsertion and high-g manoeuvres.
==Operation==
It uses a simple, reliable and rugged recoil operation. It utilizes a locked breech, short recoil action were locking was achieved by tilting barrel, with single lug engaging ejection window in the slide. Unlocking is controlled by cam-shaped slot in the lug below the chamber of the barrel, which interacts with the slide stop axis pin. It features a magazine release button behind the trigger and an ambidextrous safety selector switch above the grip, along with a removable trigger guard covering the grip. It uses a double action only trigger, removing the need for a hammer. The pistol holds open on an empty magazine, and has a magazine release. 
The M6L uses the 12/7x40mm round, a heavy duty pistol cartridge carrying enough stopping power to knock down a human. It is lethal, accurate, and carries surprising range, making it deadly against most targets. 
==Variants==
The M6L saw a number of specialised variants so it could continue service across a number of fields. 
===M6L/C PDWS===
The M6L Carbine is a army specific variant for weapon crews. The carbine has a 355mm barrel and a new detachable stock. It has increased range and accuracy, with reduced recoil, allowing it to be used accurately to medium range, especially when integrated with a sight, or combat scope. Despite this, it still struggles against well armoured targets. The Carbine is also commonly used by army special forces, giving them extremely deadly anti-personnel weapon at mid range. 
===M6L/SOCOM PDWS===
The M6L/S is a suppressed variant manufactured solely for SOCOM. While the gun is significantly longer, the gun produces much lower amounts of noise, making it the preferred 'close in' weapon for special forces during 'low sound' operations. The suppressor can be actively tuned to reduce the velocity of the munition to sub-sonic speeds, allowing it to become near silent. The suppressor is self-cleaning and the pistol has been upgraded with match grade components.
===M6L/R PDWS===
A rare and deadly variant, the M6L/R is select fire, with the option to switch to a 2 or 3 round burst. The fire selector is fitted on the rear frame. 
===M6L/K PDWS===
A down-sized variant, the M6L/K has a reduced size and grip, with the absence of any sights and gear, and grip guard. It is often used as a pistol for undercover operatives, still possessing high power stopping power at short range. It fits a 6 round magazine. 
===M6L/P PDWS===
The smallest variant, the M6L/P is a pocket variant that is tiny in comparison to other models. Difficult to handle, it fires high-power rounds from a 4 round magazine.
==UNSC Remarks==
"The recoil just about breaks your wrist, but being on the receiving end of one of those things break a whole lot more."
"It just blows a big hole through everything in its way!"
"Although I find the M57 easier to use, I trust the M6L to get me out of trouble."
"A six-six combo. The MA6 to get me into trouble, and the M6L to get me out."
Category:M6 series