M8 submachine gun

The M8 submachine gun was a bullpup, air-cooled, gas-operated weapon used by the United Nations Space Command during the Swarm War. A selective fire personal defence weapon, the M8 was designed and manufactured by Hall Munitions in response to a UNSC request for a replacement for the high velocity armour piercing cartridge. It was designed as a compact but powerful firearm for vehicle crews, operators of crew-served weapons, support personnel, special forces and counter-terrorist groups. Key requirements for the initial specification included accuracy to a minimum range of 350 metres in a weapon no longer than 700 millimetres, and the capacity to reliably penetrate Swarm armour at this range.
The weapon was designed by Hall Munitions in conjunction with .204 Hall ammunition, an armour-piercing cartridge intended to replace the ineffectual 5x33mm calibre. The new cartridge was optimised for performance with personal defence weapons, retaining the caseless nature from its predecessor but with increased cartridge length and bullet diameter, and was dimensionally similar to the .204 Ruger high velocity cartridge.
The M8 was developed as a personal defence weapon, but it could also be considered a submachine gun or carbine regarding its actual usage. Despite being originally intended as a defensive weapon for military personnel whose primary role was not fighting with small arms, the M8 proved so successful that it was issued in bulk to both regular and special infantry, as well as other covert and counter-terrorist groups, all of which used it for offensive roles. The M8 was adopted by the UNSC Army as a compact defensive and offensive weapon, while the UNSC Marine Corps adopted it as a lightweight weapon for embarked (shipborne) operations. While not fielded by the UNSC Navy, it saw extensive use by special operations units, most famously the .
==History==
The M8 was developed by Hall Munitions between 2648 and 2652, in conjunction with the proprietary 5.2x47mm Hall cartridge. The aim of this was to replace the 5x33mm cartridge used by the of submachine guns. Large amounts of evidence collected throughout the Human-Covenant War and Remnant War showed that the cartridge was ineffective against Covenant energy shielding and that, despite its armour-piercing nature, it failed to effectively penetrate Jiralhanae and Sangheili body armour. The 5.2x47mm Hall round aimed to remedy this with slightly increased calibre and, most notably, substantially increased velocity; the propellant block was over twice the length of its predecessor, and had a higher mass to energy ratio as a result of a more advanced propellant formula. The result of this was the M8's substantially increased performance, both in tests and in action, against superior shielding and armour fielded by the . The hope from this performance was that the cartridge would be equally effective against the advanced biological armour that clad the Swarm, and in actual combat where the M8 was fielded against them, this was proved valid. Following evaluation of initial battlefield performance, the UNSC put in an initial order for 600,000 units in 2653, with the M8 being put into mass-production and distribution. The UNSC ultimately procured 2,300,000 weapons, which remained in service throughout the Swarm War.
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==Variants==
M8/S submachine gun
The M8/S, or shortened, was a smaller form of the standard M8 submachine gun. It featured substantially decreased range, due to its shortened barrel, though this made the weapon much more manageable and light, especially useful in close quarters. While rarer throughout standard service, they were most popular with some special forces and marines involved in boarding actions, as well as pilots and vehicle crews. Unlike the standard M8, it was far less a standard issue battlefield weapon and far more a close range PDW. The weapon was basically the same, though featured a much shorter barrel and integral vertical foregrip, which acted as a handstop to prevent the user putting his hand in front of the weapon during operation. Other changes include rails located further back, rear of the fire mode selector, and a less protrusive external barrel. The weapon had an effective range of about 300m.
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