BR54HB Battle Rifle

* BR54HB
* BR54HB/GL
* BR54HB/S
* SOCOM BR50HB

## BR54 Heavy Barrel Service Rifle

### Ammunition Type

9.5x40mm M634 Experimental High-Powered Semi-Armour-Piercing rounds* 40x46mm High-Explosive Dual-Purpose grenades (/GL)

## Usage

### Counterpart

* Covenant
	+ Particle Carbine

### Counterweapon(s)

Close Range* UNSC
	+ M91 Shotgun
	+ M7057 Flamethrower
	+ M7 Submachine Gun
* Covenant
	+ Energy Sword
	+ Hunter Shade Cannon

Medium Range

* UNSC
	+ M247 Machine Gun
	+ M41 Rocket Launcher
	+ M310 Grenade Launcher
* Covenant
	+ Hunter Beam Cannon
	+ Hunter Fuel Rod Cannon
	+ Brute Shot

Long Range

* UNSC
	+ M393 Designated Marksman Rifle
	+ SRS99C-S2 AM Sniper Rifle
		- SRS99C-S2 AM/S Sniper Rifle
* Covenant
	+ Particle Carbine
	+ Focus Rifle
* Forerunner
	+ Sentinel Sniper Beam
	+ Sentinel Light Rifle

### Affiliation

United Nations Space Command

The **BR54 Heavy Barrel Service Rifle** (**BR54HB SR**), more commonly referred to as the **Battle Rifle**, is a United Nations Space Command infantry firearm and the predecessor of the BR55HB Battle Rifle.

## Overview & Background

The BR54HB Battle Rifle is a gas-operated, magazine-fed, mid-to-long range weapon. Despite the BR54HB firing the same M634 9.5x40mm X-HP-SAP rounds from a 36-round magazine as the BR55, each round has a lower velocity when fired by the former, and thus are not as powerful. This makes the BR54HB extremely ineffective against shielded enemies, requiring multiple bursts to even bring down the shields of an Elite Minor. However, the heavy rounds still deal reasonable damage to unshielded enemies and can instantly kill if a headshot is landed. The BR54HB features a telescopic sight capable of 3x magnification, which complements its high accuracy and capability to strike targets at from a medium to long range. Additionally, the BR54HB is more modular than its successor, capable of equipping a variety of attachments which allow it to adapt to a variety of different combat scenarios.

One of the more notable differences to the BR54HB Battle Rifle compared to other variants is its ability to manually change firing modes. While unscopped, the weapon is permanently set to burst fire. But while scoped in, the user has the option to switch between semi-automatic and burst-fire modes. Semi-automatic fire, which fires one round with each pull of the trigger instead of three, allows the weapon to take on a sniping role by eliminating unshielded targets at a medium to long range without wasting ammo. Alternatively, the weapon can switch to burst fire to both stun and kill protected enemies, such Jackals and Brutes, or to kill groups of unprotected enemies simultaneously. The weapon will revert to burst-fire when not zoomed in, but it retains the last setting used when the operator scopes in again.

## BR54HB/GL Battle Rifle

The **BR54 Heavy Barrel/Grenade Launcher Service Rifle** (**BR54HB/GL SR**), more commonly called the **Grenade Launcher Battle Rifle**, is a variant of the BR54HB Battle Rifle with an attached M45 Underslung Grenade Launcher.

The BR54HB/GL is virtually identical to the standard BR54HB, but features a foregrip-mounted M45 Underslung Grenade Launcher attachment. Similar to the Brute Shot, the M45 fires high-explosive grenades that travel in a gradual arc and detonate upon impact with any surface. These grenades are powerful enough to eliminate small groups of enemies or tougher, individual targets in a direct hit. However, the Grenade Launcher can only hold a maximum of six grenades at a time, and can only be replenished from relatively uncommon grenade boxes. Additionally, the main weapon locks up after a grenade has been launched, and cannot be fired until the grenade launcher has chambered another round.

## BR54HB/S Battle Rifle

The **BR54 Heavy Barrel/Suppressed Service Rifle** (**BR54HB/S SR**), more commonly called the **Suppressed Battle Rifle**, is a UNSC special operations firearm and variant of the BR54HB Battle Rifle.

The BR54HB/S is virtually identical to the standard BR54HB, but features an SS/M49 sound/muzzle flash suppressor, laser sight, matte black finish, alongside a recolored ammo counter and scope. These modifications make the Suppressed Battle Rifle specifically tailored for use in stealth and night-time operations by UNSC Special Operations forces. The Suppressed Battle Rifle produces very little noise or muzzle flash when fired, allowing for the near-silent elimination of enemy forces without alerting them to the user's position. Additionally, the recolored scope, ammo counter, and matte black finish assist in reducing the weapon's light signature and reflectivity respectively, allowing it and the user to remain concealed in dark or low light environments.

## SOCOM BR50-HB Service Rifle

The **SOCOM** **BR50 Service Rifle** (**BR50 SR**) is a Battle Rifle variant found exclusively on Lumoria. These Battle Rifles are noticeable for its modified scope. Rather than a traditional lens scope, the BR50 utilizes a smart-link open-topped holographic Recon sight. While this allows for a better field of view, its scoping distance is lessened.

Another notable modification is the fact that it's firing burst can be alternated between 2, 3, 4 or 6 rounds, 4 being the standard, rather than the Battle Rifle's traditional three-round burst. This is useful for picking off any straggling targets or increases the chance of a headshot, at the expanse of the BR50 using up more ammo than normal Battle Rifles.

In Firefight, the SOCOM Rifle can be modified with an M45 Grenade Launcher Attachment, turning it into the **SOCOM BR50-HB Battle Rifle + M45 Grenade Launcher**. It functions exactly as normal, but with the same grenade launcher as the BR54-HB/GL Battle Rifle.

## Gameplay Information

### Advantages

#### General

* High accuracy
* Three-round burst makes it easier to attain headshots
* Large magazine
* Ability to toggle between single-fire/burst-fire when zoomed could save a lot of ammo

#### BR54HB/GL

* The Grenade Launcher can induce high damage, making it an effective anti-vehicular weapon
* The Grenade Launcher could also compensate for the Battle Rifle's low damage against energy shield system. One could effectively lower the shield of an Elite Ultra/Zealot with the Grenade Launcher attachment before finishing them with a headshot

#### BR54HB/S

* The Silencer helps in taking out non-shielded patrols without alerting sleeping enemies

#### SOCOM BR50HB

* The BR50's holographic recon sight allows for better field of view than the traditional scope, allowing for a better situational awareness than normal Battle Rifles.
* The four-round burst gives the BR50 a better chance at headshots than normal Battle Rifles.

### Disadvantages

#### General

* The Battle Rifle's individual bullets have almost negligible damage against shield systems, and pose little damage when shot in the body. For this reason, it is best fired in 3 round bursts unless specifically aiming for the head from range.

#### BR54HB/GL

* When the Grenade Launcher attachment is active, you can't use any other types of grenades unless you switched to another weapon

#### BR54HB/S

* Attachments cause the weapon to take up more of the player's view

#### SOCOM BR50HB

* The holographic sight zooms less than a scope, making it slightly harder to 'snipe' with an inferior range.
* The four-round burst eats up more ammunition, making ammo preservation harder than normal.
* You cannot switch its style of fire when scoped unlike the other BR's.

## Trivia

* In *SPV3.2*, Lumoria called the weapon a "BR-54-HB Battle Rifle". This was a mistake and has been fixed in *3.3* to the SOCOM BR-50.
* When one picks up ammo for the SOCOM BR50-HB Battle Rifle, it is mistakenly called the SOCOM BR55-HB Battle Rifle. This is still present in *SPV3.3*.
* Each Battle Rifle variant has a different color on their scope and ammo counter. The normal BR is green, whereas the grenade launcher variant is blue. On the other hand, the Suppressed BR is red in coloration.
* The silenced Battle Rifle is one of the few weapons in *SPV3* not featured at all in Firefight.
* The SOCOM BR50-HB Battle Rifle + M45 Grenade Launcher can only be acquired by combining the SOCOM BR with the Under Mounted Grenade Launcher Attachment. This particular variant is never seen in Lumoria and is, thus, a Firefight exclusive weapon, as the Grenade Launcher Attachment pickup only appears as a Firefight weapon drop unlock.
	+ This also means that the suppressed BR is the only Battle Rifle variant that doesn't have a GL counterpart, which is fitting, as it is primarily a stealth weapon.

## Gallery

Battle Rifle firing.Battle Rifle's scope.Battle Rifle GL's first person view.Battle Rifle GL's scope.Suppressed Battle Rifle's first person view.BR50's holographic sight.BR50's zoom.