When I first saw it, I noticed the stock was particularly odd and wouldn't be very... ergonomic. That's twenty-sixth century rifles for you.

Now that you mention it, it does look very unergonomic. The length of pull (distance from comb (cheekrest) of the stock to the buttpad) is extremely short. The pistol grip is also placed too far rearward to provide a comfortable grip. The buttpad is also oddly shaped. It's a cool looking replica, and it may be 100% accurate, but I suppose it shows the flaws in the MA-5B design.

But it looks cool.

Maybe I'm not thinking outside the box enough. That far into the future, they may have advanced stabilization mechanisms and gyroscopes that allow for recoil-less accurate fire. Or maybe it is just understood that Spartans are more beefed up, therefore they can hold onto the weapon without the need for a buttpad.

...............................
Oc's current feeds

My point wasn't that it needs a buttpad, but that the buttpad/buttplate/buttstock is shaped weird. It comes to a point. It would not fit in your shoulder well.

...but it looks cool.

I promise Bungie won't kick you out of the H3 friends and family beta if you're slightly critical of something from the Halo fan community.

Seriously, just how often do you see a piece of science-fiction technology that is practical? There are many exceptions, but generally, sci-fi tech doesn't make any sense (Star Trek's super-multi-purpose tri-corder comes to mind).

... but they look cool.

It is a really neat piece of craftsmanship, no doubt. The maker did an outstanding job of creating something that looks astoundingly like the H1 assault rifle. My points are very minor, but I don't think they're to be dismissed just because "it looks cool." I'm not saying it's not an incredible piece of work and I'm not saying it's a complete bag of ass, but it does have some flaws. Any reasonable person should be able to discuss the merits and flaws of something rationally.

Part of what makes science fiction interesting is that it's grounded in reality--in science. As a student of firearms I'm telling you that replica would have some problems functioning as a rifle with the problems I've stated. I'm sure it functions exceedingly well as a plastic toy, but I like to imagine it's really a rifle--that's the fiction part of science fiction. When I do that it comes up short.

I think the gun is terrible. At first, it looks like a cool gun. Probably is fun to fire. Probably has a cool firing animation with a cool LCD display on it. Heck, it could probably do a little bit of damage if you meleed someone with it. But, I bet if you used it for a while, you'd get tied of it and find other weapons more effective - like a sniper rifle, shotgun, or pistol.

I am under the impression that even though it is not specifically stated, it is possible that either: The buttstock can extend (think ALIENS pulse rifle) or that pulling the rifle in closer like that may help compensate for the body armow thickness (that is the case for the modern M4 carbine). just my opinion.

Andrew, good point about body armor. Chief does have a couple inches of Mjolnir to help make the length of pull manageable.

Thanks

Well if we are talking about the rifle from a design standpoint... if you sholder the gun and try to aim your view will be completetly blocked by your bullet counter (unfortunatly in real life there is not a blue retical...if you shoot it while sholdered (and while it is blocking your view), you will probably get hit in the face with the cocking bar, and there is no room behind the magazine for the bolt to move, no bolt more = no round in chamber....not to mention the design for the magazine, (does it go straight up? If it does, why have it slant up like that decreasing round capacity?

....but it is a great looking replica

well... cool gun... but as for the who designed for Spartans.... the assault rifle is standard issue for UNSC marines

If you look at the pics of the digital gun, you can see the buttstock was designed to be extendable (there's a couple of weird, rail-like things on the side of the rifle, apparently attached to the rear end, which also looks rather misplaced for something that shold be one with the casing), my guess is that there's a couple of retards over there who didn't know anything about guns in general (this would also explain the bullet-counter-blocks-your-aim-problem) and simply didn't extend the stock. Because of Master chief's hefty Mjolnir suit no-one noticed, and the problem wasn't discovered until the actual release of Halo.
But hey, that's just a guess.

well, remember the MA5B assault rifle as well as the MA5C were not designed for use by spartans, they were originally the standard issue assault weapon for the UNSC marine, and, the armor of the basic marine is very thick as they have no "energy shield" and there armor plates are made of good old fasioned alloys. So be sure to be thinking about fitting the marines needs not a Spartan.
The stock is meant to fit against the plate of armor that protects the forarm, as "bullpup" weapons requir the arm to be bent in a less then ninty degree angle, hence the abstract angle. Oculus also raises very interesting theories. Maybe im undercriticle, but at any rate its the purpose of a replica not to actially function, only imitate in apearance, as a die hard Halo fan I give it a 9/10

VERY NICE WORK

HOPE IT PAYS OFF

:)

Yeah this is a sweet piece and as you can see this weapon was designed for a game not to be a real weapon and the way the weapon was designed was as you can see the firing mechanism is on the left side of the gun lol if any of you know anything about guns you would have seen this is a left handed Replica hence the firing Mechanisn would throw the spent Brass away from the Marine's face instead of infront of it... and that was a mistake made by Bungie but who cares Halo was an awsome series and im not complaining... and as to the cheek rest being too low most fire fights using a small automatic weapon like the AR is within say 20-30ft and if your that close you really have no time to stop and aim a weapon its mostly as one guy said up there "Shooting from the Hip" and dodging and takeing cover and the LCD monitor that tracks the ammo in your clip could deffinately be the difference between you killing your enemy and you poppin up and gettin lit up because you had no ammo left to take him down and you didnt notice... this is still an AMAZING! replica i wish i could have it BUT the firing Mechanism on should be on the right side of the weapon if you wanted to make this weapon realistic to what you would use in real life... and as for the cheek rest there could always be an ajustable rest put on the weapon(easy fix) and there would be enough room still for the Magazine if i remember right the AR shot this lil stubby bullet somethin like a 45cal.(auto btw) hits hard and takes takes up very little room... and as for the but plate for the recoil we are talkin about an 7ft tall super soldier in a climate controlled and physical enhancing 1800pound suite i think he can take the recoil lmao and if you never paid attencion to the UNSC Marines that follow the chief they fire in bursts of like 3-5 shots and me firing MANY automatic weapons 3-5 shots out of a high recoil system is nothing... aight ive talked WAY to much but once again this is an amazing replica just minor things everyone has noticed send me one ill pay good money ^^d