M6E Personal Defense Weapon System

The M6E Personal Defense Weapon System, also known as the M6E Pistol or M6E Magnum, is a variant of the popular navy M6D sidearm, identical save for the lack of a smart linked scope.

Physical Appearance
The M6E Pistol is a UNSC handgun capable of using heavy pistol rounds (magnum loads). This weapon has a polymer handle, making it comfortable in the user's hands, along with a titanium alloy body, and utilizes the M225 12.7mmx40mm Caseless SAP-HE round (.50 caliber) which makes it a PDWS. It fires these powerful rounds from a 12 round, single stack magazine that does not fit flush into the magazine housing. A flush magazine fits completely inside the housing and does not protrude out of it.

The M6E is semi-automatic and fires using the short recoil principle. This means that the trigger needs to be pulled after every shot for the next round to be fired. Because it is semi-automatic, the gun will cock itself after every shot due to recoil and will continue to do so until the magazine is empty. The recoil comes from the gases of the rounds fired. The gases force the slide, located on the top of the gun, backward. The slide not only absorbs the force of the gases but it also uses the force to load new rounds into the chamber. It also re-cocks the gun. Of course, before the first round can be fired, the round must be chambered. This is done by first, inserting a magazine with ammunition into the grip of the weapon (where most semi-auto pistol mags are inserted today) and second by pulling the slide back completely and letting it launch forward, chambering a round on the way. There is a small, red rectangular box on the flat back of the slide that protrudes out slightly when the weapon is cocked. Once this is done, the safety, located above the trigger on the body of the pistol on both sides, must be switched up or off or the weapon will not fire. Once all the rounds have been spent, the slide catch, a rectangular lever located above the trigger on the body, is forced upward and “catches” the slide by a little notch. To reload, the empty magazine must be removed and this is done by using the magazine release button which is located on the grip. Once the empty mag is out, a fresh one can be inserted. Once the fresh mag is inserted, the slide catch is pressed downward and the slide chambers a round. If there is still a round in the chamber when reloading, than a simple ejection of one mag and an insertion of another, disregarding the slide catch portion of a normal reload, is all that needs to be done.

The M6E is a very basic pistol when it comes to technology. It is a rather large handgun, having an overall length of 26.7cm and possesses a barrel with traditional rifling, improving accuracy by spinning the bullet. It has a dull silver color, like the M6D Pistol, and operates like most modern day pistols. It also has rear sights, a V shaped fin allowing for loose aiming. The control lever serves as a safety (and a decocking lever). If it is also a decocking lever this would most likely be done by pushing down on the lever past the safety point. This weapon lacks however, the trademark scope or laser site of other M6 models, and features scope. It also has a large trigger guard, which helps prevent the user from dropping it. It does possess company writing.



Pre-Development and Development/Testing
The M6E began its creation in late 2527. With the beginning of the war with the Covenant, armament companies began producing as many weapons as possible, because they did not know how long they would have the resources to do so. During the production of around 10,000 M6D pistols at a Misriah armory plant, a factory defect caused the smart link scopes to malfuction and not work. Because the parts for the scopes were in short supply, Misriah simply removed the scope and called the new weapon the M6E PDWS.

Field Usage
These 10,000 M6E pistols were shipped out to navy crewmen, some of whom who found them odd and petitioned for M6D replacements to be sent. However, the crew of one of the four Frigates that were shipped the pistol was boarded during a skirmish above the Cairo Moons, and the crew repelled them using the M6E pistols, which some said were easier to use at close range, though there was no statistical explanation for this.

Soon after, the same crews that had asked to be rid of the M6E began asking for more models, and production of M6Es as just M6Es began. Some were shipped out to marine units on the border, and some to fleet personel. However, the majority of the military still made use of their previous weaponry. The Army stayed true to their M6J carbine, and hardly had any M6E units deployed to them. The marines used the M6E for a short time, but found it was to expensive and powerful for their needs, and switched to the similar M6C. The Navy used the M6E the most, but they eventually grew tired of the M6E and reverted to their M6D.

Flaws
The M6E suffered from balance problems due to the lack of the scope, though with a loaded weapon, these were not extremely noticable. Unforutunately, it also perfromed signifitcantly lower at longer ranges than the M6D, due, obviously, to the lack of smart linked scope.

UNSC Personel Comments
"Its lighter than the M6D, and packs more punch than the M6C and can fire faster than the M6G, but you see so few of them!" -Weapons instructor at UNSC marine training grounds

"The M6E is the a great compromise between the M6D and M6C, a fine weapon." - UNSC Naval crewmen

"I was out on patrol one day, riding shotgun in an M12 back on Centauri. We got ambushed by a half dozen of them little grunt bastards, and Haywood immediatly got hit off the M41 and we did a rollover.  My driver, Kent, tried to grab his M6D out of its holster, but it got caught on the scope.  My M6E didn't, and I'm still here and hes not." -retired UNSC marine