Why are UNSC Weapons so powerful!?

In this episode: We look at the specifics of UNSC Ballistics to see if we can't identify why UNSC Weapons are so much more powerful than their modern-day counterparts.

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[Installation]

Just quickly; the length of the case/cartridge is 51mm on the 7.62 x 51mm, verses the overall length of the round being 71mm.
I had to make a choice in the editing on if I should have marked the lines to indicate the case/cartridge length lines or the overall length
If I marked the cartridge length, I'd get people saying that I put the lines in the wrong place.
If I marked, as I have in this video, the overall length, I'd get other people saying the length is wrong.
I could have used both but I didn't want to unnecessarily muddy the water for clear understanding of the bullets.
So since the literal measurements are in the name (7.62 x 51mm), I decided to go with that.

[kylershahalami]

When the standard issue weapon system of spacefaring humanity is a 32-60 round magazine of .308 NATO ammo firing at between 700-900 RPM out of a bullpup design with neural-laced targeting systems and the users make generous use of the full-auto mode, you know they will give any adversary a run for their money.

[paulbeaney]

I always assumed the increased performance came from a more powerful propellant charging and stronger materials used in the rounds construction.

[tsamoka]

One possible explanation that exists, and one I personally like using in my own material, is that the UNSC doesn't use any kind of gunpowder-variant at all. Instead, they could use a chemical-based propellent that is far more volatile then it's 20th and 21st century counterparts. An example of this would be the real-life C-4. Halo lore mentions both 'C-7 foaming explosive' and 'C-12 shaped charges', so it would not be surprising if the UNSC developed a high-powered chemical propellant for their bullets that outperformed the IRL stuff.

Another, more ludicrous idea, is something like C2N14, or what is the demon brew more commonly known as "Azidoazide azide". Directly using something like that would be insane to the point of criminal stupidity, but a somewhat less dangerous compound of similar nature could 'hypothetically' be used for projectile weapons of the 26th century.

An unexpected side-benefit of this possibility is that using a more high-powered propellant could also explain why UNSC guns seem a bit bulkier and more robust then their IRL counterparts. Having a more powerful bang inside the gun when you pull the trigger means needing to beef up the gun itself to handle it, logically! The apparent love-affair the UNSC has with titanium would also seem to support this concept. After all, which kind of gun is going to stand up better to being used as a melee weapon by an enhanced and augmented super-soldier: one made from steel, or one from titanium? =^x^=

[ApsalusSigma]

The Real Scientist angst about fictional stuff having well-hidden stupidity is hilarious!

[siphonicstorm]

I agree, the UNSC weapons in Halo are very powerful and ridiculous. I always thought that the answer was because of technological advancements by the 26th century. It does makes sense that 500 years of technological advances in weaponry shows more power then what we have now. I agree, in reality you can't make anything like Halo human weapons. At least, not yet. The future is always in motion. But it's always good to be prepared.

[Ratkill]

Considering at present time, SIG Sauer just won the US military next gen rifle, chambered in 6.8x51mm, it wouldn't shock me in the slightest that the UNSC rounds would be more powerful. For context, the .277 SIG Fury (6.8x51mm) with the Hybrid stainless steel/brass case has a standard pressure for military use (only) of 80, 000 PSI. Standard 7.62x51mm is around 60, 000 PSI. That huge increase will allow the 6.8mm bullet to leave a 16" barrel at 2950 feet per second. There is talks that the hybrid case can be max loaded safely to 105, 000 PSI. Granted you would be eroding the barrel much faster.

So it is quite possible the future rounds are well more powerful than modern day with better design in case materials.

[TheTechmaster]

As an addition to this, there is bullet material. The way one defeats armor is with speed, not size. So, in theory, it could be that the bullets themselves are made out of a much harder, but much lighter, material allowing for increased velocities with the same powders and allowing much better penetrative power

[devontodd]

This might be a stupid question, but is it possible the UNSC is using a variation of ETC (Electrothermal Chemical) Ignition? I understand research is being done in this field for tank and CIWS rounds, however there is no mention of this technology being unable to be sized down to small arms application.

[tyrranicalt-rad]

If you gotta kill a giant bear-ape covered in armor, you need a powerful gun.

[powertothepapol]

I always imagine UNSC infantry engaging from further away distance wise than the Covenant. I feel like plasma rifles/pistols couldn’t keep up with the range irl of UNSC weaponry.

[bigchungisjoe]

Advances in metallurgy would mean a stronger barrel that can stand higher PSI allowing the use of compounds that would blow a modem gun to pieces. So you don’t need more propellant giving a lighter round with more punch, you can see this in the modern world with things like how fast bomb fragments can travel.

[owenlagger]

Hearing the theory of potential accelerators in UNSC weapons makes me think about how cool the guns of Mass Effect are. Would love a breakdown of those.

[AKlover]

Higher chamber pressures. Look into the new "6.8X51" being adopted by the army. The USArmy loading makes near 80K PSI High pressure 5.56 makes around 65-66K PSI.

[j]

there's also a key feature of unsc weapons: they are bullpups that have extra long barrels, longer even then modern bullpups.

the bullets have time to accelerate for longer and faster to reach a higher muzzle velocity, hence, greater kinetic energy delivery.

[icarusgaming]

All the solutions you've offered would have a more significant change to muzzle velocity, which, while the Halo 7.62 is faster (and seems to have a longer propellant chamber), it's not nearly enough of a difference to explain the significant difference in impact energy. I would sooner look at the round composition itself. If the round is harder and has less deformation, that could cause more energy to be delivered through impact and less wounding through fragmentation and tumbling. We know that's it's a full metal jacket round, but it doesn't specify what that jacket, or perhaps more importantly, the core underneath, is made of. The jacket is visible in the art and appears to be in the same copper/bronze/zinc family of alloys that such rounds are made of nowadays. But the core could be anything we want, and the UNSC has a long-standing love affair with a very particular metal that would be the perfect choice for this: Titanium A. This is used in their body armor, in their vehicles, in their ships. It's difficult to go more than five feet in any UNSC armory without walking past at least a dozen things made of titanium A. This is an incredibly hard metal that deforms only under immense amounts of stress. If you want to make a round that, all other factors being roughly equal, delivers as much pure energy as possible, titanium A would be a very good choice

What I find even more interesting is how this informs their tactics. The singular focus on energy makes me think body armor has reached a point that even conventional methods for defeating it like velocity and destructible jackets are insufficient to fully penetrate the plate. So their solution is to bore as deeply as possible with the jacket, then deliver so much energy from the core round that it deforms and buckles under multiple hits, opting instead to destroy the plate entirely rather than penetrate a small part of it. This would also deliver an incredible amount of shock to the wearer, knocking them off their feet and potentially even scrambling their organs or causing internal bleeding from the pressure. If we can assume Insurrectionists then got their hands on this same type of ammo by raiding supply dumps, then we see the following response to having this used against them in the MJOLNIR project: Multiple layers of trauma pads, gels, and other impact-resistant materials to reduce shock to the wearer, allowing them to respond more quickly to being hit

[MarcusVance]

As I recall, the Halopedia entry on the AR says "a round with the same dimensions as 7.62 NATO". So not exactly the same.
Haven't watched through to see if you mentioned that.
And I love how the Magnum fires a round closer to .500 S&W than the .50 AE of the Desert Eagle.

[archerbascha]

3:20 I have the feeling that who ever wrote this just looked at the weight of the projectile and not the overall weight of the bullet. Because the projectile of an 7.62x51 NATO can weight between 9, 4 to 11, 66 grams (Or 145 to 180 grain).

As for the more KE of the round: The new rifle for the US Army, the XM5, uses new ammunition with extreme high gas pressures (~80.000 Psi). With the new materials and metallurgy of the UNSC in the years of 2500 I would think that they did the same.

But, we all know how the creators of Halo quite often have trouble keeping anything constant in their world creation.

[danielbeck]

I can see the booster rail on the sniper possibly as the speed the round could be accelerated to have that trade smoke trail might be the by-product of high friction in the atmosphere upon leaving the barrel considering the length of the barrel, but on smaller ARs and BRs I can't see it either. Though possibly on the Marksmen rifle and maybe the BR only because both have a light smoke trail when you pull the trigger, but they don't last as long so the speed isn't as high. Again, that's probably not really feasible like you said as even the power requirements to power up such a system would drain the batteries faster unless the magazine came with a built-in battery and had a port for it to connect to when you put in a fresh magazine. But judging by the size of the magazines they are standard issue snap in and quick release.

[ketracel]

Just wanted to say: it's great to see you back here, and I'm glad you got the chance to reset a little bit. Love your content, and keep on making whatever videos you want ✊✊✊