Official designation: BR55 Rifle
Projectile type: 9.5mm x 40 (M634: Experimental High Power Semi-Armor Piercing (X-HP-SAP))
Dual-wield: No
Damage: Medium
Range: Medium (With Scope: long)
Accuracy: Medium (With Scope: High)
Rate of fire: Medium
Autofire capability: 3 shot burst
Magazine capacity: 36 bullets
Ammunition (additional): 72 (3 Magazines)
Reload speed: 2 s
Melee attack: Medium
Scope: 2x
Advantages:
The Battle Rifle is the evolution of the Halo 1 Pistol. There is a Stuffo.com article discussing this, with a quote from Lead Game Designer Jaime Griesemer. (It should be noted that the quote in this article is in fact incorrect. The Battle Rifle is not simply a reskinned pistol, though it fulfills the same role as the original pistol. The Battle Rifle fires three round bursts and over longer distances sometimes one or two of these shots will not hit the target. This increases the chances of a headshot when shields are down but also means that more shots are necessary for a kill. It takes a total of four bursts to end an opponent's life whereas the pistol could do so in three. Since much of the time all three shots in a burst miss, it can often take an entire magazine to kill your opponent even though yours shots may be perfectly aimed.) The BR55's optical scope has a 2x zoom facility, which allows players to make accurate hits, even headshots, over greater distances than one might expect. Under most circumstances, the Battle Rifle's short bursts, long range and average damage make it a great all-round weapon.
Disadvantages:
The Battle rifle is less effective (though not by much) in close quarters. That said, equipping a Shotgun as a secondary weapon will accommodate most eventualities. The Battle Rifle also uses tracer rounds, which can give away one's position.
Multiplayer role:
The best way to use the Battle Rifle is to use it in an open area, with very little to hide behind. It will take four or five hits to diminish the shields, and only one shot to the head to finish an opponent. This being said, the minimum number of trigger pulls required to kill a fully shielded opponent using only the Battle Rifle is four.
Another thing to remember is that although there may be 36 bullets, you may pull the trigger only 12 times per clip. So, when an enemy has lots of things to hide behind, 4-5 shots can easily turn into a full clip or more, possibly necessitating multiple reloads to kill an enemy.
The best way to use the Battle Rifle is in combination with a charged Plasma Pistol burst. Once the burst knocks the shields down, it is easy to shoot for the head and pick up an easy kill. Be advised that many less-skilled players consider this a "cheap" kill, and will not hesitate to let you know so.
Two more things are important when fighting with the Battle Rifle. One of them is that a Battle Rifle will easily "stun" someone. This does not mean they will stop in their tracks, but it is likely that they will simply stop because of the ear-harming effects of the sound of the weapon being fired. Most people, in this situation, will try to jump and strafe to avoid the BR55's bullets, which is unlikely, due to the accuracy of the weapon.
The bullets do have some "spread" when sniping. Thus, one cannot rely on all three bullets in a burst striking the opponent. This makes the weapon slightly weaker than the Halo CE pistol, although it is virtually the same in all other respects.
Influences: The design of the rifle with the forward carrying handle and bullpup layout resembles the French FAMAS rifle. In all but the magazine placement, it closely resembles the XM8 rifle, and also shares a bit of common appearance with the CR-21.