M4A Pistol Production information Model M4 Type Semi-automatic Technical specifications Ammunition Type 9mm ball-rimless straight round Operation Semi-automatic Range 1500 meters (maximum), 150 meters (effective) Usage Era(s) 2170s Affiliation Weyland-Yutani, USCM, commercial use
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The M4 pistols were semi-automatic 9mm (.380) calibre handguns used as standard issue for the USCM in the early 23rd century.

VariantsEdit

M4A3Edit

The M4A3 pistol is a semi-automatic 9mm handgun used by the USCM and is a replacement of the aging VP-70 Automatic Pistol. It carries a 15 round magazine and recoil is relatively light but it lacks sufficient power to be effective against most armoured foes. It proved effective against the lightly armoured Drones on LV-429 but failed against Predators and Xenoborgs due to their heavy armor and high endurance. The M4A3, with its older variants, has been the USCM standard sidearm for the past sixty years. It is a 9mm automatic, recoil operated, magazine fed hand weapon. The working mechanism is made of steel alloy with some plastic parts and the outer casing is machined from lightweight alloys. The entire weapon, including a full 12 round magazine weighs no more than 0.95 kg. The cartridge is a 9mm ball rimless straight round with a bullet weight of 126 grain (8.2 gram). Since the effectiveness of the round, even at close range, is limited against targets wearing body armor, a new ammunition - the M901 - is being introduced, which consists of a subcaliber metal core encased in a high impact resin bullet. Upon impact, the resin case breaks apart, allowing the core to penetrate the target armor; however, some problems are being experienced with the terminal ballistics of this round, and full introduction is not expected - for another year.

M4A4Edit

The M4A4 is an upgrade over the M4A3, it trades in the 9mm round for the .45 caliber round, yielding more power at the cost of a slightly smaller magazine of 12 rounds instead of 15. This does benefit however as the rounds are much more powerful and Marines have a wider array of ammunition to choose from, most notably Anti-Personnel "Dum Dum" type bullets designed for unarmored targets and Tungsten Cored Armor Piercing rounds designed for penetrating hard armor.

Appearances in Video GamesEdit

• The M4A3 was featured as a new weapon in Aliens vs Predator: Gold Edition. It was powerful against Warriors and served as a backup gun to the Marine's Pulse rifle at the beginning of the game, it wasn't as powerful against the stronger castes however and proved to be little defense versus other marines in multiplayer. It also featured dual M4A3s, which doubled the rate of fire and magazine capacity, but at the cost of a longer reload time. It can blow a Warrior's head off with a single shot.

• In Aliens Vs Predator: Extinction, the M4A3 pistol is the standard Issue weapon to Medics and base grade Synthetics. It's overall weak and in-effective against all but the most basic of enemies and even then it's usually useless. Medic's and Synthetic's fire slowly at a distance but fire faster at close range. It's weak overall, doing a limited amount of damage. At most they can be used to finish off Chestbursters or used on wounded warriors who are crawling towards their enemies. They can also function as euthnizer's killing comatose victims before aliens can transport them away to their hive.

• In Aliens versus Predator 2, the M4A4 pistol is the true last resort weapon. It's quite lethal if a person knows how to use it as it only takes 2-3 shots to take down a drone and even less for a runner. But what makes this weapon better over weapons like the Pulse Rifle is its armor piercing ammunition which makes it a great weapon for defeating the hard exoskeleton of a Praetorian or the excellent penetration on the body armor of an opposing Marine or Corporate. Unfortunately like most weapons, Armor Piercing ammunition is notoriously difficult to find.

• The M4A4 has a new feature in Aliens versus Predator 2: Primal Hunt, Corporates are able to wield two of them at once doubling the firepower and magazine capacity, but this equates to a slower reload and more ammunition consumption.
• The M4A3 appears again in the Aliens: Colonial Marines video game from 2013, where it is called the ARMAT M4A3 Service Pistol. In this game the handgun can be upgraded with several attachments and armor piercing ammunition.

Trivia Edit

• The M4A3 is almost identical to the real-world M1911. It is possibly a M1911 which has been modified.
  • The M4A4 resembles the Heckler & Koch Mk 23 pistol.
• The M4A3 was likely a replacement pistol of the aging VP-70, adopting better accuracy and lighter weight.
  • On the other hand, the M4A4 was likely made in response to low power round of the M4A3.