M5A2 Folsom Carbine

The M5A2 Folsom Carbine is an assault rifle featured in Resistance: Fall of Man, Resistance 2, Resistance 3 and Resistance: Burning Skies. It is replaced by the .303 Storm Rifle in Resistance: Retribution.

• Resistance: Fall of Man
• Resistance 2
• Resistance 3
• Resistance: Burning Skies

M5A2 Folsom Carbine
Specifications
Manufacturer	United States Armed Forces
Type	Assault Rifle
Model	M5A2
Weapon Stats
Primary Fire	Fully Automatic
Secondary Fire	40mm Grenade Launcher
Ammunition	.303 caliber 40mm rifle grenade
Rate of Fire	High
Accuracy	Medium
Range	Medium-Long
Clip Size	50 rounds 1 grenade round
Maximum Ammunition	200 rounds reserve, 4 magazines 3 grenade rounds

The M5A2 Folsom Carbine is the standard-issue rifle of the US Army Rangers. It is the player's starting weapon in York. It is an accurate weapon even in full auto mode. Its underslung grenade launcher is useful against small groups of enemies, having a smaller blast radius than the standard Fragmentation Grenade.

Strategy

Single Player

• The Carbine's ammo is very common, as all Allies are equipped with the Carbine.
• The Carbine is a good multi-purpose weapon. It is very effective against the Hybrid and Slipskull. Aim for their heads and they won't cause much of a problem for too long.
• It fires more slowly than the Bullseye, but has a much narrower spread and faster bullets, making it more effective at long range, although the Bullseye can also use its homing ability to function at extreme distances.
• The grenade launcher attachment is also extremely useful against bigger enemies, such as the Steelhead, which can be taken down in one hit, but ammunition for this is usually very sparse, so make sure it isn't wasted when obtained.
• The Carbine is not very effective at close ranges. The Bullseye and the Rossmore are much more suitable.

Multiplayer

• The M5A2 Carbine is the starting weapon for the Human forces. It is a mediocre weapon; with average damage, rate of fire and accuracy.
• The grenade launcher is exceedingly powerful and in some cases, could be considered the best weapon in the game. The player does not start out with a 40mm grenade, but can get one from a prototype ammo/grenade kit.

Intel

“	The M5A2 Folsom Carbine is the standard issue rifle of the US Army Rangers. The Folsom is nicknamed "the paddle" for its wide wooden stock and ability to "spank" an enemy. The M5A2 uses the same .303 round as the British Rifle, No. 6 Mk 6. Pressing fires the underslung M200 40mm Grenade Launcher. The M200 uses high-explosive grenades which can immediately multiply the firepower available to an individual soldier.	”

Gallery

Carbine replica.

Trivia

• Any of Nathan Hale's allies who possess a carbine will not use the grenade launcher. This is most likely to stop NPCs from killing or injuring the player accidentally with splash damage.
• In the photograph slideshow in the cutscenes, Hale's carbine does not have the grenade launcher attachment present. But in the real-time parts of cutscenes, Hale does have a grenade launcher on his M5A2.
• At the butt of the rifle you can see tally marks (most likely kills) which add up to 35.
• The Folsom is similar to experimental magazine-fed select-fire M1 Garands or M14 rifles in the Mk 14 configuration, using a modern SAGE stock; this is very anachronistic, since the MIL-STD-1913 standard for rail systems was not established until 1995. The shoulder stock and grip are a wooden version of that used by the British L96 sniper rifle, and the grenade launcher is an M203 except in Resistance: Burning Skies, where the non-upgraded version is a Masterkey underbarrel shotgun with the proportions altered.
• The in-world single 40mm grenade pickup model and the icon shown on grenade launcher ammo boxes in Resistance: Fall of Man is a Russian VOG-25 caseless grenade for the GP series of grenade launchers.
• In Resistance: Retribution, James Grayson's combat jacket has a picture of two M14 rifles.
• A concept art image of Joseph Capelli features a real-world M14, which could mean that the M14 was planned to be in the game as a replacement for the M5A2.
• A 50/30 round magazine firing a .303 bullet, plus the weight of the wooden stock, grenade launcher, and full metal barrel, would make this rifle, in fact, extremely heavy.
• The Carbine uses a 14 rib 7.62 NATO STANAG magazine, which normally contains 20 rounds.
• The M5A2 fires .303 caliber rounds. This is unusual, seeing as the .303 is a British cartridge, and the Folsom is an American Rifle. It would more likely use the .30-06 caliber bullet that American weapons used in the 1940s and 1950s, however, the British and the Americans may have standardized on one cartridge in the years leading up to the events in the games considering the alternative history.

• It is unlikely that the .303 British is the cartridge used in the Folsom Carbine, since the very large rim at the base and the given capacity would make the magazines look more like those used in the BREN light machine gun. It is more likely an evolution of .303 Savage, which was created in the 1894 as an attempt to become the new military cartridge (instead going to the .30-40 Krag). The .303 Savage would be comparable to the .30-30 Winchester in terms of ballistics, and has a smaller case size compared to the 7.62 NATO which could presumably fit more rounds per magazine length. The only issue is the rimmed cartridge case, which would present similar but not as drastic of a magazine curvature as the .303 British.
• The caliber of a firearm is based on the land diameter of the barrel (the larger diameter being the grooves), as is common in European cartridge designation. As such, a .303 caliber firearm would potentially use .308 bullets (dependent on cartridge/firearm design, seeing as the .303 British used .311 bullets), thus potentially the adoption of a cartridge similar to the 7.62mm NATO considering the M14's appearance the M5A2 takes.

• The earlier designs of the Carbine made it resemble the LR-300, complete with the M203 grenade launcher and the wooden stock/grip seen in today's Folsom Carbine. However this was changed by concept artist Carlo Arellano, who thought that both the gun didn't look right alongside the early design of the Hybrid with the duck-like face.

M5A2 Folsom Carbine
Specifications
Manufacturer	SRPA, United States Armed Forces
Type	Assault Rifle
Model	M5A2
Weapon Stats
Primary Fire	Full Automatic
Secondary Fire	40mm Grenade Launcher
Ammunition	.303 caliber 40mm rifle grenade
Rate of Fire	High
Accuracy	Medium
Range	Medium-Long
Clip Size	30 rounds 1 grenade round
Maximum Ammunition	(Campaign) 210 rounds, 7 magazines reserve 2 grenade rounds reserve (Co-op) 150 rounds, 5 magazines reserve 1 grenade round reserve

The M5A2 Folsom Carbine is the fourth weapon obtained in Resistance 2, and is picked up in SRPA Station Igloo. Its magazine capacity is now reduced to 30 rounds and it only carries 2 grenades for the grenade launcher. It is effective at medium to longer range.

Changes from Resistance: Fall of Man

• Magazine size decreased to 30 instead of 50 rounds.
• 2 instead of 3 grenades can now be carried
• Maximum reserve ammunition increased from 150 rounds to 180 rounds, thus the player needs to resupply less often.

Strategy

• M5A2 Carbine's 40mm Grenade Launcher is ideal for eliminating a small group of lesser Chimera.

Single Player

• The Carbine is generally useful against common Hybrids and other Chimera.
• Plenty of ammunition is available around levels.
• The Grenade Launcher takes longer to reload and the blast radius isn't anywhere near as big. However, if it's round hits the target dead on, it will kill most enemies instantly.
• Whether by developer oversight or deliberate decision, there is no 40mm grenade ammo in the entire game. To get more, the player must discard their current Carbine for another weapon, and then pick up a new Carbine which will have 2 grenades as part of its standard starting ammunition.
• The Carbine is mostly effective at taking down enemies at a distance. Unlike the previous game, the Carbine also works well against enemies at a close range. Although, the Bullseye is more suitable in close quarters combat.

Co-op

• Only the Medic class can equip the M5A2 Carbine and it's the first weapon that they can unlock. It's probably more effective to use the XR-42 Phoenix though, unless the player wants to use the Grenade Launcher.

Multiplayer

• With the new ability to pre-select a weapon in Competitive, the M5A2 Carbine has become more of a specialist's weapon. It's a good all-round weapon, and provides an adequate solution to both close-range and long-range combat.
• The Grenade Launcher also allows for quick and easy kills.

Intel

“	In December of 1951, SRPA adopted the M5A2 Folsom Carbine as the standard-issue weapon for its Sentinel program. The carbine is the most dependable on the market, firing .303 rounds with an under-slung M200 40 mm high-velocity grenade launcher. Press and hold to fire primary rounds. To fire an explosive grenade, press .	”

Gallery

A Black Ops soldier holding a Carbine.

Trivia

• Major Richard Blake is the only supporting character to use the Carbine's secondary fire but will only do so if overwhelmed by Leapers in the sewers in Cocodrie, Louisiana and in SRPA Station Igloo (level) to kill a few Hybrids before Nathan Hale takes the final shot to kill the Goliath.
• In Cooperative mode, whenever a Black Ops fires the carbine, the bolts that come out look like giant yellow blobs.
• Occasionally if a player were to look near a carbine on the ground, it will have a strange bullet-shaped object near it with the SRPA symbol on it. If closely examined, it is far too large to be fired off by the primary Carbine barrel, so it is likely that it is a grenade to be inserted into the secondary fire.

• 

  On the side of the carbine there is information written on the rifle:

Mac Klnnon Armory

Roswell, NM

Nylon/Carbon

Serial #870684-E2

This may be a reference to the UFO crash at Roswell, New Mexico in 1947.

M5A2 Carbine
Specifications
Manufacturer	Human resistance
Type	Assault Rifle
Model	M5A2
Weapon Stats
Primary Fire	Full Automatic
Secondary Fire	40mm Grenade Launcher
Ammunition	.303 caliber 40mm rifle grenade
Damage	Medium (Primary Fire) Very High (Secondary Fire)
Area of Effect	10m (Secondary Fire)
Rate of Fire	High
Accuracy	Medium
Range	Medium-High (Primary Fire) Low-Medium (Secondary Fire)
Clip Size	36 rounds 1 grenade round
Maximum Ammunition	210 rounds, 5 magazines reserve 2 grenade rounds reserve
Weapon Stats
Power	50/100
Rate of Fire	80/100
Range	70/100
Move Speed	50/100
Clip Size	36
Maximum Ammunition	144

The M5A2 Carbine is the eighth weapon found and obtain in the beginning of the chapter Nature of the Beast, where Joseph Capelli and Fyodor Malikov came under attack by the Wardens. The first upgrade adds a bayonet to the rifle. The last upgrade allows the player to fire 3 grenades in a horizontal line at once in a spread formation.

Changes from Resistance 2

• Magazine size slightly increased; from 30 to 36 rounds.
• Upgrades can now be equipped.
• More detailed model.
• Slightly different iron sight

Upgrades

Tier	Name	Campaign	Multiplayer
1	N/A	shoots bullets at a high rate of fire. lobs a 40mm grenade.	Same
2	Bayonet	A bayonet attachment is added that increases melee damage.	Same
3	Extra Grenades	Fires three grenades at once.	Same

Strategy

Single Player

• The Carbine's secondary fire can be effective against small group of enemies at once.
• Suitable for dealing with multiple distant enemies.
• The grenade launcher never has to reload unlike the model in the previous games.
• The Carbine is more effective than in the previous games, in taking down enemies in close quarters, especially if the Carbine is upgraded at least once.
• The secondary fire can inflict considerable damage to the player's health, so care must be taken.
• Grenades are easier to come across than in previous games, usually being found in the same ammo boxes as primary rounds.

Multiplayer

• The M5A2 is the first weapon players will receive with a preset class.
• The power of the Grenade Launcher has been nerfed considerably, as it is no longer able to kill a player with one shot even with the final upgrade, unless the Demolition ability is equipped.
• The M5A2 works great with the Gunslinger and Air Cooled Barrel abilities.
• You can fire up to two grenades with it if the ability that increases Primary and Secondary fire clip size is chosen.

Intel

“	The standard-issue assault rifle used by the United States military during the initial Chimeran invasion. Effective at medium to long range. More accurate when fired in short bursts. - Fires .303 caliber rounds at 750 rounds per minute. - Fires one 40mm grenade.	”

Gallery

The M5A2 Carbine as it appears in the Resistance 3 reveal trailer.

Weapon journal.

Weapon stats.

Tier 2 Carbine.

Tier 3 Carbine.

Extra Grenades.

The M5A2 Carbine in Resistance 3 multiplayer.

Trivia

• At the butt of the rifle are tally marks (most likely kills) which add up to 35.

M5A2 Carbine
Specifications
Manufacturer	United States Armed Forces, Minutemen
Type	Assault Rifle
Model	M5A2
Weapon Stats
Primary Fire	Full Automatic
Secondary Fire	40mm Grenade Launcher
Ammunition	7.62mm cartridges 40mm grenade
Rate of Fire	High
Accuracy	Medium
Range	Medium-Long
Clip Size	30 rounds 1 grenade
Maximum Ammunition	150 rounds 3 grenades

The M5A2 Folsom Carbine is the third weapon acquired in the level Staten Island after Tom Riley killed several Leapers in the sewers, which is found beside the dead soldier before he joins the Minutemen.

It can fire the grenade by tapping or hold and move the target at the enemies with the touchscreen.

Upgrades

Name	Description
Fast Reload	Reload time reduced.
Grenade Capacity	Increased grenade capacity.
Scope	Adds scoped view.
Range	Greater effective range.
Reload Charge	Fresh clip does more damage.
Larger Explosion	Larger explosions on grenades.

Strategy

• If the Carbine is equipped with a scope, aim for the heat stack on the Chimera's back and shoot it to make a faster kill.
• The Carbine's grenade is highly capable for taking out small group of enemies in one shot.

Intel

“	Dear friends of liberty, Our cell broke into the local National Guard armory last night and made off with 26 M5A2 Carbines. As most of you know the M5 is the standard issue rifle for the United States Army, National Guard, and Marine Corps. It fires .303 rounds and 40mm grenades via an under- barrel launcher. The fact that this weapon is highly effective against a wide variety of targets, and generally available throughout the United States, means that every cell should take steps to acquire as many M5s as possible. One way to do that is to break into your local National Guard armory like we did. But, if it has been looted or destroyed, be sure to check any battlefield where the Army or National Guard have been fighting. Sadly there will be some lying around. Never give up, and never give in. - David Henry Touch and Hold the touchscreen to fire a grenade from the secondary grenade launcher.	”

Gallery

Game model of Carbine with scope.

A Carbine upgraded by Gray Tech.

Trivia

• Oddly, in this game the second part of the standard M5A2 reloading sound effect (normally used for pulling the charging handle) is instead used for inserting the magazine.