Does anyone know how fast MACs on say a frigate or other (not SMAC) can fire?
I don’t believe they ever said how quickly most ships can fire but I know the SMAC can fire and reload within 5 seconds. The upgraded Pillar of Autumn was also said to be able to fire three successive shots on a single charge. I don’t know about everything else however.
Well I know that but… Yeah I was looking for other stuff.
I do wonder how long it takes to charge it up…
Try looking at TFoR. I know MAC charge times are given estimates. I do believe by 2552, an average MAC could fire in around 10 minutes.
Oh thanks! I found stuff on the commonwealth. It fired its MAC twice and I read the dialogue. It was about 30 seconds of charge. Frigate MACs are about 183m and fire 600 ton slugs at 30,000 m/s. 64 kilotons. Firing was in 2525
Not that it would be crazy reliable, but you could head outside Cairo Station and follow one of the frigates or cruisers heading upwards from Cairo and time the MAC blasts from one ship. 
I checked out return to sender cutscene but its not much indication if those are actually MACs or just missiles or what. With the book, 30 seconds seem to be the time for a charge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDIum1BnCZI
Halo: Reach puts a Destroyer’s MAC at 2 shots every five seconds.
The Fall of Reach usually has figures that take up to a minute for ship-MACs and 5 seconds for SMACS.
Can you state the passage? And where in reach?
It’s in one of the radio conversations around the maps. This particular conversation is in Reflection’s radio:
> UNSC Majestic: “Alpha 20, This is UNSC Majestic, two mikes out from window. Once we’re on station you’ll have us for all of three-zero seconds, over.”
> Alpha-20: “Acknowledged, Majestic. Stand by, we are waiting for the go/no-go on the shoot. Uploading telemetry on target.”
> UNSC Majestic: “Telemetry received, on standby.”
> Alpha-20: “CENTCOM, OWA is one mike three-zero seconds out from window, DD with five-zero one-hundred-sixty charlie mike, once on station we’ll have three-zero seconds of trigger time, over.”
> CENTCOM: “Alpha-20, this is CENTCOM. Beta-Red is directly in the splash zone. Until we have visual confirmation of their status we are no-go, over.”
> Alpha-20: “CENTCOM, those cruisers are burning birds out to five-zero klicks; hell, they’ve hit civvy evac birds all the way out to CIS. Beta Red have gone above and beyond but there’s no way out for them, they just bought us our window, now give me the go and I’ll finish the job.”
> CENTCOM: “God help us… Go hot. Out.”
> UNSC Majestic: (fading in) This is Majestic. Copy, Alpha, requesting go for shoot."
> Alpha-20: “Affirmative, we are go on the shoot.”
> UNSC Majestic: “Acknowledge. Shoot is a go, out.”
> UNSC Majestic: “Six rounds, target number Kilo Tango 2005.”
> Alpha-20: “Copy, Majestic. Target number Kilo Tango 2005.”
> UNSC Majestic: “Shot, over.”
> Alpha-20: “Shot, out.”
> UNSC Majestic: “Splash, over.”
> Alpha-20: “Splash, out.”
> UNSC Majestic: “Rounds complete, over.”
> Alpha-20: “Rounds complete, out.”
> Alpha-20: (fading in) “Alpha-20 to Majestic, all three target vehicles neutralized. I don’t even want to guess what happened below.”
> UNSC Majestic: “I copy, Alpha. End of mission, all three target vehicles neutralized. It’s been fun, hope we get a chance to do it again. Out.”
> Alpha-20: “God willing. Out.”
As for the SMAC:
> They had one advantage: the MAC orbital guns around Reach—the UNSC’s most powerful nonnuclear weapon. Some called them “Super” MAC guns or the “big stick.” Their linear accelerator coils were larger than a UNSC cruiser.
> They propelled a three-thousand-ton projectile at tremendous speed, and could reload within five seconds. They drew power directly from the fusion reactor complex planet side.
The standard frigate-based MAC fires a 600-ton slug around 30,000 meters per second. The high muzzle velocity provides the slug the kinetic energy and momentum necessary to damage a target and partially mitigates its unguided nature and its lack of maneuverability.[5] A “Super MAC” mounted on an orbital defense platform fires a 3,000-ton slug at nearly .04c, or around 12,000 kilometers per second, which is capable of piercing multiple obstacles before fully stopping the projectile if needed.[4]
15 seconds of charge time for dual MAC destroyer in 2552.
30 seconds for single MAC for Paris-class frigate in 2525.
I heard the radio and it was 15 seconds or so between the shots firing.