Assault Rifles in General:Assault rifles are the jack of all trades gun in COD4. They also vary more than any of the other weapon classes and have more roles that can be performed either through specialization through perks or simultaneously. They have medium mobility, longer range, fire at the hip fairly accurately, and have many different options throughout the class. They are also the only class that allows grenade launchers.
Positives: Average stats in all categories allowing them to compete in all ranges. Silence options available.
Negatives: Can be outgunned at short range by shotguns and subs. Snipers can outgun at long range. Medium ranges can be outgunned by light machine guns.
Why use Assault Rifles:Assault rifles vary a lot within the class itself, so there are a lot of roles that can be performed. In general, a good reason to use an assault rifle is to be able to handle most situations. I think they're clearly the best weapon to use as a new player as well, as the perks/attachments available at the start allow for a powerful setup for the assault rifles, where the other weapons are better off with perks available later. I don't advise the scope on any of the weapons here as it lowers the accuracy and defeats the point of raising the range. In order to hit at range, you need the accuracy.. and yah.. don't use them.
A Word about the Grenade LauncherSince this is only available to the assault rifles, I'll discuss it here. This is a great starting tool for new players as it gives a powerful combination with what's available at the beginning. While it's not something I have bothered using after unlocking other options, it should still be used at the start. Since it eats up the first perk, and I generally think that bandolier (or 3 frag on some) is the best option on assault rifles once it's available.. I wouldn't use it after that point. Grenade launcher shoots quickly and has a better max and min range than you'd think. You can use this like you would a shotgun and walk around corners waiting to blast people. While it does have a min firing range (it's very low), you can still shoot someone with it even closer and hitting them directly will kill them. Strategically it's best to hit targets that can't be reached by other means and it's very easy to target. People hiding behind cover can usually still be killed with this. As a new player however, you can 'noob tube' which is essentially pre-prepping the grenade and shooting the first thing you see, whether it's behind cover or not. It's hard to screw this up and it's easy to get kills this way. But since it eats up your first perk and attachment, for only 2 grenades, it's better for new players. Good players are better off with other perks/attachments that promote longer killing streaks imo.
M16A4: This is the starting assault rifle. It's unique in that it's the only cod4 gun to operate with a burst. It has a 3 round burst which fires with very good accuracy and a tight spread that is shot very fast. This means if you shoot at someone from short to medium range at the chest, most likely all 3 bullets will hit. The gun does a moderate amount of damage, but landing all 3 will usually result in a kill. At long ranges the spread of the burst can mean only hitting the first of the bullets, and this is when you'd want to be targetting the head. Iron site is ok, allowing use with a silencer and recoil is minor. One of the best mid range weapons in the game imo. 30 round clip, 10 bursts.
Perks & attachments: At the start, since there aren't good perk 1 options, and no attachments other than the grenade launcher.. it's best to use this. Sonic boom compliments that, and stopping power is a solid choice. Later, you can use this as either a ganking weapon or frontal attack. As a flanker, you'd want silencer, bandolier, uav jammer, deep impact/steady aim. As a frontal attacker.. red dot, bandolier/3 frag grenades (this depends on how far out you're engaging from, I would most often suggest bandolier), stopping power or jugger, deep impact.
AK-47: This is the powerhouse of the assault rifles. Only the M14 does more damage, but this is fully automatic. Relatively low recoil, great iron site, and good fire rate. How can you go wrong?? Well, it has the worst accuracy in the class and therefore can struggle at killing at more than medium/low range. For that reason, I really consider it more like a sub machine gun with less mobility/hip accuracy and a bit more range. While it has it's place and it isn't a bad weapon, it's not a great weapon either. It's very nice iron site makes it attractive however for both the silencer and grenade launcher if you're using those. 30 round clip.
Perks & attachments: Silencer/bandolier/uav jammer/steady aim. GL/Stopping power/steady aim. Red dot/3 frag (bandolier isn't advisable as much here because the range is limited because of the accuracy which means you'll be in position to get new weapons/ammo) /stopping power/steady aim.
M4 CARBINE: This is probably the second most used weapon in the game (behind the P90), but this is actually legal. This can make this attractive simply for that, in that you're likely to get ammo from people more often. It's popular because it's fully automatic, assault rifle range, and has almost no recoil. This allows you to target with full auto fire accurately and mow down multiple people at medium range. It's accuracy is decent and it's iron site is ok. It has the lowest damage in the class though and is one of the weaker per bullet weapons in the game. With that said, I don't particularly like this weapon. I think it's an ok choice if you want a fully automatic w/ a grenade launcher, since the iron site is good and ammo is plentiful and don't need bandolier with it. But if you're using the scope or red dot, you're better off with the G36C. However, the ammo option can be real helpful and like I said, can be a great reason to use this gun if it remains popular.
Perks & attachments: Since it's damage is low, you really want to take stopping power. That means no uav jammer, which makes it tough to want to use a silencer on it.. but it remains a good option for GL. Red dot/3 frag (another advantage of this again, because you don't need bandolier)/stopping power/deep impact (or steady aim).
G3: This is the gun I consider the best in the game. It's the closest thing to the Kar in this cod. It's a semi automatic w/ the best accuracy in the class and almost no recoil. It's decent damage allows you to shoot at close range if necessary (although obviously not good at it) and you can get a decent rate of fire off. It's extremely good at killing at medium range with it's tiny recoil against multiple targets, and has the ability to challenge snipers at long range with it's great accuracy. While it can't one shot like snipers, you can hit them first, which interupts their targetting.. in turn allowing you to finish them off without getting hit. I find it quicker to target with a red dot at range than a scope, so the advantage is with that. Also a good gun to use bullet penetration with as you can pepper areas and wait for a hit, then finish them off quickly with it's great lack of recoil and accuracy. Good iron site. 20 round clip.
Perks & attachments: This isn't a common weapon, so I would suggest bandolier and it's a longer range weapon. Stopping power is heavily advised and deep impact. This is the best weapon to use as a 'hidden sniper' as well and be used with a silencer/bandolier/uav jammer/deep impact.
G36C: This is the better option than the carbine imo if you want a fully automatic w/ little recoil and decent accuracy. It's accuracy and fire rate is a bit worse and it's recoil is slightly higher, but it's damage is considerably more. It's iron site is obstructive however and if you want to use a silencer or grenade launcher, the M4 may be a better option. Good solid mid range weapon that allows accurate fully automatic fire. 30 round clip.
Perks & attachments: Red dot/Bandolier/Stopping Power/steady aim or deep impact.
M14: This is the other semi-automatic weapon, directly competing with the G3. It does significantly more damage (best in class) and does allow 1 shotting, and this is it's advantage. G3 blows then right?? No, this has significantly more recoil which means if you aren't one shotting people, you're likely kiling them quite a bit slower than you would with the G3. While the M14 has good accuracy, the G3 has superior accuracy (best in game). The G3's ability to get off more shots more accurately and on multiple targets makes it superior in most situations.. unless you use the M14 to headshot (which will one shot) as a sniper rifle w/ utility. M4's also better at the hip than the G3. It has an ok iron site. 20 round clip.
Perks & attachments: Red dot/Bandolier/Stopping Power/deep impact.
MP44: No point in using this except for the challenges. This is basically a crappy AK47 w/ a lower fire rate. Also much worse iron site, which you can't do anything about.
Which gun?: These have many different uses and vary too much in the class to just choose one. But, on the ones that are similiar, I generally say G3 > M14, G36C > M4, and AK47 > MP44. M16 as a burst weapon is unique, but most directly competes with the G3.. which I favor over it slightly (both great weapons).
Using the Assault Rifles: Remember that your sweet spot with the assault rifles is generally at medium range. Snipers can outrange most of the ARs, and subs and shotguns can outgun most in close range w/ their superior accuracy and mobility shooting at the hip. With that said, you can still win those wars and in this way they're rather unique. You may not have the advantage, but a skilled player can still win more often than not even against weapons better suited for the range you're fighting at and that's the real key with ARs. They give you the ability to kill in most situations.
(Guide by
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