Call of Duty 4 – Modern Warfare Equipment Guide

Call of Duty 4 - Modern Warfare Equipment Guide

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CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE
MULTIPLAYER WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT GUIDE

For PC ONLY!
Version 1.3
By Alexander Young (aka Calder)
e-mail: calder87@gmail.com
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Do not copy in part or in full for reproduction on the internet without my 
permission!
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DISCLAIMER: THIS GUIDE APPLIES TO THE PC VERSION OF THE GAME ONLY EXCEPT WHERE 
SPECIFICALLY NOTED OTHERWISE. SEVERAL PEOPLE HAVE E-MAILED ME WITH QUESTIONS 
ABOUT THE CONSOLE VERSIONS OF THE GAME; I DON'T OWN AN XBOX 360 OR PS3, SO I 
HAVE NO IDEA IF THERE ARE ANY GAMEPLAY DIFFERENCES FROM WHAT I DESCRIBE IN THE 
GUIDE HERE.

1. Introduction

I noticed the other day that GameFAQs had no comprehensive guide to the 
multiplayer features of Call of Duty 4. Being the sort of person who likes to 
categorize weapons and the like, I decided to make this guide. Note that this 
is NOT a guide to maps or game mode strategies. Experience is the best solution 
for both, in my opinion. This is also not a guide to the rank-up levels or 
challenges in the game; other guides list that information, and the game will 
tell you all you need to know about when challenges will be unlocked/fulfilled 
and what to do to unlock/fulfill them.

A word on how to read the weapon stats: in the custom class screen, accuracy 
(how close the shot will go compared to where you aim), damage, range (how far 
the bullet can go and still damage a target), fire rate, and mobility (how fast 
you move) are listed as bars on the screen. I converted those bars into number 
rankings out of 12. The bar values don't always perfectly correspond to 
increments of 1/12, so some rankings will have a + indicating that the bar is 
slightly fuller than normal. So, a damage rank of 9+ is slightly higher than 9 
but less than 10. 

I recorded magazine sizes and reserve ammo myself, and used a stopwatch to
estimate the reload times for the weapons. I judged recoil by playing alone on 
the Crash map and firing a whole magazine of each weapon into a wall at medium 
distance, checking the bullet hole grouping afterwards.

UPDATE LOG
v1.4 - 4/14/08
-Corrected information on .50 caliber ammunition again
-Corrected information on UAV
-Changed every instance of "clip" to "magazine"
-Updated sections on R700, sniper rifles intro, spotting cheaters, Mini-Uzi
-New section: Tactics, a section giving suggestions for manuevering and using 
several techniques like knifing

v1.3 - 3/7/08
-Corrected information on .50 caliber ammunition in the Barrett and Desert 
Eagle entries
-Updated info on M14 assault rifle, M60E4 LMG, and Desert Eagle
-Updated info for helicopter, knife, flashbang grenade, smoke grenade, and 
silencer attachment
-Updated info for Juggernaut, Last Stand, Martyrdom, and Overkill perks
-Added info on no-scoping to the sniper rifle intro
-Added Camping to both the Do and Don't Complain lists

v1.2 - 2/5/08
-Added "What Not To Complain About" and "What To Complain About" sections to 
Miscellaneous
-Improved info for Juggernaut and Martyrdom perks, Airstrike support, and 
grenade launcher attachment
-Added smoke grenade info, improved stun and flashbang grenade info
-Improved some weapons perk and equipment recommendations
-Added ghillie suit and basic tactics info to Sniper Rifle overview
-Corrected fire rates for various semi-automatic weapons in light of their 
dependence on how fast you can click the mouse

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2. Table of Contents

Searching: press Ctrl+F in your web browser and enter the section number and 
letter for the section you want to read, then hit next until you see the 
section.

3. Equipment, Attachments, and Support
	3a. Equipment/Camouflage
	3b. Attachments
	3c. Support
4. Perks
	4a. Tier One
	4b. Tier Two
	4c. Tier Three
5. Weapons
	5a. Assault Rifles
	5b. SMGs
	5c. LMGs
	5d. Shotguns
	5e. Sniper Rifles
	5f. Pistols
6. Miscellaneous
	6a. What Not To Complain About
	6b. What To Complain About
	6c. Tactics
7. Acknowledgements

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3. Equipment, Attachments, and Support

3a. Equipment/Camouflage

Note: All grenades do a small amount of damage to enemies if they hit before 
exploding, just as if you had thrown a rock at your opponent. You can use this 
to kill wounded opponents and fulfill some of the Humiliation challenges 
unlocked at ranks 47 and 48! It's also really funny, so try it if the 
opportunity arises.
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Frag Grenades: When you press the grenade key (G or whatever), you'll lob a 
grenade with a 5-second fuse on it. Unless you want to flush enemies out of 
hiding or get the nade lobbed back at you, this isn't a good idea. Instead, 
hold the key down. Your crosshairs will start pulsing, and the grenade will 
explode at the fifth pulse. For best results, lob the grenade at your opponent 
at the third or fourth pulse (fourth if they're close) and they won't have time 
to react. You can throw any frag grenade you're standing on by hitting the 
grenade key. This takes a second or two, so unless you have no other choice, 
run instead of going for the throw. Also, you can kill yourself by throwing a 
friend's grenade even if friendly fire is off.
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Flashbang Grenades: Detonates 1 second after you throw it; cannot be cooked.  
Sets off a loud bang and a bright flash about two seconds after it is thrown, 
blinding anyone facing it (including you but not your teammates if FF is off) 
for several seconds.  Blinded players can still move and fire freely, so be 
careful of wild fire when you flash and enter an area.

Knoah reports that flash grenades do not report a damage tick if they blind 
someone, unlike the stun grenade.

[BLiTZ] Yippo claims that a flashed player cannot sprint until the flash wears 
off. I tested this with a friend and confirmed it.
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Stun Grenades: Arms one second after being thrown, CAN be cooked. Once armed, 
it detonates on impact with the ground.  Momentarily blinds and mildly damages 
those in its radius and slows their motion and turning for several seconds.  
You don't have to be facing it for it to stun you.  Ideally you should use this 
on enemies with their backs to you so you can take a leisurely headshot or 
backstab. Stunned players can still fire their weapons and STAB at normal 
speed, so be careful when approaching from the front. I've actually stabbed an 
attacker while stunned, and it can't have been enjoyable for him. :)

Knoah pointed out that if the stun grenade stuns someone, it returns a tick 
like when you hit someone with a bullet. You can use this to tell you if 
someone's in a room. Thanks, Knoah!
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Smoke Grenades: Takes about 1-2 seconds to put up a decent-sized cloud of smoke 
after hitting the ground. As far as I know you can't inflict impact damage with 
this like you can with the other hand grenades. Despite the passive nature of 
the smoke screen, it turns out to be a great stalemate-breaker on 
objective-based maps. It can hide your team as they move to an objective, blind 
a group of enemies while you fire into their position, or even act as a decoy 
to drain enemy explosives (sometimes smoke clouds attract a LOT of enemy frag 
grenades). In my experience, teams using smoke grenades on objective maps tend 
to make breakthroughs more often than teams that don't.

NOTE: Keep in mind that being in the smoke doesn't mean you're invisible from 
every angle! If you really want to stay hidden, stay either in the center of 
the smoke or (preferably) on the other side of the smoke from your enemies.
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Knife: Hit melee to whip out the knife regardless of how impossible it is to 
carry your potentially heavy gun in one hand and slash quickly and effectively 
with the other. The combat knife one-shot kills any target, unless you're on a 
feedback FF server where the damage you inflict on friendlies goes to you 
instead. In that case, you take damage to within one point of death. I'm not 
sure on how the game decides to have you stab or slash someone... perhaps you 
slash if you're strafing.  Slashing is rather quick, whereas stabbing has a 
recovery time of a couple seconds, which can be perilous if you miss your 
target but the stab animation happens anyway. Remember to treat the knife like 
a gun; aim with your crosshairs and don't compensate for where the knife 
"should go" in real life.
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Camouflage: Paint your gun! In some cases having the proper camo on your gun 
will actually disguise you better, but don't sweat this too much because you 
can't change camo in the middle of a round. Mainly you use camo to make your 
gun look cool and for prestige. All primary weapons that you have unlocked 
automatically come with desert and woodlands camo. The following camos are 
unlocked for all weapons by completing their respective Expert Challenges 
(headshot quotas):

Digital Camouflage (25 headshots): gray, blocky micropattern camo good in 
concrete-filled maps like Countdown, Pipeline and Vacant, as well as Wet Work.

Blue Tiger Camouflage (75 headshots): blue and dark gray tigerstriped camo, 
most likely to blend in in Wet Work and the concrete maps.

Red Tiger Camouflage (150 headshots): red and dark gray tigerstriped camo.

Gold: Available for the AK-47, Mini-Uzi, M60E4, M1014, and Dragunov when you 
complete all Marksman and Expert challenges for every gun in their respective 
classes. Shiny and easily noticeable by everyone, but you should be proud to 
show it off!

##########

3b. Weapon Attachments

These items can be attached to the specified weapon classes with the exceptions 
of the Desert Eagle and MP44. All equipment except for the grenade launcher and 
pistol silencer must be unlocked for each individual weapon by completing the 
Marksman (kill quota) challenges for that weapon. The kills needed to unlock 
the equipment are listed next to the equipment names.

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Grenade Launcher (assault rifles) (replaces Tier One perk): The n00b tube!  
Equip this attachment with 5 to bring up the grenade reticule, and fire. The 
impact grenade won't arm until a second or two after leaving the barrel, so aim 
for at least medium-distance targets. The exception is impact kills. If you can 
hit someone up close with an undetonated grenade, they die instantly! The kill 
icon is rather amusing. As fun as the noob tube is, there's a reason it has 
that name. Players often get annoyed at those who ALWAYS use the grenade 
launcher every spawn. It feels cheap after a while, and besides that it doesn't 
get you weapon experience towards equipment or camo and if you're decent at 
aiming you can usually get more kills by moving around with your gun than by 
moving around with your 2-shot noob tube. Use in moderation, for everyone's 
sake.
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Silencer (assault rifles 75, SMGs 75, pistols): A silenced weapon suffers a 2+ 
penalty to range and an unspecified minor penalty to damage (SEE BELOW), but 
when fired it won't appear on enemy radar. I believe the silencer reduces 
recoil somewhat as well. Use if you don't want to be detected as easily.

The PFC says that the silencer does not inflict a damage penalty on a weapon, 
but by reducing the range it reduces the maximum range at which the bulet will 
do any damage.
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Red Dot Sight (assault rifles 25, SMGs 25, LMGs 25, shotguns 25): Replaces your 
weapon's iron sights with a battery-powered laser red dot sight. If you have 
trouble lining up shots easily with the iron sights, switch to the red dot. The 
laser dot will obscure your target at long range, but it's bright and easy to 
aim quickly. I always use this if I don't need any other attachment for my 
primary weapon.
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Grip (LMGs 75, shotguns 75) (replaces Tier One perk): Increases weapon accuracy 
by 3 and therefore decreases recoil.  A considerable benefit for high-recoil 
weapons if you don't mind losing the Tier One perk; not really necessary for 
the relatively low-recoil SAW LMG.
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ACOG Scope (assault rifles 150, SMGs 150, LMGs 150, sniper rifles 100): 
Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight. A telescopic sight intermediate between the 
iron sight/red dot zoom and the sniper scope zoom, with a reticule illuminated 
by radioactive tritium.  Decreases accuracy by 1 and increases range by 2+. Use 
with fairly accurate weapons that you prefer to use at long range if you can't 
line up or reach enemies with the iron/red dot sights.

##########

3c. Support

As you rack up kills, you will be notified of support abilities that you can 
use by pressing the 6 key. These should be used whenever you get them, as they 
can help your team immensely. You can only have one support ability at a time, 
so be careful to use your ability before increasing your streak. If you die, 
you keep any support ability you had.
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3-kill streak: UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle): scans the map, pinging the 
locations of all enemies who don't have the UAV Jammer perk.  Everyone on your 
team can see the pings. One call lasts for 30 seconds. Anakronos and damoore38 
informed me that calling a new UAV on top of an existing one DOES NOT STACK.  
You end up wasting the new UAV entirely. This is fine if you want to use the 
UAV to get XP, but if you've maxed out your rank, try to only use a UAV when 
your team doesn't already have one in effect.
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5-kill streak: Airstrike: if no jet icons are on the radar map, you may call an 
airstrike. The map will appear and you can click where you want the bombs to 
fall. The area around your click will be bombarded with three strikes in quick 
succession. Try to hold your strike until your team's UAV is active, and don't 
bomb enemies under solid roofs (it won't do anything). Missing roofs, such as 
those in parts of the building in Vacant, are fair game. This support can 
sometimes be more effective at taking out enemies than the helicopter, so make 
sure to use it before racking up a larger kill streak.  Be extremely careful 
when using this on a friendly fire server!  Also, consider saving it for 
critical offensives or saving efforts in Headquarters, Sabotage, Search and 
Destroy, and Domination.
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7-kill streak: Helicopter: if no helicopter icon is on the radar map, you can 
call an AI helicopter gunship to fly around the map shooting at any enemy it 
can find. The chopper has missiles and a minigun with considerable bullet 
penetration. Any kill the chopper makes goes towards your kill count. If you're 
dealing with an enemy chopper, shoot at it if your fire won't give your 
position away to the enemy. All bullets that can reach the chopper (i.e. not 
shotgun shells) will damage it, and every little bit helps. RPGs usually either 
kill choppers or reduce their HP to within a few bullets of damage, but LMGs 
also do considerable damage. Some servers have custom settings for the 
chopper's HP; I recall a server where the chopper spawned with only one HP!  
Don't count on something like that, though. :)

Phillee93 pointed out that the chopper has weak points at its rotors. I haven't 
been able to confirm this beyond a doubt, but it seems to have worked a couple 
of times, so try it and let me know if you have definite proof!
========================================

4. Perks

These are special abilities and equipment that you can attach to your custom 
classes. You may choose one from each tier, unless a weapon attachment you have 
forbids Tier One perks.

4a. Tier One Perks
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C4 x 2: Adds 2 C4 charges to your inventory; equip with the 5 key. When 
equipped, you'll pull out a detonator. Right click to throw a C4 pack, and 
left-click to detonate it. When you have something other than the detonator 
equipped, double-tap the Use key (default F) to detonate. Good for traps and 
hilarious room-clearing attempts.
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Special Grenades x 3: Increases the number of flashbang or stun grenades you 
have to 3; sorry, no triple smoke.
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RPG-7 x 2: Adds two RPG-7s to your inventory; equip with 5. These are intended 
for taking out enemies at medium range (or close for the lols), as well as 
enemy helicopters. They're too inaccurate for long-distance attacks, and the 
smoke trail will give away your position, so move away after firing.
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Claymore x 2 (Unlocked at rank 23 Master Gunnery Sergeant): Adds two claymore 
antipersonnel mines to your inventory.  A red V will show the detection and 
blast direction of the mine; thankfully these are friend-or-foe so your allies 
won't trigger them, friendly fire or not. One shot from any weapon will destroy 
it. Place mines so that enemies will have to run towards or away from the V, 
not across it! It's easy to sprint past a claymore, trigger it, and escape 
unharmed by running in the right direction.
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Frag Grenade x 3 (Unlocked at Rank 41 Colonel): Gives you three frag nades 
instead of one.  Great for nade spammers, but nobody loves a nade spammer! If 
you don't care, or if you tend to use lots of grenades strategically instead of 
chucking them across the map all at once, feel free to use this perk.
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Bandolier (Unlocked at Rank 32 Captain): Increases the ammunition for all guns 
you carry.  Highly recommended for low-ammo guns as noted in the Weapons 
section.
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Bomb Squad (Unlocked at Rank 14 Staff Sergeant): Nearby enemy C4 and claymores 
appear as black and white explosion+skull icons. You can see these through 
walls and floors.  Take advantage of bullet penetration and your own explosives 
to get rid of these hazards, hopefully taking out camping enemies at the same 
time. In general, though, this perk should be foregone in favor of more 
frequently useful Tier Ones.

##########

4b. Tier Two Perks
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Stopping Power: Increases bullet damage for all of your weapons. Recommended to 
compensate for weak weapon damage or to tip powerful weapons like the M16 into 
the realm of one-shot kills.
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Juggernaut: Increases health, so you can take more damage in rapid succession 
before biting it. Recommended for ninjas who frequently charge the enemy. If 
you shoot an enemy who uses Juggernaut, a red cross symbol will appear under 
your crosshairs to tell you that you'll need to shoot your target a little more 
than usual for a kill.

The PFC notes that if you have Juggernaut, you cannot be one-shotted by any 
gun, even a sniper rifle, unless it has Stopping Power. This is different for 
Hardcore mode, but my guide doesn't cover hardcore.
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Sleight of Hand (Unlocked at Rank 20 Master Sergeant): Decreases reload time by 
up to half depending on the weapon and on whether you're loading a full 
magazine or not. Recommended for ninjas, shotguns, LMGs, and bolt-action sniper 
rifles.
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Double Tap (Unlocked at Rank 29 1st Lieutenant): Increases fire rate for your 
weapons. I didn't notice a difference with fast semi-auto weapons like the 
pistols, M1014, and G3 because Double Tap increased the fire rate above what I 
could achieve by clicking the mouse, so keep in mind your physical limitations 
when choosing this perk for fast single-shot weapons. Automatic weapons tend to 
empty their magazines anywhere from 20% to 30% faster. Recommended for slower 
automatic weapons like the AK-47 and M60E4 LMG.
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Overkill (Unlocked at Rank 38 Lieutenant Colonel): Allows you to carry two main 
weapons. The weapon you choose as your secondary can't have camouflage, and if 
you choose two guns that use the same ammo (like the R700 and M40A3), they will 
share ammo between them. Recommended if your primary is a less versatile weapon 
like a shotgun or sniper rifle.

Thanks to SpaceTimeMorph for this:
Your run and sprint speeds are always determined by the mobility rating of your 
primary weapon. So, if you use Overkill with an LMG and a shotgun, put the 
shotgun as your primary unless you really want camo on the LMG.
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UAV Jammer (Unlocked at Rank 11 Sergeant): You don't show up on enemy UAV 
scans, but you still show up if your weapon makes noise. Recommended for 
snipers (lone blips on UAV scans are dead giveaways for snipers and afk-ers) 
and stealthy players. Combine with silenced weapons to be completely invisible 
on radar!
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Sonic Boom: Increased explosive damage from your frags, C4, RPGs, and 
claymores. Useful if you particularly enjoy using explosives, otherwise use 
something else.

##########

4c. Tier Three Perks
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Extreme Conditioning: Allows you to sprint about twice as long as normal.  
Recommended for ninjas, the impatient, and those who frequently go after bombs 
and headquarters in Sabotage and Headquarters respectively.  
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Steady Aim: Increases hip-fire (not zoomed in) accuracy. Recommended for 
run-and-gunners and users of automatic low-accuracy weapons like the LMGs.
----------
Last Stand (Unlocked at Rank 8 Corporal): When fatally wounded, you fall down 
and whip out your pistol to try and take out as many enemies as you can before 
going under.  One point of damage will kill you, and you'll die anyway in about 
15 seconds. You can hold F to kill yourself immediately if you Last Stand in a 
position with no enemies around. You don't get a Last Stand if an explosion 
kills you.

Thanks to SpaceTimeMorph for telling me about this:
You don't get a Last Stand if you die by headshot.
If you have a secondary weapon other than a pistol when you die, the pistol you 
draw for Last Stand will be an M9 with full ammo. When you go into Last Stand 
while cooking a grenade, you can still throw the grenade for a nice surprise 
for your killer!  
You can also knife at will during Last Stand!
You get twice the experience for a kill achieved during Last Stand than you do 
for a normal kill.
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Martyrdom (Unlocked at Rank 17 Gunnery Sergeant): When you die, you drop a live 
frag grenade with a 2.5-pulse timer on it, hopefully killing at least one enemy 
from beyond the grave. Be aware that some servers will kick you for using this 
perk because of how annoying it can get when everyone uses it.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU USE THIS PERK ON A FRIENDLY FIRE SERVER.  
You'll probably end up killing as many of your teammates as you kill enemies, 
and definitely more teammates than you'd like.

SpaceTimeMorph adds that you get twice as much XP for martyrdom kills than you 
do for normal kills, but for everyone's sake don't let that encourage you to 
always use it!
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Deep Impact: Your bullets penetrate harder cover. If you want to kill someone 
through a wall with an SMG or kill through steel drums with an assault rifle, 
use this perk.
----------
Iron Lungs (Unlocked at Rank 26 2nd Lieutenant): When sniping, you can hold 
your breath (Shift) for up to 9 seconds instead of 4. It will take you 10 
seconds to catch your breath after a 9 second hold, compared to 5 seconds for a 
4 second hold. If you snipe, use this to be able to take steady shots more 
frequently and to get more time to line up your shots.
----------
Dead Silence (Unlocked at Rank 44 Brigadier General): You make less noise when 
moving. Good for stealthy players; add silencers and UAV Jammer for the 
ultimate in stealth. Not generally as useful as most other Tier Three perks, 
but handy on sparsely populated servers where enemies can actually hear the 
sounds you make over the gunfire and explosions.
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Eavesdrop (Unlocked at Rank 35 Major): You can listen in on the voice chat of 
nearby enemies. This perk is practically useless on the servers I go to, where 
there's either no voice chat or chat consisting entirely of smack talk. Maybe 
on serious clan servers it might be useful, but aside from that, avoid this 
perk.

========================================

5. Weapons

5a. Assault Rifles

M16

Accuracy                 10 / 12
Damage                   7 / 12
Range                    9 / 12
Fire Rate                9+ / 12
Mobility                 8 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   30/60
Recoil                   low cluster
Reload Time              2.1/2.3
Good Perks/Attachments: Stopping Power, Red Dot Sight, Steady Aim, Double Tap, 
Deep Impact

Standard service rifle for the U.S. Armed Forces. Fires a 3-round burst.  With 
the Stopping Power perk, this rifle is pretty much a guaranteed one-burst kill 
if you can land all three shots on your target. Definitely not recommended for 
the aggressive, run-and-gun player, but one of the deadliest guns in the game 
for those who like to hang back a little and engage in medium-long range fire.

---------

AK-47

Accuracy                 6 / 12
Damage                   9 / 12
Range                    9 / 12
Fire Rate                6 / 12
Mobility                 8 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   30/60
Recoil                   low/moderate cluster
Reload Time              2.7/3.3
Good Perks/Attachments: Stopping Power, Red Dot Sight, Steady Aim, Double Tap, 
Deep Impact

Still the most iconic and best-selling assault rifle worldwide. Fires on full 
auto.  The rifle has a noticeable vertical kick to it, but its recoil 
suppressor ensures that the rifle levels again before firing the next shot.  
Good for closer-quarters combat than the M16 or M4, but still pulls off good 
middle-long distance single shots.

---------

M4 Carbine (unlock at Rank 10 Sergeant)

Accuracy                 9 / 12
Damage                   5 / 12
Range                    9 / 12
Fire Rate                9 / 12
Mobility                 8 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   30/60
Recoil                   low cluster
Reload Time              2.2/2.5
Good Perks/Attachments: Stopping Power, Deep Impact, Red Dot Sight, Steady Aim

Standard service carbine of the U.S. Armed Forces, preferred weapon of the 
Marine Corps. Fires on full-auto. This is one of the most popular guns you'll 
see on most servers, since it can lay a lot of bullets on a target in a very 
short amount of time with minimal recoil. On paper it's not very powerful, but 
if you aim it carefully it'll drop enemies in short order. If you just can't 
seem to draw a bead on moving targets with the burst-fire M16, switch to the M4 
and you should get better results. This one does just about everything you'll 
want it to, except for maybe max-range sniping and super-fast ninja-ing.

---------

Heckler & Koch G3 (unlock at Rank 25 2nd Lieutenant)

Accuracy                 11 / 12
Damage                   7 / 12
Range                    9 / 12
Fire Rate                4 / 12 (limited by clicking rate)
Mobility                 8 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   20/40
Recoil                   very low cluster
Reload Time              2.9/4.0

Good Perks/Attachments: Bandolier, Stopping Power, Deep Impact, Red Dot Sight, 
ACOG scope

Battle rifle designed in Germany and Spain; used by NATO and non-NATO 
militaries worldwide. CoD4 features a single-shot version of the rifle.  Don't 
let the low fire rate score fool you; the rifle will fire about as fast as you 
can click your mouse, making Double Tap redundant. The combined accuracy and 
damage on this gun make it sort of a mini-sniper rifle limited only by how 
sharp your eye is or, if you attach an ACOG, how steady your hand is. With 
Stopping Power, two consecutive shots will drop a target.  Take advantage of 
the accuracy and go for headshots when you can. Not recommended at all for 
close quarters, since the poor running accuracy can cripple you. You don't get 
many shots with this gun, so consider bulking your ammo with Bandolier.

---------

Heckler & Koch G36C (unlock at Rank 37 Lieutenant Colonel)

Accuracy                 8+ / 12
Damage                   7 / 12
Range                    9 / 12
Fire Rate                7 / 12
Mobility                 8 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   30/60
Recoil                   moderate cluster
Reload Time              2.3/3.1

Good Perks/Attachments: Bandolier, Stopping Power, Red Dot Sight

The compact version of the G36, a successor to the G3 used in militaries 
worldwide. Fires in full-auto. This rifle tends to work better in medium-close 
quarters. I tend not to use it because it's not as lethal close-up as the M4 
and not as effective long-range as the M16 or G3. You may want to use Bandolier 
to bolster your ammo, because it's a spray-friendly kind of gun.

----------

M14 (unlock at Rank 46 Major General)

Accuracy                 9 / 12
Damage                   9+ / 12
Range                    9 / 12
Fire Rate                4 / 12 (limited by clicking rate)
Mobility                 8 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   20/40
Recoil                   high vertical
Reload Time              2.7/3.3

Good Perks/Attachments: Bandolier, Steady Aim, Stopping Power, Silencer, Red 
Dot Sight, ACOG scope

This battle rifle has been in active U.S. military service since the Korean War 
era. CoD4 gives you the single-shot version. I had issues with this rifle 
because of the fierce recoil you get after every shot (highest recoil for any 
assault rifle) and because you couldn't aim it as well as you could a sniper 
rifle, even though they have similar optimal ranges. Since then, I've tried 
some new things and have been able to get more out of the M14.

The PFC suggested using Red Dot and aiming at the low/mid torso of an enemy, 
then rapidly clicking two or three times. With or without Stopping Power, this 
tactic works pretty damn well at middle distance, although two taps is better 
for long distance. This firing method will almost always walk your shots up the 
enemy's torso, hopefully ending in either fatal damage or a headshot.

Because of the high power and range of the rifle, the silencer allows you to 
still operate at medium range with the added bonus of stealth. The M14 is not 
great for close combat or situations where you can't take your time when 
firing, although in theory you can fire it as fast as the G3 (limited by your 
clicking speed). Spamming it with hip fire at close range can get you some 
kills, but if you usually fight close up, choose another rifle.

----------

MP44 (unlock at Rank 52 General)

Accuracy                 6 / 12
Damage                   9 / 12
Range                    9 / 12
Fire Rate                3 / 12
Mobility                 8 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   30/60
Recoil                   moderate/high vertical
Reload Time              3.0/3.7

Good Perks/Attachments: Stopping Power, Double Tap, Steady Aim; NO ATTACHMENTS 
AVAILABLE, but camo IS available

One of the first true assault rifles, developed by the German Army during World 
War II. Fires in full-auto. This gun is a salute to fans of the Call of Duty 
series throughout its WWII phase, where the MP44 was one of the best guns in 
the game. In CoD4, this gun is here mainly for nostalgia and if you want to 
test your skills with a gun that isn't quite as good as the AK-47 and doesn't 
have attachments available. Use it the same as the AK.

##########

5b. SMGs (Submachine Guns)

Along with the shotguns, these weapons are the most mobile, so you'll want to 
consider these for any ninja class you want to make. Some of them are almost as 
versatile as the assault rifles, and one is a contender for the best gun in the 
game. Because of their obvious potential as ninja weapons and because they 
become more deadly with lowered recoil, I have recommended the silencer for all 
SMGs if you favor a close-combat ninja playstyle.

----------

Heckler & Koch MP5

Accuracy                 10 / 12
Damage                   9 / 12
Range                    5+ / 12
Fire Rate                8 / 12
Mobility                 12 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   30/60
Recoil                   low/moderate horizontal/cluster
Reload Time              2.6/3.7

Good Perks/Attachments: Stopping Power, Steady Aim, Silencer

Another one of the most recognizable guns in video gaming. Very popular 
worldwide among militaries, law enforcement agencies, and special forces. Like 
all SMGs, it fires in full auto. The combination of stopping power, fire rate, 
and accuracy makes this gun another all-purpose weapon in CoD4. Not as good at 
long range as the M4, it makes up for it in added effectiveness in close 
quarters. If you like to run around a lot and never spend much time taking 
long-distance shots, this gun is for you.

----------

Skorpion vz. 61

Accuracy                 11 / 12
Damage                   9 / 12
Range                    3+ / 12
Fire Rate                9 / 12
Mobility                 12 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   20/60
Recoil                   low horizontal
Reload Time              2.6/3.0

Good Perks/Attachments: Stopping Power, Steady Aim, Bandolier, Red Dot Sight, 
Silencer

A Czech SMG currently in use in Eastern Europe and several African countries.  
The accuracy is this gun is impressive, but unfortunately so is the speed at 
which you'll find yourself reloading. 20 bullets per magazine is pitifully 
small for a gun with this kind of fire rate. You'll need to be really twitchy 
to make the most of the gun's accuracy within its small effective range.  
Stopping Power helps make the gun's magazine last a bit longer, but either way 
you should be careful not to spray-and-pray with this one.

----------

Mini-Uzi (unlock at Rank 13 Staff Sergeant)

Accuracy                 9+ / 12
Damage                   9 / 12
Range                    5 / 12
Fire Rate                10 / 12
Mobility                 12 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   32/64
Recoil                   low/moderate vertical
Reload Time              2.6/3.8

Good Perks/Attachments: Stopping Power, Steady Aim, Bandolier, Silencer

A compact version of the famous Israeli machine pistol. This gun is great for 
close-quarters spray, and can pick off medium-range enemies if you need it to.  
Mainly I see it as a good ninja gun until you get the P90.

----------

AK-74u (unlock at Rank 28 1st Lieutenant)

Accuracy                 8 / 12
Damage                   10 / 12
Range                    5 / 12
Fire Rate                7 / 12
Mobility                 12 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   30/60
Recoil                   low/moderate cluster
Reload Time              2.7/3.5

Good Perks/Attachments: Double Tap, Steady Aim, Bandolier, Silencer

An SMG version of the AK-74, the AK-47's successor. As the most powerful SMG in 
the game, this gun is good for pretty much the same function as the Mini-Uzi, 
with more attention needed for lining up your shots to compensate for the 
slower fire rate.

----------

Fabrique Nationale P90 (unlock at Rank 40 Colonel)

Accuracy                 9+ / 12
Damage                   7 / 12
Range                    5 / 12
Fire Rate                11 / 12
Mobility                 12 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   50/100
Recoil                   low cluster
Reload Time              3.0/3.7

Good Perks/Attachments: Stopping Power, Steady Aim, Red Dot Sight, ACOG Scope, 
Silencer 

This Belgian bullpup SMG should be familiar to fans of Ghost in the Shell, 
Stargate SG-1, and Battlefield 2. Once you unlock it, it just might become your 
favorite weapon. Sometimes I suspect that fully half the people on any given 
server I join are using this gun. It combines a high rate of fire, some of the 
lowest recoil of any SMG, great accuracy, decent damage, and a huge magazine to 
be unmatchably lethal in the hands of almost any player. This gun does 
everything better than the M4 does except for a very slight increase in recoil 
and a moderate drop in effective range.  Every time I use it it just feels 
easier to rack up kills than with whatever gun I was using before.  That said, 
I tend to avoid it because it feels like an easy button for the game. So use it 
for whatever role you play in a match, but be mindful that only using this gun 
(which you may be tempted to do) makes you miss out on other fun weapons.

Zombiecompacter mentioned that the Mini-Uzi is still more powerful than the P90 
and still has a good magazine size, so it still makes a good alternative if you 
want to kill with fewer bullets.

##########

5c. LMGs (Light Machine Guns)

If you like guarding objectives or sitting in one place and spamming bullets 
for a long time, these guns are good to consider. They excel at shelling out 
lots of damage per bullet and lots of bullets per magazine at longer ranges 
than the SMGs. Be careful not to reflexively reload these weapons! Even with 
Sleight of Hand, it still takes longer to reload these guns than most other 
weapons in the game. If you accidentally reload too early, switch to your other 
weapon to cancel the reload.

----------

M249 Squad Automatic Weapon

Accuracy                 8+ / 12
Damage                   5 / 12
Range                    9 / 12
Fire Rate                9+ / 12
Mobility                 4 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   100/100
Recoil                   moderate cluster
Reload Time              6.7/6.7

Good Perks/Attachments: Stopping Power, Steady Aim, Deep Impact, Sleight of 
Hand, Red Dot Sight, ACOG Scope

Used by the U.S. and other NATO militaries. Full auto, like all LMGs. Easily 
the most accurate LMG under sustained fire, this is the LMG you'd most likely 
consider for close encounters. Go for headshots with this one when you can, and 
be careful to fire in burst to conserve ammo unless you expect many enemies to 
come rushing through the same point.

----------

RPD

Accuracy                 7 / 12
Damage                   9 / 12
Range                    9 / 12
Fire Rate                6 / 12
Mobility                 8 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   100/100
Recoil                   moderate cluster
Reload Time              10.0/10.0

Good Perks/Attachments: Stopping Power, Steady Aim, Deep Impact, Sleight of 
Hand, Red Dot Sight, ACOG Scope

Soviet LMG currently still in use in Asia and Africa. Use in the Soviet Union 
itself was halted by the AK-47-derived RPK, known to Battlefield 2 players.  
This is possibly the best LMG overall, compromising between accuracy, damage, 
and rate of fire. Use for close encounters, long-distance shots, or massive 
fire as you see fit.

----------

M60E4 (unlock at Rank 19 Master Sergeant)

Accuracy                 8 / 12
Damage                   10 / 12
Range                    9 / 12
Fire Rate                3 / 12
Mobility                 4 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   100/200
Recoil                   high random
Reload Time              10.0/10.0

Good Perks/Attachments: Double Tap, Steady Aim, Deep Impact, Sleight of Hand, 
Red Dot Sight, Grip, ACOG scope

U.S. general purpose machine gun, used on vehicle mounts and for medium MG 
support. As the heaviest LMG in the game, this technically inflicts the most 
damage per bullet, but its slow rate of fire and massive recoil make it my 
least favorite LMG. I prefer the RPD in almost any situation.

The PFC suggests using Red Dot or ACOG combined with double-click shots for 
long distance, and it works. The LMG's superior damage means you can use this 
gun like a rifle, only needing to land two or three shots (depending on 
Stopping Power and whether the target has Juggernaut) for a kill. For medium 
range, The PFC suggests aiming low on the torso and holding down the trigger.  
The recoil should walk your shots up regularly enough to kill the target.

I recommend using some kind of scope, either ACOG or Red Dot, to replace the 
iron sights on this gun, but if you feel you can use them easily then don't 
listen to me.

##########

5d. Shotguns

If you really like one-shotting enemies as you ninja your way around the map 
and don't like how long it takes to recover from a knife stab, use a shotgun.  
These deal a lot of power per shot while letting you move as quickly as 
possible.  Beware the short range, though!  Be prepared to switch to your 
pistol or (if you use Overkill) a longer-range main weapon if your target gets 
too far away.

----------

Winchester W1200 Defender (unlock at Rank 2 Private along with Demolitions 
preset class)

Accuracy                 3 / 12
Damage                   11 / 12
Range                    2+ / 12
Fire Rate                2+ / 12
Mobility                 12 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   7/21
Recoil                   very high upper right
Reload Time              2.0*/5.8
*Because the shotguns accept individual shells, you can press fire while 
reloading to halt the reloading process and chamber whichever shell you loaded 
last, in case you need to attack while reloading.

Good Perks/Attachments: Double Tap, Sleight of Hand, Steady Aim, Grip

The combat version of the American-made pump-action shotgun. You're more likely 
to get a one-shot kill with this gun than with the M1014, but you'll need to be 
more accurate with your shots and more careful about taking on groups of 
enemies. I have yet to test this gun with Double Tap, but I suspect it may give 
this gun an edge over the M1014 depending on how much the fire rate increases.  
The grip gives a considerable reduction in recoil (possibly 1/3 to 1/2 
reduction), so I highly recommend using it if you can forego the Tier 1 perk.

----------

M1014 (Benelli M4 Super 90) (unlock at Rank 31 Captain)

Accuracy                 3+ / 12
Damage                   9+ / 12
Range                    2+ / 12
Fire Rate                4 / 12
Mobility                 12 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   4/16
Recoil                   moderate/high upper right
Reload Time              2.1*/3.8
*Because the shotguns accept individual shells, you can press fire while 
reloading to halt the reloading process and chamber whichever shell you loaded 
last, in case you need to attack while reloading.

Good Perks/Attachments: Stopping Power, Sleight of Hand, Bandolier, Steady Aim, 
Grip

An Italian-made semi-automatic combat shotgun used by the U.S. Armed Forces.  
The potentially devastating effectiveness of this gun, known well to 
auto-shotty-hating CounterStrike players everywhere, has been reduced by the 
use of a 4-shell capacity. You will need to reload this gun constantly when 
you're not firing it, making Sleight of Hand very useful. If you don't trust 
your aim enough to use the W1200 or if you're playing on heavily populated 
servers filled with groups of enemies too large to handle efficiently with 
pump-action, choose this shotgun. The grip gives a considerable reduction in 
recoil (possibly 1/3 to 1/2 reduction), so I highly recommend using it if you 
can do without Bandolier.

##########

5e. Sniper Rifles

BOOM HEADSHOT! These guns are, obviously, for those who prefer very 
long-distance kills. The guns are not necessarily more accurate or powerful 
than some of the assault rifles, but they maintain accuracy over much longer 
ranges and all come with telescopic sights, allowing you to line up shots from 
much safer positions. The sniper scope allows you to hold your breath for up to 
4 seconds (9 seconds with Iron Lungs perk), which are counted off by loud 
heartbeats you can hear. You must recover your breath for up to a second more 
than the time you spent holding it before you can hold your breath again, and 
the recoil from you sucking in air is sometimes larger than when you fire 
without holding your breath. Several of the rifles offered in CoD4 are 
semi-automatic and all have an unlockable ACOG scope, making them potentially 
useful as high-powered substitutes for the G3 and M14 assault rifles.

Sniping Tips: Be patient, line up your shot and hold your breath before firing, 
and remember to change positions after each couple of shots if possible to 
avoid being located. This is most important with the slow bolt-action M40A3 and 
R700. You don't have to worry as much about making every shot count with the 
semi-auto rifles, but you should still move after each volley. If your class 
has a sniper rifle as your primary weapon and you're playing on a Spetsnaz vs.  
SAS map, your soldier will spawn in a ghillie suit, a mesh suit covered in 
foliage which you used in the snipe rlevels in the single player game. This 
suit will actually help you blend in to grasses, especially the grass in the 
Russian levels like Bloc, Pipeline, Downpour, Overgrown, and Vacant.  Keep this 
in mind when you choose a hiding spot, and also keep in mind that you stand out 
like a wooly sore thumb against metal, dirt, and concrete.

More sniping tips: It is possible, in a pinch, to no-scope the sniper rifles, 
especially the semi-automatics. If you have to deal with someone at shotgun 
range and all you have is a sniper rifle, you can risk spamming a semi-auto 
sniper, or even a bolt-action. You actually have a decent chance of getting a 
kill, especially if you use Steady Aim with a semi-auto sniper rifle (I've 
actually seen players do this).

Ghillie suit bonus tip (thanks to Spangle Monkey): on grassy Spetsnaz vs. SAS 
maps like Overgrown, Pipeline, and Creek (when Creek eventually comes out on 
the PC, that is), you can use Overkill to use any weapon you like and enjoy the 
added camouflage of the ghillie suit! Keep in mind that the suit really doesn't 
add that much visual protection unless you're prone and unmoving in the grass, 
though.

----------

M40A3 (unlock at Rank 3 Private along with Sniper preset class)

Accuracy                 9+ / 12
Damage                   9+ / 12
Range                    12 / 12
Fire Rate                2+ / 12
Mobility                 8 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   5/15
Recoil                   moderate/high random
Reload Time              2.1*/3.8
*Because the bolt action rifles accept individual rounds, you can press fire 
while reloading to halt the reloading process and chamber whichever round you 
loaded last, in case you need to attack while reloading.

Good Perks/Attachments: Iron Lungs, UAV Jammer, Bandolier, Claymore x2, 
Overkill + SMG, Sleight of Hand

Modified from the Remington 700 hunting rifle and used by the U.S. Marine 
Corps. Bolt-action. The Marines took the R700 and gave it lower recoil, a 
larger magazine, and improved accuracy at the cost of bullet damage. That's the 
tradeoff you have to consider when choosing between this gun and the R700.  
Because it's bolt-action, choosing this gun restricts you to long-range sniping 
unless you enjoy using a pistol or using a second main weapon with Overkill.

----------

M21 (unlock at Rank 7 Corporal)

Accuracy                 7 / 12
Damage                   8 / 12
Range                    12 / 12
Fire Rate                6 / 12 (limited by clicking rate)
Mobility                 8 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   10/20
Recoil                   moderate cluster
Reload Time              2.8/3.4

Good Perks/Attachments: Iron Lungs, UAV Jammer, Bandolier, Claymore x2, ACOG 
scope, Overkill + SMG

U.S. Army sniper rifle in active service since the Vietnam Era. The Army has 
switched its standard sniper rifle to the R700-based M24, but they also still 
use M21s and I guess the makers of CoD4 didn't want a third R700-based rifle in 
the lineup. The M21 is adapted from the M14, so it basically functions as the 
M14 was supposed to anyway. The recoil goes from excessive for a battle rifle 
(M14) to acceptable for a semi-automatic sniper (M21). With the lowest recoil 
of any sniper rifle, this is the one most likely to be modified with an ACOG 
and taken to a closer range. Feel free to take several rapid shots at your 
enemy to take them down instead of the painstaking one shot, one kill method 
required by the bolt-action rifles. You may wish not to hold your breath when 
taking several shots in a row, since the recoil is actually increased by taking 
a breath-held shot.

----------

Dragunov (SVD, Snayperskaya Vintovka Dragunova) (unlock at Rank 22 Master 
Gunnery Sergeant)

Accuracy                 7 / 12
Damage                   9+ / 12
Range                    12 / 12
Fire Rate                6 / 12 (limited by clicking rate)
Mobility                 8 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   10/20
Recoil                   high vertical/random
Reload Time              3.0/3.8

Good Perks/Attachments: Iron Lungs, UAV Jammer, Bandolier, Claymore x2, 
Overkill + SMG

Soviet sniper rifle still in active use in the former Soviet nations, the 
Middle East, and Asia. This gun has an essentially direct tradeoff with the 
M21: the Dragunov has more power, but the M21 has smaller recoil. If you try 
pulling off rapid shots with the Dragunov in the same way you would with the 
M21, be prepared to compensate for the considerable vertical recoil. Take your 
shots more slowly than with the M21 and think twice before carrying it in close 
with an ACOG, but otherwise use it in the same way.

----------

Remington R700 (unlock at Rank 34 Major)

Accuracy                 8+ / 12
Damage                   11 / 12
Range                    12 / 12
Fire Rate                2+ / 12
Mobility                 8 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   4/12
Recoil                   very high upper right
Reload Time              2.0*/3.5
*Because the bolt action rifles accept individual rounds, you can press fire 
while reloading to halt the reloading process and chamber whichever round you 
loaded last, in case you need to attack while reloading.

Good Perks/Attachments: Iron Lungs, UAV Jammer, Bandolier, Claymore x2, 
Overkill + SMG, Sleight of Hand

The unmodified Remington 700 hunting rifle. It's larger and more powerful than 
the M40A3, but kicks like a bionically augmented mule with the largest recoil 
in the game. As a bolt-action sniper rifle and with only 4 bullets per 
magazine, you should be very discrete about positioning yourself and should 
follow the rule of "one shot, one kill" very strictly. If that's too boring for 
you, or if you think you'll need to engage in close quarters occasionally, 
either build your pistol skills or use Overkill with an SMG or shotgun.

----------

Barrett .50cal (M82, Special Applications Scoped Rifle) (unlock at Rank 49 
Lieutenant General)

Accuracy                 7 / 12
Damage                   11 / 12
Range                    12 / 12
Fire Rate                4 / 12 (limited by clicking rate)
Mobility                 8 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   10/20
Recoil                   high upper right
Reload Time              4.4/4.9

Good Perks/Attachments: Iron Lungs, UAV Jammer, Bandolier, Claymore x2, 
Overkill + SMG

Used by a number of militaries and special forces worldwide for explosive 
ordinance disposal and attacks on military hardware (vehicles, buildings, 
personnel behind significant cover). Semi-automatic. I'm not sure if the 
Barrett has the highest penetration of any weapon in the game, but it would 
make sense. If you like the ability to kill enemies behind cover without using 
the Deep Penetration perk, this gun delivers. It can be thought of as the 
semi-auto alternative to the R700 in terms of power, but it's less accurate, 
and you can't fire an accurate volley of rounds nearly as easily as you can 
with the M21. It's a matter of personal preference whether you choose this or 
the R700 for a highest-power sniper rifle, but being semi-auto doesn't make 
this gun much better at closer range due to the recoil, which is a bit larger 
than the Dragunov's. If you want power but prefer to fire more rapidly at 
closer range, choose this over the R700. If you love your accuracy and 
headshots, choose the R700.

.50 caliber info as corrected by Disraeli, Ryan Ardito, Toadifer:
".50 caliber" refers to the inner diameter (.50 inches) of the gun barrel and 
therefore the bullet itself, NOT the cartridge. The amount of propellant in any 
.50 caliber round gives it a lot of range and high speed, while the size 
(caliber) of the bullet itself gives it massive stopping power. That power, by 
the way, also means massive recoil. Toadifer says that the Barrett kicks so 
hard that it can only be fired accurately in the prone position in real life. 
Follow this link to see the size of the round: 

https://secure.democracyinaction.org/dia/organizationsORG/FSA/images/compare.jpg

The round on the left is a .223 like one you might find in an M16. The middle 
one is a 30.06 hunting round similar to what you would get in an M1 Garand. The 
one on the right is a .50 caliber sniper round. Whoa. Obviously, using 
something like this on a human target for real is overkill.

##########

5f. Pistols

The game doesn't give stats for pistols, so I had to guess based on in-game 
descriptions, experience, and my understanding of how the game tends to balance 
damage and magazine size. Pistols constitute your default secondary weapon if 
you aren't using Overkill; they have the advantage of giving you a quick draw, 
so you pull them out faster than with any other weapon. Snipers who forego 
Overkill in favor of UAV Jammer or some other Tier 2 Perk will rely on pistols 
to take out nearby enemies. They're also what you'll be using when your Last 
Stand perk activates when you take fatal nonexplosive damage, so a certain 
element of conscious choice is necessary. Of course, you can always drop the 
pistol in favor of a better weapon you found on the ground... Also, like the 
G3, M14, M21, Dragunov, and Barrett, the pistols will fire about fast as you 
can click the mouse, so go ahead and let loose if you think you can hit your 
target with all the shots.

----------

M9 (Beretta 92FS)

Accuracy                 see recoil
Damage                   low
Range                    close
Fire Rate                limited by clicking rate
Mobility                 12 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   15/30
Recoil                   very low cluster
Reload Time              1.7/2.0

This Italian-made U.S. Military 9mm pistol is undoubtedly the weakest of the 
bunch, but can also fire the most shots before reloading, which is important if 
it's all you have to rely on against multiple enemies until you can find a 
better dropped weapon (or in Last Stand). Aim for the head to make the most of 
your large magazine.

----------

Heckler & Koch USP .45

Accuracy                 see recoil
Damage                   medium
Range                    close
Fire Rate                limited by clicking rate
Mobility                 12 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   10/20
Recoil                   low vertical
Reload Time              1.7/2.0

You may remember this pistol from Half-Life 2 and CounterStrike. A favorite of 
special forces, the USP gives you decent magazine size and good accuracy.  
Consider silencing this one, since you'll retain decent damage while 
gaining the benefit of silenced shots.

----------

Browning M1911 .45 (unlock at Rank 16 Gunnery Sergeant)

Accuracy                 see recoil
Damage                   medium
Range                    close
Fire Rate                limited by clicking rate
Mobility                 12 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   8/24
Recoil                   very low cluster
Reload Time              1.7/2.1

The second throwback to Call of Duty's WWII years (but still in active military 
and law enforcement service worldwide today), this pistol has a smaller 
magazine than the USP but better grouping. Decide for yourself which one suits 
your needs.

----------

Israel Military Industries Desert Eagle (unlock at Rank 43 Brigadier General)

Accuracy                 see recoil
Damage                   high
Range                    close
Fire Rate                limited by clicking rate, slightly slower
Mobility                 12 / 12
Magazine Size/Reserve Ammo   7/14
Recoil                   moderate/high vertical
Reload Time              2.2/2.4

This .50 caliber hand cannon made for Magnum Research is used mainly for 
competition and sport. Because of its considerable recoil and small magazine, 
real-life militaries and law enforcement tend not to use it, despite what 
CounterStrike may lead you to believe. Also, the .50 caliber Action Express 
pistol round, only slightly smaller than the average thumb, is overkill for a 
human target. Given that, every soldier in the CoD4 world must have bionic 
wrists to be able to fire the Deagle as quickly and accurately you can in 
multiplayer. Use this pistol if you like to go for pistol kills frequently 
instead of using the pistol as a second or last resort.  It's very loud and not 
silenceable, so don't use it if you favor stealth. To account for the recoil, 
aim at your target's middle or lower torso and fire as fast as you can; they 
should go down in short order. You'll get a separate golden Deagle when you hit 
rank 55; there's no performance difference between it and the normal gun.

The PFC adds that the silver Deagle is actually a .44 magnum version, whereas 
the golden Deagle is a .50 Action Express. He bases this on differences in the 
firing rates and ammo types in the X360 version, and says that really there's 
no PRACTICAL difference between the guns. Use whichever you prefer.

Just like for the Barrett, .50 caliber refers to the diameter of the bullet and 
therefore the inner diameter of the gun barrel.  For comparison with other 
bullets, see this:

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/9/93/400px-CartridgeCompar
ison.jpg

The M9 fires something the size of the Luger round to the right. The M1911 and 
USP fire the .45 ACP in the middle, and the Deagle fires the two round types on 
the left. The .44 and .50 caliber rounds are almost as tall as a double-A 
battery (look at the .44 Remington Magnum in the first photo):

http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-handgun-cartridges

========================================

6. Miscellaneous

6a. What Not To Complain About

Call of Duty 4 is a GAME. You're meant to have a good time playing with other 
people online, which means that if you're pissing everyone off by whining 
contantly, you're doing it wrong. Often I notice that whiners are complaining 
about everything that they can possibly blame for their poor performance or 
their team's poor performance, including or ommitting their own lack of skill 
from case to case. Here's a list of things that are never worth whining about, 
but first and foremost:

YOU CAN ALWAYS COMPLAIN AND VENT AND SHOUT AND SCREAM AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE 
WITHOUT PUTTING IT UP ON VOICE CHAT OR TEXT CHAT.

-"Cheater!/Hax!/Aimbot!" This gets so common it's tragic. Look. I'll give you 
some indications of actual cheating in the next section, but just because 
someone always seems to be killing you before you can kill them doesn't 
necessarily mean they're hacking the game or using an aimbot or whatever. If 
it's enabled on your server, watch the killcam after you die and study what 
happened from your killer's perspective. Sometimes it'll turn out that from his 
perspective, less shots hit him that you thought because of how the server 
decides to compensate for lag (difference in connection speed). Sometimes an 
apparent wallhack will turn out to be someone peeking out from a hole in a 
corrugated iron fence or the narrow slit between stairs or two window edges at 
an angle.  You'll be able sometimes to see the same slight movement or odd 
shape (i.e. you) that they saw before shooting.  Keep in mind that this game 
has bullet penetration!  Also, use the killcam to check your opponent's perks.  
The appearance of Double Tap, Stopping Power, Deep Impact, etc. may explain how 
they were able to drop you so quickly.  Also remember that enemies can see you 
on radar and hear you moving and making Quick Chat (B key default) voice calls 
(e.g.  "Move Out!") from a distance, so don't cry foul instantly after someone 
pops out from behind a corner 

-"My team sucks!" Maybe you're right, but you're not helping them get any 
better by just complaining about them. Maybe they're all inexperienced, in 
which case if you're a veteran you should give them advice via team chat (Y by 
default).  Maybe they're not used to the game mode you're playing. Use 
constructive criticism and hopefully something will improve. Also, check your 
kill/death ratio every round and keep track of how much you help with 
objectives. If YOU'RE not helping your team at all, then fix yourself before 
complaining about others.

-"Player X sucks!" Come on now. For all you know they might have just had a bad 
round or a bad day.  Even if they really aren't good at CoD4, you're just being 
an asshole by rubbing their face in it. See the advice for "My team sucks" if 
Player X is on your team or even if they aren't. They deserve a chance to learn 
to be good at multiplayer.

-"Nade spammers/n00b tubers suck and have no skill or tactics!" This is 
sometimes true.  Unfortunately, you can't stop them if the server has enough of 
them. If you can't stand it, the best thing to do is switch servers or come 
back later.  If it's just a couple of noob tubers, chances are they're not 
making a big dent in the scoreboard or in the map objectives if that's all they 
do, so don't worry so much about it. It's worth it to try asking persistent 
noob tubers to stop, but don't be surprised at all if nothing happens.

-"LAG LAG LAG" So your connection sucks or someone else's connection sucks.  
There's probably nothing the players can do about it unless they work for the 
broadband/phone company. Complaining about lag solves nothing and creates no 
useful dialogue, so switch to a server with a better ping. On those rare 
occasions where one or two people have significantly higher lag than anyone 
else (like in the 200s compared to 40s-70s) and they're doing really well 
because they're impossible to hit (i.e. they're teleporting short distances), 
use all-chat to ask the admins to kick the lagger. Some server have filters in 
place to remove high-ping players, but be prepared to leave or ask the admin to 
help if that's not working.

-"fukin campers" There are two kinds of campers that I usually see complaints 
about: the ones on the enemy team who keep killing you from the same spot over 
and over, and the ones on your team who sit in one spot that doesn't guard any 
of the objectives on the map.

The enemy campers are the ones you SHOULD NOT complain about. First of all, 
some players actually complain about enemy snipers camping. The whole POINT of 
a sniper is to sit still in a relatively secure, distant location and kill 
enemies with impunity. If you're getting angry about an enemy sniper who's just 
doing his/her job well, you need to sort some things out. If any camper, 
regardless of weapon, is camping from the same spot every time, you know where 
they are!  Most maps allow at least two ways to strike back at a camping 
position. These include sneaking up behind the camper, counter-sniping, and 
grenade lobbing. Knowing which methods you can use to best get rid of a camper 
comes with map and gameplay experience. If you can't get rid of the camper no 
matter what you do, blind him with a smoke/flash grenade or just avoid him if 
possible. Or air strike him :D

##########

6b. What to Complain About

There are a number of legitimate complaints that you should make if the 
situation arises. These are things that need to be taken care of to improve 
general enjoyment of the game.

-REAL cheating: One of the easiest ways to spot a cheater is through his/her 
killcam or through his/her kills on the kill list that scrolls up the screen.  
Example: I was playing on Downpour once when this one guy started racking up 
headshots like nobody's business (at least 10 in rapid succession). Every one 
of his shots was a headshot, and in the killcam I could see him just spraying a 
group of enemies with a horizontal sweep and shooting every single one in the 
head.  This is highly unlikely to happen without an aimbot. Point something 
like this out on general chat (T key default) and ask if an admin is spectating 
or playing. If enough people call out the aimbotter, he'll either leave or get 
booted shortly. Rarely, someone will be stupid enough to use an aimbot that 
declares every headshot he makes in the general chat (this happened once on 
Bloc!). Separate example: If you shoot someone with a volley you KNOW to be 
100% lethal (like a full burst from the M16 with Stopping Power enabled) and 
you're ABSOLUTELY SURE that you landed all three shots by the sound of the 
impact ticks, then go ahead and accuse the player of using an invincibility 
hack, although I've never encountered this. In general, get really good, 
preferably repeated, evidence of cheating before making a declaration.

Other signs of aimbotting: 
The killcam shows the suspect's aim instantly adjusting across the screen or 
farther to shoot an enemy

The killcam shows the suspect's crosshairs darting instantly to the heads or 
chests of several distant enemies one after another, shooting each one dead 
with no wasted bullets

-"My team isn't listening to my advice" If you've been giving your team good 
advice on how to improve their play and they're still sucking, then you may be 
able to get them to listen by insisting (MILDLY) that they listen to you on 
team chat.  Don't press the issue too much; some people just don't listen. If 
there's no hope, switch servers or note the problem players and try to not be 
on their team from now on.

-"Stop bothering me" If someone's being truly offensive or just really annoying 
over voice or text chat, tell them to knock it off as nicely as possible. They 
probably won't listen if you tell them to "shut the fuck up." Even if you ask 
nicely, they may not shut up, especially if they're talking with their clan 
members, but it's worth a try. In that case, either bear with them, mute your 
speakers/headphones if it's voice chat, or switch servers.

-"you're not camping anything useful" These are the campers on your team that 
you SHOULD complain about. On objective-based maps (Sabotage, Search and 
Destroy, Headquarters, Domination), there are always plenty of camping/sniping 
spots that can get you a good number of kills. NOT ALL OF THESE SPOTS HELP YOUR 
TEAM.  If you're sniping or otherwise camping from a position where you can't 
defend an objective, you're doing it terribly wrong and are hurting your team.  
It's very possible in these maps to over-camp. Prime example: on a linear 
Domination map like Bog, if you only have one of three flags, resist the urge 
to fall back and camp that one flag or snipe from that one flag. If more than 
3-4 members of your team are sitting at the flag defending, you need to 
encourage your team to attack the middle flag or at least camp from positions 
that allow them to provide cover fire for teammates who are assaulting the 
middle flag.

##########

6c. Tactics

There are a number of general maneuvers and techniques that can help you be a 
more effective player in COD4. Some of these techniques require simple common 
sense, while others may require you to accept that this game is less realistic 
than you might like. None of this advice is crucial to your enjoyment of the 
game, but some of it might help your performance. Take it or leave it as you 
like.

Jumping - At some point in multiplayer, you've probably had to deal with 
someone jumping sideways from behind a corner and killing you before you can 
adjust your aim, or jumping around so you can't hit them. Some players call 
this "cheap bunny-hopping," but you have to accept that it's not a hack or an 
exploit; it's a valid maneuver. Always keep in mind that you can jump to try 
and shake off your opponent's aim if you think it'll work. Remember also: 
Jumping can always be countered by a player with sufficiently good aim! You 
have stamina when jumping. After jumping once, you cannot jump at full height 
again for about 2 seconds, so true bunny-hopping is impossible unless you're 
actually cheating or the server's been modified.

Crouching - Crouching can be a quick and easy way to improve your accuracy for 
a distant shot. At close range, it can also be a quick and easy way to bring 
your head in front of the stream of bullets previously aimed at your chest.  
This really does happen! Don't crouch for the extra accuracy when someone's 
aiming at you already; weave back and forth and use your sights to aim instead. 
Better yet, get to cover!

Hit the dirt! - Going prone without cover to evade fire is usually a bad idea; 
if you don't throw off your opponents' aim long enough to kill them all, 
you're a sitting (lying?) duck. It's better to stay mobile and get behind cover 
in order to throw off enemy crosshairs. Usually you should only go prone for 
long-distance accuracy and to get behind low cover. Only go prone right in 
front of an enemy if you think you can throw off their aim long enough to kill 
them. Remember again: manuevers like jumping and diving can always be countered 
by a player with good enough aim!!

Weaving - Between two standing opponents shooting at each other, the one 
standing still will be much easier to kill than the one strafing back and forth 
and adjusting his/her aim. Normally keeping still is better for your accuracy, 
but in cases where both you and your target are firing at each other in plain 
sight, it's helpful to be able to dodge back and forth while keeping your 
crosshairs centered on the target. In general, you should never try to run 
straight towards or away from an enemy shooter; weaving back and forth a little 
can make all the difference in getting to cover alive. Of course, as always, 
weaving is much worse than hard cover if you're up against a seasoned FPS 
player with good aim and tracking. Use weaving as a last resort.

Frag Grenades - Throwing from cover: pay attention to the time it takes for you 
to actually throw a grenade once you press the grenade key/button. Try to pop 
out from behind cover only just before the nade leaves your hand, not when you 
start throwing it.
Flushing vs. Killing: for kills, make sure your grenade will explode right when 
it gets where you want it to go. This usually means cooking it unless you're 
throwing the nade very far away. To make someone run out of cover to avoid the 
grenade, don't cook the grenade at all or only cook it for 1 pulse, but watch 
out for throwbacks!
Evading grenades: in general, don't bother running towards a grenade to pick it 
up and throw it back. You won't have enough time to find it, go through the 
throwing animation, and let it get far enough away to not damage you. Don't 
attempt to throw a Martyrdom grenade unless you can pick it up IMMEDIATELY 
after it drops. The safest thing to do if a grenade lands near you is to sprint 
directly away from it and don't stop until you can get behind cover or it 
explodes. Keep in mind that you might be sprinting away towards the enemy, 
though. In some cases, when that grenade lands you're just screwed, but it's 
worth trying to stay alive.

Knifing - Someone please give me advice on this! I would like to know in 
particular what determines whether you make the quick slashing motion or slow 
stabbing motion.

========================================

7. Acknowledgements

Thanks to Infinity Ward for a successful leap to the modern era for the CoD 
series. Also, thanks to Wikipedia for some of the weapon information. Thanks to 
gamefaqs.com for hosting the guides that inspired me to make my own.

Thanks to the following sites for offering to host my guide:

supercheats.com
gamesradar.com
cheatplanet.com
neoseeker.com
cod4central.com
cheathappens.com
TheGameReviews.com
GamersHell.com
mycheats.com
cheatchannel.com
cheatbook.de
callofduty4tips.co.uk
Jerad Flatt's clan website

Special thanks to cod4central.com for offering to merge my guide with their 
graphics and incredibly detailed weapons information.

Thanks to the following contributors:

Knoah for advice on stun and flash grenades

Disraeli, Toadifer, Ryan for .50 caliber info

The PFC for advice on the M14, M60E4, Deagle, headshots, and Juggernaut

[BLiTZ] Yippo for info on flashbang sprinting (I wasn't able to confirm what 
you said about detonation of explosives through walls needing more bullets than 
usual... sorry)

SpaceTimeMorph for info on Overkill and Last Stand

Phillee93 for info on weak points on the chopper

Anakronos, damoore38 for correction on UAV info

Zombiecompacter for emphasizing the advantages of the mini-uzi over the p90

Spangle Monkey for ghillie suit + Overkill tips

Steve for reminding me that the weapons in the game use ammo magazines, not 
clips

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