Call of Duty 4 Weapons Guide

When you select your custom classes on Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare the main factor of each one is it's primary weapon. The primary weapons fall in to several catagories, each of which will influence your style of play. After several hours of gameplay you may find you already know which playstyle you prefer for each map.

The primary weapons in Call of Duty 4 are given their own specific catagories, in the meantime however I will be seperating them in to play styles. The play styles are the three main playstyles you will find yourself playing in Call of Duty 4.  Despite their being a huge array of weapons and attachments in Modern Warfare, you will always fit in to these three classes somehow.

Sniping is one of my favorite playtypes in COD4, it requires careful positioning, good aim, and tactical play. It does take time to become a good sniper, you may find you miss a lot to begin with, but in time you will be knocking back headshot after headshot!

The M40 is the first sniper rifle you are given in the game. It's bolt action and slow to reload, but it is powerful. The M40A3 will nearly always result in a kill on a successful hit, but make sure you hit because you may not get a second chance!

The M40A3 is a great way to learn sniping in COD4. It requires you to learn accuracy, quickly, to succeed. Some people prefer to work first with assault rifles to get the hang of firing, before moving on to sniper rifles.

The M21 is my favourite early game COD4 sniper rifle. It's not quite as strong as other sniper rifles, but it has a speedy firing action without much recoil. This gives a great long range weapon in call of duty, perfect for beginners who have not yet mastered the M40A3.

I also find the M21 useful in Call of Duty 4 if I am covering a spot which has short bursts of the enemy passing by. This allows me to damage, if not take them all out. While the M40A3 may be more superior for single targets, The M21 can take out several targets, and provide VERY accurate covering fire.

The Dragunov is the next step up in semi-automatic sniper rifles in Call of Duty 4. It has a bit more of a kick on it, and some may have trouble getting used to the slightly longer reloading times.

The Dragunov has a higher damage multiplier on the neck and torso to ease your long distance shooting. This makes life a lot easier when you are covering a small spot with plenty of enemies passing by.

The power of this is an exceptional weapon in skilled hand, and can help you raise your scores even faster!

The R700 is the most powerful bolt action sniper rifle on Call of Duty 4. It has the same range as other sniper rifles but has the maximum possible damage multipliers. This is perfect if you are covering known sniping or camping spots!

It's high power and deadly accuracy pretty much guarantees a kill, in the right hands that is!

When you are playing Call of Duty 4 the R700 is a great tool for killing at a distance.  While I generally use it for small location sniping, in the right hands it can be a deadly weapon taking out soldiers over the entire battlefield!

The Barrett .50 calibre semi automatic sniper rifle is the best sniper rifle in the game. With much deeper wall penetration, the power of the R700 and all in a semi automatic smooth firing rifle.

You won't be getting access to this supreme sniper rifle in call of duty 4 until you near the end of the game. After a little practice however, you will be loving this incredible COD4 sniper rifle!

Covering fire or suppressing fire can be an immensely valuable tactic in Call of Duty 4. It allows your team to reach better tactical positions, while keeping your opponents trapped in to inconvenient ones.

I personally use two main types of weapons for suppressing fire. Both Light Machine Guns and Assault Rifles with the RPG attachment can be devastating for the experienced user of suppressing fire tactics.

When you use covering fire against your opponents in COD4 you can give your team a great advantage, as well as pulling up some massive kill scores!

You can also use Semi-Automatic sniper rifles for deadly accurate covering fire, keeping multiple enemies pinned back in to the spot of your choice.

However since I have already covered Sniper Rifles, and will have a section on Assault, Techniques, in this section I will be concentrating on Light Machine Guns in COD4. LMG's are perfect in CoD4, with fast firing, spray fire, and immense distance.

While LMG's have pretty average penetration through walls, they of a high amount of damage, and with their superior rate of fire, can obliterate the enemy.

In COD4 you may notice that the LMG's have a slight delay before they fire. This delay means that they are not really particularly good for picking single people off, and definitely not good for close range combat.

While providing covering fire in COD4 may seem like a safe option, it does make you an easy target for snipers, especially when they see your tracer bullets.  Keep as out of sight as possible, and mover regularly to avoid an untimely death!

The SAW is the beginners light machine gun in Call of Duty 4.  While it deals the least damage, it sprays it's ammo the fastest, and has the quickest reload time.  The fast speed in which the SAW LMG fires it ammo gives it one hell of a recoil, which is perfect for teaching you to deal with later light machine guns in Call of Duty 4.

Many COD4 players grow to love the M249 SAW for its unique ability to cut down any players who get in it's path.  Myself though, would advise you to upgrade to the latest LMGs as soon as they become available to you.  The power dealt by later versions is very important when you find yourself often shooting through walls, at people who you cannot see.

The M249 SAW's most beneficial attribute is its firing speed, this makes it a poor choice if cannot see the enemy, if you have a group of enemy in your sights however, it can be devastating. 

You get the next LMG pretty early on in COD4.  The RPD is a little bit slower in firing, and three seconds slower when reloading. These may seem like negatives, but the RPD is one of the most balanced of the light machine guns.  Spraying out bullets at a speed which, while still fast, gives you a longer period of covering fire, with higher damage bullets.

The RPD is probably my personal favourite in Call of Duty 4.  It gives me huge utility, whether I am shooting through a wall, or covering a strategic point. The RPG performs well in any cover fire situation which COD4 throws at you.

The M60E4, generally called the M6, is the most powerful light machine gun in Call of Duty 4.  It has the most powerful damage in the game, but deals the least rounds per minute (RPM).  I find the M6 one of the most efficient cover weapons in call of duty 4.  It allows you to shoot cover fire for the longest time possible, while dealing the most damage.  

I tend to use the M60E4 in Call of Duty 4 in situations when I have to fire with no clear vision through obsticals.  Spray fire this where you think the enemy might be, and you may find yourself with unbelievable kill counts, and a trapped enemy that cannot even get within firing range of you.

Close combat is one of the most often preferred tactics in COD4. There are varying types of weapons that can be used effectively for this, whether you use an assault rifle, accurate, or a sub machine gun, lethal at close range. For the more experienced player there is even the shotgun, a deadly weapon to have if your opponent steps around the corner infront of you.

Each of these weapons is vastly different, and each player will usually settle on one of these weapons for close combat warfare. A slight note however, the assault rifles in call of duty 4 modern warfare can have a grenade launcher. While this is commonly known as the 'Noob Tube' for it's ability to quickly and easily take people out, it can be a powerful weapon for anyone, and devastating in close to medium range combat.

First off, I will give you a breif synopsis of each weapon type.

Assault Rifles in COD4

Assault rifles are great for medium to close range combat. They have a fairly decent accuracy, even up to long range. While they do have a decent hip fire accuracy, making them suitable for close range, you cannot 'spray and pray' like you could with a sub machine gun.

Most experienced COD4 players preffer the Assault Rifle over the Sub Machine gun, it is however very much a personal choice, since the sub machine gun holds many benefits. Personally I choose the assault rifle for maps where I will have prolong periods of medium to long range combat as well as close range combat.

While submachine guns are technicaly more powerful than assault rifles damage wise, they fail quickly at longer range battles.

Sub Machine Guns in COD4

There are plenty of sub-machine guns in call of duty 4 modern warfare. All of them have the same common denominator though, highly effective at short to medium range, very powerful, but poor at medium to long range.

Sub machine guns deal devastating damage with rapid firing rounds, capable of mowing down two or three enemies before reloading. While submachine guns may seem superior, they do allow you to be easily picked off at medium range by people with assault rifles, and cannot destroy an opponent quiet as fast as a shotgun.

Shotguns in COD4

Shotguns are pretty much the most dangerous close range weapon in the game, as long as the person holding it can aim. They will kill any player in a single shot, but they generally only do get that one shot.

If you feel your accuracy is comfortably good, then try out the shotgun. You may be pleasantly surprised at just how many kills you can make with this beast of a gun class.

The problems with shotguns are however fairly numerous. They are worse than your sidearm at medium to long range, due to the second pause between shots, other types of close range weapons can nail you if you miss, and finally, if there is more than one enemy, you best move fast to avoid their bullets!