Modern Warfare 3 Assault Rifles Guide

In this Modern Warfare 3 Assault Rifles guide, you will discover everything you need to know about this class of weapons.

We will be covering not only the basics of each weapon and when you unlock it, but also the strengths and weaknesses of each weapon: which rifles are the best, what attachments and specializations to use, and what maps and game modes each weapon really shines in.

Below, we will give you a list of all of the weapons and some brief information about that particular assault rifle. You can then click on that weapon name to be taken to a full article with specific strengths, weaknesses, and strategies for using that weapon.

M16A4 – Unlocked at level 4. This is one of the starting Assault Rifles. It has a 30-round clip and shoots in 3 bullet bursts. Not as strong as the M16 from previous games.

M4A1 – Unlocked at level 4. This is one of the basic starter Assault Rifles. It is fully automatic and is an overall balanced weapon. It has good accuracy and a fast firing rate. Due to an unusual way bullet damage works for Assault Rifles, the M4A1 actually the more powerful fully automatic assault rifle.

SCAR-L – Unlocked at level 6. This automatic assault rifle is probably the most balanced overall. It keeps the M4A1′s high accuracy, but trades a bit of firing rate for a longer range. This gun actually does not do more damage than the M4A1 but rather slightly less. Nearly identical to the M4A1 though; these two weapons can be used interchangeably (M4A1 on small maps, SCAR-L on large ones). Moderate reload time.

CM901 – Unlocked at level 18. An automatic, high-powered Assault Rifle with a slower firing rate. It has less accuracy and firing rate than other Assault Rifles. It has a high bullet damage rating but actually does not translate into more killing power, making this gun fairly useless.

TYPE 95 – Unlocked at level 32. A burst-fire Assault Rifle with a lot of damage. Much better than the M16A4 as the Type 95 weapon earns you a 1-hit kill for hitting a player with a direct shot whereas the M16A4 does not.

G36C – Unlocked at level 42. Part of the Grenadier class. Very similar to the M4A1, but with less range and a little less firing rate. Its extra damage rating actually does not help it kill faster than the M4A1.

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ACR 6.8 – Unlocked at level 50. According to the stat charts, this weapon looks like it would be the best overall Assault Rifle in Modern Warfare 3. However, its very high damage rating actually has no meaningful effect in-game, making it not very useful.

MK14 – Unlocked at level 60. This semi-automatic gun Assault Rifle only shoots 1 bullet at a time, but carries a lot of power. Best Assault Rifle to use at range. Only Assault Rifle that gets a 1-bullet kill from a headshot.

AK-47 – Unlocked at level 68. The gun has significantly lower firing rate than the M4A1, similar reload times, and much less accuracy.  There is no reason to use it outside of nostalgia or unlocking challenges.

FAD – Unlocked at level 78. Very fast Assault Rifle with a 40-round clip. Weaker bullets than other Assault Rifles.

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Special Note on Assault Rifle Damage

There is something important that you need to know about the way Assault Rifle damage works in Modern Warfare 3. You will notice that many assault rifles in Modern Warfare 3 have different damage ratings, but the truth is that most of them actually deal the same amount of “effective” damage.

Effective damage refers to the amount of bullet hits it takes to take down a player in multiplayer. For example, lets say each player has 100 “life” (invisible rating) and one gun deals 45 damage per bullet (non-headshot) and another gun deals 35 damage per bullet. Despite this seemingly large difference in damage, it requires 3 bullets to reach the “100″ number; that extra damage is entirely wasted.

As a result, more often than not, the difference in damage in weapons is only noticeable when you use that weapon to attack vehicles, enemy equipment, Juggernauts, or special NPCs in Spec Ops mode which might have more health than a normal player.

All assault rifles seem to only have two types of bullet damage: headshots and non-headshots. A headshot seems to do two times as much damage as a regular shot, and there seems to be no difference between torso (body) shots and limb shots.

Here is how all the guns break down:

FAD – 4 non-headshots, 2 headshots, or 1 headshot and 2 non-headshots required to kill an enemy player.

All other fully automatic assault rifles: 3 non-headshots, 2 headshots, or 1 headshot and 1 non-headshot required to kill an enemy.

MK14: 1 direct headshot hit or 2 non-headshots required to kill an enemy player.

M16A3 & Type 95: 1 direct hit (all shots must land) anywhere (even the foot); only 2 of the 3 rounds in the burst must land for a headshot kill.

Modern Warfare 3 Assault Rifles Guide Conclusion

While there are quite a few assault rifles available in Modern Warfare 3, you can see from this Assault Rifles guide that some are a lot better than others. The Type 95 in particular is the most potent weapon overall, whereas the M4A1 tends to be the best fully automatic weapon simply because it does the same damage as higher-end Assault Rifles with low kick and a great firing rate.

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