Which is the best Assault Rifle in Modern Warfare 2? ARs are the bread and butter of most builds in Call Of Duty games, and Infinity Ward knows this. With Modern Warfare 2 they’re providing players with 5 strong and varied Assault Rifles to choose from while putting together their loadouts – and one of them is a strong contender for the best weapon in the game.
Below we’ll walk you through each of the Assault Rifles in Modern Warfare 2, and rank them from best to worst so you know which ones to spend time unlocking and upgrading over the coming weekend.
What is the best Assault Rifle in Modern Warfare 2?
The M4 is the best Assault Rifle to use in Modern Warfare 2, wrapping damage, accuracy, and speed up in a familiar and easy to use package. It kicks upwards a bit more than its 2019 Modern Warfare equivalent, but with the right attachments the M4 is still fairly easy to control and a beast at medium to close range.
Here are our rankings for every Assault Rifle in Modern Warfare 2, starting with the M4 at the top and working down to the worst:
- M4
- Lachmann-556
- Kastov-74U
- TAQ-56
- M16
Below we’ll explore each gun in greater detail, exposing each AR’s strengths and weaknesses and why it deserves its place in the above tier list.
M4
The M4 is one of the most familiar guns in the Call Of Duty series, and it has returned in great form for Modern Warfare 2 as a reliable, powerful, and accurate weapon suitable for both medium and close range depending on the attachments you add to it. It may take you a few matches to get used to the slightly greater recoil if you’re still used to previous iterations of the M4, but it’s still controllable enough that you can justify placing your attachments in areas other than recoil control if you wish.
Overall the time-to-kill of the M4 is very low, and the consistency with which you can land quick sprays and drop enemies is ultimately why this gun is the best Assault Rifle in Modern Warfare 2 right now. If you want to know how to kit it out to be as strong as possible, check out our Modern Warfare M4 loadout guide.
Lachmann-556
The Lachmann-556 opts for a longer-ranged, more precise approach than the nippier and stronger M4. The Lachman-556’s claim to fame in the AR category is its low recoil and increased effective range, which makes it ideal for holding longer sightlines without going the whole hog and swapping your Assault Rifle out for a semi-auto gun.
The downside is that it doesn’t pack quite the same punch as the M4. It’s a small downside for an otherwise great gun, but it’s still just enough to knock it down into second place.
Kastov-74U
The Kastov-74U is the opposite end of the speed-accuracy spectrum from the Lachmann-556, acting as a hybrid between Assault Rifle and SMG with its light frame and great handling speeds. It’s a great choice for running-and-gunning if you want to land fewer shots to kill an enemy that if you used even the best SMG in Modern Warfare 2, but you will have to contend with some strong recoil and a lower fire rate.
Even in the Kastov-74U’s ideal situation, it’s a tough call as to whether it could beat an equal-skill player using an M4. That’s why it ranks lower on our list, despite being a formidable and intriguing Assault Rifle option.
TAQ-56
The TAQ-56 is the biggest and hardest-hitting Assault Rifle of the lot, which may well appeal to lovers of the old Oden from Modern Warfare 2019. It takes fewer shots with a TAQ-56 to kill an enemy player, but it’s harder to land those shots thanks to the gun’s high recoil and slow fire rate.
It feels good when the shots land, but for consistently landing kills and earning Killstreaks, you’re probably better off using a faster Assault Rifle.
M16
The familiar 3-shot burst of the M16 Assault Rifle sadly doesn’t hit quite hard enough in this iteration of Call Of Duty to match the stopping power of the other ARs in Modern Warfare 2. With only marginally greater accuracy over range than the likes of the M4, the benefits are outweighed by the drawbacks of requiring some very good headshot aim and recoil control on the part of the player to land a kill with a single burst.
Hopefully our tier list of the best and worst Assault Rifles in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has given you a firmer idea of the current gun meta heading into the Modern Warfare 2 beta. If you want a full idea of the meta, then check out our Modern Warfare 2 best guns guide. You can also check out our guide on the best Perks in Modern Warfare 2 to help round out your ideal Assault Rifle loadout.
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