A good assault rifle is always a solid option in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. An assault rifle is like a jack of all trades when it comes to the weapon options in Modern Warfare 2. They are good at many things but don’t excel at one aspect in particular. However, each assault rifle in the game plays a bit differently and some are stronger than others. Let’s go over the best assault rifles in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and what makes them so good.
Best Assault Rifles in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
S Tier – M4
Much like every previous Call of Duty game, the starter M4 is a great option in any situation. In Modern Warfare 2, the M4 has a very high fire rate with decent damage and very controllable recoil. This puts you at an advantage in any fight that doesn’t involve a sniper.
After spending a bit of time leveling up the M4, you should be able to kit it out to work in any situation for yourself. If you have not figured out a playstyle or are still getting used to Modern Warfare 2, the M4 is the best option to use until you find a gun that fits your niche a bit better.
S Tier – Kastov 762
If prefer a bit slower playstyle then the Kastov 762 is perfect for you. While it may fire much slower than the M4 it also hits much harder and is much more accurate at longer ranges. The Kastov 762 is able to kill most enemies in three to four body shots at most ranges.
Most players that are not running the M4 at the moment tend to be running the Kastov 762. If you want to try the weapon for yourself we have a loadout guide for the Kostove 762 that will give you the best build for the weapon at the moment.
A Tier – Lachmann 556
Anyone that is working their way to unlock the MP5 has had to use the Lachmann-556 at some point and was probably surprised by how good it was. The 762 version of the Lachmann is considered to be unfun to use by many but getting to the 556 version is a breath of fresh air. The weapon has really solid handling and a decent fire rate which makes it a formidable foe at all ranges.
However, the Lachmann-556 is right on the edge of Jack of all Trades territory as it has nothing to make it really stand out. Just because it doesn’t stand out doesn’t mean the Lachmann is a bad gun. it will work in most situations you might find yourself in and can be customized to fit your niche. But once you start customizing it, the weapon loses its effectiveness in some engagements as you will hurt some stat to boost another.
A Tier – STB 556
If the Lachmann-556 was getting close to being a Jack of all Trades assault rifle, then the STB 556 is the definition of Jack of all Trades. This gun offers a decent fire rate with decent accuracy and decent damage. Nothing about this gun will amaze you when you use it but it is hard to blame the STB 556 as being the reason you lost a fight.
The real reason this gun suffers is that it is at its strongest when you have no attachments. This means you will make the gun feel a bit worse as you put stuff on it. You have to remember that even adding a scope to a gun will slow the ADS speed by a noticeable amount.
A Tier – Kastov 74U
The Kastov-74U is essentially an SMG with the fire rate and damage of an assault rifle. The big draw of the Kastov-74U is the high mobility that you get with the weapon paired with the time to kill. While using the gun it is easy to forget that it is an assault rifle and not just a slow-firing SMG.
The gun shines the most in close-quarters encounters like an SMG but can still be used to quickly pick off someone at medium ranges. You can try for a long-range fight with the 74U, but you will most likely lose most of the time.
B Tier – Kastov 545
The Kastov 545 is the bridge between the Kastov 762 and the Kastov-74U in more ways than one. You unlock the gun by using the 762 and must level it up in order to be able to use the 74U. It is also somewhere in the middle of both weapons stats-wise which is why it is so low on the list.
The Kastov 545 doesn’t offer the damage and range that the Kastov 762 does and it also doesn’t have the mobility and handling the Kastov-74U does. This leaves it in a weird space where no matter the situation you could have handled it better with one of the other Kastov variants. The weapon is still very usable but you might as well pick one of the other variants and just work around their weaknesses.
B Tier – TAQ-56
The TAQ-56 treads on the territory of being a battle rifle or marksman rifle and it shows. The weapon excels at medium to long-range fights but you can easily lose them if you are not accurate. The gun offers a slightly faster fight rate than the Kastov 762 while also doing a bit less damage than it. However, losing damage means giving your enemy more time to react and fight back.
If you are deadly accurate with the TAQ-56 then it is a solid choice. However many fights that the TAQ-56 loses could have been easily won if you were using the Kastonv 762. The main upside the TAQ-56 has is that it is better for close-range fights that the Kastov 762. However, the slow fire rate of the weapon still means you lose most of those fights away.
C Tier – M16
The burst-fire weapons in the Call of Duty franchise have always been hit or miss and it seems this time around it was a miss. The M16 is in an awkward position with the addition of battle rifles that fill the gap that the M16 should fill. It is supposed to be an assault rifle that can be used at longer ranges with slow bursts but still be able to win a fight up close if you spam-fire it.
However, the addition of full auto battle rifles provides a much better alternative to this issue. While it might be a bit annoying to have to change your fire mode every single game, the advantages the battle rifles have over the M16 make it so worth it.
Perhaps with more attachments like the FTAC Tiger Grip being unlocked the M16 could see more use. But until then it is severely outranked by all the other assault rifles and battle rifles for that matter.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
