The best Modern Warfare 3 guns to use in Season 5

Can you believe Modern Warfare 3 Season 5 is already here? It won’t be long before we’re packing up our weapons to do it all over again in Black Ops 6, but until then, you’ll still need to use the best guns in Modern Warfare 3.

The STG44 and Static-HV are the two new weapon additions in Season 5, with the former being an absolutely iconic gun in Call of Duty history. While these new weapons are no doubt significant, this lineup has resulted in less of a shakeup in the best Modern Warfare 3 guns between seasons than usual. (Note too that even though the full roster of Modern Warfare 2 weapons, as always, we haven’t factored those here. For one thing, there are simply too many. Plus the MW3 guns are better anyway.)

What follows is our list of the best guns in Modern Warfare 3 that you need to be using in Season 5.

Modern Warfare 3 best guns to use in Season 4

The best weapons in Modern Warfare 3 are:

1. MCW (assault rifle)
2. STG44 (assault rifle)
3. Superi 46 (SMG)
4. Kar98k (marksman rifle)
5. BP50 (assault rifle)
6. BAL-27 (assault rifle)
7. BAS-B (battle rifle)
8. MTZ-556 (assault rifle)
9. Rival-9 (SMG)
10. FJX Horus (SMG)

No, you’re not imagining things: There is finally a contender to try and knock the MCW off the top spot of the best guns in Modern Warfare 3. The STG44 may have only just been added to the game, but it fills an almost identical role to the MCW: an extremely impressive jack-of-all-trades that can compete at any range. (In fact, it may be better than the MCW, but it’s simply too early to make that call for sure right now. The damage and fire rate are higher, but is the worse recoil a drawback?)

The Superi 46 also comes storming in for its debut to take the third place spot. It took a while to find its place in the meta after being added to the game last season, but it’s now comfortably the best SMG in the game. The rest of the list looks fairly similar, with the Kar98k, BP50, BAL-27, and BAS-B all featuring still, albeit with some slight shuffling in the order. The Rival-9 and FJX Horus have dropped down in wake of no longer being the top performing SMGs though, and the SVA 545 and MORS have dropped off the list to make room for the two new additions.

1. MCW (assault rifle)

Image: Activision via Polygon

Kicking things off is the MCW, which is unlocked at rank 44. Modern Warfare 3 doesn’t have real weapon names, so the MCW is best known as the ACR from previous installments. Which is all to day, the MCW is a very reliable assault rifle that is fully automatic, with consistent range, recoil, and damage.

Essentially, with the right attachments, the MCW becomes a laser beam. Any of the heavy barrels do the job — we’d recommend the 16.5” MCW Cyclone Long Barrel — along with any vertical grip, though we found the Bruen Pivot to be the best (which requires leveling the SVA 545 to level 12 first). As for the rest of the attachments, an optic is always a good shout for enhanced visibility, alongside any combination of muzzle/stock/rear grip that assist with recoil control and bullet velocity.

For more on how to kit out this weapon, see our dedicated MCW loadout page.

2. STG44 (assault rifle)

Image: Sledgehammer Games/Activision via Polygon

Pretty much on par with the MCW, the STG44 has wildly impressed upon its release in Season 5. We all knew what to expect since the gun is such a mainstay in the series, but how it would perform was another question indeed. Turns out, the answer is very well. It fills the same role as the MCW in that it can handle itself at all ranges with impressive damage, but trades a faster fire rate for slightly worse recoil.

To make it as strong as possible, we recommend going with the ZEHMN35 Compensated Flash Hider and Bruen Acrux Heavy Barrel to do most of the heavy lifting, buffing the damage range, bullet velocity, and recoil. An underbarrel grip that helps with the mobility and handling, such as the XTEN Phantom-5 Handstop, and the Citadel Grip at the rear make it much more effective. Combine those with your optical sight of choice - we’ve gone for a holographic for a slightly better zoom than a red dot.

To make the most of this powerhouse, see our STG44 loadout page.

3. Superi46 (SMG)

Image: Sledgehammer Games/Activision via Polygon

In keeping with the jack-of-all-trades style of play, despite being an SMG, that’s also the best fit for the Superi 46. Giving it the buffs necessary to compete at a longer distance than most SMGs can make it the best in class, but you do lose a little mobility and need to play a little slower to account for that.

To enable this, make sure you pick the Houndguard Heavy Barrel as it significantly buffs the bullet velocity and range, while the Phantom Grip helps out in the handling department, improving the sprint to fire and ADS speeds. We’ve partnered those with the slightly less crucial but still helpful FTAC RS-9 Stealth Angled Grip and Rescue-9 Stock, with the former buffing the accuracy and handling, while the latter focuses on recoil control and mobility.

Kit this weapon out as best you can with our Superi46 loadout page.

4. Kar98k (marksman rifle)

Image: Sledgehammer Games/Activision via Polygon

The Kar98k may not have been in the game for very long but it doesn’t take a genius to realize this marksman rifle is ridiculously powerful. Much like the MCW, you can kit the Kar98k out for fast-paced quick-scoping — thanks to how prevalent that playstyle is in Modern Warfare 3 — or you can treat it like a classic sniper rifle and play much slower. Either approach is viable because it deals so much damage per shot.

For a quick-scoping playstyle, you’ll want to opt for the Bryson Carbine-S Barrel, as it significantly buffs the mobility. In fact, all the attachments are geared toward buffing your mobility, most notably the Repeller Tac Stock and Target Sling, the two of which go hand-in-hand in improving the aim down sight speed. The optical attachment you choose is really down to you, but we found a 2.5x zoom was the perfect blend between speed and distance, as you can pick enemies off from further out with it if you need to. There’s also the XTEN Phantom-5 Handstop underbarrel grip as the fifth attachment, as it buffs the aim down sight speed further.

For more details on how to kit out this quickscoping machine, check out our Kar98k loadout page.

5. BP50 (assault rifle)

Image: Sledgehammer Games/Activision via Polygon

Following an introduction in Season 2, the BP50 (also known as the F2000 from Call of Duty games of old) took a while to find its place in the meta. Now that the dust on the meta is settled, we can safely claimed it as one of the best guns in Modern Warfare 3. It’s an assault rifle with a ridiculously fast fire rate, which makes it better suited to short-to-medium range gun fights rather than taking foes down from afar.

Your best bet is to reduce the recoil a touch though by using attachments such as the STER45 Skyfury Compensator and the Lore-9 Heavy Barrel, both of which do assist with the bullet velocity and damage alongside helping the recoil. Supplement these with other recoil managing attachments and stick an optical sight on it for good measure for the best results.

Our BP50 loadout guide explains more about how to unlock and build this impressive assault rifle.

6. BAL-27 (assault rifle)

Image: Sledgehammer Games/Activision via Polygon

Finally, we have the BAL-27 — an assault rifle that plays the flex role so well. It has arguably the best iron sight in the game, which means you don’t need to waste an attachment slot on an optic, and it can play the role of both an SMG and an assault rifle.

By far the most crucial attachment for the BAL-27 is the Prowl-IV Barrel, which gives a serious buff to the bullet velocity and range while also preventing your shots from showing up on enemy radar. However, you’ll want to kit the rest of the build out to focus on elevating the close quarters combat elements, such as the Hammer Grip, Clarent Light Stock, and STOVL DR Laser Box.

Our guide to the best BAL-27 loadout in MW3 goes into more detail, so you can build this new gun exactly how you like it as soon as possible.

7. BAS-B (battle rifle)

Image: Activision via Polygon

All the weapons in this list are fairly similar: fully automatic guns that are best at varying ranges. The BAS-B is no different. The first and only battle rifle on the list, this is the gun you want to switch to if our MCW build above still doesn’t have enough range for you. It doesn’t fire quite as quickly as the MCW, but each bullet packs way more of a punch, and once you have some recoil-managing attachments on there, you can put a longer-range optic on it, such as one of the 2.5x options.

When you’re in the opening levels of using the BAS-B though, we have just a few recommended attachments. The Bruen Venom Long Barrel is a no-brainer thanks to the range it adds, and the 30-round mag — or the 45-round once you unlock it — ensures you can mow down multiple enemies without needing to reload. We’d also recommend the Ravage-20 Heavy Stock, which you unlock once the BAS-B has reached level seven.

For more on how to kit out this weapon, see our dedicated BAS-B loadout page.

8. MTZ-556 (assault rifle)

Image: Sledgehammer Games/Activision via Polygon

In Modern Warfare 3, the MTZ-556 has the fastest fire rate out of all the assault rifles, which means it isn’t a great fit for ranged engagements. However, it does mean it’s essentially a very hard-hitting SMG, so you should be comfortable running and gunning with it in your hands. It’s taken a while for this gun to show up in the top ten, but Season 4 has finally seen it come into its own in the meta.

The goal with the MTZ-556 should be trying to mitigate the recoil while also enabling it to be mobile and versatile. The T51R Billeted Brake muzzle deals with this recoil, while the MTZ Clinch Pro Barrel will assist in ranged engagements. You may want to go for an optical attachment as the iron sight isn’t ideal and that can also help with fights where you must aim down the sights, then for your other attachments, look for anything that will assist with the mobility. Grip and stock attachments are usually best for this.

9. Rival-9 (SMG)

Image: Sledgehammer Games/Activision via Polygon

The Rival-9 wasn’t considered to be one of the best guns in MW3 on launch, but it has quickly risen to the top thanks to its fast fire rate. It packs a huge punch when you get up close and personal. As the meta has developed, running and gunning has solidified itself as a very strong style of play.

Bearing that in mind — that you won’t often be engaging with enemies beyond a few meters away — you want to manage the recoil to an extent while also maintaining the weapon handling and mobility. We recommend the Rival Vice Assault Grip in the rear grip attachment slot, along with the Rival IGS-800 Barrel to deal with most of the recoil issues. Make sure you also stick the 9mm High Velocity ammunition on to deal the most damage.

10. FJX Horus (SMG)

Image: Sledgehammer Games/Activision via Polygon

Following a nerf to the WSP Swarm, the FJX Horus (introduced in Season 3) replaced it as one of the best SMGs. It fills almost the exact same role, where you want to fire from the hip or use the tactical stance rather than aiming down the sights.

You can do this by equipping attachments such as the Ruse-90 Light Barrel to buff your movement and aiming speeds, the Point-G3P 04 laser to massively improve your accuracy when firing from the hip, and the Lockgrip Precision-40 underbarrel to help manage the recoil.

For more on how to kit out this fast-firing machine pistol, see our dedicated FJX Horus loadout guide.