Following yesterday’s Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War AK 47 gun guide, we now have a new assault rifle to showcase, and that’s the XM4! Same as the AK 47, this Black Ops Cold War XM4 gun guide lists down the attachments you need to use, and what to avoid. Head on below for that and more.

Thanks to Korean YouTuber Tiny wolf’s Gaming for the gun guide below, so make sure to check his YouTube channel. We’ll be featuring his gun guides more soon as well.

Black Ops Cold War XM4 Gun Guide:

Before you read on, here’s a quick refresher on what each acronym is:

Acronyms

• TTK = Time to kill
• BTK = Bullets to kill
• AR = Assault Rifle
• LMG = Light Machine Gun
• SMG = Submachine Gun
• ADS: Aim Down sight Speed
• Sprint out: Sprint to Fire Speed

XM 4

1. Range

45.72m

XM4’s range is the same as QBZ-83’s, and longer than both AK47 and FFAR 1’s.

2. DAMAGE

Base = 30 ~ 24

Headshots = 42 ~ 39

3. BTK & TTK

Headshots	BTK	TTK
0	5 ~ 6	332ms ~ 416ms
1	5 ~ 5	332ms
2	5 ~ 5	332ms
3	4 ~ 5	249ms ~ 332ms
4	4 ~ 4	249ms

Referencing the chart above, the damage dropoff on XM4 beyond its effective damage range isn’t too bad, which means it’s okay to sacrifice a bit of range for things the gun needs more of.

Much like Krig 6, XM4’s headshot efficiency is quite bad.

4. Recoil

The recoil on XM4 isn’t bad at all. If you’re an average FPS player, you should be able to control it easily. It’s not the most accurate gun in the game, but because ARs are most effective at about 40m you really don’t need more than what it has.

5. Pros and cons

Pros

Versatile.

Small damage drop off beyond the effective damage range.

Cons

TTK isn’t special at all.

Slow velocity.

Low headshot efficiency.

Somewhat less mobile compare to other ARs.

6. Breakdown

I think the problem with this weapon is that, while it doesn’t have a major weakness, it doesn’t really have any great strengths. Its TTK is obviously lower than SMGs. But worse than that is that even other ARs, like AK47, kill faster. Because of that, it’s possible you’ll lose an engagement even if you start to shoot at your opponent first. To avoid that problem, you have to be aware and in control of your combat distance.

Further than 20m, XM4 has a faster TTK than SMGs. Closer than 50m, it has better mobility than LMGs. Further than 50m, because it’s not the most accurate gun in the game, it can be out performed by TRs and LMGs. Positioning on this gun is very important.

Run-and-gun playstyles and camping styles just aren’t that good for XM4. Instead you maintain the right distance from your enemies, adapting to the everchanging situation. If you know much about football (soccer), you can consider this gun a lot like the midfielder position.

7. Recommended Build

An optic of your choice / 13.7″ Extended / Foregrip / SAS Combat Stock

Bullet velocity + 100%

Horizontal recoil control + 15%

Aim walking movement speed + 20%

Shooting move speed + 5%

Hipfire accuracy – 15%

As XM4’s damage falloff isn’t too bad, I decided to not with anything that increases the range. Instead, I tried to increase the gun’s bullet velocity, which is quite slow by default. Its hipfire accuracy is already pretty bad, so I decided to go ahead and just sacrifice it.

Since ARs require a pre-aim playstyle to compete with SMGs, I enhanced aimwalking movement speed.

In Cold War, ARs have awful hipfire accuracy. If that’s the kind of gameplay you want I would recommend going for an SMG instead, because even with attachments ARs just don’t shine in that area.

The fifth part is open to a suppressor, flashlight, or a grip that gives you a bonus to ADS. Or you can go for an extended magazine if you prefer.

There are 4 different barrels you can choose.

13.7″ Extended: Bullet velocity + 100%, Aim walking movement speed – 20%

13.7″ Takedown: Range + 150%, Sprinting move speed – 4%

13.5″ Reinforced Heavy: Range + 100%, Bullet velocity + 40%, Sprinting move speed – 4%, Aim walking movement speed – 20%

13.5″ Task Force: Damge + 6%, Range + 50%, Bullet velocity + 50%, Vertical recoil control – 20%, Horizontal recoil control – 15%, Max starting ammo – 33%

The extended barrel increases bullet velocity, from 550m/s to 1100m/s. Attachments in Cold War have ridiculous numbers, like increasing something by a LOT. I actually kind of feel like developers put random numbers… But that being said, the better bullet velocity is a definite boon to have. In my opinion, M4 starts to get weaker once the player using it can feel the velocity, if that makes sense. With this barrel the velocity is actually faster than SRs! Bullet velocity isn’t that big a deal in close combat, but it becomes more and more valuable the further away you get- starting at about 45m away.

Takedown barrel isn’t bad, but because the damage dropoff isn’t too terrible, adding range isn’t that important. I don’t honestly think this barrel is useful on this gun.

Reinforced heavy increases the range up to 91.44 meters. I mean, in this game that covers most situations. The bullet velocity also becomes faster than any SR that doesn’t have attachments.

Taskforce gives 6% damage, but that actually isn’t enough to alter the overall TTK. It does, however, increase headshot efficiency- which this gun is in desperate need of. One of the biggest downsides of M4 is that there’s no real way to change the TTK dramatically with playstyle. With this barrel, however, you can actually reduce the TTK with two headshots. In short that means that if you feel confident in your aiming skills and think you can consistently hit your enemies in the head, this is a solid choice. I get enough headshots that I can feel the difference this barrel makes, which is cool.

For consistent benefits that aren’t skill based, extended barrel and reinforced heavy barrel are both good choices.

If you’d like to increase the gun’s potential, at the cost of it requiring a little bit more skill, taskforce is the way to go. If you decided to run the taskforce barrel, you will also need to go with the scavenger perk to manage your ammunition.

8. Attachements to avoid

Socom eliminator

Muzzle concealment + 85%

Vertical recoil control + 17%

Sjhooting move speed – 10%

Horizontal recoil control – 10%

Infantry compensator

Vertical recoil control + 12%

Horizontal recoil control – 8%

The recoil on XM4 is totally controlable.

However, unlike vertical recoil, horizontal recoil is something that you can’t really control.

You don’t want to decrease the horizontal recoil control to increase the vertical recoil control.

Agency Suppressor

Muzzle concealment + 100%

Vertical recoil control + 7%

Effective damage range – 30%

Bullet velocity – 30%

Again, the recoil is manageable. Lower the bullet velocity of a gun that is already hurting in that area just isn’t a good idea, in my opinion.

Final thoughts

I feel like ARs in Cold War are quite weak, honestly. They just don’t have much of a defined “role”, if that makes sense. They are at least versatile compared

Stay tuned to more Black Ops Cold War gun guides here on MP1st!

With Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War multiplayer in full swing, a gun meta is slowly inching its way up, and side from the MP5 submachine gun, another weapon seeing a lot of use is the AK 47! If you need help in creating the ideal weapon loadout, we’re here to help with this Black Ops Cold War AK 47 gun guide!

Korean YouTuber Tiny wolf’s Gaming has posted the AK 47 gun guide below, and there’s even a recommendation on which attachments to use and avoid.

Before you read on, here’s a quick refresher on what each acronym is:

Acronyms

• TTK = Time to kill
• BTK = Bullets to kill
• AR = Assault Rifle
• LMG = Light Machine Gun
• SMG = Submachine Gun
• ADS: Aim Down sight Speed
• Sprint out: Sprint to Fire Speed

Black Ops Cold War AK 47 Gun Guide:

AK 47

1. Range

38.1m

AK47 has the second shortest range among ARs.

2. DAMAGE & RPM

Base = 38 ~ 30

Headshots = 53.2 ~ 42

RPM = 600

3. BTK & TTK

Headshots	BTK	TTK
0	4 ~ 5	300ms ~ 400ms
1	4 ~ 5	300ms ~ 400ms
2	4 ~ 5	300ms ~ 400ms
3	3 ~ 4	200ms ~ 300ms

AK47 has the fastest TTK among ARs.

However, its headshot efficiency isn’t good at all.

4. Recoil

The recoil on AK47 is kinda troublesome. The pattern goes up and to the left, but then changes its direction to upper right. It’s manageable, surely. But it can be a problem when the combat range gets further than 45m.

5. Pros and cons

Pros

High damage per shot.

The fastest TTK among ARs.

Small damage drop off beyond its effective range.

Note: Even though the damage drop off itself is small, TTK gets dramatically slower beyond the gun’s effective range.

Cons

The slowest velocity among ARs.

Short range.

Troublesome horizontal recoil.

Low RPM.

6. Breakdown

AK47 in Cold War is very different from its Modern Warfare counterpart.

On MW, TTK on AK47 barely changed beyond its effective range which made it good in mid range combat. However, in BOCW, its TTK gets significantly slower beyond the range. Not only that, but that dropoff of TTK is on top of having a short range to begin with and a slow muzzle velocity. Those features make it fairly easy for other guns to outperform AK47 in mid to long ranged encounters.

The combat distance that AK47 performs the best is between 25m and 40m. SMGs can outperform it under 20m, while other guns will start to get more advantages once you pass 40m.

SMGs are a better option if you’re after a run-and-gun playstyle, and LMGs are great for camping. However, remember that the AR class of weapon in BOCW is the most versatile. With the right balance of playstyle, experience, and attachments, it can actually be a good option.

7. Recommended Build

[For a small map]

An optic of your choice or Sound suppressor

18.2″ VDV Reinforced / GRU Mag clamp / Serpant wrap / KGB Skeleton stock

Range + 100% (38.1m -> 76.2m)

* With a suppressor, + 85% (38.1m -> 70.49m)

Velocity + 40%

* With a suppressor, + 25%

Reload speed + 35%

Starting ammo + 33%

ADS + 19%

Sprint out + 20%

Hipfire accuracy – 15%

Because in regular multiplayer most maps aren’t that big, VDV Reinforced provides plenty of range bonus. If recoil is kinda hard for you to control, you can replace the suppressor/optic with a foregrip.

[For a big map]

An optic of your choice / 20″ Liberator / Spetsnaz grip / 40 RND Mag / GRU Elastic wrap

Bullet elocity + 100%

30 Rounds in a mag -> 40 Rounds in a mag

Starting ammo + 33%

Vertical recoil control + 6%

Horizontal recoil control + 20%

ADS + 30%

Flinch resistence + 90%

Aim walking move speed – 30%

Shooting movement speed – 26%

Reload speed – 10%

Sprint out – 10%

This build is for the combined arms and dirty bomb modes, where longer ranged combat happens more frequently. Even increasing the gun’s range with VDV Reinforced, it can possibly still not be enough.

Instead, I recommend that you increase the muzzle velocity. BTK does increase beyond the effective range, of course. However, if the combat distance is going to push past that point anyways, it will be better to increase the velocity so that you’re at least able to hit them without missing too many shots.

I also focused on other stats that are important for those long ranged encounters, such as recoil control and flinch resistance.

[Gunfighter wildcard]

An optic of your choice / Muzzle break 5.56 / 18.2″ VDV Reinforced / Tigerteam spotlight / Spetsnaz grip / 40 RND Speed mag / GRU Elastic wrap / KGB Skeleton stock

Effective damage range + 100% (38.1m -> 76.2m)

Bullet velocity + 40%

30 Rounds in a mag -> 40 Rounds in a mag

Starting ammo + 33%

Vertical recoil control + 10%

Horizontal recoil control + 20%

ADS + 10%

Flinch resistence + 90%

Reveal distance + 40%

Sprint out + 5%

Aim walking move speed + 20%

Shooting movement speed – 36%

Reload speed – 10%

Sprint speed – 4%

Hipfire accuracy – 30%

This build has increased range, bullet velocity, and recoil control.

Its hipfire accuracy is pretty bad to begin with, so I opted to just sacrifice it.

8. Attachements to avoid

GRU Suppressor

Muzzle concealment + 100%

Vertical recoil control + 7%

Effective damage range – 25%

Bullet velocity – 30%

The extra vertical recoil is nice, but this attachment also makes AK47s weaknesses even more of a problem.

18.2″ Takedown

Effective damage range+ 150% (38.1m -> 95.25m)

Sprint speed – 5%

So lets say you’re able to now have an effective range up to 95m. It sounds good, until you take into consideration the gun’s terrible bullet velocity. You’ll watch in what feels like slow motion as your bullet goes where your target was standing 6 years ago when you pulled the trigger. This part is just not worth the attachment slot on AK47.

20″ Spetsnaz RPK barrel

Damage + 11% (38 -> 42)

Effective damage range+ 50%

Bullet velocity + 50%

Starting ammo – 33%

Vertical recoil control – 20%

Horizontal recoil control – 15%

The extra 11% damage doesn’t actually change BTK or TTK at all. The gun’s headshot efficiency does technically increase, however you’ll have to get at least 2 headshots to feel the difference.

Because AK47 already has high damage by default and it suffers from other problems- range, bullet velocity, recoil- there are better things to use than this.

Final thoughts

In my opinion, AK47 is just the best AR. Even when stacked against other gun types it does good. I’d say like, A-tier at least. In Modern Warfare it could kill things faster (but what couldn’t? MW’s ttk is insane) and it was quite good even beyond it’s effective range. However, because of the tough to control recoil it was hard to use and it didn’t do the best against guns in closer ranges.

By contrast, in Cold War I personally feel like it’s less strong when it comes to killing things quickly. But the recoil is way better and the risk of using the gun went down. So a little less risk vs reward and much more consistent.

I’m curious how they’ll handle these changes in Warzone, because the gun definitely isn’t the same between MW and BOCW.

​Stay tuned for more Black Ops Cold War gun guides here on MP1st and from Tiny wolf’s Gaming!