The battle rifle is the brutal big brother of the assault rifle in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. While the assault rifle uses large magazines with smaller bullets to try and take out as many enemies as possible before dying, the battle rifle has smaller mags with larger bullets, only trying to win one fight at a time.

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Players love to talk about killstreaks in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and act like every next skirmish is the one where they can wipe out an entire team. But each killstreak is composed of individual kills. The battle rifle focuses on winning one-on-one fights. With the best the class has to offer, it doesn't sweat under the pressure.

Updated on May 2nd, 2023 by Hodey Johns: With a few seasons, new maps, statistical teaks, and some major overhauls over and done with, the landscape has predictably shifted in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The franchise has always been quick to nerf guns that see their win rates get too high and buff weapons that see their win rates drop off. The changes may be subtle, but in a game that differentiates time to kill by milliseconds, that's all it takes to see something's usage go from top to bottom. This list has been overhauled, looking at the loadouts of the best players and the most successful loadouts of the community at large.

5 Lachmann-762

The Lachmann-762 has mostly below-average attributes and is dead last in damage. Below-average guns usually carry some kind of quirk that makes them potentially good, such as an extended magazine or substantially better reload times.

Unfortunately, that's not the case here. With the Lachmann-762, players give up speed for very little, the gun is still a step behind the FTAC Recon in close quarters. Elite field upgrade options can help salvage the gun, but it's best to move on.

4 FTAC Recon

Best in mobility, and handling, the FTAC Recon is a monster in the mid-range and under game, allowing the user to run to wherever the action is and fire at enemies before they get a chance to fire back. It's the prototypical gun for going against assault rifle users.

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The gun is limited to medium and short-range encounters due to poor range and accuracy, but for players interested in being first to every fight and last to leave, there is a good appeal here. When it's time to prestige, saying goodbye to the FTAC Recon is a tough thing to do.

3 Cronen Squall

As the game starts to add more night maps, fighting from range is becoming more challenging with vision being obscured. The Cronen Squall is primarily designed for this distance and it has the second-highest time to kill among all battle rifles at ranges of over 40 meters.

It's all a careful balance. The SO-14 has better damage in medium and long ranges but the Cronen Squall has far better recoil control. For players that find themselves missing shots with other battle rifles from range, this can be the solution.

2 SO-14

No battle rifle is capable of killing enemies faster than the SO-14 with its high damage and best-in-class rate of fire. Be warned that this weapon is dead last in recoil control, mobility, and handling, it's only possible to take out opponents that don't see the shooter first.

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Ideal aim assist settings can mitigate some of the problems here. It gets a high rating despite these flaws because the point of a battle rifle over an assault rifle is for that extra range and ability to win one-on-one fights. The battle rifle shockingly has no damage dropoff after 40 meters and is still great at ranges shorter than that.

1 TAQ-V

The TAQ-V is only average in one category (fire rate) while having first-place finishes in accuracy, and recoil control. Players can then tune the weapon up to have no weaknesses by increasing the fire rate or further enhancing its ability at range.

This particular battle rifle gets the nod over the rest because it functions as a battle rifle should even at non-mid ranges. By virtue of being a battle rifle, players will already be countering the mid-range fighters. The TAQ-V further establishes itself as dominant by having the second-highest time to kill at any range, making it ideal for any map style or situation.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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