CoD4 Weapons: M4 Expert Guide

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In depth guide about the Call of Duty 4 M4 (M4 Carbine). This guide was submitted by: RRJohn, Demon APX, with additions from X. If you would like to help editing, adding your own guide, contributing to this one or by correcting any wrong information on this guide click here. Thanks.

CoD4 Weapon M4

M4 Quick Stats
For in-depth M4 stats click here
Accuracy: 9 / 12
Damage: 5 / 12
Range: 9 / 12
Fire Rate: 9 / 12
Mobility: 8 / 12
Clip Size/Reserve Ammo: 30/60
Recoil: low cluster
Reload Time: 2.03 seconds / 2.36 empty
Damage: 20-30
Range: 1500-2000 / 500-1000 SD
Rate of Fire: 850 RPM Single
Penetration: Medium / Large Bullet
Location Damage Multiplier: Head (1.4) / Neck: (1.0) / Torso: (1.0) / Stomach: (1.0) / Limbs (1.0)
Hip Accuracy: Stand (3-7) / Crouch (2.5-6) / Prone (2-5)

M4 Attachments

No Attachments
The M4 Iron Sights are pretty good. Though they constrict your view more than the other weapons iron sights, it is still better to use an attachment usch as the Red Dot Sight. It is very possible to get good at using the M4 Iron Sights, and they aren't as bad as a few other weapons, for example the M60.

M4 with no attachments
M4 No Attachments

Red Dot Sight - 25 Kills
Very much recommended that you use this when unlocked. While it may not affect your stats or zoom that much, it becomes so much easier to aim with this weapon. It is a favored attachment for many, for while the iron sights on the M4 are pretty good, the Red Dot Sight is still better, mainly because of the fact you can see all around the red dot, there is no metal covering up the target. When you use the iron sight, you can’t see below your gun or anywhere the circle on the sights cover up, which could cause your death in a long range situation with a small target.

M4 with Red Dot Sight
M4 Red Dot Sight Hip

Zooming in an M4 with the Red Dot Sight
M4 Red Dot Sight Zoom

Silencer - 75 Kills
Though this takes off a very small ammount of range, it’s quite amazing for stealth. The bullets can still reach the same range as before with the same accuracy, but they will just do less damage. The iron sights are good on this weapon, too, which is one of the main problems with silencers. And although by silencers don’t technically take off range, the sound and the already low recoil just makes the feel of the gun more controlled. It’s mental. A great attachment for this gun for a medium-long range silenced class, but definitely go with an SMG for shorter ranges.

M4 with Silencer attachment
M4 Silenced

ACOG
Advance Combative Optical Gunsight (ACOG) - 150 kills
Taking on snipers in full sight is not advised, as your head will be cruelly taken away, but if you see a target who isn't aware of you by all means line up a shot and take them out.

M4 with ACOG
M4 ACOG Hip

Zooming in an M4 with the ACOG
M4 ACOG

M4 with Grenade Launcher
M4 Noob Tube

M4 vs. G36C
The ever-raging battle- which one is better? It’s all personal preference. M4 has good fire rate, nice range, low recoil, and can therefore be used on many maps with many situations. Many also find the M4’s iron sights are better than the G36C. It’s quite lacking of damage, though. The G36C, while having a slower fire rate and more recoil, has more damage as well, so fire this gun in short bursts of ammunition and you will take down your enemies in short order. It’s all personal preference, experiment with both and see which one you like the best.
CoD4 Weapon M4

About the M4

Standard service carbine of the U.S. Armed Forces, preferred weapon of the Marine Corps. Fires on full-auto. This is one of the most popular guns you'll see on most servers, since it can lay a lot of bullets on a target in a very short amount of time with minimal recoil. On paper it's not very powerful, but if you aim it carefully it'll drop enemies in short order. If you just can't seem to draw a bead on moving targets with the burst-fire M16, switch to the M4 and you should get better results. This one does just about everything you'll want it to, except for maybe max-range sniping and super-fast ninja-ing.

The M4 is a weapon you will get very used to seeing and every type of map and game type. It combines high accuracy, average damage, low recoil, and versatility to create a package that can be lethal in anyone’s hands. In my opinion it is the best assault rifle in the game. The only major weakness is the mediocre damage, but this is easily fixed.

General Tips: The M4 is great at tearing down an enemy fairly quickly, and with little recoil. The recoil on this weapon is so small that you can hold down the shoot button, and still manage to kill someone at even medium range. At close range you should always go full auto and aim for your enemy, this is because of the M4s power, which is weaker than the other Assault Rifles.

The Bad: As I mentioned, the M4 is weaker than the other Assault Rifles, therefore, you might get killed before you can finish your enemy off. This is offset by using stopping power, and with stopping power, the M4 turns into a monster of a weapon.

Unlocked: Rank 10

M4 Perks

The M4 is another great weapon for medium to long range fighting, as well as close range encounters..so once again, a wide array of perks work well with this weapon, but here are our recommended perks, of course feel free to experiment and try other perks as well.If you develop a great strategy with a certain combination, please submit it and it will be added here with credit to your name.

Bandolier - Once again we recommend this as perk 1, like a lot of the other weapons. The M4 burns through its ammo quickly, and having more ammo is always an advantage, especially if you’re stuck in a hostile area and don't fancy your chances with your sidearm/pistol. This tends to be a spray-friendly kind of gun, you don’t need to burst because of the low recoil.

Stopping Power - The M4 already kills very fast, and with stopping power, you can kill in a split second up close. You will probably end up using this every single time you play. Increases damage by 40%, something the M4 really needs. It has good fire rate, low recoil, and nice range, but it’s power is pretty weak naturally.. Probably the only really essential perk due to the M4s mediocre damage rating.

UAV Jammer - For those people who charge toward the red dots when they get UAV, you can easily ambush them without them expecting you because your red dot isn’t on the radar. Recommended for stealth classes.

Overkill - Only use if you are utterly incompetent with a pistol, but then you can just pick a dead players weapon. So not a very useful perk really. The only time this should really be used is with a very long range gun or a very short range gun, although usually I would tend to go for an SMG for long range and a sniper rifle or single shot assault rifle for a very short range gun, the best fully automatic is probably the G36C. Still, if you find the M4 works well for you overkilled with another weapon, then go for it, but I would recommend an SMG as that would give your M4 class much more of a chance at close quarters.

Deep Impact - If you aren't accurate and an enemy escapes your sites this can be a very useful perk indeed. If you like causing destruction and don't like leaving yourself exposed in a firefight (i.e. you want to shoot from behind a walls and stay out of sight) use this. Stopping Power is recommended over this, but if you are a camping person and shoot constantly through walls, then this perk can become quite valuable.

Double Tap - Some people say it's better than stopping power. It significantly increases fire rate and can kill very quickly if you aim well. However, the M4 already burns ammo quick, and you'll find yourself running dry very quickly if you use this. I'd say for total running and gunning use only. Typically I would like to get more damage into the person instead of more metal, but it’s all personal preference.

Sleight of Hand - Recommended for Hardcore mainly, can be used for non-hardcore as well but is kind of a waste. Reload time is average, nothing ridiculous but not really favored. If you find you have no problem with its natural stats, but reload constantly in the middle of firefights, this might be a good perk for you.

Steady Aim - Improves hip fire accuracy. Useful for any attachment, hip-firing is very valuable with this gun because it’s not that great at close quarters. With this perk on you can gain full mobility while moving while still retaining full power and good accuracy, I find this perk saves me constantly.

Dead Silence - For use in Stealth mainly. Incredibly quiet, but you lose the ability to use something like steady aim. Crouching can be just as effective as dead silence, but if you like to not be heard while still sprinting, well then there you go, this perk was made for you.

M4 Maps

The M4 is good an almost every map, it is very versatile and can be used in many, many situations. Just a few are listed here:

Wetwork - Go prone on the corner of the containers and watch you kills go up, up and up!

Vacant - Good M4 map. M4 does well indoors and is okay outdoors.

Crash - You can take out many a person from the 3 story building, or just anywhere else generally.

Pipeline - Has long paths and great spots to camp if you favor camping, making this good for long range, which is what this gun excels at most.

Overgrown - Same as pipeline, long narrow roads and buildings to shoot from. More opportunities for close quarters situations in these building though, so be wary!

Ambush - Good for killing un-expectant sniper on the buildings.

Bad M4 Maps

Shipment - You'll get owned by shotguns and LMGs on this. Too close quarters to do anything long range.

Downpour - Not that bad but very easy to be flanked here. Good positioning is key if you want to succeed on this map.

Other Aesthetics: I’ve always loved the look of pure metal, and this gun being so long and shiny it’s been a favorite, especially with a silencer. I love it with no camo. Woodland and Desert look terrible on this gun, digital can be ok for some people but it’s kind of blotchy and it cuts out the shininess of the gun. Blue tiger is ok, but red tiger is the best in my opinion, you still retain a lot of shiny metal with some red stripes here and there. Looks great.

M4 Custom Classes

Class Name: All round class
Primary Weapon: M4
Attachment: Red Dot Sight
Side Arm: USP recommended, silencer on this is your choice. (Check out pistols section for further help.)
Special Grenade: Flash/ Stun grenade
Perk 1: Bandolier
Perk 2: Stopping Power
Perk 3: Steady Aim
Note: This class can be used on most any mode.

Class Name: Stealth Class
Primary Weapon: M4
Attachment:Silencer
Side Arm: USP .45 w/Silencer
Special Grenade: Smoke Grenade
Perk 1: Claymore 2x
Perk 2: UAV Jammer or Stopping Power
Perk 3: Dead Silence or Steady Aim
Notes: Check out the Stealth section for further information on which perks to use

Class Name: Camper Class
Primary Weapon: M4
Attachment: ACOG
Side Arm: Pistol of your choice, USP recommended, silencer on this is your choice. (Check out pistols section for further help.)
Special Grenade: Your choice
Perk 1: Claymores 2x
Perk 2: Stopping Power
Perk 3: Deep Penetration

Class Name:Hardcore class
Primary Weapon: M4
Attachment: Red Dot Sight
Side Arm: M1911
Special Grenade: Your Choice (Stun recommended)
Perk 1: Whatever you want for perk 1, depending on the action you are performing
Perk 2: UAV Jammer or Sleight of Hand
Perk 3: Deep Impact or Steady Aim

M4 Challenges

Title Description Reward

Marksman 1 Get 25 kills with this weapon 100XP/Red Dot Sight

Marksman 2 Get 75 kills with this weapon 500XP/Silencer

Marksman 3 Get 150 kills with this weapon 1000XP/ACOG Scope

Expert 1 Get 25 headshots with this weapon 100XP/Digital

Expert 2 Get 75 headshots with this weapon 500XP/Blue Tiger

Expert 3 Get 150 headshots with this weapon 1000XP/Red Tiger Camo

M4 Videos

M4 Montages on Youtube

In-Depth M4 Stats

Thanks to Dairuka for getting this information from the games files. For descriptions of what each statistic is, click on it's title.

General Stats

Information	No Attachments	With Silencer	With ACOG
Penetration Type	medium
Impact Type	Large Bullets
Inventory Type	Primary
Aim Assist Range	1000 - 1500	1000 - 1500	1000 - 2000
Crosshair Range	1000	1000	1000
Zoom Range	50	50	30

Ammunition

Information	For All Attachments
Low Ammo Threshold	0.33 (10 bullets left)
Ammo Type	5.56 x 45mm NATO
Maximum Ammo	180
Starting Ammo	90
Clip Size	30

Damage

Information	No Attachments	With Silencer	With ACOG
Base Damage	20 - 30	20 - 30	20 - 30
Damage vs Juggernaut	15 - 22.5	15 - 22.5	15 - 22.5
Damage with Stopping Power	28 - 42	28 - 42	28 - 42
Headshot Damage	(x1.4) 28 - 42	(x1.4) 28 - 42	(x1.4) 28 - 42
Minimum Damage Range	2000	1000	2000
Maximum Damage Range	1500	500	1500

Movement

Information	No Attachments	With Silencer	With ACOG
Hip Movement Speed Scale	1	1	1
Sights Movement Speed Scale	1	1	1
Sprint Duration Scale	1	1	1
Standing Minimum Speed	0	0	0
Standing Moving Forward	0	0	0
Standing Moving Reverse	0	0	0
Standing Moving Up	-1	-1	-1
Ducking Minimum Speed	0	0	0
Ducking Moving Forward	-1	-1	-1
Ducking Moving Reverse	0	0	0
Ducking Moving Up	-1	-1	-1
Prone Minimum Speed	0	0	0
Prone Moving Forward	-160	-160	-160
Prone Moving Reverse	3	3	3
Prone Moving Up	-120	-120	-120

Delays and Reloading

Information	No Attachments	With Silencer	With ACOG
Rate of Fire Time	0.07	0.07	0.07
Reload Time	2.03	2.03	2.03
Reload (from empty) Time	2.36	2.36	2.36
Re-chambering Time	0.1	0.1	0.1

Deviation

Information	No Attachments	With Silencer	With ACOG	Reflex Stats
Minimum Standing Hip Spread	3	3	3	3
Maximum Standing Hip Spread	7	7	7	7
Minimum Ducking Hip Spread	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Maximum Ducking Hip Spread	6	6	6	6
Minimum Prone Hip Spread	2	2	2	2
Maximum Prone Hip Spread	5	5	5	5
Spread added per shot	0.6	0.6	0.6	0.6
Spread added for Moving	5	5	5	5
Decay Rate	4	4	4	4
Ducking Decay Rate	1.05	1.05	1.05	1.05
Prone Decay Rate	1.1	1.1	1.1	1.1

Recoil

Information	No Attachments	With Silencer	With ACOG
(Hip) Kick Pitch Minimum	5	5	5
(Hip) Kick Pitch Maximum	-15	-15	-15
(Hip) Kick Yaw Minimum\|(Hip) Kick Yaw Minimum	5	5	5
(Hip) Kick Yaw Maximum	-5	-5	-5
(Hip) Kick Acceleration	800	800	800
(Hip) Maximum Kick Speed	2000	2000	2000
(Hip) Kick Speed Decay	16	16	16
(Hip) Kick Static Decay	20	20	20
(Hip) Kick View Pitch Minimum	-30	-30	-30
(Hip) Kick View Pitch Maximum	50	50	50
(Hip) Kick View Yaw Minimum	40	40	40
(Hip) Kick View Yaw Maximum	-40	-40	-40
(Hip) Kick View Center Speed	1500	1500	1300
(Sights) Kick Pitch Minimum	5	5	5
(Sights) Kick Pitch Maximum	15	15	15
(Sights) Kick Yaw Minimum	-5	-5	-5
(Sights) Kick Yaw Maximum	10	10	10
(Sights) Kick Acceleration	800	800	800
(Sights) Maximum Kick Speed	2000	2000	2000
(Sights) Kick Speed Decay	32	32	32
(Sights) Kick Static Decay	40	40	40
(Sights) Kick View Pitch Minimum	-30	-30	-30
(Sights) Kick View Pitch Maximum	50	50	50
(Sights) Kick View Yaw Minimum	40	40	40
(Sights) Kick View Yaw Maximum	-40	-40	-40
(Sights) Kick View Center Speed	1500	1500	1300

Sway

Information	No Attachments	With Silencer	With ACOG
Shell Shock Sway	5	5	5
Hip Max Sway Angle	20	20	20
Hip LERP Speed	4	4	4
Sights Max Sway Angle	2	2	2
Sights LERP Speed	6	6	6
Sights Sway Pitch Scale	0.1	0.1	0.1
Sights Sway Yaw Scale	0.1	0.1	0.1
Sights Sway Horizontal Scale	0.14	0.14	0.02
Sights Sway Vertical Scale	0.25	0.25	0.02

Idle

Information	No Attachments	With Silencer	With ACOG
Hip Idle Amount	30	30	30
Sights Idle Amount	40	40	40
Hip Idle Speed	1	1	1
Sights Idle Speed	1.5	1.5	1.5
Idle Crouch Factor	1	1	1
Idle Prone Factor	1	1	1

Melee

Information	No Attachments	With Silencer	With ACOG
Melee Time	0.8	0.8	0.8
Melee Charge Time	1.16	1.16	1.16
Melee Delay Time	0.13	0.13	0.13
Melee Charge Delay Time	0.16	0.16	0.16

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CoD4 Weapons: M4 Expert Guide

M4 Quick Stats

M4 Attachments

M4 vs. G36C

About the M4

M4 Perks

M4 Maps

M4 Custom Classes

M4 Challenges

M4 Videos

In-Depth M4 Stats

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