Every Call of Duty Gun Starting With B, Ranked From the Blunderbuss to the BAL-27

After I ranked every gun in Call of Duty history that starts with the letter A, a lot of you asked me to keep going with the alphabet. So here is every B gun in Call of Duty history, ranked worst to best, and at the very top, it wasn't even close: the BAL-27 in Advanced Warfare.

I don't know if we'll make it through the whole alphabet, but we can definitely make it through B. There are some mediocre entries near the bottom and some iconic snipers near the top.

The Blunderbuss takes both of the bottom two spots, in Advanced Warfare and World War II

At number 32 is the obvious pick: the Blunderbuss in Advanced Warfare. "It was designed to be bad." It was a pirate shotgun that would kill in one shot, but only at point blank range, and I really do mean point blank. Then you had to sacrifice the next seven seconds to reload it and hope nobody ran up and punched you in the face 10 times before you finished.

I won't deny it was super satisfying to get a one shot kill with it, and it was always funny to see your target fly away. But it was situational, and that reload was so long the Blunderbuss was never actually worth taking into battle. I think it's pretty clearly the worst B gun in Call of Duty history.

At number 31 is the Blunderbuss in Call of Duty World War II, where Sledgehammer brought back the meme gun as a DLC weapon. It was only better because World War II was a boots on the ground game, so it was easier to keep your target in shotgun range, whereas in Advanced Warfare your target could hit the A button twice and be gone. It still held only one shot, the reload took forever, and the one shot kill wasn't guaranteed because the range was inconsistent. Yes, I know it was a meme gun that was bad on purpose, but that doesn't mean it gets a pass.

The Bren was awkward and clunky in both World War II and Vanguard

At number 30 is the Bren in Call of Duty World War II, not only one of the worst B guns but one of the ugliest guns in Call of Duty history. This LMG had some of the most obstructive iron sights ever because the magazine sat on top of the gun instead of the bottom. I'm not exaggerating when I say you'd lose about half your screen every time you aimed down sights.

On top of that, the fire rate was so slow you were regularly getting killed by people bobbing and weaving between your bullets. Slow handling, horrible visibility, terrible fire rate, no fun. Nobody liked the World War II Bren.

At number 29 is the Bren in Call of Duty Vanguard. I'll freely admit this placement might just be personal bias, because I hated it in World War II and I hated it in Vanguard. Granted, I wasn't playing a whole lot of Vanguard, but I still thought the gun was unnecessarily awkward and clunky. It wasn't quite as slow, and the 10 attachment gunsmith gave you some extra wiggle room, but I'm still putting it near the bottom because it's a bad gun.

The Banshee, BAS-B and Banshii all had potential that was hard to unlock

At number 28 is the Banshee in Infinite Warfare, a pump action shotgun that wasn't that bad but didn't perform well in that game. Yes, it hit hard and you could land solid one shot kills, but the speed of Infinite Warfare and its map design made pump shotguns really difficult to use consistently, which is part of why you never saw it online. In the right conditions it was decent, but how often did you actually get the right conditions? And if a gun is only decent in the right conditions, is it really a good gun?

At number 27 is the BAS-B in Modern Warfare 3 (2023), a battle rifle with some solid potential held back by an extremely low fire rate and an inconsistent damage profile. In semi automatic it could kill with a single headshot, but the fire rate cap was so low that if you missed the headshot, you were more likely to die before landing all the body shots you needed. You could argue the high ammo capacity meant a perfectly accurate player could theoretically chain insta kills, but how often did that actually happen? At the end of the day, it was a difficult gun to use.

At number 26 is the Banshii in Black Ops 3. It was one of the only guns in Call of Duty history that was a one shot kill no matter what, regardless of distance or attachments. That was a very powerful thing to have in your hands. But instead of a hitscan bullet like every other gun in the game, it fired a slow moving energy projectile, so you struggled to hit shots beyond close range. Even with all that potential, the insane skill gap limited its effectiveness to the point that I really couldn't put it higher.

The Browning M1919, Ghosts Bulldog and Vanguard BAR sit just below the middle

At number 25 is the Browning M1919 in World at War, one of the least used guns in that game, mainly because it was so huge and clunky compared to other machine guns. The iron sights weren't very helpful if you were trying to be precise. Interestingly, the damage stats were actually pretty good, but the handling was so bad you could almost never get the most out of it. I'm not going to say it was a bad gun, but it wasn't very good, and a lot of people forget it was even in the game.

At number 24 is the Bulldog in Ghosts, a semi auto shotgun that was probably the best weapon in its class. It's only at 24 because shotguns as a whole were pretty poor in Ghosts. The maps were huge and close quarters combat was so rare you were basically at a disadvantage running a shotgun as your primary. On stats alone the Bulldog was a pretty good shotty, but the map design gave it no chance to shine.

At number 23 is the BAR in Call of Duty Vanguard. With how many guns and attachments there are in Vanguard, it was inevitable some would blend together in your brain. Honestly, I don't remember much about it other than that it was perfectly average without the 10 attachments and perfectly average with them. It was probably one of the least memorable B guns, but there are other versions of the BAR that were much more memorable, and they come later in this piece.

The Modern Warfare 3 Barrett, BAS-P and a World War II SMG were overshadowed

At number 22 is the Barrett .50 cal in Modern Warfare 3 (2011). It's one of the only guns to appear in all three original Modern Warfare games, which makes it strange that it has barely shown up in the new series. I guess you have the Rytec AMR in Modern Warfare 2019, but that was one of the worst snipers in Call of Duty history, so I think we'd all be better off forgetting it.

The Modern Warfare 3 Barrett was heavily nerfed from the first two games. It still had solid potential, but movement speed was very slow, and the damage could feel inconsistent since the Stopping Power perk was removed. I think some of you will be upset with me for ranking it this low, but when you see the other B guns on this list, I'm hoping you'll understand. It wasn't a bad gun overall; it was just overshadowed by a ton of other guns in Modern Warfare 3 and on this list.

At number 21 is the BAS-P in Modern Warfare 2 (2022). I'm pretty sure this SMG was based on the real world Sig MPX, which meant a very high fire rate, decent recoil control and built in subsonic ammo to keep you off the radar. But it was widely seen as lower tier among that game's SMGs because it didn't do anything better than other guns. Several SMGs matched its fire rate and recoil while doing more damage, and most others could get subsonic ammo through attachments. Most people just passed it over and kept using whatever SMG they were already spamming.

At number 20 is one of the many SMGs added to Call of Duty World War II through content patches, and I have no clue how I'm supposed to pronounce its name. I will confidently say it was an okay weapon: not crazy, not special. It had a pretty high fire rate for that game and a generous 32 round magazine, but really low damage and an average time to kill, with manageable recoil. The amount of DLC weapons in that game by the end is super commendable, so I'll give Sledgehammer credit there, but I don't see what this gun did better than basically every other World War II SMG.

The Bruen Mk9 in two games and the Advanced Warfare Bulldog land in the teens

At number 19 is the Bruen Mk9 in Modern Warfare 3 (2023). It debuted in Modern Warfare 2019, but the Modern Warfare 3 version was pretty clearly nerfed to keep it from being such a balancing problem. It had pretty good handling, really good DPS, somewhat unpredictable recoil and much heavier penalties for certain attachments. There were some devastating gunsmith builds, but you really had to know what you were doing to succeed with it. When you did, the potential was insane, though the downsides were pretty obvious too.

At number 18 is another late World War II SMG whose name I'm sure I butchered. It fired at an even 750 rounds per minute, and the game's description called it fast firing, which I find a little weird because 750 isn't exactly fast for World War II. That's the same as the Enfield from Black Ops 1, and since everybody knows the Enfield was amazing, maybe this gun was amazing too. Or maybe it wasn't. Honestly, I'm not sure what to think, because it was added in DLC in June 2019, more than a year and a half after World War II launched and after its life cycle had ended. I've heard it's decent, and in the gameplay I've seen it looks decent, but I just don't know for sure.

At number 17 is the Bulldog in Advanced Warfare, one of several guns introduced in Ghosts that came back in Advanced Warfare. I'm not really sure what happened there, since the two games are probably not the same canon. Functionally it was more or less the same semi auto shotgun with decent damage and solid ammo, but it was way better in Advanced Warfare because your jetpack let you close the gap on enemies, making it much more viable than in the long range slog of Ghosts.

At number 16 is the Bruen Mk9 in Modern Warfare 2019. When it arrived in the game and Warzone, it broke the game, especially in Battle Royale. After all the patches, I'd say mid tier. Damage was good for an LMG, but handling was slow, and the most effective fix was the 60 round magazine attachment, one of the most broken attachments in the game. After that was patched, it became a pretty major trade off between mobility and accuracy. At the time I put this list together, I rated the Bruen in that game upper mid tier: pretty strong with the right gunsmith build, but it takes quite a bit of work to get all the attachments, and even then there are probably better choices.

The Bizon, Vanguard BP50 and Basilisk kick off the top 15

At number 15 is the Bizon in Call of Duty Ghosts. There was a time when it was actually top tier, but after Infinity Ward nerfed it, you didn't see it much online. Still, it had a huge following, and I still think it's a decent weapon after all the nerfs. Ammo capacity was fantastic, damage decent and handling super fast. At launch its time to kill was quick, but that's no longer the case, so it's more of a big magazine bullet hose with an average time to kill. It's not mind blowing, but it's fun and versatile.

At number 14 is the BP50 in Call of Duty Vanguard, a remake of the F2000. I have no clue why it was put in a World War II game, but Sledgehammer apparently just really liked the F2000. If we disregard the complete lack of historical accuracy, it was pretty good: quick time to kill and recoil nowhere near as bad as the classic Modern Warfare 2 F2000. Ammo capacity wasn't the best and the reload was a bit long, but it was way better than the Modern Warfare 2 original. That's not saying a lot, because the original was bad.

At number 13 is the Basilisk in Modern Warfare 2 (2022), a five shot revolver. It would "kick like an absolute mule" but seriously rewarded you if you could stay on target. For a handgun it was super heavy and super punishing if you missed, but the damage profile was off the charts, capable of a one shot headshot kill from a pretty impressive distance. It also had some of the coolest blueprints in the entire game. That has nothing to do with the stats, but it did make you feel a lot cooler.

The Bryson 800, World at War BAR and Bryson 890 round out the top 10

At number 12 is the Bryson 800 in Modern Warfare 2 (2022), a pump action shotgun with several downsides when first unlocked. By default it held six shells and was only effective at close range. It got attention because the sheer number of attachments let you customise it more heavily than most shotguns, turning it into a one shot kill up to mid range while beefing up ammo capacity, fire rate, reload time and everything else. It did require a lot more grinding than most guns to be viable, but if you put the work in, it earns number 12.

At number 11 is the BAR in World at War, one of the bounciest and chunkiest guns in Call of Duty history. It sounded huge and hit like a truck, usually killing in two bullets with Stopping Power. The ammo capacity was limited and the recoil was nuts, but if you paced your shots or played at mid range, it could be one of the most game changing weapons at your disposal, cleaning up enemies with a few shots. And its iron sights are some of my favourites in Call of Duty history, even if the aperture sight was also one of the greatest optics in the series.

At number 10 is the Bryson 890, another pump action shotgun. Instead of loading single shells like the 800, it used a full magazine, which sped up the reload, let it hold more shells and kept downtime minimal while unlocking a ton of additional play styles. Damage was lower than the 800 to compensate for the extra ammo, but with the right attachments it was pretty great as a one shot kill range gun. You could say the 890 was an all around buffed version of the 800, and the 800 was already powerful. Very solid B gun.

The Modern Warfare 3 BP50, Bullfrog, World War II BAR and Modern Warfare 3 BAL-27 fill spots nine to six

At number nine is the BP50 in Modern Warfare 3 (2023). I don't know what the deal is with Sledgehammer and the F2000. They brought it back in Vanguard for no reason, then again in Modern Warfare 3 under the BP50 name, and somebody at Sledgehammer must have been watching my content, because they buffed it to be even more powerful and versatile. It kept the high fire rate and relatively low recoil, and the new gunsmith made attachments even better, with reduced recoil and extended range turning it into a melt machine. The long reload was basically its only downside. At the time, I said that if the F2000 came back in Call of Duty 2026, I was fully expecting it to be the best gun in the game.

At number eight is the Bullfrog in Black Ops Cold War. At launch it was seen as one of the worst SMGs in the game because, despite the big magazine and low recoil, base damage was low and the time to kill was poor. Then people realised how high the headshot multiplier was, and it became one of the most popular SMGs for high skill players. Make no mistake, the gun is not good unless you can consistently hit headshots, but if you can, it's arguably the best SMG in the game, and you get a ridiculous amount of mileage out of that 50 round default magazine. I've seen some insane gameplay from people using it, and I think its raw potential earned the spot.

At number seven is the BAR in Call of Duty World War II. It was broken on launch day, and after all the patches, here it is. Its three shot kill range isn't as broken as it once was but is still forgiving, and its accuracy is definitely intimidating if you're not the one pulling the trigger. In a game like World War II, its versatility was scary. I'll also admit it has some of my favourite firing sound effects in the entire game, even though it has been nerfed quite heavily from the 1.0 version.

At number six is the BAL-27 in Modern Warfare 3 (2023), one of a few Advanced Warfare guns Sledgehammer brought into the game. It's pretty cool to see some of the Advanced Warfare guns I loved remade in the modern engine. It wasn't nearly as busted as it was in Advanced Warfare, thank goodness, but it had insane potential, with its three to four shot kill range, silky smooth handling and additional buffs from barrels, handles and ammo types in the gunsmith. I do wonder how many Modern Warfare 3 players never experienced the original, since Advanced Warfare came out in 2014, 12 years before I put this list together.

The COD 4 Barrett, the B23R and the Modern Warfare 2 Barrett make the top five

At number five is the Barrett .50 cal in Call of Duty 4. The M40A3 was definitely the most popular sniper in the original Modern Warfare, but the Barrett was second, and that popularity made it one of the most iconic weapons in the franchise. I still think it's funny the M40 never got a remake while the Barrett was remade for literally every game in the original trilogy. The COD 4 Barrett was smooth, with an uncapped fire rate, a firing sound like cannons going off and a one shot kill damage profile you could brag about. The idle sway could get frustrating and the recoil was high, but if you were consistent, it did not matter.

At number four is the B23R in Black Ops 2, one of the best machine pistols in Call of Duty history. It had a three round burst, a super fast fire rate, very short time between bursts and a near instant reload if you learned the animation cancel timing. Its one burst kill range was pretty short, but you would hardly notice, because the fire rate was so fast you could get a second burst out before realising you'd missed the first. It wasn't that uncommon to see people ditch their primary and build their entire class around it, which is crazy for a game like Black Ops 2.

At number three is the Barrett .50 cal in Modern Warfare 2 (2009). It may have debuted in the original Modern Warfare, but it peaked here, where it was one of the most popular snipers in the game alongside the iconic Intervention, and which of the two came first is a debate I'll leave to you. It kept the high fire rate and great ammo capacity from COD 4 but got a huge movement buff from all the new perks, which paired nicely with the new killstreaks. The COD 4 and Modern Warfare 2 Barretts are pretty interchangeable on stats, but the Modern Warfare 2 version was so much better because of how many more tools the game gave you. It absolutely deserves this spot, but one other B sniper deserved to be higher.

If you ask me, the Ballista is the best B sniper in Call of Duty history

At number two is the Ballista in Black Ops 2. The DSR 50 was the most popular sniper in Black Ops 2 at launch, but after the infamous nerf, the Ballista took a commanding lead it never lost. Today it's seen as one of the most iconic snipers in Call of Duty history. Its handling was great and super smooth, and its ammo capacity was high.

Its one shot kill range was small but skill based, constantly motivating you to get better so you could take full advantage of it. The Ballista may not have been the easiest gun to use, but it was one of the most rewarding, with so much potential if you were willing to master the mechanics and stay consistent within that one shot kill range. If you ask me, it was the best sniper in Call of Duty history that started with the letter B.

The Advanced Warfare BAL-27 is the best B gun of all time

Some of you Call of Duty historians have probably already figured out what's missing. At number one, and it wasn't even close, is the BAL-27 in Advanced Warfare. "There's no uncertainty here." It dominated the entire game and is one of the most infamous guns in Call of Duty history: an assault rifle with great handling, super low recoil and an incredible three to four shot kill range.

On top of that, it had a bunch of variants that made it even better, as if the base version wasn't already powerful enough, and the base version was unlocked by default because Sledgehammer was a bunch of trolls. The BAL-27 was the best gun in Advanced Warfare, and I firmly believe it's the best gun in Call of Duty history that starts with the letter B. People like to argue about these rankings, but I don't think there's going to be a disagreement here.

Do you agree the BAL-27 belongs at the top, and should the series move on to the letter C?