The 11 Fastest-Firing Assault Rifles in Call of Duty History, Ranked from Worst to Best

Assault rifles in Call of Duty don't usually have a blistering fire rate, but when they do, they tend to stick in memory. I'm ranking every assault rifle in the franchise that shoots faster than 900 rounds per minute, and some of these guns really weren't worth picking up even with that speed behind them.

The F2000 in Modern Warfare 2 Is the Worst of the Bunch

The F2000 had a great fire rate, but it was also a peashooter with high recoil, ugly iron sights, and slow handling compared to other close range guns. On top of that, the gun just looked fat. I don't understand why anyone would pick it over something like the UMP45 when Modern Warfare 2 had amazing SMGs to choose from instead.

As I put it, "there's no way you're going to look at me dead in the face and say, 'Jimmy, the F2000 was good enough to justify the fire rate.'" Out of every assault rifle in Call of Duty history that fired over 900 rounds per minute, the F2000 is easily the worst, because that fire rate was really the only thing it had going for it. Memorable, but not actually good.

An Early Unlock Assault Rifle in Black Ops 2 Isn't Worth Keeping

If you're playing Black Ops 2 on PS5 right now, you've probably already tried this rifle since it's a pretty early unlock, and you probably put it down after a few matches because it isn't very good. On its own it's okay, but stacked against the rest of the assault rifles in Black Ops 2, it's far and away the worst.

The fire rate is high, but the damage is low and inconsistent at times, and the recoil is super bouncy and unpredictable. So even though you can kill someone quickly on paper, you usually don't get that fast time to kill in practice because it's tough to stay on target beyond close range. I still think it's one of the worst guns in the game, and if the F2000 didn't exist, this one would be the worst gun on this whole list. Lucky for it, the F2000 does exist.

The LV8 (Basilisk) in Black Ops 3 Never Made Sense to Me

I never understood the appeal of the Basilisk, aside from the fact that the name reminds me of the Chamber of Secrets. That got me thinking about other franchises getting the big budget adaptation treatment lately, and honestly, after the disaster of the latest Avatar: The Last Airbender adaptation on Netflix, I'm kind of burnt out on big budget, overdramatic retellings of stories that were already told well the first time.

As for the gun itself, it's just okay. It's got a high fire rate, it's an assault rifle, decent time to kill, but weird handling overall.

The FFAR 1 in Black Ops Cold War Lands at Number Eight After a Brutal Nerf

There was a time when this gun would have been in my top five, maybe even top three. But I like to rank guns as they currently stand, and the FFAR 1 in Black Ops Cold War fell victim to a massive nerf a couple months into the game's life cycle. There really wasn't any point in using it after that unless you kitted it out heavily with attachments, at which point you might as well use a different gun with better base stats.

When Cold War launched, this gun was amazing. It was a final unlock and it perfectly captured the spirit of the original Black Ops 1 FAMAS. After the nerf, it became a bouncy, consistent peashooter with a bit of a cult following. I put it at number eight because it's still viable if you stack the right attachments on it, but if you have to work that hard to make a gun viable, it's not a very good gun.

Number Seven Goes to the FAD, a Cult-Favorite Rifle I Still Don't Get the Appeal Of

Speaking of guns with cult followings, I put the FAD from Modern Warfare 3 at number seven, but I could have put it at eleven. It's a gun I do not understand the appeal of, even though there have been a lot of defenders circling around it since the game launched back in 2011. Maybe I've warmed up just a hair to it over the years, but it's still not a good gun.

I understand why people enjoyed it. The fire rate was super high and the damage was low, but with the specialist bonus active, you could zip around the map quickly and keep a fast close range time to kill along with a competitive mid to long range one. That said, the gun was entirely invalidated by the existence of the MP7, an SMG with better damage, range, and handling speed, so once you realized that, there was no reason to grind it out. And that grind was real, since it took reaching around level 70 for prestige to unlock it.

The FR 5.56 in Modern Warfare 2 Settles Into a Solid Middle Spot

This rifle, the FR 5.56, was meant to be Modern Warfare 2's version of a full auto FAMAS. It went up and down throughout the life of the game because Infinity Ward constantly buffed and nerfed things, but I think it settled into a decent place. The movement was a little slow, but so was all the movement in that game.

The time to kill was pretty quick, the fire rate was high enough to stay viable up close, and it had nice iron sights with decent attachments. The visual recoil was kind of nasty, but that was true across the board in Modern Warfare 2. Overall, I think it was a solid gun.

The FR 5.56 Returns Slightly Better in Modern Warfare 3

The FR 5.56 gets two spots on the list because Modern Warfare 2 guns carried over into Modern Warfare 3. I'd say it was better in this game than the previous one, not by a lot, but noticeably so. Modern Warfare 3 had a slightly longer time to kill overall and much faster movement, so a gun like this got more opportunities to shine.

The reduction of visual recoil in Modern Warfare 3 also meant you could actually see what was going on beyond mid-range during a gunfight, so you could get the most out of the weapon. It was a decent recreation of the classic FAMAS, though we still hadn't gotten to the classic FAMAS itself at this point in the ranking.

A Vanguard Assault Rifle With the Highest Default Fire Rate in the Game

All the Vanguard guns felt the same to me, but that's what happens when you give people ten attachments, everybody turns every gun into the same laser beam and none of them have any personality anymore.

Still, when it comes to default fire rates on assault rifles, this one has the highest one in the game, and I believe it's the only one that actually crossed that 900 rounds per minute mark without needing an attachment to get there. From what I remember or understand, it was decent in the Vanguard meta, and some people said it was top tier. Personally, I just thought it looked kind of weird, and I didn't care where it landed because I didn't care about the game.

The Black Ops 6 FAMAS-Style Rifle Fits the Omnimovement Perfectly

Hot take: Black Ops 6 should have launched with this gun. I did enjoy Black Ops 6 at the beginning, and I think a classic FAMAS style weapon would have benefited from being in the game before everybody jumped ship after all the crazy skins and bugs got added.

In terms of fast firing rifles, this one was good. It fit in really well with the omnimovement system, being able to slide around corners and dive off buildings with a FAMAS style weapon felt pretty good. The time to kill was competitive in every scenario as long as you could control the recoil. My only real issue was the iron sights, which looked a little goofy and off compared to the original or the Black Ops Cold War version, though I guess that's what optics are for.

The AUG in Black Ops 1 Kills in Three Shots Close and Four at Range

This is one of my favorite guns in Call of Duty history, and one you absolutely should be using if you're playing Black Ops 1 on PS5. The AUG fired at 937 rounds per minute and had a really forgiving damage profile, killing in three shots up close and four at long range, which is pretty absurd assuming you could manage the recoil pattern.

I could manage it, and with a time to kill that good and a weapon model this slick, it was hard to put down once you started running certain camo skins on it, whether a clean orange design or solid red. It shredded up close and could shred at long range too. The only real issue was a weird side to side recoil pattern that made it hard to stay consistent beyond mid-range, but even so, you only needed four bullets to connect with somebody to kill them from across the map.

The FAMAS in Black Ops 1 Is the Fastest and Best Firing AR in Call of Duty History

Number one, and you knew it the moment you clicked on this. The FAMAS in Black Ops 1 fired well over 900 rounds per minute, and it was busted. If you're playing Black Ops 1 for the first time on PS5, you're probably quickly realizing why all the old Call of Duty heads hold this gun in such high regard. It's a monster.

Just like the AUG, it only needed three shots up close and four from across the map to kill somebody. But where the AUG had that side to side recoil pattern, the FAMAS recoil was pretty straight up and down, which is easier to control. That meant this gun was completely broken on every map, since it wasn't hard to turn it into a laser beam with a little practice, point, click, with a bit of downward pressure on the right stick and you were there. It was by far the best firing assault rifle in Call of Duty history.

Would you want a similar ranking of every SMG that fires over 1,000 rounds per minute, or every full auto shotgun in Call of Duty history?