The Best M5A3 Loadout in Battlefield 2042: The Sight, Magazine, Grip and Barrel I Recommend

The M5A3 is probably one of the most interesting and fun weapons to use in Battlefield 2042, but it has quite a barrier to entry. My best loadout for it pairs a circular reticle sight with the extended magazine, the extended barrel and a grip chosen to suit how you play, and it improves your overall experience so you are not constantly getting destroyed by other players.

I will go through it attachment by attachment in the order I set it up in the customize menu: sight, ammunition, underbarrel and barrel. After that I cover how it actually performed in my matches, including one range where I found this gun struggles.

A circular reticle holographic sight with 1.50 zoom covers mid to long range on the M5A3

My sight recommendation really depends on what you like. I personally prefer a circular reticle and something I can see through at mid range and even long range. My main pick is a holographic sight with a 1.50 zoom level and a pretty good circular reticle.

There are also some instances, such as playing on Orbital, where I switch to one of two other holographic sights. If you have those three sights in your plus system, you are not going to go wrong.

The Standard Issue Extended Mag is the M5A3 magazine I recommend

For ammunition I recommend the Standard Issue Extended Mag. It holds 40 rounds. The regular Standard Issue magazine gives you a plus 5 buff to handling, but it has 10 fewer bullets than the extended version. One of the drawbacks of the extended mag is that you do not get the best reload speed, but it is still a really well rounded magazine and the one I recommend.

There are some instances where I use the High Power magazine. It only has 20 rounds, but it does have the effective damage range. Everything else about it just kind of makes it bad. If you are using the M5A3 for long range, I just do not recommend doing it at all, because at the time I put this build together long range combat felt kind of pointless.

So stick with the Standard Issue Extended Mag. If you do not have it unlocked yet, use the standard issue factory magazine until you do.

Your M5A3 grip should depend on whether you shoot while moving or while standing still

The underbarrel really depends on your playstyle. If you are the type of person who does a lot of moving and shooting, skip the two grips that reward standing still and use the light grip that gives you a buff to accuracy while moving instead.

If you are like me and play this game like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, where you go to a target, stop and then shoot, use one of the two grips that give you a buff to accuracy while static. I will admit I do not really know the difference between those two static grips, but either way I recommend one of these three options, depending on how you move.

The Extended Barrel gives the M5A3 projectile velocity at the cost of rate of fire

For the barrel I recommend the Extended Barrel, which is the longest barrel in the game for this weapon. I like it because of the projectile velocity. It does come with a rate of fire debuff, which is the trade off.

There are some cases where I am at super close range and I need this weapon to go crazy. That is when I recommend the Shortened Barrel instead, because it gives you a buff to rate of fire. There are also some instances where I use a tactical muzzle brake. For the most part, though, just run the Extended Barrel with a static accuracy grip and you will have a really good experience at mid range and even close range.

Overall, this loadout has been the best experience I have had with the M5A3 assault rifle, and I recommend giving it a try. It will take a little time to unlock some of the attachments, specifically the extended mag and the long barrel, but it will be worth it in the end.

The M5A3 build shines up close but still struggles at long range

In my own matches with this setup, I was calling it insane and "cracked" as I picked up kills. I also noticed that I hardly ever aim down sights with it, yet "this loadout is just so perfect for it."

Long range was a different story. When I tried to pick off an enemy at distance, it did not work, and I found the gun terrible at long range. That lines up with my advice above about not building the M5A3 for long range combat.

A few other things stood out to me at the time. The hovercraft felt overpowered, and the specialist grenades were insane. Sundance is "like one of my favorite specialists," and I thought her wingsuit was so strong that it was probably broken and would probably get nerfed, which I said would be okay. I also thought "this game is so beautiful."

Not everything felt good. Hit registration let me down badly in one fight, the worst I had experienced in the game up to then, and I was hoping the day one patch would sort out the hit registration and the bloom.

Do you run the static accuracy grip like I do, or do you prefer the moving accuracy grip for a more mobile playstyle with the M5A3?