M27 IAR - Call of Duty Ghosts Weapon Guide

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In this episode: the M27 IAR - a derivation of the HK416 rifle, developed by German company Heckler & Koch at the behest of the US military.

The M27's damage is good, killing in 3 shots up close - or two where one is a headshot.

At a distance you'll find damage remains remarkably consistent, up until an extreme range where you may need up to 4 shots to kill.

Rate of fire is moderately low, at 705 rounds per minute. This will help keep you on target and prolong your magazine, at the cost of less reliable performance in closer quarters.

Hipfire performance is generally poor, and while the 100 rounds can be effective from the hip if fired in short bursts - pinning the trigger will quickly lead to most of your shots going wayward.

Recoil is moderate, and easy enough to handle if you can adapt your trigger usage to the range you're engaging at.

If all else fails, the large magazine will mean you'll eventually be able to kill distant targets through sheer volume of fire.

Aim time is quite slow, at 350 milliseconds - the LMGs favour a player with a plan than one hoping to get by on wits alone.

Movement speed is similarly sluggish, at 80 percent of the base speed.

Magazine capacity is very good, a key trait of the LMGs: 100 rounds between reloads means you'll be on station where other weapons must pause to resupply.

Of course, this comes at the cost of a lengthy reload - but the M27 is at least the fastest within the LMG class, at a positively sprightly 4.77 seconds.

The M27 is the best LMG to use at a longer range, as it has consistent damage out to a great distance, and a manageable level of recoil.

The addition of a fore grip will help to steady your fire even further, making it easy to land shots at any distance and increasing your overall effectiveness.

Because of the M27's incredible range, you can also use the silencer with little negative effect: you should still see a 3 shot kill in almost every case.

This will mean you can retain the high level of damage while remaining undetected on the minimap: a potent combination indeed.

It can also be worthwhile using the Extra Attachment perk if you'd also like to equip an optic - the iron sights are fine for mid range work, but the addition of an optic such as the VMR sight can really help along the longer sightlines.

With it, you gain the benefit of enhanced magnification when you need it - and a clear close-range optic when you don't.

For your perks, Focus is always a great choice for a longer-ranged automatic weapon: you'll benefit from reduced idle sway, and much-reduced flinch when taking incoming fire.

Sleight of Hand is a worthy consideration to reduce the downtime you experience while reloading - while the M27 is the fastest-reloading LMG, nearly 5 seconds is a long time when an enemy is closing in on your position.

To take maximum advantage of your suppressor, Off The Grid can be a worthy spend too - further concealing your position and lending you the element of surprise.

While LMGs typically aren't ideal stealth weapons, your defense will nonetheless benefit from unwary enemies wandering before you - and while an unsuppressed weapon can draw in targets for more kills, a silent weapon will avoid such attention and help keep you alive for longer streaks.

The M27 IAR is a weapon capable of prolonged fire with consistent damage at all ranges.

Few automatic weapons can match the per-shot damage at a distance, and when paired with the huge magazine capacity, the M27 is an ideal weapon for suppressive fire over longer sightlines.

As well as having 100 rounds on tap, the weapon also boasts the fastest reload within the LMG category: and while it's far from an instant resupply, compared to the belt-fed weapons a mag change is very swift indeed.

Unfortunately, the remainder of the M27's handling is slow: movement speed, raise times and aim time all lag behind most other weapons: and while rate of fire is average for the class, your output will still fall behind most other automatic weapons.

Still, as long as you treat the M27 as an LMG and favour cautious play from planned positions, it will perform admirably - consistent damage with perisistent performance is a stellar blend.

And when such stars align, the crescent-moon of the M27's sight...

...will eclipse your opposition.