How to Unlock the Gunsmith and Weapons in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 DMZ

In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 DMZ, building your own guns takes two separate unlocks. Raise your DMZ Level to 10 to unlock the Gunsmith at your F.O.B. (Forward Operating Base), then unlock each weapon you want to use. With those unlocks in place, spend DMZ Cash on the base gun, its attachment slots, and the attachments.

Quick answer: Get to DMZ Level 10 to access the Gunsmith. To purchase a particular base weapon, locate its WEAPON MANUAL in Hajin, exfil with the manual, and spend DMZ Cash on the weapon.

Gunsmith unlock: Reach DMZ Level 10

To get there, deploy into DMZ and extract to raise your DMZ Level. While you level up, the FOB Firing Range is open from your first visit, with the card marked “FIRING RANGE AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY”.

At the FOB, you’ll find the Gunsmith represented by a bench, a wall-mounted pegboard of tools and a weapon resting on the surface. There’s no need to approach it: GUNSMITH is also listed in the DMZ side menu alongside DEPLOY, STASH/LOADOUT, 3D PRINTER, VENDOR, OPERATORS and TRAITS. In your Stash, select Gunsmith on any owned weapon to bring that gun up on the bench.

The Gunsmith workbench at the FOB, which opens once you reach DMZ Level 10. Shown at 09:09 in FPS Unlocked’s video. Image: Infinity Ward

The card describes the bench as “A weapons bench where you customize all the MW4 weapons, their Attachments, Apex Attachments, and Cosmetics.” Gunny appears in the bottom-right corner of the Gunsmith screen with the line “Let’s build your weapon.” The card also says you can “unlock Gunsmith discounts through DMZ Player progression“.

Unlock weapons with Weapon Manuals

Reaching the Gunsmith does not unlock its weapons. Each base weapon is unlocked separately.

Loot Hajin for a weapon manual. Manuals show up as items named “MANUAL: <weapon>” with the type line WEAPON MANUAL and the text “Unlocks ability to purchase this weapon in Gunsmith.” They drop from ordinary loot containers and from enemy operators’ backpacks.

If a secure slot is available, place the manual there. The unlock only counts once you extract with the manual.

Extract while carrying the manual. Once you’re back at the FOB, check the board beside the stash to see your collection; when DMZ begins, it shows “GUNSMITH WEAPON MANUALS 0/28”.

Open GUNSMITH and choose BUY NEW WEAPON. Pick the weapon’s category tab, highlight the gun to check its BUILD COST, description and stats, and then buy it.

The BUY NEW WEAPON screen sorts guns into eight tabs: ASSAULT RIFLES, SMGS, SHOTGUNS, LMGS, MARKSMAN RIFLES, SNIPER RIFLES, PISTOLS and LAUNCHERS. Each tile shows the weapon’s price, its weapon level (for example, LVL 1/72) and the number of BUILDS you have saved for it.

Extracting with a gun you picked up keeps that one copy, but it does not let you buy the weapon at the Gunsmith. Only that weapon’s manual does.

Paying for attachment slots and attachments

New base weapons come with no attachments. You pay DMZ Cash for each attachment slot and again for each attachment you put in it. Base weapons take five attachments plus an Apex, which the bench shows as ATTACHMENTS 0/5 with a separate APEX slot. The card adds that “Hajin weapons can have up to eight.”

On the bench, choose a slot. The weapon displays LASER, OPTIC, BARREL, STOCK, MUZZLE, REAR GRIP, UNDERBARREL, AMMUNITION and MAGAZINE, plus APEX.

M4 attachment slots on bench — An M4 on the Gunsmith bench with its attachment slots arranged around it. Pick a slot to see the attachments you can buy for it. Shown at 00:49 in FPS Unlocked’s video. Image: Infinity Ward

Browse the attachment list for that slot. Each entry shows its price, and the breadcrumb at the top shows where you are, for example GUNSMITH / BUY NEW WEAPON / ISO NIGHTSHADE / SELECT LASER.

Select an attachment to preview its effect on the build, then choose ADD TO BUILD. If the weapon is new, that first selection also covers the slot’s cost.

Review the cart, which totals the build, and confirm at the HOLD TO PURCHASE prompt.

Here is how the charges look on the ISO Nightshade’s laser list. Adding the PULSE-MW LASER (SHARED ATTACHMENT) shows two separate lines:

Charge	Amount shown
Attachment slot	“+ 1ST ATTACHMENT SLOT: $1,000”
Attachment	“ATTACHMENT PRICE: $1,900”

The weapon’s level decides which attachments you can choose. In the game’s words: “Level up weapons in Multiplayer or DMZ to unlock access to Attachments; those unlocks carry between modes.” Each attachment unlocks once and carries across compatible weapons. Earning an attachment you have already unlocked grants a Bonus Level Up.

Losing a weapon and buying it back

A Gunsmith build is not permanent. The card warns: “Every weapon is an investment. Fail to Exfil, or fail to retrieve a weapon during a match, and it is lost.” Once the base weapon is unlocked through its manual, you can build it again with DMZ Cash.

Weapon Blueprints you own give you ready-made builds. One example is the “BETA FORGED” Han 86 AR Blueprint. “Each has a single free use in DMZ. Lose a Blueprint during deployment, and use DMZ Cash to re-buy it at a discount.” The Beta Forged card lists a BUILD COST of $116,750, which is the price to re-buy that full build.

You can also get guns without the Gunsmith, though none of these unlock the weapon for purchase:

Single-use weapons picked up in a match, which you keep by bringing them back on exfil
An in-game drop from a squadmate
Weapons recovered from rival Operators
Named weapons dropped by Lieutenants, such as Bale’s LEGENDARY DREADNOUGHT LMG in Tank Depot, which comes with five attachments already fitted

Each of these stays in your hands only if you exfil with it. If you want to buy the weapon itself from the Gunsmith, you still need its WEAPON MANUAL.