Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 arrives October 23, bringing 33 weapons: 24 primaries, eight secondaries, and one knife. Every weapon is available through leveling, with no challenge, store bundle, or Battle Pass tier required. As you earn XP and advance your Player Level, guns unlock at set levels. Additional weapons will arrive later via seasonal Battle Passes and events.
Quick answer: Reach Player Level 4 to open Create-a-Class and get nine starter weapons. The other 24 unlock one at a time between Levels 5 and 55. The Cronen Squall comes last.
Modern Warfare 4 starter weapons at Player Level 4
For Levels 1 through 3 you can only pick from premade Default Loadouts. Custom classes are not available yet. At Player Level 4, Create-a-Class opens and you get one weapon in every class at the same moment:
| Weapon | Class |
|---|---|
| Han 86 | Assault rifle |
| ISO Nightshade | SMG |
| Rezi 12 | Shotgun |
| Finn LMG | LMG |
| MAR-9 | Marksman rifle |
| KG-7 Vulcan | Sniper rifle |
| SANG 9mm | Pistol |
| PILA | Launcher |
| FSS Carbon Edge 1095 | Melee (knife) |
After Level 4, no new weapon classes open up. Every later unlock is another option in a class you already have.
Every Modern Warfare 4 weapon unlock level, Levels 5 to 55
The remaining 24 weapons unlock in the order below. No level after 4 gives you more than one gun. The early game is generous, with four weapons by Level 11. After that the gaps get wider, and the last few unlocks come several levels apart.
| Player Level | Weapon | Class |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | VEL 46 | SMG |
| 7 | Krait P68 | Pistol |
| 9 | Type 73 | LMG |
| 11 | Oris 8.6 | Marksman rifle |
| 14 | M4 | Assault rifle |
| 18 | Wz.55 Striga | SMG |
| 21 | Hyeon Burst | Assault rifle |
| 23 | RPG-8 | Launcher |
| 25 | Astaroth .57 | Sniper rifle |
| 27 | Patriot XMR | Assault rifle |
| 30 | PPSh-41 | SMG |
| 32 | Warlord | Shotgun |
| 34 | Kastov 762 | Assault rifle |
| 36 | Mosin-Nagant | Marksman rifle |
| 39 | Oden | Assault rifle |
| 41 | .50 GS | Pistol |
| 43 | JOKR | Launcher |
| 44 | APOC-338 | LMG |
| 46 | X-58 Nyx | SMG |
| 48 | Mojave .357 | Pistol |
| 50 | Signal 50 | Sniper rifle |
| 52 | Axion | Assault rifle |
| 54 | PM-40 Anvil | Launcher |
| 55 | Cronen Squall | Assault rifle |
Some early lists gave different levels for a few SMGs and rifles. The in-game Progression menu always shows the correct requirement for your version of the game, so trust it if a number ever disagrees.
Level needed to finish each weapon class
If you focus on just one weapon type, you might not need to reach Level 55. The table lists each class’s weapon count and the level at which you’ll have unlocked its entire lineup.
| Class | Weapons | Complete at |
|---|---|---|
| Melee | 1 | Level 4 |
| Shotguns | 2 | Level 32 |
| Marksman rifles | 3 | Level 36 |
| LMGs | 3 | Level 44 |
| SMGs | 5 | Level 46 |
| Pistols | 4 | Level 48 |
| Sniper rifles | 3 | Level 50 |
| Launchers | 4 | Level 54 |
| Assault rifles | 8 | Level 55 |
Leaving the knife aside, shotguns finish first, because there are only two of them. Assault rifles take the longest. Their eight guns are spread across the whole ladder, starting with the Han 86 at Level 4 and ending with the Cronen Squall at Level 55.
How to check that a weapon is unlocked
Progression counts XP from both Multiplayer and DMZ, so playing either mode moves you toward the next gun. You can check where you stand like this:
Unlocking a gun is only the first step; next comes leveling it up. Every primary and pistol has a separate progression track, viewable in the Progression tab in Gunsmith. Maxing out a weapon unlocks its Apex Attachment. These attachments are equipped outside the regular attachment-slot system, leaving those slots free. Launchers and the FSS Carbon Edge 1095 have no Apex Attachment. Appearance is the only option for customizing launchers, while the knife only supports camo changes.
Each standard attachment only needs to be unlocked once. After that it works on every weapon that supports it. If a weapon level would give you an attachment you already own, you get a Bonus Level Up instead, so later guns level up faster.
Getting unlocked weapons in DMZ
In DMZ, unlocking a gun does not mean you can bring it into a match for free. Any weapon or attachment you have unlocked or leveled, in Multiplayer or DMZ, appears at the Forward Operating Base Gunsmith station. You still have to buy it there with DMZ Cash. DMZ also has a few other ways to get guns:
- Loot them during a deployment and extract them to your stash.
- Build them with a Weapon Manual found in Hajin.
- Buy them from the FOB Vendor.
These routes only work in one direction. A gun you extract from DMZ goes into your DMZ stash, but it does not unlock that weapon for Multiplayer. You still have to reach its Player Level to use it in Create-a-Class.
What Prestige does to your weapon unlocks
Level 55 is the last military rank before Prestige. When you get there, you choose whether to keep your guns:
- Classic Prestige trades your Create-a-Class unlocks, weapons included, for faster XP gains. You then climb the Level 4-to-55 ladder again.
- Regular Prestige leaves all your existing unlocks intact.
- Once you’ve completed 10 Prestiges, you become Prestige Master and can continue leveling all the way to 1,000.
Weapons also have their own Prestige, which is separate from player Prestige. Once a gun hits max level, you can Prestige it to earn exclusive camos. Doing so relocks that weapon’s attachments and sets its weapon level back to zero.
Modern Warfare 4 Open Beta unlock levels vs. launch
If you played the Open Beta, your sense of when guns unlock will be off. The Beta capped out at Level 30 and gave out weapons much faster. Beta progress also does not carry over, so everyone starts the full game at zero. Here is how the shared weapons moved:
| Weapon | Beta unlock | Launch unlock |
|---|---|---|
| Krait P68 | Default | Level 7 |
| Type 73 | Level 5 | Level 9 |
| Oris 8.6 | Level 14 | Level 11 |
| M4 | Level 9 | Level 14 |
| Wz.55 Striga | Campaign mission only | Level 18 |
| Hyeon Burst | Level 18 | Level 21 |
| Patriot XMR | Level 25 | Level 27 |
| PPSh-41 | Level 11 | Level 30 |
| Kastov 762 | Level 21 | Level 34 |
| .50 GS | Level 23 | Level 41 |
| X-58 Nyx | Level 27 | Level 46 |
| Signal 50 | Level 30 | Level 50 |
| Axion | Default Loadout only | Level 52 |
Most of these weapons now unlock later, and some jumped by nearly 20 levels. The Oris 8.6 is the only one that unlocks earlier. The Axion and the Wz.55 Striga were both restricted in the Beta. At launch they are normal level unlocks that you can build in Create-a-Class like any other gun.
