Season 1 Reload’s patch notes looked harmless, then you hop in and everything feels different. Old “safe” picks get outgunned, and suddenly you’re second-guessing every lane you chall. I’ve been running tests the boring way—private matches, repeatable ranges, the same routes over and over—and it lines up with what you’ll notice in real games too. If you’re dialing in builds inside a CoD BO7 Bot Lobby, these are the guns that actually hold up once you start taking real fights and not just farming highlight clips.
1) Sturmwolf 45: the “SMG” that plays like a rifle
The Sturmwolf 45 is still classed as an SMG, but it doesn’t behave like one. The recoil pattern is tidy, it tracks well through strafe fights, and it’s nasty in that 12–25 meter window where most SMGs start feeling sketchy. The only thing that bugs me is the sight picture—those irons can block the exact pixel you’re trying to stick. An ELO-style optic cleans that up fast. A suppressor plus a range-leaning barrel keeps it quiet and gives it that mid-range beam feel, and if you’ve got the patience to unlock the punchier mag option, it rewards clean headshots and quick resets in multi-kills.
2) MXR-17: slow fire rate, big consequences
The MXR-17 is the opposite vibe. It hits hard, no doubt, but it’s not forgiving. Miss one bullet up close and you’ll feel it immediately. Where it shines is holding angles and punishing people who over-peek. I like to build it for control and uptime—compensator for stability, and a bigger mag so you’re not stuck reloading after every two fights. It’s the kind of AR that makes you play a little calmer. Post up, pre-aim, and let the other team walk into your damage.
3) Dravic 45 and Peacekeeper MK1: two ways to win close fights
If you’re a push-first player, the Dravic 45 is the SMG that doesn’t fight you back. It stays planted while you’re sliding corners, and it doesn’t wobble all over the screen the way some fast SMGs do. A mobility-leaning stock plus a barrel that keeps it steady makes it feel consistent, even when you’re taking messy mid-range duels. The Peacekeeper MK1 is more chaotic—crazy rate of fire, brutal drop-off after about 15 meters, and it’ll punish you if you build it wrong. If you’re committing to it, stack attachments for range and recoil so you’re not just spraying air when the fight stretches out.
4) MPC-25: high kick, high payoff
The MPC-25 is for people who miss that classic “delete them up close” energy. It melts in tight rooms, but you’ve got to tame the kick or you’ll lose to anyone who stays calm and strafes. Recoil-control parts matter here more than usual—once it’s settled, it’s a corner-holding monster. And if you’re tweaking setups often, swapping blueprints, or just trying to speed up your grind between builds, it helps to have a reliable place for game services—stuff like currency or items—so you can spend more time playing and less time stuck in menus, which is why a lot of players end up checking U4GM in the first place.