With the March 3 hotfix for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, a significant change came into play for the AK-47, which is often overlooked in the patch notes. We explain the buff and for whom the weapon is now worthwhile.
What is it about exactly? The weapon update for the AK-47 revolves around the 5.45x39mm ammunition. With this upgrade you can switch to a lower caliber. So far, this type of ammunition has been completely unusable. The new values make the attachment really strong.
What has changed exactly? Youtuber TheXclusiveAce tested the AK-47 with caliber conversion to 5.45x39mm in a video before and after the update and found extreme differences. His measurements come to the following conclusion:
Base damage
- before: 26-22
- after: 34-22
Upper torso
- before: 31-26
- after: 40-26
Headshot hits
- before: 42-35
- after: 55-35
What do these values mean? On the one hand, ammunition now brings the potential for kills in three hits to body hits, which was not previously the case. In addition, headshots can now be used to kill enemies within two hits. Overall, the time to kill (TTK) is faster with 5.45x39mm cartridges, as long as we keep the right fighting distance.
What is the optimal distance? According to TheXclusiveAce, the attachment unfolds its new kill potential within a radius of approx. 18-19 meters. If you fight your opponent at close range, you will shoot much faster than before.
Competition for SMGs
TheXclusiveAce concludes that the 5.45x39mm conversion has become a strong option for short distances due to the hotfix. With a TTK potential of 174 milliseconds, the AK-47 is like this for the first time a real competitor to submachine guns in CoD: MW.
"Before the patch, the weapon was absolutely gruesome and I would never have recommended it," is the conclusion of the Youtuber. By the way, TheXclusiveAce recently showed which attachment instantly makes every pistol in Modern Warfare much more deadly.
