Best Starting SMG Loadout in Modern Warfare 3 (MW3)

While any gun can be viable if you’re quick enough, it helps to have a solid loadout to use in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (CoD: MW3), so in this guide we’ll be covering one of the best SMG loadouts you can start out with to dominate on close quarters maps.

Best Striker SMG Build and Loadout in MW3

The star of this SMG loadout will be the Striker. You’ll gain access to this SMG as soon as you gain a couple of levels and unlock custom loadouts in MW3. The Striker has a solid base damage amount for an SMG and a moderately fast fire rate with very controllable recoil. It’s most effective at close range although with the right attachments it can put in work at mid range as well.

Related: Does the Season 6 Battle Pass Carry Over to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3? (MW3)

Best Striker Weapon Build in MW3 (Close – Mid Range)

With a ton of the maps in MW3 having a ton of medium to long range engagement spots, it’s hard to be consistent with an SMG. Some maps you’ll be better off swapping to and Assault Rifle, but for most you can use an SMG like the Striker to good effect if you make use of the following attachments:

• Barrell – Striker Recon Long Barrel. This Barrel improves bullet velocity and range and also improves idle sway. This makes it much easier to take on medium ranged engagements and win, even against Assault Rifle users.
• Optic – Cronen Mini Pro. I personally love dot based sights, they give me great accuracy at short – medium accuracy and you never really want to take anything long ranged so the magnification isn’t needed. You could use any of the other dot based sights depending on personal preference, they all work here.
• Stock – Lachmann Nemesis-10 Stock. This stock provides a ton of aim down sight speed to help get your sights quickly onto enemies. You’ll lose out on a bit of recoil control and gun kick control but if you’re confident in your aim you’ll win more close range engagements with this stock by firing first.
• Underbarrel – Xten Phantom-5 Handstop. This beauty loads up on sprint to fire speed as well as aim down sight speed. You even get better vertical recoil control and gun kick control which helps balance out the downsides of the stock. The only sacrifice for all this benefit is simply hip fire, tac stance accuracy and a little vertical recoil control. On most maps in MW3 you’re going to be taking scoped engagements so it’s a very good trade off.
• Rear Grip – FTAC G-5 EXO. This grip gives us a bunch of flinch resistance which is incredibly important in helping to win gun on gun fights. You also gain a reduction in aiming idle sway which is nice. You lose out on aim walking speed but that’s already pretty slow so it’s a minimal trade off.

Best Starting SMG Loadout Gear In MW3

In terms of the best starting SMG loadout gear in MW3, there are some nice options early on to use. For your Tactical slot, I’d recommend using either the Stun Grenade or Battle Rage. Stuns are excellent at helping you disable enemies from around a corner to easily win some engagements. Battle Rage is excellent in general thanks to it’s ability to regenerate your health quickly and help you sprint more often plus resist other players Stun Grenades.

For your Lethal slot, just take the Frag Grenade until you gain access to the much better Semtex Grenade.

For the Field Upgrade the Comm Scrambler is a great choice early on. Place it down tactically to help you hide from enemy UAV’s. For Gloves you should use the Scavenger Gloves to replenish your ammo as you take down enemies. Last thing you want is to be on a good streak and scrambling to pick up random guns.

For Boots the Climbing Boots are excellent for helping you navigate the maps in MW3 faster. There is a ton of climbing and mantling in this game and these boots really speed that up. Lastly, the Gear slot there are a ton of excellent options. I love using the Mission Control Comlink which is the Hardline Perk equivalent for faster Kill Streaks. You can choose any other option here that you like though, they are pretty much all very useful.

That covers it for the best Striker SMG build and starting loadout in Modern Warfare 3. I’ve had a ton of success running this loadout and I hope you’ll like it as much as I do!

If you’re looking for more, check out all the maps in MW3.