M21


 * For the variant in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 known as the M21 EBR, see M14 EBR.

The M21 is a sniper rifle featured in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Singleplayer
The M21 is found in two versions, regular and suppressed. The regular version is found in "Heat" and in "One Shot, One Kill" with woodland camouflage. The suppressed version is found in "Blackout" and "All Ghillied Up".

Multiplayer
The M21 is unlocked at Level 7. It is the second sniper rifle to be obtained (the first being the M40A3). The M21 has the lowest damage multipliers, but its low recoil and fast fire rate make it very easy to fire multiple rounds very quickly. This means that if the first shot is a miss, or does not kill the target, the shooter still has the opportunity to get the kill. Unfortunately, this can lead to the bad habit of trigger mashing, which can result in a lot of missed shots. It is more effective to aim and fire accurate shots individually, unless spraying is more beneficial. When fitted with an ACOG Scope, the M21 has almost no recoil, making it the most suitable sniper rifle for close quarters combat (however, for this purpose, it would be more practical to use the similar M14 rifle, or a weapon specialized for CQC, such as a sub-machine gun.)

Many consider the M21 to be the best sniper rifle in Hardcore modes due to its low recoil and the fact that all sniper rifles are one hit kills if a direct hit is landed. Statistically, the M21 and Dragunov are the best for Hardcore. The M21 has less recoil, and the Dragunov has slightly better wall penetration (if Deep Impact is on the difference is not noticeable and the M21 becomes the clear winner, unless one would want a slightly better hit multiplier in the chest). In most situations, regardless of perks, the M21 is more effective.

Trivia

 * The words "7.62MM M14" are printed behind the iron sights of the weapon. This is because the M14 and M21 use the same weapon models in game.
 * In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, while playing in "The Bog" mission, the M21 with unique desert camouflage can be used (never seen in any other singleplayer or even in multiplayer) by using the "give all" cheat.
 * The M21 sometimes appears in campaign with a suppressor and ghillie camouflage; it is unavailable like this in multiplayer.
 * The M21 is the only sniper rifle seen with a suppressor.
 * The M21 shares ammo with the G3, M14, M40A3, and R700.
 * If the sensitivity is turned to 10 and left is held, the right side of the gun is not fully rendered, possibly to reduce on-screen geometry and maintain performance.
 * The M21 can be reload canceled easily because the actual load time and the animation are different, meaning it can actually be reloaded before the animation inserts the magazine.
 * The Ghillie-camouflaged and suppressed M21 players can occasionally be used in single-player levels of Call of Duty 4 also has the Woodland Camouflage skin applied to it. This can be easily seen using the "Super Contrast" cheat.
 * Below the scope on a M21, IW (Infinity Ward) is printed on the metal.
 * The front end of the scope in single player has a green check mark painted on it.
 * When doing an empty reload, the player appears to hit the magazine in twice. But in a reload when some rounds are left, the player only hits the magazine once.
 * Despite the sprinting glitch being patched on other consoles, the M21 in the Wii version of Modern Warfare still increases the player's sprint time by 75%.
 * The M21 in singleplayer is always seen with Woodland Camouflage, even in the 'ghillie version.'

Video
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Gameplay with the M21