RPK

The RPK is a light machine gun that appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Campaign
The RPK is found in the missions "Operation 40", "S.O.G.", "The Defector", "Victor Charlie", "Payback", "Rebirth" and "Redemption". It is quite accurate, and deals significant damage, enough to gib enemies. It can be found with an ACOG sight, Drum Mag, Dual Mags, and an Infrared Scope.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, the RPK is unlocked at level 6, and features good stats overall. The RPK has no damage drop off, achieving kills in 3 hits at any range (or 2 if both are headshots). The RPK's main drawback is its high recoil. To combat this recoil, those using the RPK will have to fire in burst or in semi-auto at most ranges to remain effective.

The Dual Mags or Extended Mags attachments are good choices as the gun's 40 round magazine will empty quickly and the reload animation is quite slow. Using the Extended Mags attachment gives the player an 80 round drum magazine that reloads as fast as a normal box magazine. It should be noted that unlike other weapons, the Dual Mags attachment does not grant extra reserve ammo; because of this, Extended Mags is recommended over Dual Mags; as while Dual Mags gives a faster reload after 40 rounds, Extended Mags completely eliminates the need to reload after 40 shots altogether. The RPK, despite being a light machine gun, can hold its own in close quarters quite well due to having good hipfire accuracy for its class and a reasonably fast rate of fire.

The usual assortment of sights and scopes are available for the RPK: while the Red Dot Sight and Reflex Sight behave no differently than the iron sights, the ACOG Scope and Infrared Scope are not recommended, as the high recoil is magnified to extreme levels; the weapon becomes much more difficult to handle with the Infrared Scope. Additionally, the iron sights of the RPK are clear and precise, making sight attachments unneeded.

Overall, the gun is comparable to the HK21; while both guns sport the same damage and rate of fire, the HK21 has a lower recoil and a smaller magazine.

When Extended Mags are used, the RPK can also be compared to the M60 as an effective suppressive fire weapon. While the M60 sports lower recoil (much lower with a Grip) and higher damage at close range, the RPK has higher ROF and a smaller hipfire spread, as well as a faster reload.

Attachments

 * Extended Mag (Drum Mag)
 * ACOG Scope
 * Red Dot Sight
 * Reflex Sight
 * Infrared Scope

Zombies
The RPK can only be found in the Mystery Box and has a 100 round magazine with 400 spare ammunition. For the most part, it is quite similar to the HK21, however it has a higher rate of fire in exchange for a slightly smaller magazine and slightly lower damage. Its recoil also has been reduced compared to its multiplayer counterpart.

Speed Cola is necessary if the player chooses to keep this gun due to the slow reload time. Juggernog can be quite helpful when stuck in a corner with RPK's slow reload. Double Tap Root Beer (if the player can control the gun) is helpful but will increase recoil, and must be burst-fired for accuracy. Stamin-Up is also useful, due to low mobility.

The Pack-a-Punched version of this weapon is called the R115 Resonator. When upgraded, its magazine capacity is bolstered to 125 per magazine with 500 extra rounds and becomes more powerful.

Video
Video:Black Ops Zombies - RPK Upgraded (R115 Resonator) R115 Resonator Overview

Trivia

 * When a camouflage pattern is equipped on the RPK, the handguard doesn't change color, except when gold is applied, in which case the handguard turns black.
 * Although the RPK uses a magazine, when firing the gun empty casings as well as belt clips are ejected, similar to the M60.
 * In the Wii version, the handguard is black unlike the usual wooden guard.
 * The RPK is the favorite weapon of Robert Englund.
 * The Black Ops Prima official strategy guide confused the RPK with the RPG-7 in some sections.