Double Tap



Double Tap is a second tier perk in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare that increases the rate of fire for all automatic weapons (exceptions being the W1200 shotgun, which speeds up the pumping animation and the M16A4, which hastens the speed of the burst firing). It has no practical effect on neither bolt-action sniper rifles (such as the M40A3 and R700) nor pistols.

Multiplayer Tactics
This perk is ideal for use with weapons where the rate of fire is higher than the damage per bullet, or close quarters, but has the disadvantage of emptying a weapon's magazine quickly and increasing recoil. It cannot be reasonably used to increase the rate of fire of semi-automatic weapons as the possible rate of fire without Double Tap is already faster than the player is physically capable of firing. It makes the W1200 an absolute killer and a hip fired submachine gun a serious close-range threat. This perk is usually inferior to Stopping Power in terms of damage per second (the exception being the RPD). However, when used with close-ranged automatic weapons, such as submachine guns, the probability of a hit increases (ideal for Hardcore play). This perk does have significant drawbacks. It makes inaccurate and high ROF weapons hard to use at medium to long ranges. Effective hip firing may require the Steady Aim perk. You also will find yourself out of ammo very quickly and the Bandolier perk may be necessary.

Contrary to common belief, double tap does have an effect on the M16, as it decreases the time period between the firing of the three bullets per burst. It can be extremely effective in multiplayer, as the effect allows all of the bullets fired to impact at almost the same time as the others, instead of one after the other in which case some or most bullets could be avoided even if one hit. In other words, usually all bullets fired will make impact if one of them hits. It also lets the player to fire much faster, and seems to augment it's competence even further in long range fights.

Trivia

 * Double tapping is a shooting technique in real life of squeezing the trigger of a weapon twice in quick succession to deliver two shots to the same target zone, though it is used primarily with semi-automatic weapons.