M4A1 Carbine

The M4A1 Carbine is an Assault Rifle featured in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare: Mobilized and Modern Warfare 2.

Singleplayer
In singleplayer, the M4A1 (with a Tasco Red Dot Sight, AN/PEQ-2A, and foregrip) is a frequently dropped weapon among the Marines, and an infrequently dropped weapon among the SAS troops. It is the starting weapon in "Charlie Don't Surf" and "Game Over", and one of the optional weapons at the beginning of "Hunted". The USMC M4A1 Grenadier, which uses a Holographic Sight, AN/PEQ-2At, and M203, is the starting weapon in "The Bog", "War Pig" and "Shock and Awe". The M4A1 SOPMOD uses the Red Dot Sight, M203 , AN/PEQ-2A, and Silencer, and is the starting weapon in almost all of the SAS missions. Captain Price uses the M4 (either a suppressed M4A1 in silent missions or the Grenadier version) in all missions.

An unused M4A1 SOPMOD variant can be found by using the "give all" cheat in Ultimatum.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, the M4A1 Carbine has an attached foregrip, which is held by the player, however does not take up an attachment slot. It can be modified with the Red Dot Sight, ACOG Scope, M203, or Silencer. The M4A1 is pretty good with moderate damage and very low recoil, but it has very high idle sway (4 degrees) and idles very fast, making it more difficult to aim with at long range. This was done for balancing purposes because the M4A1 was incredibly overpowered in the beta, in which it had no idle sway. The M4A1 also shares ammo with the M16A4 and the G36C. The M4A1 Carbine is one of the most commonly used weapons in online multiplayer on all platforms.

As stated above, the M4A1 is not particularly effective at long range due to its sway on consoles. In the PC version, however, idle sway is easily compensated for with the mouse, making it very effective at all ranges. The same goes for the Wii version; if you have a steady hand you can control the sway with the Wii remote, making the weapon devastating. The M4A1 is ideal in Close Quarters Combat due to its high rate of fire. Steady Aim also makes the M4A1 a fairly effective hip-fire weapon. Double Tap can be quite effective due to low recoil and low damage, but ammo use increases dramatically. Another good perk for this rifle is Stopping Power, which makes it deadly at all ranges.

The weapon's low damage output can be compensated by its high rate of fire, and the very low recoil allows for accurate full automatic fire at short and medium ranges. Because of this, Bandolier can be useful. For these reasons, a Suppressor or a Red Dot Sight is a good choice.

Singleplayer
The M4A1 returns in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and has retained most qualities and appearances of the Call of Duty 4 version. It has much less sway and slightly more recoil compared to the previous version, both in Campaign and Multiplayer. The AR-15 carry handle and sight system, which was present in Call of Duty 4, has been replaced with a flip-up PRI front sight and an ARMS #40L rear sight. Another change is that the original M4A1's Knight's Armament Company Rail Interface System (RIS) has been replaced with an ARMS Selective Integrated Rail (SIR) System. It now sports tan camouflage, as opposed to the previous gunmetal color. The M4A1 retains the foregrip, although it is absent in the create-a-class profile image. The M4 comes in many variants in the single player campaign, such as the M4A1 SOPMOD and the M4 Grenadier w/Holographic, usually featuring more than one attachment. The M4 is the weapon of choice for the US Army. The Rangers use the M4 in-game and in reality, but they are being phased out and slowly being replaced with the newer, more accurate (some models) and more reliable SCAR series. All Rangers are to be equipped with a SCAR-H or SCAR-L by 2011.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer the M4A1 becomes available at Level 4, when Create-a-Class is unlocked. It is very similar to the ACR, firing 50 RPM faster but having slightly higher recoil and lower range. This essentially makes it inferior to the ACR since having a firing rate 50 RPM faster is barely noticeable, while the higher recoil and lower range can make a big difference at long range.

The M4's slight recoil forces the user to burst fire at long range, which makes it more suited to medium to close than the ACR while the ACR is still much more accurate at long range when firing full-auto. The M4 benefits greatly from Stopping Power due to its relatively low damage, making it kill in 4 shots at even the highest ranges. It has almost no benefits from Stopping Power in hardcore, because the gun will still be a 1-hit-kill at close and mid-range, and 2 at long range. However, with Stopping Power, it will be able to one-shot players if a headshot is made at long ranges, so the effects are generally useless.

Players often fit a Red Dot Sight, Holographic Sight, or Silencer onto this gun, however the ironsights on this gun are regarded as some of the easiest sights to use in the game, as they are relatively open, meaning the player still has decent peripheral vision. Although, they can block peripheral vision somewhat. However, there is quite a bit of muzzle flash with the iron sights so a silencer can fix this problem.

Weapon Attachments

 * Grenade Launcher
 * Shotgun
 * Red Dot Sight
 * Holographic Sight
 * Silencer
 * Heartbeat Sensor
 * ACOG Scope
 * Thermal Scope
 * FMJ
 * Extended Mags

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized
The M4 is featured in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized with two variants, the original 3-round burst M4 Carbine, and the fully automatic M4A1. The M4 Carbine and M4A1 have the same rate of fire, but the M4A1 has much more stopping power.

M4 Carbine
The M4 Carbine is almost a copy of the M16A4 found in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Notable differences are that the 3-round burst has a slower rate of fire, more compact iron sights, and a smaller delay between the bursts.

In single player, the M4 Carbine is exclusive to the level "Closing In", though it can be seen in use by allies in all the missions of the American Campaign. It produces the same sound as the M4A1, but it has a lower damage per bullet, but it will still kill in one burst. Due to its 3-round burst and only extra 120 rounds that come with it, the M4 carbine is the least ammunition efficient weapon. In multiplayer, the M4 Carbine is available by default, along with the MP5 and MP7. It is probably the least common weapon used in multiplayer, due to its lack of power - takes two bursts to kill - and ammunition efficiency. Those who do use it usually discard it when the M4A1 is unlocked, since it has much higher power and the same rate of fire as the M4 Carbine.

M4A1
The M4A1 is very similar in appearance compared to the console, and PC one in Call of Duty 4. It has the same reload animation, and it is only found with a red dot sight in single player as well, but that is where the similarities end. First of all, the weapon has a higher damage than the Call of Duty 4 version, as it can perform a one shot kill if it is aimed at the chest at any range. Second, it has a higher rate of fire, and lastly, it has almost no recoil when aiming down the sights.

In single player, the M4A1 is a starting weapon in the last few missions of the American campaign, and in the middle of the British campaign. Since it has a high rate of fire, and only 120 extra rounds to start with, it usually runs out of ammo before the end of the level. In multiplayer, it is the first weapon you unlock for the American/British faction. Due to its high rate of fire and low recoil, it is favored by most players. The lack of spare magazines usually isn't a problem, since most players die before they use up half of the magazines.

Videos
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Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

 * In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare singleplayer, players cannot find any M4A1 with an iron sight. This also applies to the G36C.


 * In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, on the lower receiver of the M4A1, it says "BLUE4" (a reference to BluFor, the opposite of OpFor, which is applied to all NATO forces) which is the same for the M16A4. It also says, "Property of U.S. Government, Caliber 5.55mm, M4A1 Carbine" over the magazine housing.
 * If the player sets the sensitivity on console versions to 10 (max) and then spins in circles clockwise (to the right), the right side of the rifle can be slightly visible, showing a much less detailed texture. This was done because that side of the rifle is not normally visible and not detailing it saves memory
 * When attached with the FMJ, the grip on the rifle disappears when it is dropped, reloaded or in 3rd Person but a removable olive green grip is seen when held. It is easy to see with insane look sensitivity by looking left and right and the player seems to hold the grip
 * Attaching the Grenade Launcher will give the M4A1 a dipping motion while aiming down the sights and panning left and right

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

 * In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the rifle sounds like the Call of Duty 4 M4A1 in the singleplayer campaign, but in multiplayer, the rifle sounds quite different, with an added ringing in the sound.
 * In the beginning of the Modern Warfare 2 level "The Only Easy Day...Was Yesterday", the M4A1 is titled as M4A1 SOPMOD but later in the level it changes to a M4A1 Grenadier w/ Red Dot Sight and loses its Silencer attachment after you detonate the corpses. The SCAR-H also loses its suppressor at this point. However, if you switch out the M4A1 for another rifle and switch it back after the ambush it will still have the silencer attachment; the quirk applies for the SCAR-H.
 * Attaching an ACOG Scope to an M4A1 in Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer drops the 'A1' from its name, making it M4 ACOG Sight, rather than M4A1 ACOG Sight.
 * On the left side of the gun there are tally marks. These surpass the 100 mark.
 * The pickup icon in Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer uses the same pickup icon that the Call of Duty 4 M4A1 uses, even though the two guns look quite different.
 * When zoomed with a scope onto the M4A1's left side, the selector reads 'Safe, Semi, Safe'.