Breaching Charge

A Breaching Charge is an explosive designed for gaining entrance through locked doors and walls.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, a breaching charge is seen in multiple campaign missions, though it is not usable by the player. It is used by Lieutenant Vasquez in "Charlie Don't Surf", and Captain Price in "Ultimatum". It is a small explosive attached to the handle of a door to blow the lock. The explosive used in-game is most likely a Detonating Cord, as the explosive seems to be a handle with ropes or cords attached to it. The breaching charge does not damage the player even if he stands next to it, compared to scripted C4 everywhere except for in "Mile High Club".

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the breaching charge is used much more extensively. In this game it is a "frame charge" — a shaped directional charge taped to a piece of styrofoam, which is stuck to a door or wall to blast through the entrance.

It is seen in multiple Campaign and Special Ops missions. For a short time following the breach, events will occur in slow motion, allowing players to clear a room before any hostiles can effectively react, as they will be drawing and firing weapons at a much slower pace than normal. In addition, the player's magazine will be loaded to full capacity, no matter how many rounds were present previously.

In order to breach, the player must have a firearm equipped, and the room the player currently occupies must be free of enemies. If player attempts to use an invalid weapon, such as an RPG, a message will appear stating "Not ready to breach". A similar message will appear if there are still hostiles on the player's side of the door to be breached.

Trivia

 * In the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 level, "Loose Ends", several Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare style breaching charges can be found in Makarov's safehouse.
 * Having akimbo weapons while breaching will cause a special animation, but having akimbo TMPs during a breach will cause a unique animation different from any other gun.
 * In the level "The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday", if you are breaching the last door with a thermal-sighted Intervention, the planting of the breaching charge's animation is strange.
 * Strangely, the wood splinters from using a breaching charge do not seem to affect targets on the far side of a breached door, especially if such targets are close to the door in question.
 * When attempting to breach while reloading, flashing words read "cannot breach while reloading" but this can be canceled out when playing Spec Ops with another player.