RPK

The RPK is a light machine gun featured in Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified.

Campaign
The RPK is found in the missions "Operation 40", "S.O.G.", "The Defector", "Victor Charlie", "Crash Site", "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 three hits at any range (two if both are headshots). The RPK's main drawback is its high recoil. To combat this recoil, players using the RPK will have to fire in burst or in semi-auto at most ranges to remain effective.

The Extended Mags attachment is a good choice 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 hip-fire 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 optical 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 Drum Mag 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 a higher rate of fire and a smaller hip-fire spread, as well as a faster reload.

Attachments

 * Drum Mag
 * ACOG Sight
 * 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.

When Pack-a-Punched, the RPK becomes the R115 Resonator. Its magazine capacity is bolstered to 125 per magazine with 500 extra rounds and becomes more powerful. A worthwhile primary upgrade, though the HK21 makes a better alternative upgrade. Having a light side weapon is recommended for quick getaways.

Video


R115 Resonator Overview

Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified
The RPK returns in Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified, using the same model as in Call of Duty: Black Ops. Two notable differences are that recoil has been reduced and magazine capacity has been increased to 45 rounds. The RPK acts as the middle power of the LMGs, as it has a higher magazine size than the Stoner63, but smaller than the M60. As well, it can fire faster than the M60, but slower than the Stoner63. A big advantage to the RPK is the early unlock of the weapon, allowing players to use this weapon at almost whatever time they desire.

The RPK will also appear in Hostiles Mode in some missions. It is recommended to use the weapon due to the large magazine size and the large range and rate of fire.

Trivia

 * When a camouflage pattern is equipped on the RPK, the handguard does not 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.
 * On the Nintendo Wii version, the handguard is black unlike the usual wooden guard.
 * The RPK is the favorite weapon of Robert Englund.
 * The Call of Duty: Black Ops Prima Official Strategy Guide confused the RPK with the RPG-7 in some sections.
 * The Pack-a-Punched name, or "R115 Resonator", is a reference to Element 115.