The graphics of Call of Duty 4 is one of the things that makes the game great. You can see the shadows of every player, bountiful explosions dispersed across the map and even the reflection of the map around you in your sniper scope. The graphics of a sniper scope are particularly important though because it expands the players view of the map, and therefore enemy players. So can we use the reflection in a sniper scope to see enemies creeping us behind us or to stare around corners from a safe location?

I know I got you all riled up in the last paragraph, but unfortunately the answer is no, you cannot use the reflection in a sniper scope to gain any sort of strategic advantage. The problem is that reflection doesn’t accurately portray what is really behind you. To test this just try standing with a sniper and your back to a solid brick wall. Your scope should show that wall but instead it will just show a random canned image from that map. Basically what the scope reflection does is based on your location in the map it chooses from preset images that should resemble that background. If you step out of a certain location zone on the map it will load a totally new set off images. It isn’t the end of the world for Call of Duty 4, but making sniper scope reflections accurate would have provided another level of strategic depth to the game.

I thought you would still be here. Call of Duty 4 was designed with the intention that sniping could only be done at long range, not in mid and close range combat situations. There is good reason for this, sniper rifles are the only weapons that can consistently kill an enemy in one shot and making that possible at all ranges would be overpowered.  But today I am going to teach you how you can consistently get no scope kills with the sniper rifle in Call of Duty 4 and how to use the sniper to win close range firefights. This strategy is incredibly powerful if used correctly because it enables you to get one shot kills while all your teammates need 3-4 shots to get a kill in Call of Duty.

Step 1. The first thing you have to do is to become an aggressive sniper is make a sniping class that will consistently one shot kill. If you read our Sniper Class Review you would know that this means you want the M21 for Hardcore matches and the Barrett .50 Cal or M40A3 with Stopping Power as Perk 2 for normal matches. The other perks are up to you, if you are new to Sniping though I would suggest Iron Lungs for Perk 3 though. You should also consider using the ACOG instead of the normal scope, but it is not required. We have one more bit of preparation though before you get to trying out this technique.

Step 2. For this next step you are going to need a marker (preferably red), clear Scotch tape, Scissors and the computer monitor/television you are using to play Call of Duty on.After you have gotten those cut out a tiny square of Scotch tape around 1/8 of an inch on each side. Now color in the side of the tape that isn’t sticky with your marker. Next open Call of Duty and join any game and choose a class any class that has a red dot sight on it’s weapon and then aim down your red dot sight. I am not responsible for any damage that may to your screen/television for this next part; I have tried it on my LCD and had absolutely no trouble so it should be okay. Take that piece of tape we made earlier and stick on your monitor directly on top of the red dot, this should be in the exact center of your screen. Check out the photo at right of what the finished product should look like, note the red speck in the middle of the screen which is the tape. The area you have just marked is the exact center of your screen as is relevant to Call of Duty. It is also the exact position all weapons will zoom to whenever you aim down your sights or look through a scope sniping. So how do we use this little piece of tape to dominate sniping Call of Duty?

Step 3. Lets get some hands on action now, equip your player with the sniping class we made in the first step and join any game. Try pointing your red piece of targeting tape at any old object and then aim through your scope. Your scope should zoom in on the exact position of your red tape. In terms of long range sniping this targeting tape has already helped us immensely because now you can point that tape on your target, zoom and fire without having to adjust your aim after scoping. More importantly we can use this tape to accurately no scope targets, thus making the sniper rifle aiming fast enough for it to be used as a close range weapon. Aim your tape so that is on a target, press the button to aim down your sights and the moment you see the glimpse of your sights coming up press fire. If you timed it correctly your bullet will have gone precisely where your tape is, and you will have no scoped killed your first target. You need to wait for the scope to be fully brought up to your eye, if you shoot any sooner than that the bullet will veer wildly as if you were hip firing. You need to practice the technique a bit to get a cadence going to time the pause between scoping and firing. Once you get good enough you will be able to rush into the heat of battle with your sniper rifle, aim the tape to the target and quickly scope, fire netting yourself a kill.

Learning this isn’t the easiest thing in the world and it takes practice so if you have questions please post them in the comments section. Once you get good though it is your play with snipers will improve immensely and you will likely be one of the best Call of Duty players around.

Using the chart we see that all sniper rifles do 70 damage and have a damage multiplier of 1.0, 1.1 or 1.5. For snipers the golden rule is the one shot kill, anything less and you might as well be using an assault rifle. So what multipliers do we need to meet this golden rule?

A 1.0 multiplier will never one shot kill an enemy unless he was previously afflicted damage. A 1.1 multiplier will one shot the enemy if you are using the Stopping Power Perk. Finally, a 1.5 multiplier will one shot the enemy without the use of Stopping Power but if Stopping Power it is equipped it will one shot an enemy equipped with Juggernaut.

These numbers might be a tad confusing now, but they will be become more clear and useful as we review the weapons. Without further ado here our analysis and review of all the Sniper Rifles, scroll to the bottom of the page for the short version.

M21 – The hands down best sniper rifle for hardcore matches because players start with 30 health instead of 100 health. The M21 does 70 damage with relatively poor damage multipliers, but for hardcore it is still easily enough to guarantee one shot kills no matter what part of the target you hit. The higher damage values of the other weapons just aren’t needed. It also has an incredibly low recoil which means you can spam 4-5 shots in the target area with reasonable accuracy.

R700 – The high scope sway make the it very difficult to control and means it takes more time to hold your breath and set up a hot. For that reason and factors stated above it is worse than the M40A3 except in rare cases involving Juggernaut in Call of Duty.

Dragunov – The damage multipliers of the Dragunov means it is usually outclassed by the other sniper rifles, except when using non-Stopping Power Perks. This is because adding Stopping Power provides virtually no benefit to the Dragunov. With our without Stopping Power it can only one shot to the Head, Neck and Torso. This opens up options for Perk 2, like adding Overkill and the P90 to create a hybrid sniper/rush class. This versatility gives the Dragunov some small niche capabilities in Call of Duty 4.

M40A3 – The best bolt action sniper rifle when using the Stopping Power perk. With Stopping Power the M40A3 will one shot kill on all parts of the body except for the exterior limbs. The closest weapon to compare it to is the R700. The advantages of the M40A3 over the R700 are it’s higher bullet capacity and it’s much lower scope sway. The one thing the R700 has going for it is it’s higher damage multiplier for Stomach shots. This provides little practical advantage except for making it slightly easier to one shot enemies with Juggernaut.

Barrett .50 Cal – The best semi-automatic Sniper Rifle when using Stopping Power. Whether or not the Barrett is better than the M40A3 is a matter of opinion, but the weapons are very similar. The Barrett is slightly at one single shot kills to Juggernaut enemies while the M40A3 has advantages when it comes it recoil. Personally I prefer the Barrett because of it’s strength in close quarters. In a tight spot you can quickly spam a full magazine at close range and probably get a kill.

The bottom line: The M21 is best for hardcore matches, the M40A3 and Barrett for normal matches and the Dragunov has some niche hybrid class abilities.

till sneak up on you or you just don’t have the time to be as careful. In that situation you need to know what to do when the Claymore clicks in Call of Duty 4.

You usually have two options when you set off a Claymore, try to back away from the explosion, or try to run through it before it goes off. If you are already sprinting it is best to keep your momentum and try and run through it. This is because by the time you stop and try to backpedal the explosion will have already gone off. If you trigger a Claymore when you are moving slowly and carefully, backpedal away from the device and if you are on stairs try to crouch or go prone. You have a greater chance of survival on stairs because the blast only travels horizontally, not downwards. The most difficult decision is if you are traveling at a moderate speed and encounter a Claymore. You have no initial momentum to guide you so just go with your instincts and hope they work out for you. It paramount that once you have made a decision to stick with it because 0.8 seconds doesn’t give enough time to second guess or undo what you have already done.

Remember carefully scanning and preventing Claymores give you a much better chance of survival.