Modern Warfare 2: Marksman Rifles tier list — Best marksman rifle to use

Using the right gun is essential if you want to be competitive in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. If you’re in the mood for some precision gameplay then a Marksman Rifle is what you’ll want to use. To help you figure out what DMR you should be using, we’ve put together this tier list of the best marksman rifles in Modern Warfare 2.

Note: For more information about the game, check out our Modern Warfare guides and features hub.

Below is the tiering for every Marksman Rifle in Modern Warfare 2. The tiers of this list range from S to C: S Tier means that it is one of the best guns in the game; A Tier guns are strong but lack that extra punch to be S tier; B Tier weapons are usable but nothing extraordinary; and C Tier guns are not worth using outside of grinding for camos.

Marksman Rifles tier list

• S Tier: SPR-208, SA-B 50
• A Tier: Lockwood MK2, EBR-14
• B Tier: LM-S
• C Tier: TAQ-M

Marksman Rifles are powerful this year. They are supposed to offer a middle ground between battle rifles and sniper rifles but, in reality, DMRs often do both of their jobs better. Unless you are shooting over extreme distances — like when playing Ground War — a marksman rifle is almost always the best choice for any precision playstyle.

Anyone who has played Modern Warfare 2 has probably already figured out that the SPR-208 and SA-B 50 are the best marksman rifles. These two bolt-action rifles are effectively the same gun with both being variants of the M24. They both have freakishly good handling characteristics and can reliably land one-shot kills even when shooting as low as the enemy’s stomach. If you have decent enough aim you will dominate using either of these guns.

The Lockwood MK2 is in practice very similar to the SPR-208 and SA-B 50. Just like those guns it has exceptional handling and can kill in one shot. However, it isn’t quite as strong as it suffers from having a lot more damage falloff. Beyond a certain distance, the MK2 will rarely kill in one shot.

Screenshot by PC Invasion

The EBR-14 is the best semi-auto marksman rifle in Modern Warfare 2. Despite being semi-automatic, the EBR-14 can still kill in one shot albeit only with a headshot. Even so, its relatively fast fire rate and manageable recoil make it easy enough to follow up with a second shot when necessary. A downside to the EBR-14 is that it has terrible iron sights, so equipping an optic of choice is suggested.

Another gun that is very similar to the EBR-14 is the LM-S. Based on the real-world PSG1, this German marksman rifle shares a lot in common performance-wise with the EBR-14. Despite its similarities, it falls just short of the EBR-14 as the LM-S has a lot more visual recoil when fired. This makes it harder to land follow-up shots when firing multiple shots in quick succession.

Rounding off the marksman rifles is the TAQ-M. Despite being C Tier, this SCAR variant isn’t actually too bad. Much like the EBR-14 and LM-S, it kills in one shot to the head and two to the body. Unfortunately, the TAQ-M’s fire rate is much more limited than the two other semi-auto guns, hurting its time to kill outside of headshots. Due to this, it is never worth using over either the EBR-14 or LM-S.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II is available on PC via Battle.net and Steam.