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Recommended reading The biggest thing that needs balancing in Battlefield 6 isn't the weapons—it's the attachments Battlefield 6 is making an excellent case to skip Call of Duty this year People are flipping out over recoil in Battlefield 6 because of one gun specifically designed to have no recoil in real life After 4 hours with Battlefield 6, I think Battlefield is really back this time If you felt way too killable in the first Battlefield 6 beta weekend, you might not have imagined it: BF6 devs are investigating reports of instakill 'super bullets' FBC: Firebreak best weapons tier list If this beta is any indication, Battlefield 6 isn't all that serious about supporting closed weapons Battlefield 6 I think I've found the actual best gun in the Battlefield 6 beta, and it's not the M87A1 Rory Norris 15 August 2025 My favourite loadout in the beta. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: EA) It's no secret that the M87A1, the only shotgun in the Battlefield 6 open beta, is completely broken, especially with slug rounds that let it cross-map players in one tap. In fact, Battlefield community lead Kevin Johnson has confirmed that this weapon has already been toned down on the latest internal build. Ignoring the elephant in the room, I've found the real best gun so far in BF6: the M4A1. This is one of only two carbines in the Battlefield 6 open beta, and both are incredibly strong, giving you the best of both worlds between the range of an assault rifle and the rapid handling of an SMG. To the dismay of many, most of Battlefield 6's beta maps are small or medium. In other words, they're perfect for carbines. Oddly enough, though, the M4A1 is the first, most basic one you have access to, but it has some advantages over the M417. Dealing 25 damage per shot and boasting a blazing 900rpm, the M4A1 will outgun SMGs up close (it has great hipfire by default) and even assault rifles at medium range. The supposed downside of this firehose is its recoil and bullet deviation, though the former is easily fixed with a Compensated Brake and one of the vertical grips. Related articles The biggest thing that needs balancing in Battlefield 6 isn't the weapons—it's the attachments Battlefield 6 is making an excellent case to skip Call of Duty this year People are flipping out over recoil in Battlefield 6 because of one gun specifically designed to have no recoil in real life What helps the M4A1 truly shine, in my eyes, is the relatively early unlock of Soft Point bullets that simply punch up your headshot damage multiplier to x1.7 (a prime example of BF6's overtuned attachments), and a 36-round magazine that lets you quickly dump a full mag down range. It's basic, but it's downright dirty when you know how to play around the M4A1's engagement range, darting in and out of cover, and taking advantage of its breezy handling to be aggressive. (Image credit: EA) After unlocking all the attachments and fiddling around with the best loadout for the M4A1, here's what I've settled on: Muzzle: Compensated Brake Barrel: 14.5" Carbine Underbarrel: Ribbed Vertical Magazine: 36RND Magazine Ammunition: Soft Point Ergonomics: Improved Mag Catch Scope: RO-M 1.50x You can easily make some changes based on your playstyle, though, like adding the Standard Suppressor for some stealthiness, or the 6H64 Vertical underbarrel for even more recoil control. Now to hope EA doesn't take notice and nerf my beloved blaster into the ground, though then I'd probably just fall back on my second favourite, the M417. Best gaming rigs 2025All our favorite gear 👉Check out our list of guides👈 1. Best gaming laptop: Razer Blade 16 2. Best gaming PC: HP Omen 35L 3. Best handheld gaming PC: Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS ed. 4. Best mini PC: Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT 5. Best VR headset: Meta Quest 3 The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. Rory Norris Social Links Navigation Guides Writer Rory has made the fatal error of playing way too many live service games at once, and somehow still finding time for everything in between. Sure, he’s an expert at Destiny 2, Call of Duty, and more, but at what cost? He’s even sunk 1,000 hours into The Elder Scrolls Online over the years. At least he put all those hours spent grinding challenges to good use over the years as a freelancer and guides editor. In his spare time, he’s also an avid video creator, often breaking down the environmental design of his favourite games. If you can’t track him down, he’s probably lost in a cave with a bunch of dwarves shouting “rock and stone” to no end. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. The biggest thing that needs balancing in Battlefield 6 isn't the weapons—it's the attachments Battlefield 6 is making an excellent case to skip Call of Duty this year People are flipping out over recoil in Battlefield 6 because of one gun specifically designed to have no recoil in real life After 4 hours with Battlefield 6, I think Battlefield is really back this time If you felt way too killable in the first Battlefield 6 beta weekend, you might not have imagined it: BF6 devs are investigating reports of instakill 'super bullets' FBC: Firebreak best weapons tier list Latest in FPS After adding yet another tiny map, Battlefield 6 players are rightfully clowning on its definition of 'all-out warfare' Randy Pitchford says Borderlands 4's story is inspired by the sale of Gearbox, then glazes over and says it's about where we as individuals want to be on the spectrum of anarchy to fascism I hope you've been sharing your Battlefield 6 clips to social media, because we're only 8% of the way through the $1 trillion destruction challenge and the clock's ticking Borderlands 4 has, like, so many guns, 30 billion guns, so many they had to put 'em on a 'wall of guns' like the Matrix, say devs The Battlefield 6 beta probably is running worse for you this time around: 'We'll follow up with additional updates as soon as possible' If this beta is any indication, Battlefield 6 isn't all that serious about supporting closed weapons Latest in News Talks are reportedly underway for the US Gov. to take a stake in Intel, and its share price has already jumped 7% in response AMD made major gains on Intel in the desktop CPU market over the last year, but still lags significantly behind in mobile, according to a Mercury Research report Subscription services like Xbox Game Pass turn developers into 'wage slaves', says former PlayStation boss New report suggests that there are 3 million fewer PC gamers in Japan than 10 years ago, despite the market having at least tripled in size Steam store pages just got thicker than Emma Frost's thighs Someone at Blizzard might've accidentally revealed Diablo 4's new class, which fans have been begging for since release HARDWARE BUYING GUIDES LATEST GAME REVIEWS Best PCIe 5.0 SSD for gaming in 2025: the only Gen 5 drives I will allow in my PC Best graphics cards in 2025: I've tested pretty much every AMD and Nvidia GPU of the past 20 years and these are today's top cards Best gaming laptop in 2025: I've put the best of this new generation head-to-head and we have a winner Best gaming chair in 2025: I've tested a ton of gaming chairs and these are the seats I'd suggest for any PC gamer Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads Medion Erazer Deputy 15 P1 review Autonomous SmartDesk 5 review Mafia: The Old Country review—A failed experiment and a bitter disappointment Arctic Xtender PC case review Corsair Platform:4 gaming desk review PC Gamer is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. 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