Best Black Ops 7 M8A1 loadout

What is the best M8A1 loadout? Semi-automatic weapons aren't to everyone's tastes, but it's easy to see why the M8A1 is starting to draw a lot of attention. Firing four-round bursts with each trigger pull, if you manage to land a headshot, you're guaranteed to kill targets in a single shot. That said, this marksman rifle can be difficult to tame unless you pick the right set of attachments.

The Black Ops 7 M8A1 is a fantastic option for multiplayer game players who want one-shot kill potential but don't want to break out the camping gear and switch to a full-blown sniper setup. The only issue with this marksman rifle is that your follow-up shots might be difficult to land due to the recoil on the Black Ops 7 weapon. Fortunately, our build takes care of that problem, making it easy to sit back and pick off anyone who enters your line of sight.

• Muzzle: RL-5.56 Brake
• Barrel: 18" Ionic-8 Barrel
• Underbarrel: Ironhold Angled Grip
• Magazine: Sentinel Extended Mag
• Rear Grip: Instinct Grip

The RL-5.56 Brake muzzle reduces the recoil of your first shot, ensuring you have an easier time landing your initial burst of bullets. It also reduces the speed it takes for your recoil to default back to its starting strength - very handy for any tense situations where you need to fire off several rounds. Most importantly, it improves your vertical recoil control to help you land shots across the battlefield.

You can never have enough bullet velocity, which is why we've gone for the 18" Ionic-8 Barrel to help your shots travel to the target faster. Combine this with the Ironhold Angled Grip underbarrel to not only improve the weapon's horizontal recoil control but also its aiming idle sway and aiming walking steadiness. This is incredibly important when you're locked on a position waiting for enemies to appear, stopping your weapon from shaking all over the place.

While the Fast Clip might be tempting, we've gone for the Sentinel Extended Mag, increasing the magazine size to 40 bullets, giving you ten bites at the cherry. The reload speed on the M8A1 is slower than most of the weapons people tend to use, so be sure to position yourself in a safe location whenever you need to change your magazine. There will be moments when you get caught out by a surprise ambush, which is why you need the Instinct Grip to improve the gun's aim down sight speed.

If you want to improve the M8A1 even further, you can use the Gunfighter perk to utilize three more attachments. Our attachments using Gunfighter help to reduce the overall recoil even further, virtually eliminating this issue at the expense of your perk slot.

• Laser: 1mW Instinct Laser Array
• Fire Mods: Buffer Spring
• Stock: K&S Impact Stock

The 1mW Instinct Laser Array might seem like a strange addition, but the buffs it provides to the aim down sight and sprint to fire speed are essential due to the downsides of the K&S Impact Stock. This stock negatively impacts these areas; however, it greatly enhances the recoil control. Likewise, the Buffer Spring does the same thing, albeit slightly less than its stock counterpart.

With those attachments, you should have no problems building the best Black Ops 7 M8A1 loadout. You could be using this weapon in the FPS game for a very long time, so you may want to read our Black Ops 7 camos guide to see what you could unlock through the mastery camo challenges.