Quick Links
Arguably the most popular assault rifle in Sledgehammer’s CoD titles, the BAL-27 from Advanced Warfare has found its way intoCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3in the Season 3: Reloaded update. Complete a series of challenges in the Battle Pass, and you’ll be able to use the single strongest assault rifle in CoD: Advanced Warfare.
As it turns out, the BAL-27 is also quite powerful in MW3, although not quite as good as the AW Obsidian Steed variant. This guide will explain how to get your hands on this new bullpup assault rifle and how to modify it for success.
Updated Jul 04, 2025, by Charles Burgar:The BAL-27 can be made even stronger thanks to some new attachment combinations in Season 5. We’ve updated this guide to include up-to-date attachment combinations and a new stealth build for the BAL-27.
This guide covers builds for the base BAL-27 only. For the JAK Deathmarch Kit, see ourDeathmarch build guide.
How To Unlock The BAL-27
The BAL-27 is found in theArmory Unlocks system, requiring five challenges to unlock. Starting at Level 25, you can select any weapon or piece of equipment in MW3 to unlock through challenges. Each daily challenge you complete will count towards your chosen unlock. This includes Multiplayer wins and MWZ contracts.
Accuracy BAL-27 Build
This build heavily reduces the BAL-27’s recoil while also buffing its magazine size. It’s slower than the default BAL-27, but the weapon has so little recoil that you can land consistent headshots from 70+ meters, well outside of this gun’s effective range.
We start by installing a60 Round Mag, as the weapon burns through ammo once it ramps up to 800 RPM after a few rounds. For recoil reduction, we opted for theQuartermaster Suppressorfor generic recoil reduction, theBruen Heavy Support Gripfor horizontal recoil, and theArdent Tac Stockfor visual recoil. Since the gun has poor handling by default, we use theHammer Gripto trade some recoil control for a dramatic boost to our ADS speed, making it competitive with most AR builds.
With all five attachments, you have an assault rifle that’squite similar to the MTZ-556. You have virtually no recoil at all, and the gun is fully suppressed. Throw on Ghost for some easy mid-range flanks.
Loadout Recommendations
The BAL-27 is well-suited to aggressive playstyles thanks to its excellent hipfire accuracy and fast RPM. To enhance such a playstyle, we recommend using theCompression Carrier.This gives you Tac Mask for free and instantly triggers HP regeneration on kills. This ensures there’s little downtime between fights.
From there, we highly recommend using theCommando Glovesfor lower sprint-to-fire time.Covert SneakersandGhostwill ensure you have the upper hand in most gunfights.
Stealth BAL-27 Build
There aren’t many ways of making the BAL-27 better, so this variant is tuned for more aggressive play.We replace the Bruen Heavy Support Grip with the DR-6 Handstop, significantly improving the weapon’s ADS and strafe speed. You’re looking at a fairly snappy 213ms ADS speed, competitive with many SMGs. attempt to prefire with this gun to ramp up the BAL’s fire rate, and you should come out on top in most gunfights.
We recommend the same loadout as our last build.Commando Glovesreduce the gun’s sprint-to-fire delay, andCovert Sneakersmuffle your foostep audio. RunGhostto stay off the radar. Your vest can be either the Infantry Vest or theCompression Carrier. We recommend the latter for more aggressive players, but it’s up to you.
