The best guns in Cold War Zombies

Cold War Zombies best guns
(Image credit: Activision)

Here are the best guns in Cold War Zombies, which are essential if you're fighting the undead. The latest Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies mode is as unforgiving as ever and if you don't have the best gun you'll soon be overrun when the numbers start to mount up. There are a lot of zombie gun options to choose from and it's easy to get confused under the pressure of building waves as you're trying to pick between SMGs, tactical rifles, LMGs, shotguns and all the rest. Most Cold War Zombies guns will do the job in a pinch but there are s few that really strand proud of the rest and can make all the difference when you're all but overwhelmed. You might need some thing for general crowd control, or something more focused to deal with bosses, but, whatever you need, these are the best Cold War Zombies guns.

 Black Ops Cold War Zombies guide | Black Ops Cold War Zombies Easter Egg walkthrough | How to upgrade DIE Shockwave in Cold War Zombies | Firebase Z Wonder Weapon | Cold War Zombies Firebase Z Easter egg 

Knife

Cold War Zombies best guns

(Image credit: Activision)

Starting things off is none other than the Knife. You might think it’s crazy to recommend this weapon over certain guns, but the Knife is wildly effective, especially during the earlier rounds. Sure, it doesn’t compete with some of the better weapons in terms of practicality, but it will save you ammo in the long run and grant you more points.

The thing is, you can use the Knife during the earlier rounds to execute one-hit-kills on the standard zombies. At 115 points a pop (instead of the regular 90), this is a great way to rack up points. The extra 25 points might not sound like much, but they add up quickly if you keep going. Once you get to the later rounds when the Knife stops killing zombies in one hit, we recommend ditching it, but until then it’s a beast.

M16

Cold War Zombies best guns

(Image credit: Activision)

Simply put, the M16 is one of the best guns in all of Black Ops Cold War, not just the one of the best guns in Cold War Zombies. You’ll likely have much success when using it since its three-round burst is so effective. It’s a semi-auto weapon, and you’ll find that it’s more accurate and is useful for ammo preservation, which can get dire during the later rounds.

If you land headshots with the M16, it’s absolutely devastating since it fires three rounds with each pull of the trigger. Make sure you deck it out for faster movement speed (by equipping the Infiltrator Grip), and for larger magazine sizes, as well. When you upgrade it with the Pack-a-Punch, the M16 can have up to 72 rounds in a clip.

Krig 6

Cold War Zombies best guns

(Image credit: Activision)

Next up is the Krig 6, an assault rifle with manageable mobility, usable iron sights, and overall, no downsides. You can give it extra ammo in each magazine, which of course is helpful, but unlike an LMG, the Krig is much more lightweight – making it a fair choice for one of the best guns in Cold War Zombies.

It features high accuracy and is well rounded for almost any situation in Zombies. Better yet is that you can upgrade it to include 80 rounds in a clip, and you’ll definitely want to do that during higher rounds. In short, this weapon has a lot of the benefits of an LMG without the slowdown.

Stoner 63

Cold War Zombies best guns

(Image credit: Activision)

As for the top LMG, the best gun – by a huge margin – is the Stoner 63. This weapon is just fantastic, due in part to its accuracy and high damage. Its large magazine sizes allow you to mow down hordes of zombies before having to reload and you’ll be glad you brought it with you.

Of course, with it being an LMG, its biggest downside is mobility, though you can greatly improve this with the right attachments. We advise using the Infiltrator Grip and the 16” SOR Cut Down Barrel to make it feel much more like an assault rifle. And when upgraded via the Pack-a-Punch, it can have up to 160 rounds in each clip, which comes in handy.

D.I.E Shockwave

Cold War Zombies best guns

(Image credit: Activision)

What weapons list of the best Cold War Zombies guns would be complete without a Wonder Weapon? The D.I.E Shockwave is extremely effective against zombies, and the nice thing is that it can be acquired relatively quickly if you know how to do it.  

The main reason you’ll want to use this weapon is that it features four various upgrades that all lean into different elemental attacks. These are invaluable, especially against bosses and hordes of enemies. With just one blast, the D.I.E. Shockwave can take out multiple enemies at once. When you consider just how easy this weapon is to use (and how simple it is to find), it’s hard to recommend any other heavy weapon in the game.

Gallo SA12

Cold War Zombies best guns

(Image credit: Activision)

When it comes to sheer ease of use and crowd control, the Gallo SA12 is nearly unmatched. It can take out enemies with one hit during early rounds, features high damage, high rate of fire, and wide bullet spread – making it super useful in close range situations.

When fully upgraded, it becomes automatic and as you’d expect, this puts you at a huge advantage. Plus, it gets up to 21 rounds, which is highly effective when dealing with loads of enemies. Thanks to its high damage output, the Gallo works great against bosses, so make sure you have one in your back pocket if it's at all possible.

Raygun

Cold War Zombies best guns

(Image credit: Activision)

Finally, (and unsurprisingly) the Ray Gun is the best gun in Cold War Zombies. It excels in pretty much every category, from range, to damage, mobility, and accuracy – so it’s no wonder players have been using it during high round games. Once you get to round 35+, it has a fairly decent chance of spawning from the Mystery Box, but there are a couple other ways to get it, as well.

The main reason you should use the Ray Gun is that it virtually has no downsides (aside from getting your hands on it). Being able to quickly maneuver around the map with it is so important, and when combined with its crazy damage and pinpoint accuracy, there’s no reason to skip using this weapon.

Joseph Yaden

Joseph loves Nintendo and horror games. With the Nintendo Switch, he's ready to get spooky anytime, anywhere. He specializes in covering Call of Duty: Warzone and action RPGs like Dark Souls, so you can bet he's looking forward to Elden Ring, the brainchild of George RR Martin and Hidetaka Miyazaki. You can find Joseph's work at GamesRadar, Digital Trends, Inverse, and PLAY Magazine. When he's not writing about video games he can usually be found petting his cats and listening to some Progressive Metal. He thinks Meshuggah is tight.