With only two sniper rifles to choose from in Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War at release, picking between the Pelington 703 and the LW3-Tundra becomes a preference rather than a choice. Today we look at the LW3-Tundra, the more powerful of the two sniper rifles available, and see what pros and cons it brings over the Pelington 703, as well as what the best loadout for the LW3-Tundra is.

The Pros of the LW3-Tundra

The LW3-Tundra is the sniper of choice if you feel like the Pelington 703 is too “weak” for you. With higher damage, the LW3-Tundra allows for more error in your shots as it brings down enemies without having a direct hit on them unlike the Pelington 703.

Its range is also far superior, as well as accuracy and bullet distance, so if you feel like the Pelington 703 is lacking in those areas, or if you just prefer to snipe from far away instead of quickscoping, then the LW3-Tundra is the choice for you.

The Cons of the LW3-Tundra

If the LW3-Tundra brings much more damage and is much more effective in range, then why even have this debate? Quickscoping is definitely part of the meta, so if you are in smaller stages, the LW3-Tundra will struggle to keep up with the Pelington 703 as while it has superior damage, it is also slower on both fire rate as well as aim speed, making quickscopes a lot harder to do.

The better scope of the LW3-Tundra also does not help in these mid- to close-range skirmishes as it will be trickier to quickscope with a scope with a better magnification rate. So always take note of the stage you are playing in as the additional damage the LW3-Tundra brings might suffer from the superior agility brought by the Pelington 703.

LW3-Tundra Loadout

LW3 Tundra

We will be using the Gunfighter wildcard in this loadout as it will make your primary weapon (in this case, the LW3-Tundra) an absolute beast. The LW3-Tundra does not need any more damage attachments, so you are better off focusing on the stat that it is lacking, which is every stat in speed.

Attachments that increase your fire rate, aim speed, etc. are the key to making your LW3-Tundra a monster to be reckoned with. Attachments that increase your accuracy and aim stats would also help in the long run as it would ensure that you are hitting your targets with the force that the LW3-Tundra brings.

Optics: Stock

We stick with the stock optics of the LW3-Tundra as it has good enough magnification for quickscopes as well as for distance aiming. It strikes a good balance between the two.

Muzzle: Wrapped Suppressor

The Wrapped Suppressor muzzle attachment improves sway control, muzzle concealment, and vertical recoil control for lower aim down sight speed and bullet velocity. Suppressors are incredibly useful for masking yourself from enemies while shooting.

It is a great advantage to have when you are shooting from a distance. The aim down sight speed reduction is a big loss here since it is an important attribute for sniper rifles in general.

Barrel: 28.2” Tiger Team

Although we did say that more damage is not needed anymore for the LW3-Tundra, we are picking this attachment for its Fire Rate perk. In the event that you miss your shot, you would want to line up a shot almost immediately and this attachment will help wonders in increasing the chances of you getting another shot out despite its reduction in ammo stats.

Remember, if you find yourself reloading your sniper in a firefight, you have already lost. And if you find yourself reloading when sniping from distance, you are missing too much already.

Underbarrel: Front Grip

We are picking the Front Grip as our Underbarrel attachment for its perks in recoil control. Again, an attachment that helps in aiming, in general, is always a good thing for a gun that has a goal to end a player as fast as possible.

This attachment will also help immensely when trying to look for more targets after a successful kill as it reduces adjustments on your side after firing a round.

Body: Steady Aim Laser

An attachment purely for quickscoping essentials, the Steady Aim Laser increases our hipfire accuracy to further the LW3-Tundra’s lethality in closer ranges. It also helps aiming directly from no-scopes as the laser helps in pinpointing the target before you even go down the scope.

Stock: Raider Pad

The Raider Pad attachment will increase your sprint to fire time and aim walking move speed for hipfire accuracy. Only a slight bonus here to benefit from and if you are not going for the Gunfighter wildcard, this will be the attachment you will take out.

Aim walking move speed is excellent for pre-aiming angles especially on smaller maps like Checkmate and Miami.

Magazine: Salvo 9 Rd Fast Mag

Although we did say that reloading and ammo are not that essential to the LW3-Tundra or any sniper rifle for that matter, it is hard to ignore the Salvo 9 Rd Fast Mag attachment as the perks it brings just overshadow any other magazine attachment there is available.

Its increases to reload speed, ammo capacity, starting ammo, and magazine size are second to none. With only a very minor decrease to idle sway control, this makes the Salvo 9 Rd Fast Mag the absolute best magazine for the LW3-Tundra regardless of your playstyle.

Handle: Infiltrator Grip

The Infiltrator Grip adds overall mobility such as aiming move speed, base move speed, and shooting move speed.

Using the Infiltrator Grip is great if you are only switching between two to three areas on a map. You can jiggle peek and hold corners until you find out where the enemy will come from. With that kind of strategy, the Infiltrator Grip is more beneficial.

Law Breaker Wildcard Option

If you feel like you are more flexible in your gun usage, you can always opt to use the Law Breaker Wildcard to substitute your secondary weapon with another primary weapon. Just take note that with this wildcard, you will be giving up 3 attachments on your LW3-Tundra.

You can check out our guides on other primary weapons such as Tactical Rifles, ARs such as the AK47, or even SMGs such as the MP5 if you need any help in their loadouts as well.

Conclusion

The LW3-Tundra is a very unwieldy sniper rifle to use because of its speed deficit and heaviness when aiming, however, the damage it brings is second-to-none so mastering this sniper rifle is rather worth it. If you decide to choose this over the Pelington 703, expect yourself to be rewarded with swift kills from mid-to-far-range as its power just effortlessly mows down enemies.