AK-47

"An assault rifle? Heh, man this takes me back!"

- Bill

"Assault rifle!"

- Nick

The AK-47 is an automatic rifle in Left 4 Dead 2, losing fire rate, magazine size, and accuracy in comparison to other rifles for stopping power capable of effectively taking down hordes and Tanks.

The AK-47 is used by Bill, Louis, Nick, and Rochelle (as well as Zoey in the Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead 2).

Official Description
What this Soviet-made assault rifle lacks in accuracy, it makes up for in firepower. You can squeeze off these higher caliber rounds in single shots for ammo conservation, or room-clear with fully automatic fire.

Tactics

 * The AK-47 can kill Common Infected with one shot on Easy and Normal, while it takes two shots on Advanced and Realism. Uncommon Infected take more shots to kill, but the AK-47 is still the most powerful assault rifle in the game.
 * The slower firing rate on the AK-47 saves ammunition when picking off lone Common Infected.
 * The AK-47's ability to inflict a high level of damage makes it an excellent Tank-killing weapon. It cannot quite match the Tactical or Combat Shotgun in damage per second at close range, but the weapon at mid-range is surpassed in effectiveness only by the M60.
 * While the AK-47 has poor accuracy when moving and a heavy recoil that causes loss of target acquisition, distant Infected can still be dispatched by taking careful aim and firing single shots or double-taps.
 * Crouching while firing greatly increases the AK-47's medium and long-range accuracy.
 * Shooting a sitting Witch in the head with the AK-47 will stun her momentarily in the same way that a head shot from the Sniper Rifle or Magnum Pistol does. If you are close enough, the AK's damage output will be sufficient to put her down. However, if you are too far, most of your shots will miss and you will be unable to kill her before she closes in and/or your magazine is empty.
 * The Laser Sight upgrade works best with the AK-47, since it improves this weapon's accuracy tremendously, especially at medium and long ranges.
 * Note that with a Laser Sight fitted, crouching does not improve accuracy over a standing position unless a player is shooting while moving.
 * There will always be a laser sight box in Whitaker's Gun Shop, found in the Streets chapter of Dead Center.
 * Explosive and Incendiary Ammo upgrades do not complement the AK-47 as well as they do for the M-16 Assault Rifle.
 * The AK-47's already high damage mostly nullifies the one shot, one kill capabilities of both types of special ammunition.
 * The decreased magazine size of the AK-47 as compared to other automatic rifles further dilutes the effectiveness of the ammunition upgrades.
 * However, the decreased fire rate of the AK-47 provides better control for those who wish to attempt to use single bullets against each Infected, which can improve the total number of kills achieved with the augmented ammo.
 * This benefit is slightly negated, however, by the AK-47's reduced accuracy, which can easily cause the bullets to miss their target, forcing the player to use more than one shot to kill an Infected, despite the improved control.
 * The Magnum pistol is a good secondary weapon to use with the AK-47 because the heavy pistol is an effective long-range weapon that compensates for the AK-47's poor accuracy. However, if you can master firing it in semi-auto, the Magnum will be rendered redundant, though a useful backup.
 * An exception to this is Realism, where the Magnum's superiority is unquestionable.
 * Ordinary Pistols are not as effective in a pistol-sniping role, but they are still more accurate than the AK-47 and so are good secondary weapons to consider when choosing the AK-47 as a primary weapon.
 * Melee weapons work well with the AK-47 in chapters featuring short ranges and confined spaces. This tactic is best applied with the Katana due to its long range and wide swing arc as well as its notably fast swing speed.
 * The AK-47's ability to fire single and double taps (by gently pressing the primary fire button) is one of its most useful features. When crouching to improve accuracy, its fine trigger control and heavy bullet makes the AK-47 a decent ranged weapon (even without a Laser Sight) meaning distant Smokers and Hunters can be taken down with the expenditure of only 3 or 4 cartridges. Crouching, using the double-tapping technique and aiming at the central body mass is enough to kill a Common Infected on Expert mode.

Pros

 * High close range DPS and damage per hit; requires only one bodyshot (or two bodyshots on Advanced/Expert and Realism) to kill Commons.
 * Generally a common spawn.
 * Slow rate of fire, allowing better ammo conservation.
 * Benefits significantly from the Laser Sight upgrade, making it an an undeniable force with both solid accuracy and great damage (as well as per second).
 * Keeps flashlight forwards while reloading.
 * Decent reload speed despite its high damage.

Cons

 * Drains ammo at a relatively high pace in full auto.
 * Small magazine reduces effectiveness of ammo upgrades.
 * High recoil and the lowest accuracy out of all rifle variants, making it poor for confrontations past mid range.
 * Rare chance to appear at all.