Combat Rifle

"Ah hell. Gonna set some things right with this shit."

- Coach

The Combat Rifle aka The "Desert Rifle" is a second-tier Assault Rifle variant that has a capacity of 60 rounds per magazine. Unlike the other assault rifles, it fires three-bullet burst. Unlike burst rifles in most games, holding down the trigger button will continually fire three round bursts, where in most games, you have to continually press the trigger button. Like the other weapons in Left 4 Dead 2, reloading after emptying the magazine requires the Survivor to chamber a round, extending the reload animation.

Differences
Compared to the Assault Rifle and AK-47, the Combat Rifle has a low rate of fire and medium damage per round. However it has the best accuracy and highest ammo capacity.

Tactics

 * The Combat Rifle is the most accurate of the assault rifles. It works well for picking off Special Infected at a distance.
 * The Combat Rifle's ability to continually fire bursts as long as the trigger is held down makes it an effective weapon for taking down hordes.
 * A total of 420 ammo translates to 140 shots, so be sure to watch your ammunition count.
 * The reload speed on the Combat Rifle is a bit slow, so be sure to reload only when you find a suitable interlude.
 * Very effective "on the run".

Behind the Scenes
Like most weapons in early footage, the Combat Rifle used the Assault Rifle's animations and statistics from Left 4 Dead, as seen in [Rifle Video] at about 1 minute in. It wasn't until later on in development when the burst attack was added and it was given its own animations.

Trivia

 * The combat rifle is modeled after the FN SCAR-L. The flashlight is mounted via cable ties, although the real-life counterpart features a foregrip RIS rail for just that purpose.
 * The FN SCAR-L is used primarily by the US Special Operation Command, indicating the possible presence of US Special Forces.
 * In the console commands, this weapon is referred to as "rifle_desert"
 * The ingame commentary states that the rifles were diverted from being shipped to the Middle East to being shipped back home to control the infection, which explains their desert camo.
 * In real life, the FN SCAR series fires in full-automatic with no option for three round bursts, while post-Vietnam models in the M16 series used for the Assault Rifle generally have the ability to fire in three-round bursts, without the provision for automatic fire.
 * The reload animation in game is unnecessary. When the SCAR is depleted of ammunition, the bolt automatically locks back, allowing the user to rapidly replace the magazine and press the bolt-release.
 * In real life, the SCAR shares ammo with the M-16 and uses 30-round magazines.