Rainbow Six Siege Barrel Attachments Guide

Rainbow Six Siege Barrel Attachments Guide by Cynibot

Update: New Guide for Best Barrel Attachments for 2020

If you just want to know which attachments to use on which weapons and aren’t interested in the whys and the wherefores, there’s a TL;DR list at the end.

I’ve put about 1000hrs into this game, finished Plat or Diamond in every season, but I’d never taken the time to work out which weapons worked best with which barrel attachments. I’d always just stuck the muzzle brake on everything that has an ACOG and the Flash Hider on everything that doesn’t. Well, last night matchmaking wasn’t finding me a game for some reason so I decided to do some science instead. I loaded up T-Hunt and tried every weapon that has access to the muzzle brake, flash hider and/or compensator and was surprised by some of the results. We’ve all seen that video where some guy tested the spray patterns and found the muzzle brake produces the tightest burst groupings but it turns out it’s not as simple as that. So before I go through each weapon, here’s a brief guide to what each attachment actually does, since the game is very bad at explaining them to the point of being misleading.

Muzzle Brake: Reduces vertical recoil more than the other two barrels, particularly on the first shot, and also re-centers crosshair faster, resulting in extremely tight 2-3 shot bursts and allowing for less time between bursts. However, it does nothing for horizontal kick. The in-game description makes it sound like this attachment only helps with single fire weapons like pistols and DMRs but this is definitely not the case.

Flash Hider: The flash hider does not hide your bullet trails or get rid of the indicator on the enemy’s screen showing where you’re shooting from as some people seem to think. It diverts the muzzle flash sideways so that it doesn’t obscure your view of your target. Some people find this useful, others don’t notice the muzzle flash enough for it to be a problem. The flash hider reduces vertical and horizontal recoil for bursts of up to 5 shots. However, it doesn’t reduce vertical recoil as much as the muzzle brake and doesn’t reduce horizontal kick as much as the compensator. Putting this on a weapon is never a bad idea, and whenever there was no clear winner for best attachment on a certain weapon, I defaulted to this.

Compensator: The in-game description for this attachment is misleading. It claims to reduce the overall weapon kick over time for rapid firing, which makes it sound like the longer you fire it, the less muzzle climb you get. In fact the compensator doesn’t seem to reduce muzzle climb at all and only affects horizontal recoil. When equipped with the compensator, you will have to deal with a lot of muzzle climb, particularly on the first shot. However, if you can control that initial kick, the rest of your burst will be extremely accurate, as vertical recoil is more predictable and therefore easier to control than horizontal recoil. On weapons with low vertical recoil like the C7e, this attachment works wonders.

To test each weapon, I played a Disarm Bomb or Protect Hostage T-Hunt with each attachment. I chose Disarm Bomb because it presents the most potential targets to practice on (50-60 compared to T-Hunt Classic’s 22). I used the ACOG on all the weapons that have it available (with some exceptions that we’ll get to) and the Holo/Reflex on the rest. I always used the vertical grip where available. Also, it goes without saying that I didn’t test the pistols or DMRs because there’s no reason not to stick a muzzle brake on those. Regarding the extended barrel and suppressor, I’ve not covered them because the extended barrel is borderline useless, see here, and I don’t feel the benefits of the suppressor are worth the damage reduction and missing out on the recoil reduction provided by other attachments. The only exception is Frost’s 9mm SMG, which can’t use the other attachments and works well with the suppressor because of its extremely low recoil.

Of course, these results are based on what I personally felt made the weapon easiest to control and land headshots with. If you disagree with any of my recommendations I’m not about to argue with you. This is just for people who can’t be bothered to spend hours trying all the attachments for themselves. Having said that, some of my friends have changed their loadouts to match my recommendations and say they’re already seeing improvements in some weapons so I’m confident in my recommendations.

Results

L85

Flash Hider

This rifle is just about manageable with the compensator but both the muzzle brake and flash hider were far easier to get headshots with. The muzzle climb is very manageable with the flash hider so choose it over the muzzle brake to minimize the horizontal kick.

SMG-11

Compensator

You can burst fire this thing accurately with both the flash hider and the compensator, but the recoil gets crazy if you try and go full auto with the flash hider. For this reason, I recommend the compensator as it makes the weapon more versatile.

AR33

Muzzle Brake

The AR33 has just a little too much vertical kick for the flash hider IMO so the muzzle brake wins out here.

G36c

Flash Hider

This gun actually works great with all 3 attachments so pick based on how much vertical vs horizontal recoil you want. As I said though, when in doubt, pick the flash hider.

R4-C

Flash Hider

Again, works fine with all 3 attachments. So choose based on how much vertical vs horizontal kick you want.

556xi

Flash Hider

Works surprisingly well with the compensator but the flash hider and muzzle brake made headshots much easier.

F2

Muzzle Brake

The FAMAS has a lot of muzzle climb and so gets the most benefit out of the muzzle brake. It’s still manageable with the flash hider but you’ll be fighting the recoil all the time.

AK12

Muzzle Brake

Just a little too much vertical kick for me to be able to recommend the FH or Comp.

AUG

Flash Hider

Manageable with the compensator but much easier to handle with the lower muzzle climb that comes with the flash hider.

552 Commando

Flash Hider

Too much vertical kick for the comp, too much horizontal kick for the brake.

G8A1

Flash Hider

This weapon kicks hard so you want all the help you can get controlling that muzzle climb. This was one of the few weapons I switched from the ACOG to the Holo because there’s no point trying to engage people at long range with this weapon.

C8-SFW

Flash Hider

Good news, everyone! You don’t need a masters degree in recoil control to use this weapon anymore! It’s still one of the harder assault rifles to use but the first shot kick is now reasonable enough for me to recommend the flash hider.

MK17

Flash Hider

Surprisingly, all 3 attachments work fine on the MK17 but, as usual, the muzzle brake and flash hider work a little better. Choose between the MB and FH depending on whether you want less vertical or horizontal kick.

PARA-308

Muzzle Brake

Again, to my surprise, all 3 barrels worked fine here. This weapon has very little horizontal recoil though so it doesn’t benefit as much from the flash hider or compensator as other weapons.

M249

Flash Hider

This is the worst weapon in the game. It is terrible at all ranges and with any combination of attachments. If you must use it, use it with a holo and FH to mitigate the ridiculous amount of muzzle climb. Nothing you can do about the equally ridiculous horizontal kick.

Type-89

Compensator

One of the biggest surprises that came out of my tests. The low vertical recoil of this weapon means you can stick a compensator on it and still burst fire it just fine. Do not trust the recoil charts for this weapon.

Bearing 9

Compensator

Much like the SMG-11, you can burst fire the Bearing 9 just fine without a FH so use the compensator so that you can stay on target when you need to empty the magazine.

C7e

Compensator

Another surprise, although it shouldn’t be in retrospect. This thing has so little vertical kick that putting a compensator on it turns it into a goddamn lazer beam.

PDW9

Compensator

See the C7e. Why use the MB or FH when there’s no muzzle climb to compensate for.

FMG9

Flash Hider

A lazer accurate SMG with almost no muzzle climb. If this thing could use a compensator I’m sure I’d be recommending that but it can’t.

MP5k

Flash Hider

When using the Comp, the MP5k has just a tiny bit too much vertical kick on the first shot for my liking.

UMP45

Compensator

There’s very little muzzle climb to deal with here but the UMP does drift to the right a little so take the compensator to mitigate that.

MP5

Flash Hider

The MB and FH both work very well on the MP5 but with so little vertical kick you might as well use the FH.

P90

Flash Hider

The P90 now has noticeably less kick on the first shot than it used to, making the flash hider the more viable choice now. With a little bit of recoil compensation, you can now get really accurate 5-shot groupings with this thing.

9x19vsn

Compensator

The first shot will kick a little harder than most SMGs but from the 2nd shot onwards this thing is a lazer. Don’t be tempted to sacrifice horizontal stability to reduce that first shot kick. Stick a comp on it, aim for the upper chest and pin the trigger.

416-c

Compensator

The recoil chart for this weapon is a big fat lie. It makes it look like the compensator gives this weapon super high vertical kick when it’s actually very manageable. The spawn peekers among you may prefer the muzzle brake though.

MP7

Compensator

Now that the ACOG is no longer an option, the MP7 is much more manageable with the compensator than it used to be.

MPX

Compensator

The FH works fine too but this weapon has so little vertical kick you might as well focus on maximizing horizontal stability.

M12

Flash Hider

The M12 is super easy to control no matter what attachments you use. The muzzle brake is slightly better for recoil control but the M12 has obtrusive muzzle flash that makes the FH the better option in practice.

Vector

Compensator

Much like the sidearm SMGs, you can burst fire this weapon accurately without the help of a flash hider or muzzle brake.

T-95 LSW

Flash Hider

This weapon refuses to behave itself with anything except the flash hider. The recoil is all over the place with the muzzle brake and if you use the compensator, you’re 2nd shot will land in a different postcode to your first.

T-5 SMG

Flash Hider

The recoil pattern for the T-5 is pretty much a straight vertical line so it doesn’t benefit from the compensator as much as some of the other SMGs.

Scorpion EVO 3 A1

Compensator

High ROF + 50 round magazine = Lots of spraying. If you find the first shot kick to be too much for you, the flash hider is also a viable option.

M762

Compensator

I suspected when I tested the M762 on the TTS that something wasn’t right as the muzzle brake outperfomed the other attachments in every area. Now, in the live version, things make more sense. The M762 loves to randomly kick to the right and this will cause you to miss shots. Putting a compensator on it makes these kicks less frequent and less severe while maintaining a manageable amount of muzzle climb.

LMG-E

Flash Hider

The LMG-E seems to have less random horizontal recoil now than it did during the TTS session which makes the MB a little more viable than before. I would still recommend sticking with the flash hider though unless you’re having real trouble controlling the first shot kick. Depending on how good you are at recoil control, you may even want to ditch the ACOG and use a holo or reflex sight. With recoil this violent and unpredictable, you’re not going to be winning any long range fights, so why use an optic designed for that kind of engagement.

K1A

Compensator

The K1A now behaves exactly how I expected it to. Very little muzzle climb means putting a compensator on it stops it from drifting off to the right and turns it into a lazer beam.

TL;DR

Muzzle Brake

All Pistols

All DMRs

AR33

AK12

PARA-308

F2

Flash Hider

All LMGs

L85

G36c

R4-C

556xi

AUG

552 Commando

MK17

FMG9

MP5k

MP5

T-5 SMG

M12

P90

C8-SFW

Compensator

SMG-11

Type-89

Bearing 9

C7e

PDW9

9x19vsn

416-c

MPX

Vector

Scorpion EVO 3 A1

UMP45

MP7

K1A

M762

I think that covers everything. I hope this guide is useful to somebody. As I said before these are my personal recommendations based on hours of testing. If you find that some of these don’t work well for you, I would absolutely encourage you to experiment for yourself until you find a setup that does. Feel free to just use this as a starting point and make adjustments from there.