For anyone who has come to the Forums in search of a bit of help in deciding which weapons are worth spending your hard-earned Silver on, and which ones are better off being converted into said Silver, I will be making a Guide Topic for each weapon class, per Faction.
So, starting with the Soviet Rifle class, BEHOLD! The gospel, according to Simp:
“Rifle” will be defined, for the purposes of this Guide, as any weapon classified by the game as either a Rifle or Semi-Automatic Rifle and generally used by the Rifleman, Engineer, AT Gunner, Rider, Flametrooper, Mortarman, and Radio Operator classes. BattlePass, Legacy Gold Order, Event Exclusive, and Premium Exclusive Rifles are not included in this Guide.
Mosin M1907 Carbine (Research Tier 1) [BR I]
- Worst Rifle on the Soviet tech-tree. It’s literally worse than the Default Rifle. Good sights, but very slow rate of fire, no bayonet, and the Carbine issue of losing 1 shot kill (outright kill, not down) potential at any kind of range make this thing only worth whatever Silver you can get from sacrificing it to the void. Sell it and use the Default Rifle until you get something better.
Mosin M91 ‘Dragoon’ (Research Tier 1) [BR I]
- Better, but still not great. Rate of fire is still a bit low, but it has good sights, a bayonet, and, as a full-sized rifle, maintains that 1 shot kill potential over greater ranges. If you’re having issues getting 1 shot kills from the Default Rifle, try using this instead. It’s cheap, and good enough to hold you over until better rifles come.
Mosin M1938 Carbine (Research Tier 1) [BR I]
- Useless but worth it. The weapon itself is literally just the Default Rifle (good job, DF) but it comes attached to the most important squad you’ll ever unlock. The Engineer Squad. This should be your priority on the tech-tree if you want to help your teams win. Unlock this ASAP, then sell the weapon and never buy another.
Mosin M44 Carbine (Research Tier 2) [BR I]
- Another functional clone of the Default Rifle. It’s the exact same weapon, just with a slight buff to reload speed and integral bayonet instead of an attached one. You can just sell this one.
Mosin M91/30 Rifle (Research Tier 2) [BR I]
- This is the Soviet min-max Rifle for BR I. It has great sights, retains its 1 shot kill potential well, and has a really unexplainable smoothness to its operation. This variant of the Mosin was the Red Army’s standard issue Rifle in WW2, and the in-game version lives up to that position. If you’re staying in BR I for a while, or building a BR I lineup for whatever reason, upgrade these to max and give them to every soldier that wields a Rifle.
Winchester M1895 (Research Tier 2) [BR II]
- Soviets only get 2 BR II Rifles on their tech-tree, and they are both powerful enough to stand alone there. This guy has excellent sights, a lightning-fast fire rate, sustains aim while cycling (you can stay aimed down your sights while using the lever action to cycle the next round), and has the damage ranges of a full-sized Rifle. The only thing keeping it down in BR II is the 5-round capacity. This is my pick as the 2nd best BR II Rifle in the entire game (tech-tree only), and as the weapon every Rifle using soldier carries in my Soviet BR II lineup.
Fedorov Rifle 1912 (Research Tier 2) [BR II]
- The other BR II option, alongside the Winchester, and deservedly so. Every other semi-auto rifle at BR II in Enlisted has pretty lack-luster damage, which makes them all feel like trash, but not this one. This one consistently kills or downs every enemy you shoot with it. It only holds 5 rounds, so you can’t spray much, but you can spray a little. If you’re struggling to land shots with the Winchester, try spraying a little with this instead.
Mosin Rifle with Grenade Thrower (Research Tier 2) [BR III]
- It’s not worth it. Not even a little bit. Bringing a BR I Rifle to BR III, in exchange for a few launchable frag grenades, is a bad trade for any faction. Considering where this unlocks in the tech-tree, you also may not even have access to other BR III gear yet, meaning you’ll be fighting at BR III with just this thing and a bunch of BR II weapons. Not ideal. Don’t do that to yourself. When you ARE ready for BR III, you’ll have a way better option than this for a Rifle. Bad players use Grenade Launchers.
Mosin M91/30 VPGS (Research Tier 3) [BR III]
- A BR I Rifle with a few AT grenades is, again, just not worth bringing into BR III. Especially since this one isn’t unlockable until Tier 3, by which time you’ll have AT Gunners and the M1 Bazooka to deal with tanks much more effectively. Don’t waste your Silver. Bad players use Grenade Launchers.
SVT-38 (Research Tier 3) [BR III]
- And there it is. The only Rifle you’ll ever need at BR III. This thing is over-powered. Excellent sights, virtually no recoil, good damage, semi-auto, 10-round magazines, and the only one of its kind (G41, Garand, Johnson, Type 4) with a lightning-fast magazine reload. There is no Soviet bias in Ba Sing Se. Throw your Silver at these and laugh maniacally as your German enemies are still reloading while you mow down yet another squad.
SVT-40 (Research Tier 4) [BR IV]
- Solid Rifle for BR IV. Excellent sights, virtually no recoil, good damage… Wait a minute… This sounds familiar… Yeah, the 38 and 40 are functionally the same Rifle. There isn’t really any reason to waste Silver on upgrading to the 40, unless you’re struggling to generate downs at mid-long range in your battles. The 40 does maintain its damage better over range than the 38 does. Otherwise, don’t waste your Silver.
AVS-36 (Research Tier 5) [BR V]
- Yep. Enlisted classifies automatic rifles as “Semi-Automatic Rifle”. Anyways… Waste of Silver. Which is a shame, since this is the first taste of automatic rifles you get as the Soviets. 800 rounds per minute SOUNDS good, until you realize this thing only holds 15 of those rounds per magazine. You’re better off putting the 36 on semi-auto and using it as an SVT-40 that holds 5 extra rounds… At BR V… Don’t waste your Silver on this. Wait until you get the AVT-40 20, or at LEAST the regular AVT-40.
AVT-40 (Research Tier 5) [BR V]
- Better. With the same excellent sights, good damage (maintained over range), and lightning-fast reload as the SVT-40, but in an automatic package with controllable (skill issue) recoil, the AVT is a real powerhouse that deserves its spot at the very end of the tech-tree. Its only issue is that the 15-round magazine puts it at a 5-round disadvantage against the German FG-42s. A disadvantage that the devs “fixed” by making this weapon a completely obsolete waste of Silver and Research Points. LMAO
AVT-40 20 (Research Tier 5) [BR V]
- Yeah, uh… Instead of just giving the extra 5 rounds to the AVT-40 that already exists, devs decided to screw over players by making a separate tech-tree entry and Silver-sucking weapon that has the 20rd magazine… Genius. That being said, this is the end-all/be-all weapon for Soviet Rifles. Let the Silver rain.
Hope this helps. If you’re an Enlisted vet, and have some differing opinions or helpful insights, reply with them!
