The best Pelington 703 loadouts for Call of Duty: Cold War

best pelington class loadout cold war setup attachments
(Image credit: Activision)

A strong Pelington 703 Cold War class loadout leverages the rifle's 'quickscope-able' ADS time and high damage. The rifle is always a 1-shot-kill to the chest or head, so its attachments really boil down to how you want to balance its recoil and optics. It's easily the best Cold War sniper of the three in standard 6v6 maps and Dirty Bomb's expansive forests.

Treyarch may nerf the rifle one day to make bring it in line with the others, but for now, we should enjoy its versatility. We've gathered a few of the best Pelington setups to help you find the playstyle that suits you best.

The best Black Ops - Cold War Pelington 703 class loadout for you

CoD Cold War Best Pelington 703 Loadout: Power Loader

Attachments

  • Muzzle: Infantry Stabilizer
  • Barrel: 26.5” Tiger Team
  • Underbarrel: Front Grip
  • Magazine: Vandal Speed Loader
  • Handle: Airborne Elastic Wrap

Wildcard

  • Law Breaker

Perks

  • Cold Blooded
  • Ghost
  • Ninja

Equipment

  • Lethal: Semtex
  • Tactical: Stun Grenade

Field Upgrade

  • Field Mic

The Power Loader loadout is your standard, all-encompassing Pelington setup that can easily adapt to any situation. The highlight is the Tiger Team barrel that increases damage, fire rate, and bullet velocity at the cost of ammo. Thanks to the Pelington’s naturally snappy aiming, even the default sniper scope is fast enough to win medium-range fights against assault rifles or SMGs. Since your first shot is the most important, the Elastic Grip is there to almost completely erase damage flinch.

Some situations call for a proper close-range option, so the Law Breaker Wildcard is worth it to bring along a complementary SMG. As a bonus, the wildcard also lets you break some perk rules and bring both Ghost and Ninja, two useful perks when you’re spending a lot of time looking through a scope.

CoD Cold War Best Pelington 703 Loadout: Iron Aggressor

Attachments

SAS Combat Stock

cod cold war pellington best loadouts

(Image credit: Activision)

Heavily increases ADS move speed while lowering hipfire accuracy.

  • Optic: Iron Sights
  • Muzzle: Flash Hider .308
  • Barrel: 27.2” Combat Recon
  • Body: SOF Target Designator
  • Underbarrel: Infiltrator Grip
  • Magazine: Fast Loader
  • Handle: SASR Jungle Grip
  • Stock: SAS Combat Stock

Wildcard

  • Gunfighter

Perks

  • Paranoia
  • Tracker
  • Ninja

Equipment

  • Lethal: Frag
  • Tactical: Stimshot

Field Upgrade

  • Sam Turret

With the help of Gunsmith and the Gunfighter Wildcard, there’s no reason the Pelington can’t double as a snappy one-shot-kill DMR. Go with whatever red-dot sight fits your fancy, but I seriously recommend the iron sights, of all things. Not only do they free up the most peripheral vision, but the sight is surprisingly clear and precise. The remaining setup is about boosting bullet velocity and hip-fire accuracy with picks like the SASR Jungle Grip, Combat Recon barrel, and Infiltrator Grip. Since there’s room for all eight attachment slots, I always like to add the SOF Target Designator to easily identify enemies.

The only necessary perk here is Ninja. You’re better off keeping a low profile so you can always be the first one to shoot in a firefight. Paranoia plays well with the weapon, too, allowing you to snap toward a threat and turn a fight around without flinching.

CoD Cold War Best Pelington 703 Loadout: Thermal Killer

Attachments

AN/PVS-4 Thermal Scope

cod cold war pellington best loadouts

(Image credit: Activision)

A 2.3X magnification scope that highlights enemies and other heat sources. Heavily limits peripheral vision.

  • Optic: AN/PVS-4 Thermal
  • Muzzle: Wrapped Suppressor
  • Underbarrel: Bipod
  • Magazine: Stanag 9 RND
  • Stock: Raider Pad

Wildcard

  • Law Breaker

Perks

  • Ghost
  • Gearhead
  • Cold Blooded

Equipment

  • Lethal: Molotov
  • Tactical: Smoke Grenade

Field Upgrade

  • Proximity Mine

Cold War’s standard maps don’t lend themselves well to the coveted PVS Thermal scope unlocked at the end of the optics list, but this Pelington class loadout works wonderfully in the 12v12 Combined Arms and Dirty Bomb modes. This is also the ideal situation for the Wrapped Suppressor, softening the rifle’s scream to a whisper at the cost of movement speed. The bipod and Raider Pad stock complete the weapon's setup. It’s important to keep a clear sight picture and low recoil at a long-range. 

Similar to Warzone, it’s also handy to have a reliable backup, so grab the Lawbreaker Wildcard and select your favorite assault rifle. For perks, definitely consider Ghost and Cold Blooded. The bloated player counts of Combined Arms and Dirty Bomb usually mean an ungodly number of Spy Planes and Chopper Gunners in the air, so these will help you avoid them altogether. 

Morgan Park
Staff Writer

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.