m4a4 vs m4a1-s, which one is best?

m4a4 vs m4a1-silencer

In this post, we will dive deep into details about the differences between the two CT main weapons in CS2, the M4A1-S and M4A4.

There is no doubt that the M4A1-S has become more popular in recent times. Objectively the M4A1-S is better in almost any way. More damage, lower price, and better accuracy. The stats clearly show that the MA41-S is the dominant CT rifle.
The pros and cons for each weapon are listed below:

Price

There is a 200 dollar difference in price. You could argue that the price should change places between the two weapons since the M4A1-S is overpowered in almost any variable. The 200 dollars extra can be used to buy extra utility to cause extra damage to the enemy team.

Damage

The M4A1-S does significantly more damage than the M4A4. Looking at the stats the M4A1-S deals 5 more damage which is 15% higher. This is a lot since they have the same amount of armor penetration. The M4A4’s 66 RPM higher firerate balances the difference out a bit.

It’s worth noting that the headshot multiplier for the M4A4 is 400% compared to 347% for the M4A1-S

Recoil and spray pattern

The M4A1-S recoil is 21 which is two points less compared to the M4A4. This is an 8,6% lower recoil which makes the spray easier to control. Many players report they can feel a significant difference in the spray control.

Two points might not seem like a lot on paper, but when we compare the spray patterns below you clearly see why the M4A1-S is much easier to control. The spray patterns have been shot from the same distance about 15m from the wall. As you can see the bullets from M4A4 are spread out on a wider area.

Tracers

The M4A1-S has a silencer that leaves no tracers to make it impossible for the enemy to see where the bullets are coming from when shooting through smokes. At the same time, the silencer takes away much of the noise when shooting which makes it hard to pinpoint the exact position. These abilities are what make the M4A1-S more stealthy as you can spray through smokes without the enemy knowing where you are standing.

From a first-person POV the M4A4 which leaves tracers every third bullet. Some players point to the fact that the visual cue you get when shooting makes it easier to transfer a spray onto multiple targets. Most pro players have automated their spray to a degree where they no longer need any visual cue to adjust their spray but instead rely on their muscle memory. It must be up to your personal preferences if you want to play with tracers or not.

If you want to disable tracers you can set r_drawtracers_firstperson into the console.

Fire rate and time to kill

The fire rate of the M4A4 is 11% higher than the M4A1-S. This only becomes an advantage when the first two bullets hit the head which is rarely the case.

The M4A1-S will often have a faster time to kill even with the slower fire rate. This is due to the significantly higher body shot damage. The time to kill is according to the CS2 weapon spreadsheet 0.30ms for the M4A1-s compared to 0.36ms for the M4A4.

With this information, we can conclude that the higher firerate can’t live up to the significantly higher body damage.

Accuracy and damage decrease by distance

The M4A1-S has slightly better accuracy when standing, crouching, and moving. Damage for the M4A1-S decreases by 6% for each 12.7m vs. 3% for the M4A4. The difference in damage decrease when fighting long-range is significant as shown below:

Damage against armor at a 2,5m distance

• M4A1-S:  26,27 dmg
• M4A4: 22,96 dmg

Damage against armor at a 76m distance

• M4A1-S: 18,30 dmg
• M4A4: 19,24 dmg

Across a 73,5m distance, the damage decreases by 5,65% for the M4A1-S compared to 16,2% for the MA4A. The significantly lower decrease in damage makes the MA41-S much more powerful at long-range fights.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that the M4A1-S is better than the M4A4.
Four body shot kills combined with the stealthy features, higher accuracy and lower damage decrease across distance makes the M4A1-S way overpowered compared to the M4A4. It doesn’t make sense that the most powerful CT weapon is the cheapest one.

The M4A4 might be more beneficial in close-range battles when only aiming for the head. Hopefully, we see more balance between the two weapons, so players have to make a choice towards the one that suits their playstyle the most. But for now, the M4A1-S would be the best choice in almost any case.