Best SMGs in BF6 Season 3

Submachine Guns in Battlefield 6 trade power over range for unmatched ease of use. This weapon class has the least amount of recoil in the game, and that still holds true even after the recoil tuning passes that Battlefield 6 has received over the past couple of seasons. You can't really go wrong by picking any of the SMGs, but if you want to find something that fits your playstyle, here's a guide covering that ranks all of them based on their preferred engagement distances.

Best PW7A2 Loadout in Battlefield 6

The PW7A2 is an excellent SMG in Battlefield 6, serving as the game's very own MP7. Here is the best loadout for it.

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By Nathan Round

Best SMGs in Battlefield 6 Season 3 Overview

Best Close-Range SMGs	SCW-10 CZ3A1 SGX USG90 KV9
Best Mid-Range SMGs	PW5A3 PW7A2 SL9 UMG-40

To keep the rankings fair, I've separated the SMGs in BF6 into two brackets based on their intended engagement distances. You can technically use and find success with these weapons even outside their intended use-cases, but they will almost always be superior to the others when used in the scenarios that they were specifically made for.

SCW-10

Despite some nerfs to its recoil behavior, the SCW-10 still reigns as the best SMG in BF6 thanks to its accuracy and stopping power. You'll experience a bit more horizontal recoil on this weapon compared to previous seasons, but the difference really isn't that noticeable.

What makes the SCW-10 stand out from the other close-range SMGs is its 8-meter three-shot-kill range. This little gun packs a very mean punch, and if you catch anyone inside that danger zone, you'll be sending them to the respawn screen faster than the average human reflex time can process things. The SCW-10's small starting magazine is a valid point of concern, but after playing around with it, I found that it's not that big of a deal as long as you're taking isolated duels.

CZ3A1

Speaking of reflexes, the CZ3A1 ties with the SCW-10 for best SMG in BF6 thanks to it's insanely fast time-to-kill and decent reliability over range. While it doesn't have the SCW-10's three-shot-kill range, it can still put someone down in roughly 0.18 seconds at 8 meters thanks to its blistering 981 RPM fire rate. The CZ3A1 does have a noticeably more erratic recoil than the SCW-10, but you can mitigate this by switching to burst fire mode for those longer-ranged engagements.

Low TTK weapons like the CZ3A1 are especially good at RedSec and Gauntlet matches, where the average TTK is higher than that in vanilla multiplayer.

SGX

BF6 Season 3 SGX build — Battlefield 6 Season 3 SGX build

The ever-reliable SGX works kind of like a pocket-sized M433 Assault Rifle — both weapons share the same fire rate and damage-per-bullet values, though the SGX has significantly lower recoil, muzzle velocity, and effective range. With the right attachments, you can reduce this SMGs recoil so much that it's going to feel like it's barely kicking at all, making it an extremely lethal option that doesn't make the same compromises that the CZ3A1 and SCW-10 do. Slap an Extended Barrel and 6H64 grip on the SGX, and it'll outperform even the mid-range SMG options at the 20–40-meter range.

Before we go any further, do keep in mind that the muzzle velocity values of all BF6 SMGs are very poor. While all of them have high accuracy and low recoil, the slow bullets they spit out make hitting moving targets at a distance more difficult than usual.

USG90

Though the USG90 doesn't kill as quickly as the three SMGs mentioned above, it does have one ace up its sleeve: a 50-round default magazine. The USG90 is excellent for flanking big groups of enemies thanks to its massive magazine, so if you're the type who loves to run around the enemy's backline in search of that perfect opportunity, you may want to bring this weapon along.

KV9

BF6 Season 3 KV9 Build — Battlefield 6 Season 3 KV9 Build

The KV9 matches the SCW-10's close range TTK, but it doesn't quite have the same level of ease of use. The gun's decent damage and extreme fire rate make it a nightmare to deal with at close range, and its baked-in burst fire mode allows it to hit targets from further away without much hassle too.

However, the KV9's tiny base magazine size of 17 and 1080 RPM fire rate demands that you be perfectly accurate when fighting. Otherwise, you may just end up dumping all of your bullets into a wall instead of someone's face. You'll also be doing a lot more reloading than shooting, making this weapon strong, but inconvenient to use.

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PW5A3

The PW5A3 is the M16A4 of SMGs in BF6. It shares the same 25 DMG/771 RPM damage profile, but with much lower recoil and range. In an upfront fight, a PW5A3 user will almost always lose to anyone using any of the SMGs mentioned above, but thanks to this weapon's high accuracy and almost non-existent recoil, you'll have a much easier time shooting at someone regardless of range.

It's also worth noting that the PW5A3 has access to Synthetic Tip ammo, which increases outgoing headshot damage significantly. If you can hit headshots using the PW5A3's extremely lenient firing behavior, you'll outgun many of the other weapons in BF6.

PW7A2

The PW7A2 is the smaller cousin of the PW5A3 that trades power for a significantly faster fire rate of 947 RPM. Due to dealing only a maximum of 16 damage, this SMG will kill more slowly than others, but if you can use Synthetic Tips and aim for headshots, then you'll have a better chance of winning direct fights regardless.

Overall, the PW7A2 feels a lot like the PW5A3, albeit on the slower side when it comes to raw TTK values. Using this gun may feel a little weird at first, given the sheer number of bullets you need to send to someone's chest to score a kill, but once you get used to it, the PW7A2 is a reliable choice for players who want a good mid-range SMG.

SL9

BF6 Season 3 SL9 build — Battlefield 6 Season 3 SL9 build

The SL9 is one of the slower-firing SMGs in BF6, and much like the PW7A2, using this one will take some getting used to. Despite its accuracy and negligible recoil, the SL9's slow fire rate and similar damage profile to other SMGs means it is always going to lose to the guns in its category, especially since all other SMGs have fairly low recoil values as well.

The SL9 is purpose-built for mid-range fights (i.e. between 20–40 meters), but since its damage drops to 17 by the 21-meter mark, killing targets from that far away is going to feel extremely sluggish. At that point, you might as well use an Assault Rifle or an LMG.

UMG-40

The UMG-40 suffers from the same awkwardness as the SL9 — despite having excellent handling stats for medium range, this SMG simply takes too long to kill targets. The PW5A3 and PW7A2 both outperform the UMG-40 at medium range, and even more so at close range, where it'll get eaten up by pretty much everything, including the SL9.

It's worth noting that the UMG-40 deals 17 damage at ~75 meters, and you can absolutely beam people from that far away without letting go of the trigger. However, since the UMG-40's bullets travel so slowly, hitting moving targets with it from mid-long range is going to be a challenge, but you can definitely make it work so long as you're sneaky about it.

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OpenCritic Reviews: Top Critic Avg: 83/100 Critics Rec: 89%

Released: October 10, 2025
ESRB: Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, In-App Purchases, Users Interact
Developer(s): Battlefield Studios
Publisher(s): EA