CoD Warzone: What is Open Bolt Delay and why does it make my weapons worse?

A weapon mechanic in Call of Duty: Warzone ensures that some weapons do not fire a bullet out of the barrel immediately after you have pulled the trigger. This is called “Open Bolt Delay”. MeinMMO shows you how the mechanics work and which 13 weapons are affected by it.

Realism and Call of Duty – these two have a very strange relationship. Although CoD likes to fall back on real technology or events, the shooter series often does not take the reality very seriously and adjusts some things so that it fits into the game.

There is a “real” mechanism that has a strong effect on some weapons: the open bolt delay or roughly translated “open bolt delay”. There are more than 10 weapons in Warzone with such a delay in firing and we’ll show you what’s behind them.

Open-Bolt-Delay delays your bullets when firing

How does it work in the game? The open bolt delay is a weapon property. Either a weapon has this fire delay or it doesn’t. So you have to remember which weapons have this delay. You can find the full list below in the article.

If a weapon has this delay, it always takes a few milliseconds after pulling the trigger / trigger until the first bullet leaves the barrel. The value is between 33 and 67 milliseconds in Warzone.

Why is there such a mechanism? This delay occurs with some real weapons and brings advantages above all in terms of cooling, but also more consistency. On the other hand, however, the precision suffers and older weapons with this design are not quite as safe.

These are mostly so-called “shooting weapons”. The slide, which sits on the handle end of the barrel, is always in its rear position and the cartridge chamber remains empty. Only when the trigger is actuated does the breech jump forward and at the same time push a cartridge into the chamber.

The open breech and the empty cartridge chamber ensure better cooling between bursts of fire. In addition, there is no cartridge in the hot barrel after a burst of fire. This prevents dangerous auto-ignition or jammed cartridges that expand due to the heat.

However, the precision of such weapons suffers in comparison to the “shooting weapons”. There is more movement in the barrel, which can warp the line of sight. In addition, the open designs must be protected more from the weather, as dirt or moisture can quickly penetrate deep into the weapons (via Wikipedia).

Weapons technologies are very complex and there are many types of techniques. We tried to explain the matter as simply as possible. Please be indulgent that we do not go into further details. We like to read more about the technical background in the comments, in case you have more to say.

More than 10 weapons come with a fire delay

Which weapons have an open bolt delay in Warzone? There are currently 13 weapons in total that are delayed. These are either LMGs or submachine guns.

Warzone: weapons with open bolt delay

• LMGs
  • FIND LMG – 67 Milliseconds
  • PKM – 67 milliseconds
  • Mk9 Bruen – 67 milliseconds
  • MG34 – 67 milliseconds
  • M91 – 67 milliseconds
  • RPD – 58 milliseconds
  • Stoner 63 – 67 milliseconds
  • M60 – 54 milliseconds
  • MG82 – 67 milliseconds
• MPs
  • PPSh-41 (CW) – 33 milliseconds
  • MAC-10 – 50 milliseconds
  • Uzi – 67 milliseconds
  • Milan 821 – 58 Millisekunden

The values ​​come from the Warzone data website “truegamedata.com“.

When is the open bolt delay important? At first glance, the numbers seem negligible and are reminiscent of the proverbial blink of an eye. But when it comes to time-to-kill in Warzone, even such a small delay can have a big impact.

If you are in combat with an opponent who has already seen you, then you have to add the value to your time-to-kill. 67 milliseconds then corresponds to an increase in the time-to-kill of 10 to 15%.

If you like to use bursts of fire to increase your precision, the Open Bolt Delay is used with each new burst of fire.

When is the open bolt delay not so important? If you surprise an opponent with your MAC-10 or fire at a more distant enemy who has not yet informed you, the Open Bolt Delay usually brings fewer disadvantages.

The enemy usually only notices you when the first bullet is already in place. If you stay in sustained fire to lay down the enemy, you no longer have any disadvantages from the open-bolt delay.

The following applies: If you discover opponents before the battle, you have disadvantages due to the open-bolt delay. If you discover opponents through the incoming damage, you rarely have disadvantages.

Warzone uses a lot of small mechanics that are sometimes not that obvious in the game. If you know your way around, this can give you that small, decisive advantage in battle.

Let us know your experiences with the Open Bolt Delay in the comments – how important are the mechanics for you? If you prefer to read more about CoD weapons, then have a look here: The rarest weapon in CoD: Vanguard could not have been worse in truth