Best MW3 Lockwood 300 loadout and class setup

Want to build the best Lockwood 300 loadout ready for Modern Warfare 3? With the full release of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and the Carry Forward system adding every gun from MW2 into MW3, a lot of players are looking at their old favourite guns and wondering how they can be best built for this latest era of Call Of Duty. The Lockwood 300 is one of the most potent and overwhelming shotguns available in Modern Warfare 3, and with the right set of attachments it can be very hard to top.

In this guide, we'll walk you through how to put together the very best Lockwood 300 loadout and class setup in Modern Warfare 3 right now, from attachment choices and alternatives to picking the right perks, gear, and secondary weapon to fully round out your Lockwood 300 class.

Why use the Lockwood 300 in MW3?

The Lockwood 300 is an extremely powerful double-barrel shotgun which sacrifices some mobility in order to deliver huge damage over a very respectable range for its weapon class. Since the addition of the stupidly powerful Maelstrom Dual Trigger attachment, it has become a staple in many players' loadouts for both Modern Warfare 2 and Modern Warfare 3, capable of easily and reliably one-tapping enemies in close combat even with their increased 150-health pool.

Best Lockwood 300 loadout in MW3

• Muzzle: GW Max-99
• Barrel: Matuzek 812 Barrel
• Laser: VLK LZR 7MW
• Stock: Heist Stock Mod
• Trigger Action: Maelstrom Dual Trigger

The holy grail of all Lockwood 300 loadouts right now is that Maelstrom Dual Trigger, so this loadout is built around compensating for the giant range reduction this attachment hits you with. The Muzzle and Barrel attachments serve to increase range and tighten the spread, while the Laser and Stock attachments serve to mitigate the Lockwood 300's low mobility stats and allow you to race around the map at very high speeds while pumping enemy after enemy full of buckshot. Trust us, this loadout is very hard to beat with any shotgun in Modern Warfare 3.

Muzzle: GW Max-99

The GW Max-99 is our choice of Muzzle attachment for the Lockwood 300. There are plenty of chokes and range-extending attachments available, but we find the added benefit of silencing your shots while you tear through the enemy team is well worth sticking with a suppressor. The GW Max-99 adds the most range of all the suppressors, and while it comes at a mobility cost, our other attachments more than make up for the deficit.

Barrel: Matuzek 812 Barrel

The Matuzek 812 Barrel is the longest Barrel attachment available for the Lockwood 300, which is exactly what we need in order to offset the range reduction of the Maelstrom Dual Trigger. This Barrel adds a bunch of range and bullet velocity, and also tightens the bullet spread more than almost any other attachment on any shotgun in MW3.

Laser: VLK LZR 7MW

The fan-favourite VLK LZR 7MW makes a return for our Lockwood 300 loadout, because it's just so darn good at boosting the mobility of your gun. Almost for free, you get a huge boost to your Sprint-To-Fire time and ADS speed - the latter of which is very important for the Lockwood 300 in particular, because this is definitely a shotgun you need to be aiming down sights with in order to get the most out of it.

Stock: Heist Stock Mod

The Heist Stock Mod adds so much mobility, it's basically the Lockwood 300 equivalent of going Stockless for any other gun. With the Heist Stock Mod equipped, the Lockwood 300 receives a huge boost to movement speed, ADS speed, and Sprint-To-Fire time, and the downsides - Aiming Recoil Control, Aiming Stability, and Flinch Resistance - aren't really things we care too much about for a shotgun loadout.

Trigger Action: Maelstrom Dual Trigger

Finally, the incredibly powerful Maelstrom Dual Trigger attachment. This addon makes the Lockwood 300 fire both its shots at once, so it's not very forgiving if you miss your shots. But the supreme damage potential is too good to pass up. This is the attachment that puts the whole loadout into god-tier territory, capable of one-shot-killing any enemy at a close enough range. It comes at the cost of a significant range reduction, but thanks to the GW Max-99 Muzzle and Matuzek 812 Barrel, the overall range of the Lockwood 300 is still just a shade better than the default gun.

Best Lockwood 300 class setup: Secondary weapon

M4 or Basilisk.

This is by no means a long-range shotgun loadout, so you should ideally pair your Lockwood 300 with an Assault Rifle that is capable of dealing with threats from across the map. This of course means you'll need the Gunner Vest to equip two primary weapons - more on that in a moment.

Our go-to recommendation for the Lockwood 300's secondary weapon is the M4 Assault Rifle. It's reliable, powerful, versatile, and excellent at mid-to-long ranges. If you don't want to use the Gunner Vest, then the Basilisk is a good sidearm for dealing with threats outside of the Lockwood 300's effective range.

Best Lockwood 300 class setup: Perks and Equipment

Frag Grenade, Battle Rage, Overkill Vest, Scavenger Gloves, Covert Sneakers, Ghost T/V Camo.

To round out the Lockwood 300 class, we'd recommend equipping the Overkill Vest so you can equip two primary weapons and make up for your longer-range shortcomings (see the above section for weapon recommendations). The Vest will also allow increased weapon swap speed and reload whilst sprinting. For Gloves, if you're worried about the Maelstrom Dual Trigger eating up your ammo reserves, the Scavenger Gloves can retrieve ammo from dead players.

For your Boots of choice, the Covert Sneakers are a forever favourite of mine, because eliminating footstep sounds is just so powerful for a quick movement loadout like this one. And for your gear slot, we'd recommend the Ghost T/V Camo to stay off the enemy's radar even while they're using a UAV.

Lethal and Tactical choices are largely up to you. My personal preference is the Frag Grenade and Battle Rage. The Frag is just so powerful and uncounterable when cooked perfectly, and the Battle Rage tactical does more for you in MW3 (with your increased health pool) than Stims ever did in previous COD games when it comes to keeping you alive and building up those killstreaks.

For more Modern Warfare tips and tricks, check out our guide to the best perks in-game for optimal loadouts.

Best Lockwood 300 alternatives in Modern Warfare 3

KV Broadside or Riveter.

The Lockwood 300 is definitely one of the best Shotguns in Modern Warfare 3 at the moment, but if you want to try out a different shotgun, then our go-to pick would be the KV Broadside or Riveter. Unlike the Lockwood 300, both these Shotguns are semi-automatic, which makes them much more forgiving - albeit at the cost of reduced damage and range. Try them out and see what you think with different loadouts! But when it comes to pump-action Shotguns, the Lockwood 300 is king right now.

And that wraps up this guide on how to build the best Lockwood 300 loadout and class setup for Modern Warfare 3. If you want a fuller idea of the current gun meta, check out our guide to the best guns in Modern Warfare 3, and learn how to kit them out with our companion guide on the best loadouts in Modern Warfare 3.