Quick answer: The Mk 24 is the new Assault Rifle added in Battlefield 6 Season 5 on 13 October 2026 (Update 2.1.1.0). Third-party guide sites and players, not EA, report it unlocks free at Tier 11 of the Audacious Breach path in the Season 5 Battle Pass. Its 20-round base magazine is the main weakness, and the 30-round magazine is the last attachment it unlocks, at weapon level 40. On tracker data it does take one more body shot to kill than the AK4D at every range, but its 1.8x headshot multiplier (AK4D: 1.4x) flips that comparison as soon as you land two headshots.
Below: what EA has confirmed, the damage tables, the best build at every weapon level, and the attachment EA has switched off.
What is the Mk 24 in Battlefield 6?
The Mk 24 is one of four weapons that went live with Season 5: Siege of Vegas, alongside the RSPR, the Z84M and the ELR-40. It is the only new Assault Rifle in the first phase of the season. The RSPR is sometimes called a second AR, but the 2.1.1.0 notes describe it as a Personal Defence Weapon.
EA has described the gun twice. The Season 5 roadmap says: "A lower-capacity Assault Rifle that trades magazine capacity for consistent performance and exceptional damage at range. With a steady rate of fire, the Mk 24 is built for players who value precision and effectiveness."
The Update 2.1.1.0 notes, published the day before launch, put it more briefly: "Dominate open firefights with the Mk 24, an Assault Rifle that becomes deadlier at longer ranges while balancing its power with a limited magazine capacity."
That is everything EA has said. As of 16 October 2026, EA has published no damage, fire rate, velocity or magazine figures for the Mk 24, and its weapon roster page is still stamped "Recently Updated for Season 4", with no Mk 24 entry. Every number below comes from the tracker Battlefinity (last updated 16 October 2026) and is labelled as third-party. One check on that source: Battlefinity lists the AK4D at 680 m/s, which matches EA's own Update 1.3.3.0 velocity figure for that gun exactly.
We first covered the gun in our Season 5 new weapons guide before launch. This is the full follow-up.
What are the Mk 24 stats?
| Stat (third-party, Battlefinity) | Mk 24 | AK4D |
|---|---|---|
| Fire rate | 635 rpm | 514 rpm |
| Bullet velocity | 556 m/s | 680 m/s |
| Base magazine | 20 rounds | 20 rounds |
| Headshot multiplier | 1.8x | 1.4x |
| Body damage, 0-20 m | 26 | 35 |
| Body damage, 20-75 m | 20.6 | 26 |
| Body damage, 75 m+ | 17.2 | 20.6 |
| ADS time | 250 ms | 250 ms |
| How you unlock it | Season 5 Battle Pass, Audacious Breach Tier 11 (reported) | Career Rank 35 (EA) |
Two things jump out.
First, the Mk 24 sits exactly one damage step below the AK4D. Its close-range damage (26) is the AK4D's mid-range damage, and its mid-range damage (20.6) is the AK4D's long-range damage. It makes up for that with 121 more rounds per minute.
Second, despite EA's "deadlier at longer ranges" line, the Mk 24 fires a slower bullet than the AK4D: 556 against 680 m/s. That is 18% slower, so you lead moving targets more at the ranges EA says it is built for.
Is the Mk 24 just a worse AK4D?
That is the most-discussed Mk 24 complaint on Reddit this week. A thread titled "Mk24 is just a worse AK4D, and the AK4D is already mid" drew 27 comments on r/Battlefield on 16 October. The real answer depends on where your shots land.
Body shots only
Our arithmetic below uses the tracker's damage values and the time between shots at each gun's fire rate. It ignores bullet travel time, so treat it as a best case for both.
| Range | Mk 24 shots to kill | Mk 24 time to kill | AK4D shots to kill | AK4D time to kill | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-20 m | 4 | 283 ms | 3 | 233 ms | AK4D faster by 50 ms |
| 20-75 m | 5 | 378 ms | 4 | 350 ms | AK4D faster by 28 ms |
| 75 m+ | 6 | 472 ms | 5 | 467 ms | AK4D faster by 5 ms |
With body shots, the complaint is correct. The AK4D kills faster at every range. The gap shrinks from 50 ms to 5 ms as distance grows, though, which is the only sense in which EA's "deadlier at longer ranges" holds up for body shots.
With headshots
The 1.8x multiplier changes everything. These are the minimum shots to kill once you mix in headshots:
| Range | Mk 24, 2 headshots | AK4D, 2 headshots | Mk 24, 3 headshots | AK4D, 3 headshots |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-20 m | 3 shots, 189 ms | 3 shots, 233 ms | 3 shots, 189 ms | 3 shots, 233 ms |
| 20-75 m | 4 shots, 283 ms | 4 shots, 350 ms | 3 shots, 189 ms | 3 shots, 233 ms |
| 75 m+ | 5 shots, 378 ms | 5 shots, 467 ms | 4 shots, 283 ms | 4 shots, 350 ms |
Land two headshots and the Mk 24 wins at every range, by 44 to 89 ms. The catch, which one commenter in the thread corrected another on: a single headshot does not lower its shots to kill. At 20 to 75 m, one headshot plus three body shots totals 98.9 damage, just short of 100. You need two.
So the verdict is simple. If you mostly hit chests, the AK4D is the better gun. If you can hold your crosshair on heads at range, the Mk 24 is better. A player in a separate r/Battlefield6 thread put the appeal in plain terms, hoping the Mk 24 would be "a weapon that actually rewards headshots without punishing the rest of your loadout."
How do you unlock the Mk 24?
Third-party guide sites, led by Gfinity, report the route as Tier 11 of the Audacious Breach path in the Season 5 Battle Pass. Gfinity also says all four Season 5 launch weapons are free. EA has not published a tier-by-tier list yet, and the Season 5 Battle Pass URL on ea.com still returned a 404 on 16 October.
Players back up the "free" part. In one Mk 24 thread on r/Battlefield6, a player said "You can get it day one without subscription. Weekly challenges and a couple of games and you have it", and another said they had unlocked it that day just by finishing the weekly challenges.
EA's own Battle Pass page, now updated for Season 5, describes the path system like this: "Complete the Recruit Path, then switch between four paths to earn your most-wanted items." So you finish the Recruit Path first, then pick Audacious Breach and work it to Tier 11.
That same page also contains the strangest line EA has published this season: "Free Season 5 Battle Pass items include the CDX-40 Sniper Rifle, the MRGG-A Assault Rifle, and the PKM Machine Gun." None of those names appears in the text of EA's Season 5 roadmap or the 2.1.1.0 notes. They look like internal names: EA's own roadmap image file for the ELR-40 is called "BF6_S5_ELR-40_NewWeapon_CDX40", so the free "CDX-40 Sniper Rifle" is the ELR-40. By the same logic, the free "MRGG-A Assault Rifle" is almost certainly the Mk 24, the only Assault Rifle in the Season 5 launch lineup. That is our reading, not an EA statement.
The page has a second mismatch. It says Battlefield Pro includes "a +5% XP Booster", while the Update 2.1.1.0 notes and EA's own comparison graphic both say 15%. If you are deciding whether Battlefield Pro is worth it to reach Tier 11 faster, go by the patch notes until EA fixes the page.
What level does the Mk 24 unlock its attachments?
This is where the real grind is. Getting the gun is the easy part. Fixing its 20-round magazine is not.
| Weapon level | Key Mk 24 unlock (Battlefinity) | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 14.5" Factory barrel, Flash Hider, FMJ ammo, 20RND magazine | Starting kit |
| 8 | 18" GBR barrel, 15RND magazine | Barrel used in every top build |
| 16 | Slim Angled underbarrel, 20RND Fast Mag | Core grip for the versatile build |
| 18 | Long Suppressor | Cheaper suppressor option |
| 24 | Lightened Suppressor, 25RND Magazine | First magazine upgrade |
| 28 | 6H64 Vertical underbarrel | Long-range build grip |
| 32 | 25RND Fast Mag | Faster reloads at 25 rounds |
| 34 | Hollow Points ammunition | Headshot-focused ammo |
| 35 | RO-M 1.75X scope | Versatile build optic |
| 40 | 30RND Magazine, Hybrid Suppressor (K) | The magazine every build is waiting for |
Players and Battlefinity disagree by one level on Hollow Points. An r/Battlefield6 post puts it at level 35, the tracker at 34. Either way, it is late.
The bigger point is the magazine. EA's whole pitch for the Mk 24 is a gun "balancing its power with a limited magazine capacity", and the attachment that fixes that limit is the last one on the ladder. Until level 24 you are stuck at 20 rounds, which means reloading after every second or third kill.
Weapon level comes from Hardware XP earned with the Mk 24 itself. Career XP and Battle Pass progress do not count. EA has never published how much Hardware XP a weapon level costs, a gap we covered in our post on the 300 XP per minute weapon cap players reported this week. For general routes, see our fastest weapon leveling guide.
What is the best Mk 24 loadout?
These are Battlefinity's two top-rated Multiplayer builds as of 14 to 16 October 2026. Both total 100 attachment points on the tracker. EA does not publish a full points table, so treat the point costs as the tracker's figures.
Long-range Mk 24 build (level 40)
- Muzzle: Lightened Suppressor (30 points, level 24)
- Barrel: 18" GBR (5 points, level 8)
- Underbarrel: 6H64 Vertical (25 points, level 28)
- Magazine: 30RND Magazine (25 points, level 40)
- Ammunition: Hollow Points (5 points, level 34)
- Optic: Baker 3.00x (10 points)
This is the build for Area 51's open ground and the long boulevards of Vegas Strip. The 3x optic and vertical grip are about holding steady on heads at 40 m and beyond, which is the only way the Mk 24 beats the AK4D.
Versatile Mk 24 build (level 40)
- Muzzle: Lightened Suppressor (30 points, level 24)
- Barrel: 18" GBR (5 points, level 8)
- Underbarrel: Slim Angled (25 points, level 16)
- Magazine: 30RND Magazine (25 points, level 40)
- Ammunition: Hollow Points (5 points, level 34)
- Optic: RO-M 1.75x (10 points, level 35)
Swap the grip and optic for a faster, lower-zoom setup that still works at mid range.
Before level 24: the starter build
Until you have the bigger magazine, keep the 18" GBR barrel (level 8) and the Slim Angled grip (level 16), run the default 20-round magazine, and play the gun as a mid-range picker, not a room-clearer. At 0 to 20 m it needs four body shots to the AK4D's three, so close fights are where it loses most.
For the wider attachment economy, see our guide to how attachment points work in Battlefield 6.
Why was the Underslung Mount disabled on the Mk 24?
EA has already pulled one Mk 24 attachment. The official Battlefield account posted this on r/Battlefield6 during Season 5's first week: "We have temporarily disabled the Underslung Mount Underbarrel on the Mk24 Assault Rifle while we resolve an unintended interaction. We'll provide an update once the attachment is re-enabled."
EA did not say what the interaction was, and Battlefinity's attachment list no longer shows the part. If you see an older build using it, it will not load as written. Swap in the 6H64 Vertical or the Slim Angled until EA brings it back.
There is a second, unconfirmed oddity players are arguing about. A popular post claims the Mk 24's ammunition behaves differently from other rifles, with Hollow Points costing just 5 points. Several replies called it a bug, and one simply said "Yeah most certainly a bug". EA has not commented. If it is a bug and gets patched, the headshot table above could change, so check back after the next update.
Is the Mk 24 good in REDSEC?
Battlefinity currently rates the Mk 24 S Tier among assault rifles, with a 14.5% pick rate on its tracker, and its top REDSEC build matches the long-range Multiplayer build above. The tracker lists the same base stats in both modes.
Update 2.1.1.0 also made a round of REDSEC armor changes: most 5.56 Assault Rifles, including the SOR-556 Mk2, L85A3, B36A4, VCR-2, M433 and EF88, "now take an additional bullet to kill vs armor past 46m". Neither the Mk 24 nor the AK4D is on that list. Against armored players in REDSEC, that leaves both guns relatively stronger past 46 m than most of the class.
Mk 24 vs AK4D: which should you use?
- Pick the AK4D if you aim for the chest, play close to mid range, or want a gun that does not depend on a level-40 magazine. It unlocks at Career Rank 35, and EA's roster describes it as "A classic battle rifle with a slow rate of fire, best utilized during mid to long range engagements."
- Pick the Mk 24 if you reliably land two headshots per kill, play long sightlines on Area 51 or Vegas Strip, and are willing to grind it to level 40 for the 30-round magazine.
- Skip both for close quarters. Neither is built for it.
Our assault rifle rankings cover the rest of the class.
Want the level-40 Mk 24 without the Hardware XP grind? Every key Mk 24 attachment, from the 25-round magazine at level 24 to the 30-round magazine at 40, is locked behind weapon XP on this one gun. That is exactly the grind our Battlefield 6 services take off your hands.
- Battlefield 6 Weapon Leveling: level the Mk 24 to 40 for the full build.
- Battlefield 6 Account Leveling: Career XP and Battle Pass progress to reach the Audacious Breach tiers faster.
- All Battlefield 6 services: the full list.
FAQ
How do you unlock the Mk 24 in Battlefield 6? Third-party guide sites report it as a free reward at Tier 11 of the Audacious Breach path in the Season 5 Battle Pass, which you can pick after finishing the Recruit Path. Players report getting it without buying the pass. EA has not yet published the full tier list.
Is the Mk 24 free? Reported as yes. Gfinity says all four Season 5 launch weapons are free, and EA's Battle Pass page lists a free "MRGG-A Assault Rifle", which by EA's own naming pattern is very likely the Mk 24.
What is the best Mk 24 loadout? Battlefinity's top long-range build is Lightened Suppressor, 18" GBR barrel, 6H64 Vertical, 30RND Magazine, Hollow Points and a Baker 3.00x optic. It needs weapon level 40 for the magazine.
What level is the 30-round magazine on the Mk 24? Level 40, per Battlefinity. The 25-round magazine comes at level 24 and a 25-round fast mag at level 32.
Is the Mk 24 better than the AK4D? On body shots, no: on tracker data it needs one more bullet to kill at every range. With two or more headshots, yes: its 1.8x headshot multiplier makes it 44 to 89 ms faster than the AK4D.
Why can't I equip the Underslung Mount on the Mk 24? EA temporarily disabled it to fix an "unintended interaction" and has said it will post an update once it is re-enabled.
Applies to Battlefield 6 Season 5: Siege of Vegas, Update 2.1.1.0, checked on 16 October 2026. Stats are third-party until EA updates its weapon roster.
