The Best Holger 556 Builds In MW3

The Holger 556 is the perfect assault rifle for most playstyles in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Inspired by the Heckler & Koch G36, the Holger 556 is a reliable assault rifle that has excellent accuracy, high damage per bullet, and a wide range of attachment options.

While this weapon doesn’t shine out of the box, the Holger becomes a devastating primary weapon once you install a few attachments. In this guide, we’ll be covering three excellent builds that make the Holger 556 the ultimate assault rifle for most playstyles, including a mid-range accuracy build, a fast-paced strafe build, and a more experimental Tac Stance build that makes the Holger a true jack-of-all-trades assault rifle.

Updated January 4, 2024, by Charles Burgar: The Holger 556 has received a burst-fire conversion kit with Season 1, allowing this weapon to melt opponents in Multiplayer with the right build. We’ve updated this guide to include a build for the Holger’s conversion kit. We have also updated our Tac Stance build since our previous build’s attachments were nerfed with the Season 1 patch.

Accuracy Holger 556 Build

The Holger 556 is already a fairly accurate weapon, but we can make this weapon comparable to the MCW with a few attachments. We start by equipping any red dot optic to remove the weapon’s obtrusive iron sights. We recommend the Cronen Mini Pro if you played MW2.

We then use the SZ 1mw PEQ laser to improve the weapon’s aiming stability, making long-range combat far more consistent. For recoil control, we use the L4R Flash Hider and R8 Addle Assault Stock. Both attachments come with ADS penalties, so we use the DR-6 Handstop underbarrel grip to gain some ADS speed back while also buffing our strafe speed.

This configuration gives the Holger some small but noticeable buffs that make it far stronger in mid to long-range gunfights. You’ll benefit from roughly 25% less recoil than normal and near-perfect aiming stability with this build. Paired with a clear red dot sight, you should be able to headshot enemies on head glitches or mounted surfaces with little issue.

Loadout Recommendations

Any build will work with the Holger 556, so feel free to use any perks and equipment you prefer. For a general use build, we recommend using the Engineer Vest as it greatly increases your Field Upgrade recharge time and gives you an extra gear perk.

For perks, the Quick Swap Gloves are great for using a backup weapon for close-quarters combat—in our case, the Renetti pistol converted into a carbine. Covert Sneakers and Ghost will let you run by most enemies without alerting them, and EOD will keep you alive against most lethal equipment.

Stealth Build Alternative

If you want to lean into a stealthy playstyle, swap the muzzle flash on the Holger for the Shadowstrike Suppressor. This will hide you from the radar at all times, provided you’re constantly moving.

Your choice of equipment is far less important than perks. A good CQC secondary weapon is ideal with this style of Holger build, ideally the Renetti or the WSP Stinger. The Engineer Vest doesn’t have access to Lethals, but you do get a second Tactical use. We recommend either Stims or Battle Rage.

Stims are ideal for smaller maps where healing a few seconds faster is critical. For larger maps, use Battle Rage to give yourself infinite tactical sprint for six seconds. Field Upgrades will depend on the game types you frequent. The Trophy System is great for counter enemy equipment, although don’t sleep on the ACS for objective modes like Hardpoint and Domination.

Strafe Holger 556 Build

Aggressive playstyles can turn the Holger into an excellent mid-range dueling weapon by speccing into strafe speed and sprint to fire time. We start by equipping a red dot optic to replace the weapon’s busy iron sights. The Cross-X Short Barrel and XRX Edge BW-4 Handstop both greatly increase your strafe speed while also buffing your weapon handling.

Throw on the FSS OLE-V Laser, and now you can use your Holger as an AR/SMG hybrid. Finally, we use the Shadowstrike Suppressor to stay off enemy radar during gunfights. If you dislike the visible laser while ADS, switch it for any aiming stability laser.

With all five attachments, this build will let you quickly weave in and out of cover without compromising on the Holger’s excellent accuracy. Your ADS strafe speed is 3.3 meters per second, a value that’s typically reserved for SMGs and pistols. If you aren’t aiming your weapon, that strafe speed increases to a whopping 5.3 m/s.

Loadout Recommendations

Strafe builds tend to bias aggressive play, so we’ll be recommending a build that mixes stealth and speed to give you an edge in most gunfights. The Infantry Vest is a decent jack-of-all-trades vest that gives you Running Sneakers (Double Time) for free. We’ll want to close the gap quietly, so we’ll be using Covert Sneakers in the boot slot.

While Stalker Boots seem ideal for a build like this, the complete silence of your footsteps makes it much easier to flank enemies. We then use Ghost to hide from enemy radar while moving. Finally, we use the Assault Gloves to remove all ADS and accuracy penalties while jumping.

Equipment for a strafing build should focus on keeping you alive in the thick of battle. Throwing Knives are surprisingly useful in MW3 since they one-tap anywhere in the body and can be thrown in an instant. Stims allow you to replenish your HP on use if you’re about to get pushed by another enemy and don’t have time to heal passively.

Tac Stance Holger 556 Build

The Holger 556 has a surprisingly large roster of attachments that affect your Tac Stance accuracy, a middle ground between hipfiring and aiming. We use five Tac Stance attachments to greatly buff its effectiveness: the Cronen Intals MSP-12, the LM Inflix Short Heavy Barrel, the Bruen Bastion Angled Grip, the CT2000 Tactical Grip, and the Holger 26 Factory Stock.

All five attachments give you a Tac Stance maximum spread of 0.8 degrees, which is extremely accurate for up to roughly 30 meters. Your strafe speed won’t be as good as the strafe build, but you’ll strafe much faster than your average assault rifle.

Loadout Recommendations

We’re going to recommend the same loadout from our accuracy build for this configuration. You ultimately want to be quiet when getting near players with this build, so the Covert Sneakers and Ghost perks are a must.

If you tend to strafe a lot in gunfights and don’t mind using Dead Silence, you can drop Covert Sneakers for Stalker Boots. This will make your strafe speed comparable to our Holger strafe speed build. Throw on some Stims and your favorite Field Upgrade, and you should have no trouble winning gunfights at any distance.

JAK Signal Burst Holger 556 Build

The JAK Signal Burst Conversion Kit turns the Holger 556 into a four-round burst rifle, capable of one-bursting opponents in Multiplayer if you land your shots on a target’s torso. This does come with a substantial increase to your visual recoil and sprint-to-fire delay, however, so you’ll need to spec heavily for firing aim stability and recoil control.

Thankfully, this conversion kit comes with an optic pre-installed, so this build can focus solely on performance attachments. The Bruen Heavy Support Grip and T51R Billeted Brake eliminate horizontal and visual recoil, respectively. The Ascent Lord Stock greatly buffs your firing aim stability, greatly increasing the accuracy of each burst.

The final attachment is mostly down to preference. Since the conversion kit increases your sprint-to-fire delay, we use the 20 Round Mag to counteract this while also buffing the gun’s strafe speed. If you find this magazine too small for your playstyle, use any optic or the Morn-20 Grip.

Loadout Recommendations

We recommend the same loadout as our previous builds here, as Ghost and Covert Sneakers make it far easier to reposition. You don’t have a suppressor on this build, so be wary that shots will reveal your location on the minimap. Use a suppressed secondary if stealth is required for a specific situation.