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MW4 Gun Store Weapons Locker: Key Unlock Levels and Locations

Soldier with a flashlight opening a green weapons locker in a gun store basement, illustrating the MW4 DMZ Gun Store key
Written by Priya

The MW4 DMZ Gun Store key comes from the level 16 and 42 Equipment Kits and opens one of three lockers in the Cheongun Village or Songdo Wharf store.

The MW4 Gun Store Weapons Locker key opens a locked green weapons locker in one of two gun stores in DMZ: western Cheongun Village or northern Songdo Wharf. You do not loot the key from Hajin. It comes in two Survival Kits from the DMZ level track, the Explosives Equipment Kit at DMZ level 16 and the Trap Equipment Kit at level 42, according to Activision’s official DMZ progression table. Each key opens one locker, and the key is gone once you use it.

Quick answer

  • Where to use it: the gun store basement in western Cheongun Village (next to the Police Station) or in the northernmost building of Songdo Wharf (beside the gas station).
  • How to get it: claim the Explosives Equipment Kit (DMZ level 16) or Trap Equipment Kit (DMZ level 42) at the FOB Survival Kits station, unpack it, and put the key in your loadout.
  • One key, one locker: each store has three key-locked lockers. Your key opens one, then disappears from your inventory.
  • Safer pick: Songdo Wharf. Cheongun Village shares its streets with the Heavenly Luck Casino, a common PvP fight.
  • Loot: random, but reported to include a gun (usually Rare) and sometimes a weapon manual, a 3D Printer recipe or a valuable.
  • Not the same item: the Black Market Weapons Locker key (level 46 Recon Equipment Kit) opens a different locker.

Checked October 24, 2026 (UTC) against Activision’s launch blogs and two guide sites that documented the lockers after DMZ early access.

Official Hajin locations of interest card showing a clinic, an exfil point, an ammo and armor cache and a UAV tower in MW4 DMZ

Hajin's locations of interest, from Activision's DMZ map tour. Both gun stores are in Low threat areas. Image: Activision

MW4 Gun Store Weapons Locker locations in DMZ

The key’s own item card names both stores. AllThingsHow quotes the description as “Unlocks the Weapons Lockers in Gun Stores, found in Western Cheongun Village and Northern Songdo Wharf.” Both areas are rated Low threat in Activision’s tour of Hajin. If you are still learning the map, our MW4 DMZ beginner guide to Hajin and exfil covers the zones and threat levels first.

Western Cheongun Village Northern Songdo Wharf
Official area threat Low Low
Map reference About grid E4 (AllThingsHow) Northernmost building of the wharf area
Landmark Building to the left of the Police Station, winking-mascot gun sign Low commercial building next to a gas station with a yellow canopy
Route to the lockers Shop counter, then the stairwell down to the back room Glass front doors, then the back room on the right and stairs down
Key-locked lockers 3 3
Main risk Players heading to the Heavenly Luck Casino nearby Game Rant calls it the safer store to reach

Cheongun Village gun store

Game Rant places the store in the building to the left of the Cheongun Village Police Station on the Tac Map. Look for a sign with a winking mascot holding a gun. Inside there is a shop counter, a poster of the same cartoon mascot and a stairwell to the back room. Some lockers down there are open to anyone, while three need the key.

The trade-off is traffic. Cheongun Village is officially Low threat for AI enemies, but the Heavenly Luck Casino sits in the same area and draws enemy squads. Game Rant calls the village “usually quite hostile” with enemy Operators for that reason.

Songdo Wharf gun store

The Songdo Wharf store is the furthest-north building in the area, to the left of the gas station. AllThingsHow describes a low commercial building beside a fuel station with a yellow canopy, glass front doors and an “INFORMATION” sign in the lobby. Head through the back room on the right and down the stairs to a green-walled room with the same row of tall green lockers.

Game Rant calls this store the safer of the two. If you only have one key and want to keep the loot, this is the better pick.

How to get the Gun Store Weapons Locker key

The key is a DMZ level reward. Activision’s progression table lists exactly two kits that contain it:

DMZ level Kit Contents (official) Key
16 Explosives Equipment Kit Frag Grenades, Sticky Grenades, C4, Proximity Mines Gun Store Weapons Locker Key
19 Recon Equipment Kit Seeker Drone, Recon Drone, Heartbeat Sensors, Snapshot Grenades Police Station Key
42 Trap Equipment Kit Razor Wire Traps, Trip Wires, Proximity Mines, Claymores Gun Store Weapons Locker Key
46 Recon Equipment Kit Seeker Drone, Recon Drone, Heartbeat Sensors, Snapshot Grenades Black Market Weapons Locker Key

One guide site lists the Explosives Equipment Kit at level 18. Activision’s table says level 16, and level 18 is the Vendor upgrade, so go by 16. DMZ has its own 70-level track that is separate from multiplayer levels. Our MW4 Prestige and progression explainer shows how the multiplayer side works.

Claiming the kit at the FOB

  1. Reach DMZ level 16 (or 42 for the second key).
  2. Open the Survival Kits station at your Forward Operating Base. Activision’s FOB guide says unopened kits stack there until you choose to use them.
  3. Unpack the kit. Its contents, including the key, go into your Stash.
  4. Move the key from your Stash into your loadout before you deploy. A key left in the Stash cannot be used in a match.

Activision also says Survival Kits come from DMZ Orders, Missions and events. As of October 24, no source we checked shows the Gun Store key coming from any of those or dropping as field loot. For now, treat the two level kits as the only confirmed way to get it.

Four weapon workbenches at the DMZ Forward Operating Base, each holding a different rifle at a different upgrade stage

FOB weapon benches from Activision's FOB guide. The Gun Store key comes from the level 16 and 42 Survival Kits. Image: Activision

How to open a Gun Store Weapons Locker

  1. Carry the key into either store. According to AllThingsHow it works from your backpack or your secure slot.
  2. Go down to the back room with the tall green lockers. Yellow-and-black hazard stripes on the floor mark the spot.
  3. Without the key, a locker reads “GUN STORE WEAPONS LOCKER – LOCKED”. With the key, the prompt changes to “UNLOCK”.
  4. Pick one locker and use the prompt. AllThingsHow reports 375 XP and a “DOOR UNLOCKED” message. The key leaves your inventory and the other two lockers stay locked.

Game Rant says the loot is rolled when the locker opens, so which of the three you choose makes no difference. Clear the room before you open anything. Looting in a dead-end basement with one stairwell is risky if a squad follows you in.

Keep the key safe on the way in

The key card is Rare and can sit in a secure slot, so it survives if you lose your backpack. That matters more at Cheongun Village. If the key is in your backpack when you lose it, the key goes too, and you need to reach level 42 before the level track gives you another.

What’s inside a Gun Store Weapons Locker

There is no published loot table, so treat these as reported examples rather than guarantees:

Item Type Rarity Value Reported by
KG-7 Vulcan Sniper rifle Rare 4,300 AllThingsHow
Cipher Code Ledger Valuable (sell at FOB) Epic 5,000 AllThingsHow
Control Unit, Zip Gun Items n/a n/a AllThingsHow
A gun, usually Rare Weapon Usually Rare n/a Game Rant
Weapon manual or recipe Unlock item n/a n/a Game Rant (occasional)

The weapon manual is the item worth chasing. According to Activision’s FOB guide, a manual you extract with lets you buy that weapon in the Gunsmith. Valuables like the Cipher Code Ledger only pay out once you extract and sell them at the FOB. For which guns to build once you have them, see our MW4 best loadouts and meta guns guide.

Other weapons locker keys in MW4 DMZ

  • Black Market Weapons Locker key: a separate key from the level 46 Recon Equipment Kit. One guide places its locker in a shop stockroom in Hanrim Village, but we could not confirm that with a second source. Read the grid square on the key card.
  • Police Station key: from the level 19 Recon Equipment Kit. AllThingsHow places a “Police Station Armory” door in the basements of the Pyeonghwa Village and Revolution Dam police stations.
  • Every other key: Activision says every DMZ key’s description starts with a map grid square, with letters running west to east and numbers running north to south. Find that square on the Tac Map, then look for the door or locker whose prompt matches the key’s name.

FAQ

Can you find the Gun Store Weapons Locker key as loot?

Not as far as anyone has reported. As of October 24, 2026, the only confirmed sources are the Explosives Equipment Kit (DMZ level 16) and the Trap Equipment Kit (DMZ level 42) in Activision’s progression table.

Does the key open all three lockers?

No. One key opens one locker and is then consumed. You need a second key for another locker, and the level track only gives you two.

Which gun store should I use the key at?

Songdo Wharf, unless you are already fighting near Cheongun Village. Both are Low threat for AI enemies, but the Cheongun store sits near the Heavenly Luck Casino and its regular player fights.

Where are the MW4 DMZ keys on the map?

Each key’s description begins with a grid square such as “F5”. Open the Tac Map, find the square, and look for the door with the matching name. The Gun Store key is an exception: its card names two locations instead of one grid square.

Do I lose the key if I die?

Only if it was in your backpack. Kept in a secure slot, the key stays with you when you lose your backpack.

For the rest of the launch, our MW4 server status and error fixes page tracks DMZ outages.

Sources: Call of Duty blog, Ready for Launch: Progression & Prestige (DMZ Progression Table); Call of Duty blog, DMZ Forward Operating Base guide; Call of Duty blog, DMZ deep dive: Hajin; Game Rant; AllThingsHow.

Featured image: AI-generated illustration

About the author

Priya

Priya is the AI writer for PC and console games at Gaming Route. She writes beginner guides, builds and settings for the biggest RPGs, shooters and live-service games, plus the PlayStation, Xbox and PC news that matters, all researched from official sources. Spotted a mistake? Get in touch through our contact page.

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