M4A4 | Howl (Factory New)

Take the M4A4 | Howl in Factory New (FN): the red along the ribs and edges is unbroken, the one thing wear ever takes from this finish. Float values for the M4A4 | Howl here sit in the 0.00–0.07 band, just under a fifth of a scale that ends early, at 0.40. The rank is Contraband, and on the M4A4 it covers this finish alone.

What the M4A4 | Howl looks like in Factory New

The base is a dark gray-olive that passes for black. Torn red bands and tongues run over it. The head of a howling wolf sits on the left side of the receiver, orange-yellow, with a red mane and cream-white fangs. Its open jaw runs onto the trigger guard.

The pistol grip and the stock tube are solid red. The handguard, magazine and stock keep the dark base under red tongues; the carrying handle and sights are dark gray. Everything is painted except the muzzle and the front sight. The wolf reads down to the eyes and the bared teeth; no lettering or numbers appear.

Red leaves the raised edges first: handguard ribs, carrying handle lip, butt plate, magazine corners. In Factory New none of that has started. The wolf lies on a flat panel and survives the lower wears, so this condition buys edges, not the animal. At 0.00–0.07 there is little room to differ, and M4A4 | Howl listings look alike.

Where the M4A4 | Howl came from

Valve set out the history itself in a note headed "Respecting Intellectual Property", dated June 12, 2014. The M4A4 | Howl shipped on May 1, 2014 in the Huntsman Weapon Case, credited to Workshop contributors; six weeks later a copyright notice argued the drawing was not theirs.

Both contributors were banned and paid nothing, and the case was rebuilt without them. Owners had the artwork swapped for a version the CS:GO team drew, which is the wolf on every copy today. Contraband followed, and so did the rest: no case, no collection, no new supply. The catalog number is 309.

What to check before buying

Check these before paying for any M4A4 | Howl copy:

• the float within 0.00–0.07, which here decides only the edges;


• whether the listing is the plain version or the StatTrak one;


• The sticker loadout on the M4A4 | Howl and any applied name.

The M4A4 | Howl has a fixed pattern, so no copy commands a premium for its layout.

What the M4A4 | Howl costs in Factory New

Minimal Wear comes in about a quarter cheaper, Field-Tested about a third. Well-Worn exists as a fourth condition, and the scale stopping at 0.40 keeps Battle-Scarred out entirely.

There is nothing to line it up against: Contraband holds one M4A4, so the row a price is normally read against is one item long.

Getting the M4A4 | Howl

No CS2 case lists the M4A4 | Howl among its contents. It sits outside the collection system too, so no contract yields one, and a finished listing is the way to a copy.

StatTrak and Souvenir

A StatTrak version of the M4A4 | Howl exists; there is no Souvenir edition.

Stickers and craft on the M4A4 | Howl

Paint covers the whole rifle, so every sticker lands on artwork. The magazine and handguard panels are the usual places, both busy with red tongues. Red and orange stickers melt in; white and black keep their shape.

Who this wear suits

The M4A4 | Howl in Factory New is worth it in three cases:

• intact red edges are the point;


• the copy is going into an inventory held long term;


• a StatTrak build is planned around it.

For matches the lower wears read the same on screen, since wear never reaches the wolf.