Weapons in GTA Online: the complete guide and best loadouts

GTA Online has eighty-five weapons and you need about eight of them. The rest are flavour, nostalgia or traps for new money. This page is the whole efficient route: what to buy in your first week, one verdict per class, how the Mk II system actually works, the ammo types that decide fights, and the Gun Van exclusives that never reach the shops.

If you want the full list rather than the verdict, our weapons database covers all eighty-five with a plain rating on each.

The eight-weapon answer

If the weapon wheel only carried one of each: AP Pistol, Tactical SMG, Special Carbine Mk II, Combat MG Mk II, Assault Shotgun, Heavy Sniper Mk II, Homing Launcher, Sticky Bombs.

That set answers every situation GTA Online can generate. Everything below is how you get there, and what to do once you have.

Step one: the starter kit

• The AP Pistol first. Fully automatic, suppressor-ready, and still the undisputed king of shooting from a car seat a decade on.
• A Special Carbine as your rifle. Accurate, hard-hitting, and the platform you will later upgrade.
• An Assault Shotgun for close work. A 32-shell drum on full auto that clears rooms and never leaves the meta.
• Sticky Bombs the moment they unlock at rank 19. Thrown, planted, detonated on your terms, and useful in every activity in the game.
• One melee weapon for dignity. The Machete does the job, and the Stone Hatchet from the treasure hunt does it with style.

The sensible order for a new account: AP Pistol and a shotgun in week one, Sticky Bombs at rank 19, the Special Carbine as soon as the wallet allows, the Advanced Rifle unlocking free at rank 70 as a stopgap, and the Heavy Sniper at rank 90 as the milestone purchase.

One verdict per class

• Pistol: the AP Pistol for everything, with the Heavy Revolver Mk II as the PvP alternative for players who make their shots count.
• SMG: the Tactical SMG, which displaced the old guard on damage, fire rate and accuracy, and is the best thing to hold on a motorcycle.
• Rifle: the Special Carbine Mk II, the balance point of the whole game, with the Advanced Rifle at rank 70 as the free stopgap.
• Machine gun: the Combat MG Mk II, especially with Full Metal Jacket rounds against anything armoured.
• Shotgun: the Assault Shotgun, full auto with a 32-shell drum, the room-clearer.
• Sniper: the Heavy Sniper Mk II, full stop, with the Marksman Rifle Mk II as the PvP alternative for its fire rate.
• Heavy: the Railgun for deleting vehicles with style, the Homing Launcher for deleting them with tracking, and the Minigun for sustained area unpleasantness.
• Throwable: Sticky Bombs, and it is not close.
• Utility: the Up-n-Atomizer for un-flipping vehicles and the Compact EMP Launcher for disabling them without the insurance call.
• Current-generation exclusive: the El Strickler military rifle, PS5 and Xbox Series only, Gun Van rotation only.

The Mk II system, and where to unlock it

Only twelve weapons can be converted to Mk II: Pistol, SNS Pistol, Heavy Revolver, Pump Shotgun, SMG, Combat MG, Assault Rifle, Carbine Rifle, Bullpup Rifle, Special Carbine, Heavy Sniper and Marksman Rifle.

Conversions happen at a Weapon Workshop, which is an add-on for a Mobile Operations Centre, an Avenger, a Terrorbyte or a Kosatka, or at the Agency Armory. The Acid Lab Brickade also takes one, and for most players that is the cheapest route into the system by a wide margin.

Upgrades are per weapon. The benchmark is the Heavy Sniper to Heavy Sniper Mk II at GTA$165,375, and it is the single best weapon purchase in GTA Online.

Bunker research unlocks the special ammunition and attachments that make Mk II weapons what they are, which is half of what that research track is actually for.

The ammo that changes fights

• Explosive rounds on the Heavy Sniper Mk II are the headline. Helicopters, jets and armoured vehicles come down in one or two hits from anywhere on the map.
• Full Metal Jacket rounds turn the Combat MG Mk II into an armoured-vehicle problem for other people.
• Armour-piercing, incendiary and hollow point rounds exist across the Mk II range, each with a job.
• The habit to build is matching the ammo to the activity, not filling every slot with explosive and hoping.

The PvE loadout

• Combat MG Mk II and Special Carbine Mk II for the mid-to-long range work that missions are made of.
• Assault Shotgun for interiors.
• Heavy Sniper Mk II with explosive rounds for anything airborne or armoured.
• AP Pistol for every vehicle seat.
• Sticky Bombs and the Up-n-Atomizer for problems and self-inflicted problems respectively.

The PvP loadout

• Marksman Rifle Mk II for pressure at range: faster follow-ups beat raw damage against a moving player.
• Special Carbine Mk II with a drum magazine for the mid-range fight.
• Heavy Revolver Mk II or the Assault Shotgun when it gets close.
• Heavy Sniper Mk II with explosive rounds as the anti-aircraft answer to anything hovering nearby.
• The Compact Grenade Launcher as the underrated pick, usable from a bike or a boat.

The Gun Van, and what only lives there

The Gun Van moves to a new location daily with a rotating weekly stock and standing discounts, and several of the best weapons in the game are exclusive to it. Stock changes Thursday, location changes daily, and there is frequently a free weapon.

• The Railgun at GTA$730,000, a shoulder-fired argument-ender that deletes most vehicles in a shot or two.
• The Tactical SMG at GTA$409,500.
• The Up-n-Atomizer at GTA$399,000.
• The El Strickler military rifle at GTA$695,000, or GTA$590,750 with the van discount. Exclusive to PS5 and Xbox Series X and S, and only ever found in the van rotation.

Weapons cannot be sold once bought, so check the van before buying anything at Ammu-Nation. Our full Gun Van guide covers the weekly habit in detail.

The priced summary

The honest advice

Ignore almost everything else. The wall of guns is a museum, the eight above are the game, and the money you save belongs in a business.

For the complete list of all eighty-five weapons with a verdict on each, see our weapons database. Prices move with the weekly discount rotation and the Gun Van stock.