Every weapon in GTA Online: the complete database

This is the full list. Every weapon currently in GTA Online, sorted by class, with the twelve Mk II conversions marked and a plain verdict on each so you can tell the essentials from the novelties at a glance. If you want the short answer instead, our main weapons guide gives one pick per class, ready-made PvE and PvP loadouts, and the buying order for a new account.

How to read the verdicts

• Essential: buy it, you will use it for years.
• Good: genuinely useful, situational rather than universal.
• Filler: works, but something above it does the same job better.
• Novelty: fun, collectible, or seasonal. Not a loadout weapon.
• Tool: not really a weapon. Does a job.

The twelve Mk II conversions

Only twelve weapons can be upgraded to Mk II, and only at a Weapon Workshop, which is an add-on for a Mobile Operations Centre, Avenger, Terrorbyte or Kosatka, or at the Agency Armory. The conversion is what unlocks special ammo, and special ammo is the actual reason to bother.

The twelve: Pistol, SNS Pistol, Heavy Revolver, Pump Shotgun, SMG, Combat MG, Assault Rifle, Carbine Rifle, Bullpup Rifle, Special Carbine, Heavy Sniper and Marksman Rifle. Of those, the Heavy Sniper Mk II with explosive rounds and the Combat MG Mk II with armour-piercing rounds are the two that change how the game plays.

Handguns

The AP Pistol is the answer and has been for a decade, because it is the only sidearm that turns a car window into a real weapon. Everything else in this class is taste, with two exceptions: the Stun Gun, which is how you keep bounty targets alive and pay yourself double, and the Up-n-Atomizer, which un-flips vehicles and has no ammo cost.

Machine guns and SMGs

GTA Online files SMGs and light machine guns into one class. The Tactical SMG displaced the old guard on damage and accuracy and is the best thing to hold on a bike. The Combat MG Mk II is the heist workhorse. The Unholy Hellbringer has infinite ammo, which sounds better than it plays.

Assault rifles

The Special Carbine Mk II is the balance point of the whole game and the single most defensible purchase in this list. The Advanced Rifle at rank 70 is the free stopgap. El Strickler is a Military Rifle variant sold through the Gun Van and it is current-generation only, so PS4 and Xbox One players cannot get it.

Shotguns and snipers

Assault Shotgun for interiors, full auto with a drum. The Heavy Sniper Mk II with explosive rounds is the anti-air and anti-armour policy that everything hovering near you already respects. The Precision Rifle is a slower, quieter alternative that most players will never need.

Heavy and thrown

Sticky Bombs, and it is not close. Beyond that: the Homing Launcher tracks, the Railgun deletes, the Minigun suppresses, and the Compact EMP Launcher disables a vehicle without triggering the insurance call, which matters more than it sounds when you are stealing something you need intact.

The full table

If you only buy eight

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 everything GTA Online can throw at you, and the rest of this table is collecting.

Weapon availability moves with the Gun Van rotation and with weekly discounts. Weapons cannot be sold once bought, so check the van before buying at Ammu-Nation.