There's certainly no shortage on ways to eliminate, destroy, mock, and generally be a menace to society in the Grand Theft Auto series. The series prides itself on allowing you to snipe someone from 100 yards or introduce their cranium to a nightstick. As the years have rolled on and the GTA games have been plentiful, there's been a fair few weapons that have been kept out of reach for the casual player.
Recently, Rockstar has been rewarding inquisitive players by introducing unique weapons via challenges in the latest content updates, and its more than likely this trend will continue once Red Dead Online eventually launches in the (hopefully) near future. Long before this, they were reserving weapons for hardcore fans who scoured the cities looking for hidden packages, ran amok in the rampages and lent a hand to the civil servants.
While some of these weapons are novelty items that act as nods to Rockstar and their tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, some of them are powerful game changers that turn the toughest missions in the game into a walk in the park. Going into a confrontation with a Combat MG or a minigun will greatly improve your chances compared with some of the standard weapons you can buy from Ammu-nation.
Whether you're journeying through bright lights of Las Venturas or checking the mean streets of Liberty City, there's a weapon for the whole family if you know the right places to look.
23 Stone Hatchet (GTA Online)
Added as part of the After Hours update, this primitive hacking device has more or less the same stats as its plain-looking brethren, with the added feature of giving the player an almost invincible rage mode after making an elimination with it.
The Stone Hatchet won't cost you anything, but you will need to play vigilante to get it. Maude, the delightful woman who handles the bail bonds of Blaine County's population, gives the player five targets to find and bring to justice. Upon delivery of the final criminal, the stone hatchet will appear on the radar ready to collect.
As well as a 250,000 GTA$ reward, the stone hatchet will be available to use in Red Dead Redemption 2 for returning players.
22 Snowballs (GTA Online)
A weapon can take many forms in the world of Grand Theft Auto, even Mother Nature providing some adequate weapons of mini destruction from time to time, and if Game of Thrones has taught us anything, its that cold things are dangerous.
Snowballs are thrown weapons, have the same animation as the grenade and take roughly three hits to end an NPC.
Snowballs previously appeared during the Festive Surprise updates in 2014 and 2015, but in the subsequent three years, winter has not come to Los Santos. With Red Dead 2 now bestowed on our consoles, it may be the Wild West that receives a white Christmas, but be sure to check out GTA Online this December to see if snowballs return this year.
21 Double-Action Revolver (GTA Online)
Like the Stone Hatchet, this gold-plated handgun was added in as part of an update, but preceded the unique chopping tool by arriving with the Doomsday Heist content.
It set the precedent of providing a reward for hunting down an exclusive weapon by sending players on a scavenger hunt to find said weapon, providing them with screenshots of locations via in-game emails. After finding the five clues, the player would then be given the location of the pistol.
From obtaining the cowboy-inspired attacker, if the player could accrue 50 headshots with the gun, they would receive a 250,000 GTA$ reward. They'd also get access to the gun in their Red Dead Redemption 2 inventory.
20 Heat-Seeking Rocket Launcher (GTA: San Andreas)
One of the most devastating heavy weapons in the game, the heat-seeking rocket launcher is the ultimate anti-vehicle machine.
This potent tube of helicopter destruction is scattered far and wide across the three main islands of San Andreas. You can find it tucked away by some fuel canisters at Easter Bay Airport in San Fierro; it will spawn inside Mike Toreno's ranch after the player completes the mission "Vertical Bird"; on top of the Pilson Intersection parking lot and next to an abandoned house in Aldea Malvada.
This weapon isn't easy to find, but it will help immensely when facing armed forces and the aerial threats that Carl can come up against towards the end of the main story.
19 Automatic Shotgun (GTA: TBoGT)
Based on the real-life AA-12 shotgun, this TBoGT exclusive weapon is a potent firearm that has high damage output, a tremendous fire rate and can be upgraded with explosive ammunition.
Luis will receive this weapon from Armando during the mission "Corner Kids" and will then get a variant featuring the explosive rounds from Yusuf Amir in the missions "High Dive" and "The Man Who Has Everything".
Should the player lose this, another can be purchased from Armando (both round types) and it will also spawn in Luis' apartment after completing the "High Dive" mission and finishing thirty Substance War side missions.
18 Pistol .44 (GTA: TBoGT)
The Pistol .44 makes a sole appearance in The Ballad of Gay Tony, being the chief handgun when it comes to stopping power. While it packs a heavy punch, its fire rate is by far its weakest attribute, meaning your shots need to be on point in order to maximize its efficiency.
The Pistol .44 can be obtained by Luis (the player) during the mission "Boulevard Baby" after eliminating Vic Manzano. Additionally, its given to him during the "Party's Over" mission, can be purchased from Armando and his cache of weapons and will spawn in the player's apartment as a reward for completing ten Substance Wars.
17 Firework Launcher (GTA Online)
What better way to celebrate the founding of a nation by blowing up a small part of it?
The firework launcher was a unique gift available during the Independence Day Special and then briefly during the Festive Surprise update.
This weapon is all about style over substance. While you can make some beautiful gunpowder sky art, using this as a way to defend yourself may have unsuccessful results. You'll need to score a direct hit on another player to have any hope of getting an ending blow, which makes the use of the actual RPG a far more profitable option.
Be sure to log into GTA Online over the Independence Day and/or Christmas holiday period.
16 Katana (GTA: LCS + VCS)
The katana is a fierce melee weapon in the GTA universe. It has a good amount of reach, its light and fast, and can decapitate people in one swing (which coincidentally is the same description as my eHarmony bio).
In Liberty City Stories, there is one per island that Toni can find, and only one in the entirety of Vice City Stories.
In Portland, one can be found on top of the Turtle Head Fishing Co., Staunton Island has one in an alley near Hyaku Dojo, and Shoreside Vale's is on a factory roof. Vice City Stories blade is in Vice Point, by a building not too far from the fairground.
15 Golf Club (GTA Online)
The golf club is a pretty common tool of misery in other GTA games, but in the realm of GTA Online, you've got to do a bit of legwork in order to get your hands on one.
The golf club is one of the unique melee weapons that players will need to acquire through special means.
It's not necessarily a hard thing to be able to get one, you just need to know where to look. It most likely just slips under most player's radars as it can't simply be purchased from Ammu-nation. You can either scare or end a golfer at the Los Santos Golf Club (logical) or you can find it tucked away in a shack on an island in North Chumash.
14 Auto 9mm (GTA: TLAD)
The only entry on this list unique to the GTA IV expansion The Lost and Damned, the automatic 9mm pistol fires faster than the other SMGs in the game and boasts a seventeen clip magazine.
The weapon is first received by Johnny in the mission "Bad Cop Drop." From that point on, the player can request the gun from Jim Fitzgerald. If you need to grab another one of these drive-by specialists, they can be purchased from Terry's gun van for a mere $500.
While admittedly its far from a surprising or revolutionary weapon, it is an unusual little footnote that this gun is only featured in TLAD and is more or less succeeded by the AP Pistol in GTA V.
13 Crowbar (GTA Online)
The light, fast, yet fairly low damage dealing crowbar is another member of the unique melee weapon club in GTA Online, and also bears a similar paint job that of a tool used by one Gordon Freeman in Half-Life.
Oddly, the crowbar doesn't exist at all within the free roam world of Los Santos and Blaine County.
It can, however, be found as a pick-up weapon in certain PvP modes like Team Deathmatch and Last Team Standing, as well as Content Creator maps where its been enabled. If you want to semi-permanently add it to your inventory, you can get hold of it by ending the target in the Contact Mission, "Judging the Jury."
12 Gold SMG (GTA: TBoGT)
Initially used by the billionaire buffoon Yusuf Amir, this supposed "solid gold" sub-machine gun is a firearm for those that want to pull off a drive-by and look good doing it.
When compared to its non-bling equivalent, the Gold SMG actually has a faster rate of fire but features a smaller clip with only thirty bullets compared with the standard SMG's fifty. The reload time on the gold version is also longer, meaning you're more exposed if you don't make your shots count.
To get your hands on this weapon fit for a sultan, complete all of Yusuf Amir's missions in TBoGT and he'll reward you with it as well as his gold car. Alternatively, finishing 50 Substance War side missions will make it spawn in your apartment.
11 Molotov Cocktails (Multiple Games)
While it might seem strange that a weapon that's viewed as commonplace takes up a spot on this list, in some games molotov cocktails cannot be bought, are in some rather obscure map locations or are locked behind relatively high criteria.
In Vice City, these incendiary bombs spawn in just a single location, namely the Tacopalypse restaurant.
They're scattered across the map of San Andreas, and will spawn in the Johnson Family house once Carl has tagged all 100 graffiti marks. In GTA III and Vice City Stories, they're rewarded for collecting hidden packages and red balloons respectively. Liberty City Stories sees them hiding in Belleville Park and the Cochrane Dam picnic area.
10 Baseball Bat (GTA V + Online)
Money can't buy you happiness, and in the case of GTA V, it can't buy you a baseball bat either.
While its a weapon synonymous with Grand Theft Auto's unapologetic brutality, the baseball bat isn't sold at Ammu-nation, but can be picked up around various spots around Los Santos. The easiest place to be able to collect one being behind the Vanilla Unicorn club.
Baseball bats also can't be purchased in GTA Online. Fear not, for picking one up in the Contact Missions "Where Credit's Due," "El Burro Heists," or "Meth'd Up" will allow you to keep hold of one.
9 Chainsaw (GTA: LCS + VCS)
Making its debut in GTA: Vice City, this Scarface inspired weapon has been in several other iterations but has largely stayed the same with regards to its performance, and only undergone minor aesthetic changes in other games.
In Liberty City Stories, one can find this motorized blade behind the sawmill in Trenton, in a garage by the police station in Pike Creek, and failing that you can loot one from one of the insane enemies in the mission "The Portland Chainsaw Masquerade."
In Vice City Stories, you can also loot them from enemies, but in this instance from Shark gang members during the "Leap and Bound" mission or find it in Ocean Beach behind the Hardcore Pawn shop.
8 Mac-10 (GTA: LCS)
The Mac-10 is the big brother of the Tec-9 SMG, being an upgrade on its stats in almost every way. Its main draw is the incredible fire rate is possesses, emptying its clip in around two seconds.
Its used in LCS by a number of enemy gang members like the Sindaccos, Forellis, and the Southside Hoods. If you want one for yourself, head over to the car crusher in Harwood and it should be nestled within a small fenced area.
Its used by the ever annoying Shark gang members in VCS, but you can fight fire with fire by collecting one from near Cafe Robina in Little Havana or from behind the Diaz mansion on Starfish Island.
7 Fire Axe (GTA: LCS + VCS)
Many fire axes show up in the GTA universe, however, they're purely for aesthetic purposes and can only be wielded as weapons in Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories.
In LCS, the fire axe is given some screen time in the mission "Dead Meat," where its the weapon of choice that Toni uses as he chases Giovanni Casa around a meat processing factory before ending him. If the player loses the weapon, they can find another one behind the fire station in Harwood on Portland Island.
In VCS, Vic can find one at the fairground in Washington Beach, at the Moist Palms Hotel, and at the oil refinery in Viceport.
6 Hockey Stick (GTA: LCS)
The hockey stick is something of a black sheep among the melee weapons in Grand Theft Auto. It is only seen in Liberty City Stories, found in two locations on the map and acts as the stand-in weapon for the golf club from previous games.
If you take a journey down to the Liberty City Memorial Stadium in Aspatria, take a peek behind the billboard in the area and you'll find this acquired treat waiting for you. Hockey stick number two is hiding behind a building not too far from the Hepburn Heights construction site on Portland Island.
You can technically use a hockey stick in GTA V, but this is only through the use of unofficial fan modifications.
Modders gon' mod.
5 Remote Grenade (GTA: LCS + VCS)
While they may seem a bit fancy, the remote grenade's function is completely self-contained; they're grenades that you can detonate remotely at will and aren't set to a fuse time limit.
Tommy can purchase them from Phil Cassidy in Vice City once you've completed the mission "Boomshine Saigon." If you don't want to part with your cash, you can find them in Washington Beach behind a hotel.
LCS has two locations: in the pool of a mansion in Cedar Grove on the island of Shoreside Vale and on the higher level of the Cochrane Dam. VCS has just one spawn point, found behind the Ducum Inn.
4 M60 (GTA: Vice City + LCS)
The M60 is a devastating piece of kit. It's bestowed to the player in VC during the mission "Phnom Penh '86" to clear enemies out of a derelict mansion and can be kept after the completion of the "Gun Runner" mission. You can also buy it from Phil's Place (once he's blown his arm off) for a hefty $8,000 or pick it up from the west guard tower in Fort Baxter Air Base.
Liberty City Stories will reward you for embracing your inner anarchist by depositing this mammoth weapon at your safehouses after completing all rampages in the game. Alternatively, you can get one from the top of a hangar roof at Shoreside Vale airport.
The M60 is a pure powerhouse that combines tremendous damage with a 100 bullet clip, so be sure to add to your arsenal if you get the chance.