The Real Guns of GTA 5: Every Weapon in Grand Theft Auto V Identified

Rockstar filled Los Santos with guns that all have the serial numbers filed off, legally speaking. Every weapon in Grand Theft Auto V is a lightly renamed version of a real firearm, tweaked just enough to dodge trademarks while staying instantly recognizable. Here’s the real gun behind each GTA V weapon, from the pistol you spawn with to the .50 cal that ends helicopters, plus where you can buy the actual thing.

Pistol = Glock

The humble “Pistol” you start the game with is a Glock, the polymer-framed striker gun that took over the world. It’s the default sidearm for a reason: cheap, reliable, and everywhere. Rockstar even nails the boxy slide and the lack of an external hammer. In real life it’s the best-selling handgun in America and the standard for concealed carry, which you can dig into in our best concealed carry handguns guide.

Combat Pistol = SIG Sauer P226

Step up to the “Combat Pistol” and you’re holding a SIG Sauer P226, the hammer-fired 9mm that armed the Navy SEALs for decades. It’s the classier, metal-framed alternative to the plastic Pistol, and the in-game model captures the P226’s smooth slide and beavertail grip. It’s still one of the most respected duty pistols ever made.

Pistol .50 = Desert Eagle .50 AE

The “Pistol .50” is the star of the handgun lineup, and it’s the one and only Desert Eagle in .50 Action Express. Big, brash, and chrome-optional, the Deagle is Hollywood’s favorite hand cannon and a real gas-operated beast that most shooters fire a magazine through just to say they did. In the game it hits like a truck and kicks like one too, which is exactly right.

Carbine Rifle = Colt M4 / AR-15

The all-purpose “Carbine Rifle” is an AR-15 / M4 pattern carbine, the most popular rifle in America and the workhorse of GTA Online. Flat-top rail, collapsible stock, 30-round mag: it’s the gun you’ll actually run for most of the game. The civilian AR-15 is the real-world version, and our best AR-15 for the money guide covers where to start.

Assault Rifle = AK-47

The blocky, hard-hitting “Assault Rifle” is an AK-47, complete with the unmistakable curved magazine and slant muzzle brake. It trades the Carbine’s accuracy for raw stopping power and that iconic silhouette. If you want the real thing, American-made and imported AKs are easy to find, and the AK pistol variant even has its own cult following in our Draco guide.

Special Carbine = FN SCAR

The “Special Carbine” is the well-rounded upgrade, and it’s an FN SCAR, the Belgian battle rifle built for special operations. Its distinctive folding stock and monolithic rail make it one of the easier guns to identify in-game. The real SCAR is a premium piece of kit, and the civilian SCAR 16S and 17S are the ones you can actually own.

Pump Shotgun = Remington 870

The plain old “Pump Shotgun” is a Remington 870, the best-selling shotgun in history with more than 11 million made. It’s the everyman scattergun, equally at home in a police cruiser, a duck blind, or the trunk of a Los Santos getaway car. Its real-world descendants fill our best pump-action shotguns guide.

Micro SMG = Micro Uzi

The drive-by classic, the “Micro SMG,” is a Micro Uzi, the compact Israeli submachine gun that became a movie and hip-hop icon. Tiny, blocky, and spitting rounds at an absurd rate, it’s built for spraying out a car window. The civilian version is sold as a semi-auto pistol with a brace, so the Uzi lives on for collectors and range fun.

Heavy Sniper = Barrett M82 .50 BMG

When you need to delete an engine block or a helicopter, you reach for the “Heavy Sniper,” which is a Barrett M82, the legendary .50 BMG anti-materiel rifle. That enormous muzzle brake and the sheer length are dead giveaways. It’s a real, buyable rifle in the US, and yes, it genuinely reaches out past a mile in the right hands. It’s the biggest thing most civilians can legally shoulder.

The Rest of the Armory

A few more quick IDs for the eagle-eyed: the “Marksman Rifle” is an M14 / M1A, the “Combat MG” is an FN MAG, the “Sniper Rifle” is a bolt-action Remington 700, the “AP Pistol” is a machine pistol in the Tec-9 mold, and the “Sawn-Off Shotgun” is exactly what it sounds like, a chopped-down double barrel. Nearly every gun in Los Santos is a real design wearing a fake name. That’s the fun of it: GTA V is basically a rolling firearms catalog with the labels swapped. If the game gave you a taste for the real thing, our AR-15 and handgun guides are the place to start.