Gunrunning is a passive business in GTA Online that allows you to manufacture and sell weapons from an underground bunker. While it can provide a steady income stream, it shouldn’t be your primary money-making method. Expect to make between $39K-$78K per hour from Gunrunning, assuming you steal supplies. For maximum profits, continue running crates or vehicle import/export missions alongside your Gunrunning business.
Overview
Gunrunning Is A Passive Business
Gunrunning has added a bevy of ways to spend your hard earned GTA$, as well as a new mechanic to earn some more, and the first thing to understand is that a Gunrunning business isn’t something you should be pursuing exclusively. It shouldn’t be your primary source of in-game cash and isn’t a replacement for money making activities like running crates or vehicle import/export.
The most you can expect to make from Gunrunning is between $GTA 39K to $GTA 78K per hour (including expenses). That is assuming that all supplies are stolen instead of paid for too. You can see a comparison between money making methods here.
If you feel you’re short of time, switching your Bikers business for Gunrunning is a good choice though. In essence, Gunrunning’s gameplay mechanic is most similar to the Bikers businesses, but operates with larger numbers, both in terms of investment and returns. That said, don’t expect to get a lot of profit from this business early on, since the best thing to do is immediately spend Gunrunning profits on fast-tracking research.
Buy A Bunker
Before you even get into GTA Online’s Gunrunning business, you’ll need a bunker. And to be able to buy a bunker, you’ll need to be either a VIP, CEO or Biker Club President. Being a VIP requires you to have at least GTA$ 1 million.
Back to the bunkers though… much like in the case of warehouses, they are expensive investments, so you’ll want the best value for your cash… which isn’t always the most expensive option.
Your bunker will be your base of operations for all Gunrunning related activities and it’s from here you’ll launch on your Gunrunning missions. There is a garage bay for your Mobile Operations Center (MOC), an HQ section, a weapon workshop and areas for research and production. When buying you’ll have the chance to upgrade your bunker with accommodations, a shooting range and a gun locker, as well as choose from a few different styles of interior style.
Depending on what your preferences are, three bunkers jump out as the best choices: Raton Canyon, Chumash and Route 68.
Raton Canyon
At GTA$ 1.45M Raton Canyon is the second cheapest bunker out of the 11 available, but offers security and seclusion. It’s surrounded by mountains meaning you’ll be protected when lifting off with aerial vehicles, your MOC spawns right outside, it isn’t too far away from resupply missions and while it has access to a highway, a dirt road sits in between meaning it’s far away from any potential griefers. It’s also one of the less popular choices, meaning you’ll be left on your own a fair amount of the time.
Chumash
Chumash (GTA$ 1.65M) loses out on the privacy and safety features, as it’s both exposed and popular. However, the close proximity to the city makes it a good choice for people who need to hop between theirbusinesses and other activities often. Do expect to bump into more rowdy folks around here though.
Route 68
Fewer players swear by this one as the other choices, however Route 68 (1.95m GTA$) has its advantages. Its location puts it closer to where the action is than either Chumash or Raton Canyon, however the downside of that is that you’ll be harried by other players far more often. The Sandy Shores area has four bunkers close to one another, turning it into a hot zone for PvP. You’re more than likely to get griefed every time you exit your bunker here.
Bonus Tip: Avoid the Farmhouse
If you have the cash saved up, it might be easy to fall into the knee-jerk reaction of immediately buying the most expensive bunker, at the Farmhouse. Don’t. Not only will you be paying significantly more – GTA$ 2,375,000 to be exact – for practically no advantages, you’ll also be crowded by aggressive players all the time. If Sandy Shores is a PvP hot zone, then the proximity of the Farmhouse bunker is an actual battlefield.
Bunker Upgrades
When buying a bunker, you’ll have the chance to add some bonuses and upgrades much like in the case of the Executive Offices.
Cosmetic
You can select from three décor options, the default of which doesn’t cost extra. The other two variants cost GTA$ 215,000 and GTA$ 290,000 respectively. In terms of functionality, you can add personal accommodations for GTA$ 265,000, a shooting range in two color variants (black: GTA$ 740,000, white: GTA$ 845,000), a gun locker for GTA$ 175,000 and caddies for either GTA$ 80,000 or GTA$ 120,000.
Performance
Further upgrades are available once you’ve actually bought the bunker, and these are reminiscent of the upgrades you can buy for the warehouses of other businesses, as they increase production efficiency and sell price among others.
The staff upgrade, which costs GTA$ 598,500 and the equipment upgrade which costs a hefty GTA$ 1,155,000, both contribute to this efficiency. In numbers, without upgrades, one unit of supplies is used up in 60 seconds. With both upgrades, that time is extended to 84 seconds. If you have a full bar of supplies and full upgrades, it will deplete in 140 minutes. This means that you’ll need significantly less supplies to produce the same amount of product, which will also be sold at a higher price, giving you a bigger profit margin. The Security Upgrade is also key, and costs GTA$ 351,000.
We absolutely recommend that you buy these upgrades, as the combined cost of GTA$ 2,104,500 will almost break even after a single full product unit run and return profit on the second.
Manufacturing
Research Versus Production
Once you’ve got your bunker and done your first setup mission to get some supplies (setup missions are free and can be started from the Disruption Logistics terminal in your bunker), there are two things to get your employees working on: research and production. Research will unlock new kinds of upgrades that are not available through other means, while production is exactly what it sounds like – actually producing your guns to sell.
You can immediately jump into production, or try to get both balls rolling. However our suggestion is to focus fully on research first before repurposing yourself for production. This guide will assume you take that path.
Research Projects
So, now that you’ve bought your bunker/massive underground supervillain lair, the next step is to start researching the new weapons upgrades the game has to offer. Research projects in Gunrunning give you access to the unlockable new upgrades added in this DLC, including new loadouts for weaponized vehicles, customization options for your Mobile Operations Center and attachments for the revamped gun upgrade system.
Based on how much you’ve upgraded your bunker, researching upgrades will take around 4 to 6 hours each, real time. Now, since there are 45 research projects, and they’re set up in branches (meaning not all are immediately available but have prerequisite research projects that need to be unlocked first), chances are you’ll want to make use of the fast-tracking feature, but note its 3-minute cooldown. It will set you back GTA$ 225,000 to speed up an individual research project.
If you’ve fully upgraded both your staff and equipment, 100 units of arms that you’ve manufactured can be sold for over a million outside of Blaine County, GTA$ $1,050,000 to be precise. Provided you buy all of your supplies for those 100 units for GTA$ 375,000,instead of doing supply missions, you’ll profitGTA$ 675,000 which can be spent on 3 research fast-tracks. Keep in mind that the production of 100 units takes the same time required for 2 or 3 (depending on how much you’ve upgraded your bunker) non-fast-tracked research projects, meaning this way you “win” one project at the expense of Gunrunning profits.
Provided you have enough excess kicking around from Export missions, you can blow through all research relatively quickly and start making actual profits. In total, fast-tracking all projects will set you back a little over GTA$ 10 million. If you’ve saved up prior to Gunrunning like you should have, this might not be too big an investment.
Supply Choices: Steal Or Buy
When supplying your business, you have two options: stealing supplies and buying them. Resupply missions are randomized ways to acquire supplies without having to buy them, however these take up a lot of time and are usually designed around you having a team. You can buy supplies for convenience, however this will reduce your profit margin.
We suggest buying supplies in the long run. You might want to steal them the first few times to work up enough income to get the research projects off your to-do list and to experience the missions themselves since, you know, this is still a game that you play for fun. You’ll pick up 20 units of supplies per supply missions that you run, and if you have an Associate helping, there is a random chance you’ll get multiple 20 unit bundles of supplies.
However, once the business is chugging along nicely, buying supplies is actually more profitable in the grand scheme of things, since that way you can spend the time you’d otherwise spend on resupply missions doing Export missions, for example, which yield more cash.
Your supply bar is equal to 100 units and to buy the supplies it is $GTA 15K per 20 units. So you’ll need to spend GTA$ 75K to get a full bar of supplies ready for manufacturing.
Using Supplies & Producing Stock
Note that research, supply usage and producing stock to sell are all based are time, not around units. So 100 units in does not really mean 100 units out… You need to use the timings in this guide to estimate how much supplies you’ll need to get the amount of stock you want to sell. Also note that when you are doing a Gunrunning mission (either a supply or sell mission) then the whole process is put on pause. So factor that into all your calculations.
Using Supplies
If you’ve completed all the research projects as we’ve suggested then you’ll be free to focus 100% of your staff on production. You’ll use up supplies during manufacturing at the following rates depending on whether you’ve upgraded your bunker or not (see performance under Bunker Upgrades above):
- No upgrades: 1 unit / 60 seconds
- Partial upgrades: 1 unit / approximate 72 seconds
- Full upgrades: 1 unit / 84 seconds
This means that you’ll need to resupply every 1 hour 40 mins with no upgrades (100 minutes) or every 2 hours 20 minutes (140 minutes) with full upgrades.
Producing Stock
In terms of actually producing stock to sell, you bunker can hold 100 units of stock which will be created over time (while you are in GTA Online only, ie NOT if you are playing story mode) at the following rates:
- Non-upgraded Bunker: 1 unit every 10 minutes. Each stock unit is worth GTA$ 5K in Blaine County and 7.5K outside Blaine County (without upgrades). Just under 17 hours for a full bunker.
- Partially upgraded Bunker: 1 unit every 8.5 minutes. Each stock unit is roughly worth GTA$ 6K in Blaine County and 8.5K elsewhere.
- Fully upgraded Bunker:1 unit every 7 minutes. Each stock unit is worth GTA$ 7K in Blaine County and 10.5K beyond. Just under 12 hours for a full bunker.
Selling Your Product
The basic rundown of the Gunrunning business is identical to those in Bikers. You buy or steal supplies, let your business use the supplies to create units of product over time, then sell the units. Selling missions involve a number of delivery cars, a drop-off point and a whole lot of Merryweather mercs in between the two. To facilitate selling, joining SecuroServe and the Open Road is the Disruption Logistics Network, the new in-game system used to access Gunrunning missions.
Starting on research first and only then focusing on actually earning a profit (as we suggest above) is a good idea due to the fact that research uses the same supply pool as production, and also requires the attention of your employees. Naturally, if 100% of your supplies and employees focus is on production and nothing is spent on research, you’ll be selling more product in less time.
Maximum Units & Maximum Profits
The maximum unit capacity of the bunker is 100. When selling, delivery vehicles are able to handle 25 units each, meaning 1-25 units will require one vehicle, 26-50 will require two, 51-76 need three and 76-100 need four.
While technically it would be viable to deliver one vehicle, go back, deliver another, and repeat until you’ve delivered all four, there are usually timers on sell mission which would make this impossible solo. Also, enemy NPCs have trackers targeting the delivery vehicles (not you or other player characters) so while you’re delivering one car the others will likely be destroyed, leaving you with a massive net loss.
There is no advantage to delivering more units at once, so if you’re playing solo, we suggest sticking to lots of 25, but we’ll discuss solo play more extensively later on.
Selling units of product will net different amounts of profit based on where you’re selling, check out the table below for specifics. Out in Blaine County, you’ll be selling for GTA$ 5,000 per unit with no upgrades and GTA$ 7,000 per unit with full upgrades, whereas in Los Santos those numbers grow to GTA$ 7,500 and GTA$ 10,500, respectively.
Blaine County Sale Prices
| Units sold | Price (no upgrades) | Price (all upgrades) |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | $125,000 | $175,000 |
| 50 | $250,000 | $350,000 |
| 75 | $375,000 | $525,000 |
| 100 | $500,000 | $700,000 |
Los Santos Sale Prices
| Units sold | Price (no upgrades) | Price (all upgrades) |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | $187,500 | $262,000 |
| 50 | $375,000 | $524,000 |
| 75 | $562,500 | $786,000 |
| 100 | $750,000 | $1,048,000 |
Do You Need A Group For Gunrunning?
If you’re asking the question whether Gunrunning is viable solo, the answer is yes, but you’ll need to invest more time and money.
While in the long run, buying supplies is the better option compared to stealing them, this might not always be viable. However, resupply missions were designed specifically with multiple players in mind. All are difficult solo, with some being outright impossible. As a solo player, you’ll be forced to buy supplies 100% of the time.
That said, there is a solo-friendly aspect here. Selling more units doesn’t give you a percentage bonus like CEO crates. This means that selling 100 units in one go or 25 units four times will net you the same amount of profit. 1-25 unit sales have only one delivery vehicle, meaning 25 is the optimal number of units to sell solo, you’ll just have to do the missions several times for the same amount of profit.
Weaponized Vehicles
Gunrunning added 6 new weaponized vehicles to the game, some of which are new, while others are militarized versions of existing vehicles. You can get acquainted with these vehicles without having to drop the money through the mobile operations missions, upon which we’ll expand further when touching upon the Mobile Operations Center below. Weaponized vehicles can be bought without owning a bunker beforehand, if you want, via Warstock Cache & Carry.
- Weaponized Tampa (GTA$ 2,108,050/1,585,000 Trade price) – This version of the fan favorite muscle car adds a whole lot of armor and quite the suite of weapons to the vehicle. In the end, that armor doesn’t stack up to much, with full upgrades only offering the same protection as other regular armored vehicles plus a little extra in explosive protection from frontal attacks. But where the Weaponized Tampa shines is offense. You should definitely upgrade the turret to dual miniguns since this will actually allow it to be aimed, as opposed to the fixed single-gun variant. Frontal missiles and rear mortars can be added as well alongside a proximity mine laying feature, making this the single most heavily armed vehicle in GTA Online. You’ll need to keep in mind that it’s quite fragile, though. The Weaponized Tampa can be stored in your garage.
- Half-Track (GTA$ 2,254,350/ 1,695,000 Trade price) – The Half-Track is a variant of the Duneloader with the rear wheels replaced by treads and an anti-aircraft turret stuck on the rear. This vehicle is heavily armored, taking as many rounds as an Insurgent Pickup and upgrades can completely bulletproof the windows. The turret fires non-explosive ammo and the upgrade to it doesn’t change its mechanics, you’re just getting a straight upgrade of the same weapon type. However, the Half-Track is a bit of an enigma. Even though it’s billed as an anti-aircraft vehicle, since the turret position isn’t armored explosives can kill the turret operator while leaving the vehicle itself unharmed, making this somewhat ineffective agains aerial vehicles equipped with missiles. The weapon is, however, effective against enemies on foot and unarmored cars. But here you run into the issue of aiming, since the gun can’t be angled downwards. Of course, if both turret operator and driver are skilled, this can still tear up a Hydra before it gets in a good shot to kill the operator. The Half-Track can be stored in your garage.
- Oppressor (GTA$ 3,524,500/ 2,650,000 Trade price) – This has to be the single most fun addition to the game this DLC yielded. The Oppressor is a flying, jet-powered bike. It has no armor, but good luck to anything other than another Oppressor actually hitting you. You should definitely upgrade the machine guns to missiles, since the latter are homing and do massive damage. This thing is a fantastic Hydra deterrent, and will make short work of just about anything else – it’s absolutely worth the asking price. The Oppressor can be stored in your garage or MC Clubhouse
- APC (GTA$ 3,092,250/ 2,325,000 Trade price) – The APC is another vehicle which, though geared against aircraft, is most effective against ground vehicles. The default tank turret does more damage out of the two configurations but has a much lower rate of fire, meaning the SAM turret is the better damage dealer overall. That said, the APC isn’t too well armored even with upgrades, meaning that aircraft missiles will likely kill it before it kills the attacking aircraft. Not to mention that the SAM turret can’t aim steeply upwards. Proximity mines are available for this vehicle as well. The APC can be stored in your garage.
- AA Trailer (GTA$ 1,862,000/ 1,400,000 Trade price) – This is the only vehicle actually useful against aerial targets. The flak cannon turret is the best choice, as it fires 2-round bursts which is already enough to take out pretty much everything in the game. That said, it is vulnerable against explosives so you need to make sure you get those shots in first. Also very effective against ground targets. The AA trailer must be stored in your bunker and comes with a free Vapid Sadler which you can use to tow it.
- Dune FAV (GTA$ 1,130,500/ 850,000 Trade price) – The Dune FAV’s price is pretty good indication of how useful it is compared to the other vehicles. Armor may as well be cosmetic, and the minigun is more or less the only useful weapon choice with this vehicle. It’s only useful against unarmored targets. The Dune FAV can be stored in your garage.
Mobile Operations Center
The Mobile Operations Center is Gunrunning’s way of one-upping itself in terms of comical supervillain characteristics. If the bunker wasn’t enough, you can also own a massive armored truck with a small HQ in the trailer.
You’ll need to own a bunker before buying a MOC from Warstock Cache & Carry and depending on which modules you choose, the price will fluctuate between GTA$ 1,225,000 and GTA$ 2,790,000. The MOC is essential for launching Mobile Operations missions, and is a great way to ensure safety when out and about in the game world.
Right after making money, your second concern should be saving money. One thing that is easy to forget is that the weaponized vehicles can be bought at a discount if you complete their Mobile Operations mission from your MOC. While at first glance the discounts aren’t massive, if you plan on buying multiple ones, they add up – plus, you know, the missions are fun!
Speaking of the Mobile Operations Center, there are a number of modules available with only a limited number of slots. You’ll blow through a lot of cash if you’ll buy each just to try them out and put together a configuration you like. There exists an optimal config for the MOC which you can just hit from the get go without wasting cash on the other components.
It goes like this: There are three slots in the MOC and a total of five modules. The personal quarters are absolutely useless, since players already have plenty of properties, plus the bunker has accommodations as well. The best combo is the Command Center paired with the Weapon & Vehicle Workshop, the latter of which takes up two slots. The Weapon Workshop exists as a one-slot standalone, however the personal vehicle storage is hardly as useful as the Vehicle Workshop.
Mobile Operations Missions
Mobile Operations missions can be launched from you MOC if you have either the HQ or the Accommodations module installed. These missions each focus on one of the weaponized vehicles added with the update, and like Special Vehicle missions, completing them will shave off a percentage from the purchase price of the relevant vehicle while also giving you a chance to try them out without having to buy them. In total, there are 8, and they unlock sequentially based on how many times you’ve resupplied your bunker.
Severe Weather Patterns: Dune FAV (2 resupplies)
Intercept and take down Merryweather air supply lines in Blaine County. Weaponized Dune buggies will be issued to the team and should be returned upon completion.
Severe Weather Patterns has your group use two Dune FAVs to take out a series of Merryweather cargo aircraft. Your first target is a lone cargobob at Sandy Shores, followed by another escorted by a Buzzard near Harmony. Things start escalating with a Titan escorted by a Mesa taking off from the Sandy Shores airfield, after which you’ll go after another Titan escorted by Froggers heading towards Sandy Shores. Finally, there will be a last helicopter flying over the highway, but this time Merryweather will try intercepting you with Mesas. To finish the mission, you’ll need to return the Dune FAVs to the drop-off point.
Half-Track Bully: Half-Track (4 Resupplies)
Infiltrate enemy agent base of ops and limit their power by securing a Weaponized Half-track from their fleet. Vehicle to be returned to friendlies.
This mission begins with the team getting into a Dinghy and going to the retrieval point. In a military complex, there is Half-Track stored among enemy agents. One player will need to reach the vehicle and begin hacking with the SecuroServe app while staying in range, during which the other players will have to provide cover from the waves of enemies approaching. Once the hack is complete, you need to get into the vehicle and being driving to the drop off point. The route will take you through Los Santos, and throughout the chase you’ll be up against a total of 2 Valkyries, 5 Buzzards and 8 Fugitives.
Exit Strategy: Nightshark Anti-Aircraft Trailer (6 Resupplies)
Protect the nations’s important allies/customers as they try to depart LSIA by private plane and helicopter. Turreted Trailers will be provided for the purpose, and should be returned.
This mission has your team grab one of all three configurations of the AA Trailer with the task of protecting three VIP NPCs who will board planes. All three will be attacked both in the air and on the ground, but the aerial attackers will be your biggest worry. The VIPs will be distributed throughout the area of LSIA and will arrive sequentially so you only ever have to worry about one of them at a time. Once all three are safe, the players will have to deliver the trailers to a drop-off point at Cypress Flats.
Offshore Assets: APC (8 Resupplies)
Making use of the amphibious nature of the APC, you’ll be retrieving valuable cargo from a downed ship while enemies try to take you out.
Cover Blown: MOC (10 Resupplies)
This mission has you retrieve a MOC and deliver it to a drop off point intact while large numbers of enemies pursue you armed with amped missiles.
Mole Hunt: Weaponized Tampa (12 Resupplies)
In Mole Hunt you’ll be using a weaponized Tampa to hunt down a rogue agent. The agent’s location is masked by signal jammers, which will be your first target. After taking these out, you’ll be able to pinpoint the location of your target and hunt them down before they make their escape.
Data Breach: Oppressor (14 Resupplies)
This is probably the most fun mission of the lot, so naturally it’s one of the last. Enemy agents stole confidential data using Oppressor bikes, which you need to steal and deliver back to the drop-off zone.
Work Dispute: Oppressor (Completion of Data Breach)
Your enemies have gotten themselves their own MOC. Of course, this cannot stand, so Agent 14 sends you out on some missile-equipped flying bikes to take care of the problem, as well as any ground support escorting the rogue MOC.
MK-II Weapon Customization
Gunrunning has revamped the customization and upgrade system for six weapons in the Gunrunning update. The Pistol, SMG, Combat MG, Assault Rifle, Heavy Sniper and Carbine Rifle can now be upgraded with a much wider array of attachments and cosmetic options.
The weapon upgrade costs are as follows:
- Pistol Mark II – GTA$ 73,750
- SMG Mark II – GTA$ 85,500
- Assault Rifle Mark II – GTA$ 98,750
- Carbine Rifle Mark II – GTA$ 107,500
- Combat MG Mark II – GTA$ 119,000
- Heavy Sniper Mark II – GTA$ 165,000
These need to be researched at your bunker, which we covered previously, and mostly include new weapon color schemes, finishes, scopes, ammo types, under-barrel attachments and suppressors. The new ammo types and scopes will be the most useful new upgrades, as the scopes include night-vision and thermal variants which will give you an edge in combat.
The ammo types are the true stars of this feature, however. Incendiary rounds give you an edge in on-foot PvP as your shots no longer simply deal instant damage, but will cause additional damage over time, meaning even if your enemies take cover after getting hit, they might still die after the fact. The Heavy Sniper’s explosive ammo takes the cake though, as 2 shots are enough to blow up a Hydra, and just about anything else.
Tracer rounds leave trails evoking the tint and livery of the weapon being used, helping with aiming. Hollow Point rounds and Full Metal Jacket rounds cause more damage to unarmored and armored targets, respectively. Explosive rounds are, well, rather self-explanatory.
Other Profit Maximising Tips
Based on this, you’ve all you need to maximize your profits from the Gunrunning business. However here’s some additional tips that we’ll add to as they are discovered…
fa*ggio Boost
Since the Oppressor, the jet-powered bike, is registered as a bike by the game and not as a vehicle of a separate class, the MC formation function works, and others riding in your formation will match speed even when rocket-boosting. Grab a few mates, hop on your Oppressor, have them mount fa*ggios and proceed to make the day of everyone else in your lobby.
