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Rust: Top 10 Best Guns

Player vs player combat is the way of life in rust, it’s kill or be killed. For most players, getting a base going is no trouble at all, it’s only once that base starts to get a bit of attention does it become an issue and you have to defend your gear.

While it is possible to defend your base using only a bow, you should work towards obtaining a significant armory.

This will provide a huge advantage for your defenses, allowing you to use whatever weapon you need for the situation at hand.

These guns are not easy to obtain though, you’ll need to loot it off a corpse or spend days struggling to find the required parts.

For this reason, easiness to obtain does affect rankings, although not by much.

Here’s the top 10 best weapons in Rust!

 


BONUS: Crossbow

Easiest way to get: Craft at a Tier 1 Workbench (Bandit Camp/Outpost if you don’t have one) using 200 Wood, 50 Metal Fragments & 2 Rope.

Recommended Attachments: No attachments needed

Had to include this, at least for you solo/duo players. Every player should become proficient with the crossbow.

With a base damage of 60, each crossbow shot will hit unarmored targets like a truck.

Bow fights are common in Rust, with the crossbow sacrificing rate-of-fire for higher damage and the ability to reload while sprinting.

Take a shot, then take cover to reload or sprint to a better position.

With good evasion skills, competent aim, and a bit of luck, you’ll be able to best most of the other guns on this list in a fight!

 


10. Thompson

Thompson, one of the best guns in Rust

Easiest way to get: Locked Crate & Airdrops

Recommended Attachments: Weapon Flashlight

Requiring a tier 2 workbench, 10 high-quality metal, 100 wood, a spring, and SMG body, Thompsons are pretty easy to acquire.

However, a magazine size of 20 means you need to make every shot count. With 37 damage per shot, medium to long-range fire-fights may put you at a disadvantage.

Thankfully the Thompson is cheap to produce and a go-to for many players.

 


9. Pump Shotgun

Pump Action Shotgun, one of the best guns in Rust

Easiest way to get: Airdrops

Recommended Attachments: Flashlight

Not many things are more satisfying than one-shotting an enemy at close range.

All shotguns can do this but the pump variant is much better, as it has a faster fire rate, holds more rounds, and is simple to craft. You can easily acquire this gun with 15 high-quality metal, 2 metal pipes, and a spring.

Yep, that’s it.

As you can see, it more than deserves to make the top 5 on the list!

 


8. Bolt-Action Rifle

Bolt Action Rifle, one of the best guns in Rust

Easiest way to get: Locked Crate

Recommended Attachments: Lasersight16x Zoom

The bolt-action rifle is one of the best long-range weapons in the game.

Possessing insanely high damage, range, and accuracy, it’s a sniper’s wet dream.

With such insane effectiveness comes an insane cost, 30 high-quality metal is the main culprit.

The rifle body, 5 metal pipes, and 2 metal springs are uncommon but getting so much high-quality metal can be a chore.

Congratulations if you do manage to craft this beauty and enjoy your cross-map headshots!

 


7. MP5A4

MP5A4, one of the best guns in Rust

Easiest way to get: Locked Crate

Recommended Attachments: Silencer, Lasersight & Holosight

Overall, this entry deserves its place as it’s the best SMG available.

Unfortunately, sub-machine guns have issues in Rust as they tend to be out-performed at all but close to medium range.

However, the MP5A4 is nothing to turn your nose up at, you can craft it yourself so it’s a good medium-tier weapon until you can reach the higher entries on this list!

 


6. Spas-12

SPAS-12, one of the best guns in Rust

Easiest way to get: Locked Crate

Recommended Attachments: Flashlight

Introduced far more recently than many of the other weapons on this list, the Spas-12 is a powerful semi-automatic shotgun that can cover entire areas in buckshot.

A crazy max-damage of 136 combined with a fire-rate of 180 is mind-boggling, but there’s a justification for such power.

With just a 5% of obtaining this gun in a supply drop and a 1% chance of a military tunnel scientist dropping it, you’ll probably never own one.

Such a pity too, but it’s fair when you look at the insane damage it can produce.

 


5. Python

Easiest way to get: Military Crates

Recommended Attachments: Flashlight

The Python hits like a truck, very few weapons can compare to it in terms of damage.

Two shots are required to down your opponent, such damage is way too good to pass up.

It has weaknesses, of course, high recoil makes it difficult to land multiple shots. It also has only 6 shots per magazine and a fairly long reload time.

It requires skill and precision to use, something which other guns don’t need as much.

 


4. LR-300 Assault Rifle

LR-300, one of the best guns in Rust

Easiest way to get: Locked Crate

Recommended Attachments: Lasersight & Holosight

Sporting high damage, accuracy, and fire-rate, the LR-300 is a great choice in all situations.

It’s one of the coolest looking guns in the entire game and is arguably the most reliable and versatile. Of course, such an awesome weapon is really hard to get hold of as it’s only found in crates, airdrops, and attack helicopters.

You’ll often expend many valuable resources to get your hands on this gun.

 


3. L96

Easiest way to get: APC Crate, dropped by the Bradley tank.

Recommended Attachments: Lasersight16x Zoom

Far more accurate than the bolt-action rifle, the L96 is an uncraftable weapon found most commonly in elite crates, supply drops and locked crates.

Deals 80 damage per shot, with a rate-of-fire of 23. Lower damage over time than the craftable sniper but you’re more likely to hit your shots at range. Faster reload time helps as well.

Overall it’s one of the most satisfying weapons in Rust. Roof camping has never been more fun!

 


2. Assault Rifle

AK is by far the best gun in Rust!

Easiest way to get: Locked Crate

Recommended Attachments: Lasersight

The Assault Rifle, otherwise known as the AK, is easily one of the best all-round weapons in the entire game.

It’s definitely a late-game weapon, you can’t enjoy such awesomeness after 20 minutes of game time.

Its potency in combat is almost unrivaled, with high damage & rate of fire allowing it to perform at all ranges.

Unlike most other late-game weapons, the crafting cost is reasonable and shouldn’t bear too much weight on your resources.

Reliability, versatility, and combat capabilities are the reason this weapon is number 2!

 


1. M249

M249, one of the best guns in Rust

Easiest way to get: APC Crate, dropped by the Bradley tank.

Recommended Attachments: Lasersight & Holosight. Some players do like to add a Silencer too.

The M249 has a huge magazine capacity of 100, crazy high damage, and a high rate of fire. 

The downsides are its high reload time and exceptional recoil. It’s genuinely an absolute monster to control. 

Best used for base defenses, or taking down the patrol helicopter. A decent player wielding an M249 on a shooting floor is almost impossible to counter.

Franklin Roosevelt

Wednesday 14th of July 2021

All rifles are assault rifles, depends which end you are on.

Ryan McKenna

Sunday 18th of July 2021

The AK is specifically called Assault Rifle in Rust lol

Hogeco

Tuesday 27th of April 2021

Great Article. It helped me. Not understanding the rude comments but you handle them with professionalism!

Me

Tuesday 12th of January 2021

Db deserves at least top 5

Ryan McKenna

Thursday 14th of January 2021

Great weapon for sure!

Out-classed by the Pump and SPAS, though. The DB is easier to get early on but I couldn't find a spot on the list, with so many other good weapons.

Me

Tuesday 12th of January 2021

I have only one question Did the autor of this article ever played rust? And also he is a roofcamper Pure toxicity

Ryan McKenna

Thursday 14th of January 2021

1000 hours on vanilla/battlefield servers :)

And no, not a roofcamper!

Generally, I try to be friendly to players. They tend to not be friendly, so my trusty Pythons, Thompsons and Crossbows help me there.

Levi Prewett

Saturday 16th of June 2018

Did you actually play the game or just look up stats?

Ryan McKenna

Monday 18th of June 2018

Of course I play :) both vanilla and Battlefield servers. However, I made this list a while ago and things have changed. I'll need to update it soon!