Mafia III Guns: Every Weapon & How to Get Them

Lincoln Clay's war for New Bordeaux runs on firepower, and understanding the full arsenal of Mafia III guns is the difference between a clean racket takeover and a reload screen full of regret. The 1968 setting gives you everything from Vietnam-era M16s to vintage Tommy guns, but the game's inventory system only lets you carry one long gun and one sidearm at a time. That single restriction makes every Mafia III guns choice matter — you can't hoard a small armory in your pockets. This guide breaks down the best weapons in the game, how to unlock them, and which loadouts actually work in the field.

Related Mafia III guides you may find useful:

• Mafia 3 Missions List: All Story Chapters by District
• Mafia III Missions List — All Story & Optional Chapters
• Mafia 3 Burke: Districts, Rackets & Best Ending

How the Mafia III Weapon System Works

Before you chase down specific guns, you need to understand the rules Hangar 13 built around them. The system is stricter than Mafia II and rewards planning over hoarding.

One Long Gun, One Sidearm

Lincoln can carry exactly one long gun (rifles, shotguns, SMGs, machine guns, launchers) and one sidearm (pistols, revolvers, and a few compact SMGs and sawed-off shotguns). This mirrors the original Mafia and later returned in Mafia: Definitive Edition.

Shared Ammo Categories

Ammo is pooled by category rather than by individual weapon:

That last category is the odd one — submachine guns, assault rifles, and the M60 all feed from the same reserve. It means a dropped Uzi can top off your M60, which is genuinely useful during long racket assaults.

Dead Cops Drop Nothing

Weapons carried by New Bordeaux Police Department officers vanish when they go down, presumably to discourage random rampages. Sinclair Parish Sheriff's deputies don't follow this rule, so Faster, Baby! DLC territory is a better place to scavenge.

The Best Handguns in Mafia III

Your sidearm is the gun you'll fire most, so pick it deliberately.

Colt Python ("Masterson Phoenix")

The .357 Magnum revolver is the community favorite for good reason. It hits for 47% damage per shot — the highest of any handgun — and late-game mobsters carry it too, so ammo is rarely scarce. Lincoln's journal and the Steam community thread both note it's the go-to "Dirty Harry" pick.

AMP Auto Mag Model 180 ("Clipper .44")

Burke hands this over as a favor for the third racket takeover. It's the most expensive semi-auto pistol from the arms dealer at $30,000 if you miss the favor. Damage matches the MAB PAP F1, and it's a rare, flashy choice — though it's mildly anachronistic since the real Auto Mag didn't enter production until 1970.

MAB PAP F1 ("Blackburn FAF-33")

The top-tier semi-auto pistol. It deals the same damage as the Clipper .44 despite firing 9mm, and late-game mobsters in the French Ward, Frisco Fields, and Southdowns carry it regularly. One spawns near the M60 at the Federal Bank during the prologue.

Smith & Wesson Model 19 ("Alfredsson M200")

Standard NBPD issue and a solid early pickup. It only does 38% damage per shot, so treat it as a stepping stone rather than a keeper.

Quick Handgun Comparison

Shotguns: Close-Quarters Kings

Shotguns dominate indoor racket clears. Note that every shotgun in the game plays a pump-racking sound after a hip-fired shot — even the lever-action and semi-auto models.

• Remington 870 ("Barker 390") — Common on low-level mobsters and available from the arms dealer's van. Reliable early-game workhorse.
• Ithaca 37 ("Cornell 40") — Mid-game mob gun with a riot barrel and pistol grip.
• Mossberg 500 ("Riot 550") — Late-game upgrade with an extended tube.
• Remington 1100 ("Barker 1500 Tactical") — Cassandra's favor during the fifth racket takeover. Semi-auto, so it cycles fast.
• Sawed-Off Double Barrel ("Lupara") — A sidearm-slot shotgun. Two shells, devastating up close.
• Winchester Model 1887 ("Elmwood 1925") — The Terminator 2 flip-cock is in the game. It's a sidearm-slot shotgun and a rare drop from mid-game goons.

Submachine Guns and Automatic Weapons

This is where the shared ammo pool starts paying dividends.

Top SMG Picks

The silenced OSS M3 ("Silenced M1N8") is offered by Cassandra during the first racket takeover, or purchasable from the arms dealer after the first sitdown. It's the best early stealth option.

Assault Rifles and the M60

• AKM ("Pasadena AR30") — The late-game mob standard. Vito, the Butcher, and Alvarez all carry it. Historically rare in 1968 America, but the game doesn't care.
• Colt M16A1 ("Stromer .223") — Burke's favor at the fifth racket takeover, or found in a CIA safehouse during Stones Unturned. It out-damages and out-ranges the M60 despite the smaller cartridge.
• M60 ("Hartmann 7.62") — First appears during the prologue's Federal Reserve robbery. Its ammo reserve refills from dropped SMGs and rifles, so you can sustain it almost indefinitely.

Sniper Rifles and Racket Enforcers

Racket Enforcers carry the best scoped weapons, so hunting them is worth your time.

The SVT-40 is a community favorite because it doubles as a medium-range semi-auto headshot tool and a scoped sniper rifle with a quick swap. Its only real drawback is ammo consumption, as one Steam player noted.

Launchers, Grenades, and Explosives

Heavy ordnance comes almost entirely through favors and DLC.

• M72A1 LAW ("Hartmann AT-40") — Cassandra's final racket favor. Also obtainable during the Royal Hotel mission.
• M79 ("Hartmann HLP") — Burke's final racket favor.
• China Lake Launcher ("GL KORSKY") — Stones Unturned DLC.
• RPG-7 ("RPG KORSKY") — Stones Unturned DLC.
• M67 Frag Grenade — Unlocked with the first "IRA Bomber" perk level.
• C4 — Deployable charges unlock at the second "IRA Bomber" perk level.
• Molotov Cocktail — Available from the start and the most common enemy throwable.

How to Unlock Weapons: Favors and the Arms Dealer

Most top-tier Mafia III guns come from one of two sources.

Racket Takeover Favors

Each of the three underbosses — Burke, Cassandra, and Vito — grants a weapon as a favor tied to specific racket takeovers:

The Arms Dealer

Once the arms dealer's van unlocks after the first sitdown, you can buy weapons directly. The S&W 39 ("Alfredsson M419") is given free at that point, and the Auto Mag costs $30,000 if you skipped Burke's favor. The dealer also sells the S&W 76 ("Alfredsson M833") as a slower-firing alternative to the Thompson.

Community-Reported Loadouts That Work

Player experience on the Steam forums points to a few reliable combinations:

• Uzi + SVT-40 — Covers close, medium, and long range. The main downside is burning through ammo fast.
• Silenced pistol + AKM — The classic stealth-then-chaos setup.
• Silenced MAC-10 + M60 — DLC-heavy but brutal in open firefights.
• Masterson Phoenix + M1 Carbine — A strong early-game pairing; several players argue the M1 Carbine outperforms the "better" M1 Garand.

For more on the game and its Definitive Edition content, check the official Mafia III page on Steam.

Final Thoughts

The best Mafia III guns aren't necessarily the most expensive ones — they're the ones that fit how you play. If you favor stealth, silenced pistols and the Skorpion carry you. If you prefer open warfare, the M16A1 and M60 with a shared ammo pool will keep you firing longer than anything else. Grab the racket favors early, keep the arms dealer in mind, and you'll never be caught undergunned in New Bordeaux.