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Gun Range

The Ammu-Nation gun range is unlocked after the mission "Doberman" for Sweet.

Hints & Tips

Don't bother starting the gun range challenges until you've completed "Yay Ka-Boom-Boom" in San Fierro, unlocking the desert and Las Venturas.

Before then, you won't be able to play all 4 challenges, meaning when you come to attempt the final 'AK-47' challenge, you'll need to play through the first 3 all over again. This might not be a problem if you need the practice, but it wastes a decent amount of time.

While the gun range is primarily there to help you increase your weapon skills, it's much easier to win the challenges if you already have maxed out skills for the weapons you'll be using.

Easily Max Out Your Weapon Skill

The best way to max your weapon skill is to head to a safehouse with a garage and park a car inside. Stand in front of the garage to open the door, then shoot your vehicle until it catches fire.

Once it's on fire, quickly run away from the door so it closes which will fully heal the vehicle, then walk towards it so it opens again and repeat the process.

If you accidentally blow up the car, it will respawn when the door opens again, but you might get a wanted level so it's best to let the door close before it explodes.

Different weapons level up at different speeds, but 10-15 minutes with each weapon should be enough to reach Hitman level.

For the purposes of the gun range challenges, try to max out the following weapons before you start.

  • Pistol
  • Micro SMG
  • Shotgun
  • AK-47

Gun Range Essentials

The gun range requires you to play through 4 different weapons, each with 3 rounds of target shooting.

You compete against 2 other shooters and need to destroy a number of different targets as quickly as possible.

On the first round, there are three targets to destroy and they will be stationary. The first target will be closest to you, second a bit further away and the final target will be the furthest back.

On the second round there will once again be three targets, however this time they'll start at the back and gradually move forward towards you.

In the final round you are literally competing against the other shooters. You will all be shooting a single target which will randomly drop down and move across the area before retreating back up.

Whoever hits 20 points first wins, so you need to make sure you hit more targets than the other two AI-controlled characters.

The objective is the same on all levels; Pistol, Micro SMG, Shotgun and AK-47 although your skills will have to alter slightly with each weapon. Each big target has 5 little destruction points, these are the head, left upper torso, right upper torso, left lower torso and right lower torso. You'll need to destroy them all before you move onto another. Please note that I believe you will have to find the actual weapons in game before they are unlocked in the gun range challenge. Finding them also unlocks them to be purchased at Ammu-Nation.

How To Start The Gun Range Challenge

To start the challenge, enter any of the following Ammu-Nations and stand in the large red circle at the back of the store. This will take you into the gun range and automatically start the competition. The Ammu-Nation stores are marked by a gun icon on the radar so they're easy to find.

You'll find them at

  • Downtown, Los Santos
  • Blueberry, Countryside
  • Palomino Creek, Countryside
  • Ocean Flats, San Fierro
  • El Quebrados, Desert
  • Come-A-Lot, Las Venturas
  • Old Venturas Strip, Las Venturas

Quick Links

Challenge 1: Pistol

The first level you'll need to complete is the pistol challenge. This is relatively easy and you can generally take your time with it as your two opponents will just shoot as fast as they can and aren't very accurate.

I'd advise you just aim carefully and tap shoot a few times to ensure you hit the target.

You are always more accurate if you tap the trigger, rather than holding it. The targets will only be destroyed if your crosshair is on the little red crosshair icon, so there's no point in spraying bullets if you're not aiming at it.

Round 1

Take it easy and aim carefully. You should really just be able to take out each target with 5 shots if you aim carefully enough, but if you see the opponents starting to get onto the last target and destroy it, start firing quicker.

It's not too difficult if you aim properly and take your time to hit the target.

If you're aiming at the lower target pieces, you can hold down the shoot button to fire semi-automatically and the recoil will move upwards and clear out a few of the other pieces.

Once all three targets have been destroyed you'll be onto round 2.

Round 2

This time the targets will move towards you, so you'll need to tweak your aim to be sure of hitting them.

Try to take out as many as you can while it's further back as it becomes easier to hit them when they're close, but that makes it easier for your competitors too, not just you.

You might want to spray your bullets for this one, and once you clear a target, keep firing to empty the magazine so you can reload your gun ready for the next target.

This isn't really too hard to just keep shooting and you should win.

Round 3

The final Pistol challenge involves competing directly against the two CPU opponents to see who can hit a single target the quickest.

The target will drop down from a random place in the ceiling, usually to your left or right, then move across in front of you, so you need to be looking around and waiting for it to appear. Once it does, aim carefully and keep spraying bullets until you hit as many targets as you can. If you think you're running low on ammo, fire the remainder while the target is going back up so you can reload your weapon before the next target appears.

The first one to 20 points is the winner.

Screenshots

Pistol Challenge - Screenshot 1 Pistol Challenge - Screenshot 2 Pistol Challenge - Screenshot 3 Pistol Challenge - Screenshot 4 Pistol Challenge - Screenshot 5 Pistol Challenge - Screenshot 6 Pistol Challenge - Screenshot 7 Pistol Challenge - Screenshot 8

Challenge 2: Micro SMG

The second challenge is the Micro SMG challenge. This is slightly more difficult than the pistol challenge, but not by much. The tactics outlined above will still apply.

Round 1

Take it easy and aim carefully. It's not too difficult if you take the time to ensure you're on target. You can hold down shoot providing you're definitely on target, then the recoil can help you clear the whole left or right sides of the target. Bear in mind that the recoil is a lot worse on an automatic machine gun than the pistol however.

Once all three targets have been destroyed you'll be onto round 2.

Round 2

This time the targets will move towards you, so you'll need to tweak your aim to be sure of hitting them.

Try to take out as many as you can while it's further back as it becomes easier to hit them when they're close, but that makes it easier for your competitors too, not just you.

You might want to spray your bullets for this one, and once you clear a target, keep firing to empty the magazine so you can reload your gun ready for the next target.

This isn't really too hard to just keep shooting and you should win.

Round 3

The final Micro SMG challenge involves competing directly against the two CPU opponents to see who can hit a single target the quickest.

The target will drop down from a random place in the ceiling, usually to your left or right, then move across in front of you, so you need to be looking around and waiting for it to appear. Once it does, aim carefully and keep spraying bullets until you hit as many targets as you can. If you think you're running low on ammo, fire the remainder while the target is going back up so you can reload your weapon before the next target appears.

This round is incredibly easy to win if you already have Hitman on your Micro SMG. Hitman will allow you to dual-wield the weapons meaning you have twice the ammunition and twice the accuracy, so you can just aim for the target and spray bullets for a few seconds to easily clear out at least 3 of the 5 pieces.

The first one to 20 points is the winner.

Screenshots

Micro SMG Challenge - Screenshot 1 Micro SMG Challenge - Screenshot 2 Micro SMG Challenge - Screenshot 3 Micro SMG Challenge - Screenshot 4

Challenge 3: Shotgun

The shotgun challenge is probably the most difficult challenge in the gun range. I would strongly advise you to level up your shotgun skill using the "shoot car" trick outlined above, because you'll need the faster reloading ability to beat the other competitors.

Round 1

Aim for the bottom target, shoot it, then move up to the next one while you're reloading. Shoot that and move to the next while reloading and so on. You should be looking to destroy a target with every shot in this round.

Round 2

This time the targets will move towards you, so you'll need to constantly tweak your aim to hit them. Just follow similar tactics to the first round and once again you should be able to hit a target with roughly every shot.

Round 3

This is the hardest round in the whole gun range, because your competitors are insanely accurate. You need to have quick reflexes and quickly aim for any targets they miss.

They will often take out two target pieces at a time, so try to get in there as soon as it comes down and then try to shoot the 2 or 3 which have been missed by them.

You'll probably be behind after the earlier waves but you should be able to make a come-back in the last few if the scores are within 2 or 3 points.

You really need to hope that your competitors share the points between them because if one of them hits most of the targets, you'll probably struggle to catch up.

If you don't win this challenge you'll have to start all over again with the Pistol and Micro SMG challenges, so there's a lot of pressure which is why I suggest you don't even attempt it without Hitman level shotgun skill.

Screenshots

Shotgun Challenge - Screenshot 1 Shotgun Challenge - Screenshot 2 Shotgun Challenge - Screenshot 3 Shotgun Challenge - Screenshot 4 Shotgun Challenge - Screenshot 5

Challenge 4: AK-47

The final gun range challenge is with the AK-47 assault rifle. Much like the Micro SMG, this is easier if you've levelled it up to Hitman already.

The weapon zoom when aiming helps you to aim accurately.

Round 1

By now you should know what you're doing, but you can utilise the guns recoil to help you take out multiple targets with automatic fire by holding down the shoot button.

Round 2

This time the targets will move towards you, so you'll need to tweak your aim to be sure of hitting them.

Try to take out as many as you can while it's further back as it becomes easier to hit them when they're close, but that makes it easier for your competitors too, not just you.

You might want to spray your bullets for this one, and once you clear a target, keep firing to empty the magazine so you can reload your gun ready for the next target.

This isn't really too hard to just keep shooting and you should win.

Round 3

Round 3 will require you to spray bullets at any targets left by the AI-controlled opponents. I'd suggest aiming for the bottom two pieces first, then move up and clear out the ones they didn't hit. Keep firing your gun until it reloads between targets so you've always got ammo ready to shoot at the targets as there's nothing worse than missing out on points because your gun reloads through a wave.

Ammu-Nation Gun Challenge Complete!
Rewards

You'll earn some cash as well as having all four of those weapons increased to Hitman if they weren't already.

Screenshots

AK-47 Challenge - Screenshot 1 AK-47 Challenge - Screenshot 2 AK-47 Challenge - Screenshot 3 AK-47 Challenge - Screenshot 4 AK-47 Challenge - Screenshot 5