Project Zomboid guns: where to find guns in Project Zomboid
Learn where to find guns in Project Zomboid
Want to know where to find guns in Project Zomboid? Guns are extremely loud in Project Zomboid, making them very dangerous weapons - both to yourself and the zombies around you. However, if you like to live dangerously and the classic zombie apocalypse fantasy of firing your pistol into hordes of the undead as they clamber through the windows is just too tempting for you, then you’ll want to know where to find guns in Project Zomboid.
Below, we’ll cover everything you need to know to find guns in Project Zomboid, including potential spawn locations for guns and ammo, as well as some important pointers for using guns and how to get better accuracy in Project Zomboid.
Where to find guns in Project Zomboid
There are three kinds of guns in Project Zomboid: handguns, shotguns, and rifles. It's worth noting that all guns are rare in Project Zomboid, and that even the most common firearms are hard to come by in the overall Project Zomboid loot distribution.
If you want to find a gun, the best place to go is a gun store or police station. Gun stores will almost definitely have guns stocked somewhere, while police station armories can have firearms along with an assortment of melee weapons. Gun stores should also have plenty of ammo around for you to take, too. If you want to find your nearest gun store, use the Project Zomboid map project. However, these locations are usually swarming with zombies and could have alarms on the door or windows, so be cautious when looting them.
Fortunately, some guns do spawn in places that aren't so busy with zombies. Pistols are the most common firearm in Project Zomboid,as you can find them in most containers, including house cupboards, wardrobes, dressers, and crates. You can also find them on zombie corpses (more commonly on police officer zombies). They spawn very rarely, but can potentially show up just about anywhere in Project Zomboid. Shotguns are harder to find, but they spawn in the same locations as pistols.
Rifles, meanwhile, are extremely rare in Project Zomboid, so you won't find these in the early days of the apocalypse. The most likely place to find a rifle is in the military base, at an army checkpoint, or inside police stations, but these, too, tend to be crawling with zombies. If you want to go to one of these places, we recommend looting houses until you find a pistol or shotgun, so that you can use those guns to clear hordes while hunting for a rifle.
How to use guns in Project Zomboid
Since Project Zomboid is an in-depth apocalypse simulation, guns are a little more complicated than just point and shoot.
You can store any gun in your backpack or player inventory, but they're quite heavy and take up a lot of space. Instead, we recommend using a holster for small guns and attaching big guns to your back. You don't need any equipment to attach shotguns and rifles to your back, so simply right-click them in your inventory to find this option. To find a holster for a pistol, we suggest heading to the nearest police station and searching around in locker rooms or on dead police zombies.
When you've got a gun, you'll need to check if it has any ammo. To do this, head to your inventory and hover over the weapon. In the info panel that pops up, you'll see the current ammo count for the gun listed. This only includes bullets that are currently loaded into your gun, not ammo in your inventory. To load ammo into a pistol or rifle, you'll need some rounds and a magazine. Just right-click on the magazine in your inventory and select load bullets into magazine. You can then insert this loaded magazine into your gun by pressing the R key to reload.
Shotguns are a little easier, as you don't need a magazine. To load a shotgun, simply equip it in both hands and press the R key. If you have any shells in your inventory, your character will automatically load them into the shotgun.
How to increase accuracy in Project Zomboid
If you want to use guns, you'll need to increase your accuracy. By default, your character in Project Zomboid will be extremely inaccurate and fail to hit most zombies when shooting. To improve your accuracy and make guns much better, you need to level up the aiming skill. Unfortunately, you can only earn aiming XP by shooting enemies, making it extremely difficult to level.
We recommend only leveling the aiming skill when you're away from your base. If you shoot zombies near your base, the noise could attract hordes and get you killed. However, Project Zomboid character builds using the police officer or veteran occupation will start with a higher aiming skill level.
That’s everything you need to know about guns in Project Zomboid. If you want more help with surviving the apocalypse, check out our Project Zomboid tips and tricks. If you've been shot by another player, or received any other injury, take a look at our Project Zomboid infections and illness guide to learn how to heal your character.