Way of the Hunter 2 Weapons: Every Gun, Bow & Caliber

By Rowan Ashby · Updated October 4, 2026

The official site says Way of the Hunter 2 has over 20 firearms, rifles and shotguns in several calibers, unlocked over time, plus bows and crossbows. There is no full public list from the studio, so this page collects every weapon the demo notes and patch notes name. If a caliber was never stated, we say so instead of guessing.

Rifles

Other rifles appear in fix notes without a caliber: Primacy Classic 1907 (can take a suppressor), Primacy Precision, Primacy Carbon Special, Primacy Morning Silence (iron sights), and Primacy Rasenbaum. Patch 1.1 also lists ammo for .45-70 Government and .300 Winchester Magnum, so rifles in those calibers exist even though their names are not in the notes.

Shotguns

Update 0.4.0 also added shotgun choke (the Primacy Long Range Choke attachment). A tighter choke keeps pellets together for longer shots; an open choke spreads them for close birds. The claim screen shows a pellet spread graph after a shotgun kill.

Bows and crossbows

Bows and crossbows got alternate ammo in Update 0.5.0. Patch 1.1 notes that the Buffden Apex Predator with a mounted scope has higher mouse sensitivity while zoomed, and that the host using it in co-op can crash the session.

Suppressors

A suppressed shot “greatly reduces animal alertness”: distant animals usually become only slightly alerted instead of bolting. Muzzle brakes are planned after 1.0.

Which gun for which animal

Animals are rated tier 1 to 8 and weapons carry a tier badge in the shop. The rule is to use a weapon whose tier covers the animal’s tier. We do not list a tier for each gun here because the studio has not published one and the shop is the authority.

What the game itself tells you:

• Mikael’s mission One shot, no waste explains that larger animals need more effective firearms, or you lose meat to damage from the ammunition.
• The mission MooseNews asks for a moose (tier 8) killed with one shot of .338 Lapua Magnum, so that caliber is clearly meant for the top tier.
• Update 0.4.0 rebalanced lethal damage so that high-energy calibers kill more reliably even without hitting a vital organ.

One creator’s shop footage (ronMctube, September 2026, Experimental branch) shows two tier ranges: the starter Primacy Classic Hunter MK II covers tiers 3 to 5, and the Primacy Safari Elite (.375 H&H) covers tiers 7 to 9, at $4,150. That range also tells you Kilimaya has animals above tier 8. Treat these as a single source until the shop is checked again.

To answer “what rifle covers tier 6 and 7” for your own save: open the shop’s weapon tab, read the tier badge on each rifle, and compare it with the tiers on the animal list (mule deer 6, grizzly and elk 7). Ammo type also changes how a bullet performs; see ammo change.

Optics worth knowing

Scopes named in the notes include the Zeiss V8 1.8-14x50 and 2.8-20x56, Bushnell Engage 3-9x40, Primacy Vision Unity 1-4x24 (needed for the “Weather Extremes” mission), Primacy Vision Pillar 4-16x50 and DD Optics V10 1.5-15x40. For night: thermal monocular Terra Observer Mono, thermal clip-ons Terra Prometheus, Zeiss DTC 3/25 and DTC 3/38, and digital night-vision scopes. Binoculars range from Overgaard 8x to the Zeiss Conquest HDX 15x56.

Next: how ammo change works.

Sources: Steam demo announcement (Feb 23, 2026), patch notes 0.1.0 to 1.1, Heirloom Pack store page, official game site, checked October 4, 2026.