Amid the dust and roar of the frontier, ammo runs dry as quickly as rumors fade-master the reloads, reclaim your firepower, and rewrite the chase through the untamed west.
Ammo can be refilled in four main ways. The most obvious one is to visit a store. You don’t need to go to a Gunsmith. Ammo can also be bought at a, i.e. General Store. These items aren’t expensive. Besides regular ammo, you can also purchase more expensive types which can be useful in, i.e. hunting or dealing more damage.
The second option is to search locations and corpses. Stand next to a corpse to refill ammo. You don’t even have to search a corpse. Try to always walk around a “battlefield” after every larger fight.
Another way is to refill ammo in the gang hideout. In default, you can only refill ammo for your pistols and revolvers. Purchase hideout upgrades from Ammunition and Arms category to unlock more types of ammo.
The first upgrade gives you repeater ammo and arrows. Buy the second upgrade to collect knives, carbine and shotgun ammo.
The last option is to craft ammo. You can do that by visiting any campfire. Open the crafting wheel. This is the best method of getting special ammo at a small cost. Arthur receives a few recipes at the beginning of the second chapter, i.e. you can craft explosive ammo. More recipes can be found in the later parts of the game.
How to craft special ammo at a campfire
To craft special ammo at a campfire in Red Dead Redemption 2, you need the correct recipe pamphlet, the base ammo, and the required extra ingredients, then select the ammo in the crafting menu while sitting at a campfire. Below is a concise breakdown of how it works.
Basic crafting steps
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Sit at any campfire, open the crafting menu, and move to the Ammo tab to see what special rounds you can make based on recipes you’ve learned.
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In most cases you must have already bought the base ammo (regular or express) from a shop and acquired the recipe pamphlet before the special variant shows up in the list.
Common special bullet types
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Split Point: Crafted by combining regular bullets with a hunting knife, improving damage and accuracy compared to standard rounds.
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Explosive ammo: Crafted by combining Express cartridges with Animal Fat, massively increasing damage and causing an explosive impact.
Special shotgun shells
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You first buy shells or slugs at a gunsmith, then use them at the campfire to craft variants.
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Incendiary Buckshot: Combine regular shotgun shells with Moonshine to create shells that set enemies on fire and deal more damage.
Special arrow types
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Small Game Arrow: Regular arrow + Flight Feather + Shotgun Shell; used to kill small animals without ruining pelts.
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Poison Arrow: Regular arrow + Flight Feather + Oleander Sage; deals damage over time.
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Fire Arrow: Regular arrow + Flight Feather + Animal Fat; boosts damage and ignites targets.
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Explosive Arrow: Regular arrow + Flight Feather + Dynamite; creates a powerful explosion on impact.
Extra tips
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Many special ammo and throwable types (like Fire Bottles and Volatile Fire Bottles) also require recipes bought from a Fence before they appear in the campfire crafting list.
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Always keep an eye out for Animal Fat, Moonshine, Dynamite, feathers, and plants like Oleander Sage, since these are the key ingredients for most special rounds and arrows.
Where to buy ammo recipe pamphlets from fences
Ammo recipe pamphlets are bought from any Fence in Red Dead Redemption 2 once you reach the required story chapter or mission unlock, and then they appear in that Fence’s shop inventory under “Pamphlets.”
Where to buy pamphlets
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Fences are found in locations like Emerald Ranch, Saint Denis, Van Horn, and Rhodes, and each can sell the same set of craftable ammo recipes once unlocked.
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After purchasing a pamphlet, open your satchel, go to Documents → Pamphlets, and read it to unlock the actual crafting recipe at campfires.
Story/mission unlock requirements
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Many ammo-related pamphlets only appear in Fence inventories after specific missions, for example:
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Poison Arrow: Sold by any Fence after Chapter 2.
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Explosive Slug: Sold by any Fence after completing “A Short Walk in a Pretty Town.”
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Volatile Dynamite: Sold by any Fence after completing “American Distillation.”
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Volatile Fire Bottle: Sold by any Fence after completing “Pouring Forth Oil.”
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Single-player vs Online
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In Story Mode, most powerful ammo and throwable recipes can be purchased or found in chests, then later become available to buy from Fences if missed.
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In Red Dead Online, ammo pamphlets (like Split Point) are also bought from Fences, but unlocks are additionally level-gated, so some recipes only appear once your character reaches the required rank.
