GTA Online Weekly Grind: Rockstar Just Paid Us GTA$1M to Become Gun-Running Nerds
🔄 Updated every Thursday after Rockstar’s weekly reset. 📅 Active: September 17-23, 2026
Quick Answer: What Should You Grind This Week?
Do three Bunker Research Missions.
That’s the week.
Rockstar is handing out GTA$1,000,000 for completing three of them, plus the Camo Ammu-Nation Sweatsuit. The missions themselves are also paying 2X GTA$, RP and Research Progress.
After that, things become considerably less exciting. Ammu-Nation Contracts are doubled, Safeguard Deliveries are doubled, Community Missions are still paying 3X and there’s a free Bunker sitting in Grapeseed waiting for anyone who somehow made it to 2026 without owning an underground weapons factory.
What isn’t doubled is normal Bunker stock sales. Which is slightly strange for Gunrunning Week. It’s a bit like declaring National Pizza Week and putting garlic bread on sale.
So don’t rebuild your entire grind around the Bunker. Grab the million, abuse the useful side bonuses and then go back to whatever criminal enterprise was already paying your mortgage on the yacht.
GTA Online Money Ranking This Week
Rank | Activity | This Week | What You Get | CRIMENET Verdict |
⭐ GTA+ | Cluckin’ Bell Farm Raid ➡️ Guide | 2X GTA$ on the first Finale completed each week | GTA$1M first weekly finale | GTA+ has now put a weekly bag of money on top. |
🥇 | Bunker Research Weekly Challenge ➡️ Guide | Complete 3 missions | GTA$1M bonus + mission payouts | Do it immediately |
⭐ GTA+ | Cocaine Lockup➡️ Guide | 2X Production Speed | GTA$525K full sale with upgrades | Your cocaine factory has discovered caffeine. |
⭐ GTA+ | South American Imports➡️ Guide | 2X Production Speed | GTA$270K for a full 10-crate Nightclub stock | Keep that technician working. |
⭐ GTA+ | Bike Service Missions➡️ Guide | 3X GTA$ | Around GTA$150K profit per bike | Tiny job, surprisingly respectable money. |
🥈 | Ammu-Nation Contract ➡️ Guide | 2X rewards | GTA$100K per delivery | Excellent filler |
4 | Safeguard Deliveries ➡️ Guide | 2X GTA$ & RP | Up to ~GTA$40K | Fine, not fabulous |
5 | Bunker Research after challenge | 2X GTA$, RP & Research | ~GTA$20K + doubled research | Research yes, money no |
🥉 | Community Mission Series | 3X GTA$ & RP | Variable | Best repeatable event bonus |
6 | Stockpile / Trap Door | 2X GTA$ & RP | Variable | Entertainment money |
The important distinction is between good this week and good forever.
Three Research Missions are absurdly valuable because Rockstar bolts a million dollars onto the third one. Mission four does not contain another million dollars hidden under a Juggernaut’s trousers.
That changes things rather dramatically.
Before reorganizing your entire criminal empire around a racing playlist, remember that our Best GTA Online Solo Money Methods guide shows how to fit weekly opportunities around the businesses and heists that keep paying after Thursday has wandered off.
Want the best overall money methods?
First: Take Rockstar’s GTA$1 Million
Call Agent 14 and request a Bunker Research Mission.
You’ll be sent out to recover research material, bring it back to the Bunker and advance your research. Rockstar has doubled the cash, RP and Research Progress from these missions for September 17-23.
Complete three and the Weekly Challenge throws another GTA$1,000,000 at you.
You also get the Camo Ammu-Nation Sweatsuit, presumably because becoming a millionaire wasn't enough and your criminal empire desperately needed camouflage leisurewear.
There is a cooldown between Research Missions, so you can't simply phone Agent 14 three times in six minutes and leave with the GDP of a small island.
Good.
We have other crimes.
Run the first Research Mission, then use the downtime for an Ammu-Nation delivery, one of your usual businesses, a quick heist setup or whatever else normally occupies your Los Santos working day.
Then call Agent 14 again.
Three missions. Million dollars.
Don't overthink the bit where Rockstar has temporarily made research one of the most profitable things you can do in Grand Theft Auto.
Universities everywhere are furious.
What If You Already Finished Bunker Research?
You can still do the Research Missions.
So if you unlocked all the explosive ammunition and weaponized toys years ago, you haven't been excluded from Rockstar's sudden enthusiasm for scientific funding.
Do the three missions anyway.
The million doesn't care whether your scientists actually have anything left to discover.
Ammu-Nation Contracts Are Actually Worth Remembering This Week
This is probably my favourite bonus of the week, not because it's spectacular, but because it requires almost no commitment.
Your Bunker periodically produces surplus weapon parts. Normally, delivering those to Ammu-Nation gets you GTA$50,000.
This week: GTA$100,000.
Drive truck. Deliver guns. Receive six figures.
I have endured considerably more elaborate criminal schemes in GTA Online for considerably less money.
The only real limitation is that another shipment isn't immediately available, so Ammu-Nation Contracts aren't something you sit there grinding continuously. They work better as part of everything else you're doing.
Bunker ready?
Take the truck.
GTA$100K.
Carry on with your life.
It's basically a heavily armed paper round.
Safeguard Deliveries Are... Fine
Safeguard Deliveries are also paying 2X GTA$ and RP this week. Rockstar sends you to Bobcat Security or Gruppe Sechs, you collect a Stockade full of expensive things and try to reach the destination without turning the vehicle into something insurance investigators describe as "formerly rectangular."
At double rewards you're looking at roughly GTA$35K-40K, depending on the condition of the delivery.
And that's perfectly decent for a quick, uncomplicated job.
But we're ranking money here, not handing out participation medals.
Once you've got proper businesses running, GTA$40K isn't enough to make Safeguard Deliveries the centre of your week. They're something to do because you're nearby, because you enjoy them, because you're new, or because after eleven years of GTA Online you've developed a worrying compulsion to interact with every yellow marker Rockstar puts on the map.
I understand.
I have the same disease.
3X Community Missions Might Be Your Best Repeatable Bonus
The Community Mission Series remains at 3X GTA$ and RP this week.
This is where I refuse to give you a beautifully precise GTA$842,617 per hour figure and pretend we discovered mathematics.
Community Missions vary.
Some are quick. Some aren't. Some depend on how good you are. Some depend on how good everyone else is, which introduces the most dangerous variable ever discovered by science:
other GTA Online players.
So yes, at 3X this is worth playing, particularly if you don't have a fully developed collection of businesses yet.
Just pay attention to what you're actually earning versus the time you're spending. If you've been playing for twenty minutes, made seventeen dollars and are currently watching someone called xXx_BONGKILLER_2009_xXx drive backwards into a wall, the multiplier has ceased to be relevant.
Leave.
The Grapeseed Bunker Is Free
Now this one matters.
For September 17-23, the Grapeseed Bunker costs GTA$0 through Maze Bank Foreclosures.
If you don't own a Bunker, claim it.
I don't care if you aren't planning to become Los Santos' answer to Lockheed Martin this afternoon. It's a free business property that unlocks Gunrunning, Bunker Research, Ammu-Nation Contracts and a sizeable chunk of GTA Online's weapon and vehicle progression.
There is, however, one important caveat.
Grapeseed isn't necessarily the Bunker I'd choose if Rockstar handed me several million dollars and asked me to buy one. Location matters because Bunker sales have an irritating habit of involving Los Santos, and Grapeseed is located approximately three postcodes beyond civilization.
But we're not paying several million dollars.
We're paying nothing.
At that price, the real-estate evaluation becomes considerably shorter.
Claim the bloody Bunker.
If you eventually become rich enough to care deeply about Bunker geography, relocate.
This Is Your Last Chance to Qualify for the Free La Coureuse
There's another reason to complete the Weekly Challenge.
Anyone who completes at least one Weekly Challenge between September 3 and September 23 can return between September 24 and September 30 and claim a free Penaud La Coureuse, including a complimentary HSW upgrade where applicable.
This is the final qualifying week.
So if you missed the first two September challenges, your three Research Missions now accomplish two things:
GTA$1 million this week. Free car next week.
I would suggest writing that down, but I've just written it down.
You're welcome.
The Pegassi Horus Is Now Available to Everyone
The Pegassi Horus has escaped GTA+ early access and is now available to everybody for GTA$2,810,000.
GTA+ members can still claim it through their current benefits rather than paying the full price.
For everyone else, this creates one of those delightful GTA Online financial moments where Rockstar gives you GTA$1 million for doing three missions and then immediately parks a GTA$2.81 million supercar in the shop window.
Here's some money.
Excellent.
Now give us nearly three times that amount.
The Los Santos economy remains in excellent hand
Best Discounts This Week
The free Grapeseed Bunker is obviously the big one, followed by a fairly savage 70% discount on the Pfister Astron Custom.
There's also 30% off the Ocelot XA-21, Bravado Half-track, Imponte Nightshade, HVY Nightshark, Pegassi Torero, Übermacht Niobe, Anti-Aircraft Trailer, Western Rogue, Karin Everon, Buckingham Shamal, Hakuchou Drag, Lampadati Viseris, Principe Lectro, Grotti Bestia GTS, Albany Hermes and Schyster Deviant.
I wouldn't buy something merely because Rockstar has put a red sticker on it. That's how supermarkets convince people to return home with twelve yoghurts.
But there are useful vehicles in there.
The Nightshark remains a very practical thing to own if your preferred GTA Online defensive strategy is "please stop firing missiles at me." The Half-track has genuine utility too. And if you already wanted one of the others, 30% off is 30% off.
The Astron Custom at 70% off is obviously the week's giant neon SALE sign.
Just remember that a discounted car you didn't want is still money you didn't need to spend.
I realise this advice is fundamentally incompatible with GTA Online.
Free Stuff for Existing
Play anytime this week and Rockstar gives you the Dolla Dolla livery for the Mammoth Avenger, Ocelot Ardent, Pegassi Oppressor and Oppressor Mk II.
Business Battle crates also guarantee one of several clothing rewards, including the Six Figure Tee, Ride or Die Tee, Red and White Ammu-Nation Cap or Bourgeoix Tee.
There are also 2X GTA$ and RP rewards on Stockpile and Trap Door.
None of this changes the grind.
But free pants have never damaged a criminal empire.
Best GTA Online Grind Route: September 17-23
I wouldn't build some gigantic seven-day masterplan around the bonuses this week.
I'd do this:
Research Mission #1 → Ammu-Nation Contract if available → normal grind → Research Mission #2 → normal grind → Research Mission #3 → collect GTA$1M.
That's your event route.
Afterwards, keep taking the GTA$100K Ammu-Nation deliveries whenever they're available and use the 3X Community Mission Series if you enjoy it or need a repeatable event activity.
Safeguard Deliveries are there if you want something easy and different.
Everything else?
Go back to your normal empire.
That's the slightly funny thing about Gunrunning Week. Rockstar has dressed the entire event in military hardware, underground bunkers and illegal weapons trafficking, but the actual money strategy is mostly:
do three research errands and occasionally deliver stock to a shop.
We're supposedly international arms traffickers.
This week we're basically regional logistics managers with assault rifles.
Final Verdict
The GTA$1 million Weekly Challenge is the reason to play this week.
Three Bunker Research Missions are such an obvious return for the effort that there isn't much of an argument to have. If you don't own a Bunker, Rockstar has even removed the entry fee by making the Grapeseed property free.
After the challenge, however, don't let all those lovely 2X symbols hypnotise you.
Ammu-Nation Contracts are excellent GTA$100K filler. Community Missions at 3X can be worthwhile.
Safeguard Deliveries are fine. Normal Bunker sales haven't suddenly become the centre of the universe.
Take the million.
Take the free Bunker if you need it.
Qualify for the free La Coureuse.
Then get back to whatever horrifying industrial machine normally makes you rich.
Because for one brief week in GTA Online, the smartest criminal career move isn't robbing a casino, stealing gold from a drug lord's private island or infiltrating a fortified government facility.
It's research funding.
And somewhere, a PhD student has just thrown a chair through a window.
GTA Online Weekly Grind FAQ
What is the best way to make money this week?
Start with three Bunker Research Missions. Completing them earns the GTA$1 million Weekly Challenge bonus, on top of the doubled mission payouts.
Are Bunker sales 2X this week?
No. Bunker Research Missions, Ammu-Nation Contracts and Safeguard Deliveries are doubled. Normal Bunker Sell Missions aren't.
Is the Grapeseed Bunker really free?
Yes. The Grapeseed Bunker costs GTA$0 through September 23. If you don't own a Bunker yet, take it. We can argue about location when Rockstar starts charging money again.
What should GTA+ members grind?
Do the Bunker Weekly Challenge first, then your first Cluckin' Bell Farm Raid finale of the week for its GTA+ 2X payout. After that, use 3X Bike Service deliveries as filler while your Cocaine Lockup enjoys its doubled production speed.
When does the next GTA Online weekly update start?
The next weekly reset is September 24, 2026, when September's final Business Rivalries bonuses begin.
this is literally so good holy shit. thanks a lot