7.62x51mm M61 ammo is one of the best ammunition to use in Escape from Tarkov. It is the best ammo to use for semi-automatic rifles where you have a high chance of 1-shotting anyone since it penetrates through the highest-class armor in the game.
This guide will show you what you need to do how to unlock M61 ammo in Escape from Tarkov and buy it from Peacekeeper easily every reset.
The M61 ammo unlock has been removed from traders as of patch 0.13. You can currently only get them as a result of looting or crafting. Crafting still gives you a decent amount of M61 bullets, considering you are using 7.62×51 marksman rifles and not a full-auto SA-58.
Unlocking Peacekeeper Quests
When you first start playing Tarkov after the wipe, Peacekeeper tasks/quests are not unlocked yet. You need to finish Skier’s “Friend from the West Part 2” task first before unlocking Peacekeeper’s first task (Fishing Gear).
These are basically the “learning curve” quests where you will get an idea of how quests go in Tarkov. Things will only get harder as you progress so these are the baby steps you need to take before unlocking Peacekeeper’s tough tasks.
Completing Peacekeeper Quests
Now for the tedious grind. The list below will be the quests you need to do from Peacekeeper to get Wet Job Part 6. The Wet Job Part 6 unlocks the M61 ammo from Peacekeeper so pay attention to these quests as it would give you a decent amount of experience points too.
Fishing Gear – > Tigr Safari -> Scrap Metal -> Eagle Eye -> Humantarian Supplies -> Spa Tour Part 1 to Part 7 -> Wet Job Part 1 to Part 6.
Most of these quests can be searched through the Escape from Tarkov Wiki as most of them require you to finish an objective inside a raid. Things such as marking tanks in Customs (Tigr Safari) would need you to look for a map in the Wiki.
However, quests such as killing Scavs with an M4 in Shoreline (Wet Job Part 1) are all self-explanatory. You will be able to do these quests with a little grinding so you should not be too worried.
Here is the list of things you need for the whole questline in unlocking M61 ammo from Peacekeeper.
- WD-40 100ml
- Clin Wipers x2
- Corrugated Hoses x4 (two separate quests for 2 hoses each)
- Ox Bleach x2
- Resort West Wing 219 or 220 key
- $8,000
- Morphine Injector x4
- Alkali Surface Washer x2
- 5L Propane Tank x2
- Resort East Wing 328 Key
- Health Resort Utility Room Key
All of the barter items here should be found in raid and the keys are all used for opening locked rooms to finish other quests. Just keep an eye out for all these items so that you have them ready as you progress through the wipe.
While this might be hard to remember when you are also remembering other quest items from other questlines, you have to take be aware of your stash management at this point. Sell what you need to get rid of and if you have no choice, just leave the harder to get items (usually the non-craftable quest/hideout items).
In the end, you will need to level your sniper rifle handling skill level to 7 to finish Wet Job. Quests like “The Tarkov Shooter” from Jaeger will help you get this. If you are used to bringing bolt-action sniper rifles, it should be no problem.
Getting sniper rifle handling skill level 7
Mentor Quest gives you +3 in sniper rifle handling skills in exchange for 50,000 euros which is a lot of money. Complete this quest once your sniper rifle handling skill is at level 6 so that you can finish Psycho Sniper easily too.
If you do not want to pay that much money, you can just go do your regular “money runs” while bringing a bolt-action sniper rifle. Use the cheapest one or the one you are comfortable with. I suggest using the Mosin just because reloading it constantly levels up your sniper rifle handling skill level. Just be careful because the noise is loud when reloading the Mosin.
M62 unlocks at Spa Tour Part 6
The M62 ammo is almost like the M61 ammo but it has red tracers where other players can see where the shot is coming from. It is unlocked by finishing Spa Tour Part 6 which is giving Peacekeeper $8,000 which is also a lot of money.
At this point, it is worth it since you are still pushing for higher levels to increase loyalty levels with your traders. The M62 is a good alternative while you are still unlocking the M61 ammo. It is only $6 each from Peacekeeper and it almost has the same penetration power as the M61.
Other Methods of Getting M61 Ammo
Workbench Level 3 – Hideout
When you upgrade your workbench to level 3 in your hideout, you will unlock M61 ammo by crafting it with the required materials. You will need 6 Gunpowder “Hawk” (Red) and 3 Radiator Helixes for 100 pieces of 7.62×51 M61 ammunition.
That is a lot for just 100 pieces of M61 and this is why you want to unlock the M61 ammo for purchase instead of crafting it.
Farming Glukhar
This is an unreliable method for specifically farming M61 ammunition because Glukhar only spawns 28% of the time in Reserve and he needs to specifically spawn with the M1A weapon with M61 ammunition.
It is still good to farm this ammo but it should not be the main reason you are going to Reserve. There is a lot of high-value loot inside and you should be doing multiple things in one raid. Getting M61 ammo from Glukhar is only a bonus.
You can check out our quest guides on Reserve in patch 12.11 if you want to do more than two things in one raid.
Ammo boxes
The small ‘searchable’ ammo boxes are quite a few in numbers. Some require keys to access like the ones in Reserve (RB-ST) and Customs (Military Checkpoint) but these usually contain valuable ammo when looted. There is a ton of ammo in the game which it can spawn so it might be a long shot to get M61s from it.
Hidden stashes
Hidden stashes are hard to memorize but, there are a lot of these scattered across all the maps except Labs. The loot inside usually has a theme of what is going to be inside. If you search a hidden stash and the first one shows ammo, you can expect more of it. Although, hidden stashes can spawn almost anything in the game so getting M61 ammo is also unlikely.
Scavs
The same logic with the hidden stashes. Scavs can spawn with anything in the game so it is possible that your Scav can spawn with some loose ammo like M61.
Loose loot
Probably the rarest method since this one is gotten from item spawns on top of objects. This also includes spawns like the “Miracle tree” in Customs where it can spawn anything in the game.
Flea Market
The most obvious one is buying it from other players who are looking to sell their M61 ammo. In this case, you would need to wait for the price to go down or just buy whenever you feel like it. As long as you have unlocked the Flea Market, you can have unlimited access to almost anything in the game.
The guns that use these types of ammo are usually efficient in eliminating enemies. These are large bullets used in marksman rifles and they are not fired in bursts. This makes the M61 ammo efficient to use in general as long as you are used to it.
Final Thoughts
This all comes down to getting a feel for which type of weapon you really want to use. The number of quests you would be doing is too many that you might reap the rewards too late if you are only playing casually.
For me, I do prefer the marksman rifles like the M1A, the RSASS, and the SR-25. In my case, it is my priority to unlock M62 as early as possible and adjust accordingly to the pace of everyone else. If everyone is going “chad” more, it is best to bring the best ammo which would be the M61 or M993 for my type of weapons.
