Military-Grade Ammo

Military-grade 5.45x39mm rounds are the money of the Moscow Metro in Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light, and they are the currency again in Metro 2039 after Metro Exodus dropped them. The rounds are both money and ammunition, so a military-grade shot fired is money spent.

3:38 Military-grade ammunition is money again in Metro 2039: 5.45x39mm rounds, "MGR", are its currency as they were in Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light, after Metro Exodus left them out. GamesRadar+ reported it on Aug 28, 2026 after playing a pre-release build, quoting executive producer Jon Bloch: "That is the currency of the Metro." What the rounds buy in Metro 2039, and at what prices, has not been detailed as of Nov 3, 2026. The clip is jackfrags' Aug 2026 preview of a pre-release build.

Quick facts

Game	Is military-grade ammo money?
Metro 2033 (2010)	Yes; traded at kiosks
Metro: Last Light (2013)	Yes
Metro 2033 Redux, Metro: Last Light Redux (2014)	Yes, as in the originals
Metro Exodus (2019)	No; ammunition is crafted instead
Metro 2039 (2027)	Yes, again (preview build, Aug 2026)

Sources: Steam Community: Metro 2033 Redux achievements, Nov 3, 2026; PC Gamer, May 10, 2013; PC Gamer, Feb 14, 2019; GamesRadar+, Aug 28, 2026.

How does ammo work as money in Metro?

4:00 In the Metro of the first two games, ammunition "doubles as currency in the Metro world", PC Gamer explained in 2013, and the Redux achievements show how: "Wheeler-Dealer" for trading military-grade 5.45 rounds at kiosks, and "Scrooge" for saving 1,000 of them. The catch is that the money is also bullets. Game Informer's 2010 review of Metro 2033 praised "the ability to use bullets as currency" but admitted it rarely spent ammo rather than keep it for later. The clip is Eurogamer's Metro Awakening review, speaking of the series as a whole.

Military-grade rounds were also a pre-order extra once: THQ's planned Limited Edition of Metro: Last Light added a "Ranger" loadout of bonus military-grade bullets and an AKS-74U.

Why is there no ammo currency in Metro Exodus?

5:29 Metro Exodus left the Metro, and its economy went with it. Instead of buying from traders, you craft: ammunition for pistols, rifles and shotguns is made at a workbench, found only on the Aurora or in safe houses, from two resources, materials and chemicals. GamesRadar+'s headline for Metro 2039's change calls the currency a feature Exodus "sorely missed". The clip is gameranx's Metro Exodus Before You Buy.

Military-grade ammo in Metro 2039

6:21 Metro 2039 keeps Exodus's crafting and adds the currency back. In the preview build the backpack made medkits, gas mask filters and basic ammunition in the field, with stronger parts and secondary ammunition at Workbenches, while military-grade 5.45x39mm rounds served as money. The game returns to the tunnels and their stations, the setting the currency belongs to, with Sevastopolskaya as the Stranger's base. The pre-order Specialist Pack's Munitions pouch gives rarer, more powerful ammunition (Metro 2039 Editions and Price). The clip is IGN's Aug 2026 first preview, from a pre-release build.

Not known as of Nov 3, 2026: traders and prices, whether military-grade rounds can be crafted, and how much damage they do compared with ordinary ammunition. The rest of the systems are on Metro 2039 Gameplay.

First-person hands hold a rifle across a workshop counter; a man in a padded coat looks at the viewer among tools and shelves. — A first-person view of a rifle held out over a cluttered counter toward a man in a striped shirt and fur-collared coat in an official Steam store screenshot of Metro 2039 4A Games and Deep Silver

Frequently asked questions

What is the currency in Metro 2039? Military-grade 5.45x39mm rounds are Metro 2039's currency, as in Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light; 4A Games' Jon Bloch called them "the currency of the Metro".

Is military-grade ammo in Metro Exodus? Military-grade ammo is not money in Metro Exodus, which replaced trading with crafting at workbenches; Metro 2039 brings the currency back.

What is military-grade ammo in Metro? In Metro, military-grade ammo means 5.45 rifle rounds, which survivors trade as money at station kiosks while they still work as ammunition.

Should I spend or shoot military-grade ammo in Metro? In Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light every military-grade round fired is money gone; Game Informer's 2010 reviewer found himself hoarding ammo rather than spending it.