This Budget Loadout Actually WORKS! Vetterli Deadeye & Conversion | Hunt: Showdown 1896

Intro:

Hi guys, REX here — and welcome back to my budget loadout series, where I cover cheap but reliable setups I genuinely recommend you try out.
Together with my community, I’ve set an upper price limit of 600 Hunt Dollars per loadout. I’ll keep things as cheap as possible without sacrificing efficiency — and I’ll always show you where you can cut costs further if you want to run these on an absolute budget.

Today we’re running the Vetterli Deadeye, paired with a Conversion pistol — a budget loadout that might look a bit awkward on paper, but actually works extremely well when played correctly.

On the Vetterli, I’m running high velocity ammo.
This bumps the bullet speed up to 510 meters per second, which sits right in my comfort range for landing consistent shots at mid-to-long range. I generally aim to keep bullet velocity in the 500–600 range when possible, as it makes timing and leading targets feel much more consistent across different weapons. The Deadeye is solid on range, but you do need to be mindful of positioning — overcommitting in close-range is where this loadout can struggle.

But that’s where the Conversion pistol comes in.
I’m running it with regular ammo, primarily for close-range coverage and backup when needed. Without Fanning, you need to play this loadout a bit more carefully and maintain distance — but once you have Fanning, the Conversion turns into a very strong backup that gives you far more freedom to take aggressive close-range fights when needed.

For tools, I’m running Spear, medkit, fusees, and the Derringer Pennyshot.
The spear and derringer combo helps mitigate the lack of close-range firepower when you don’t have Fanning, and gives you more flexibility in close quarters. The derringer is also great for breaking doors quickly as well as dealing with meatheads, brutes, and bosses. Fusees keep the loadout cheaper while still covering utility and burning. Normally I’d run a flare pistol, but that would push this loadout over the 600 Hunt Dollar cap.

Consumable-wise, I’m keeping it simple:
A small vitality shot, a small regeneration shot, a large stamina shot to keep momentum high early game, and a waxed dynamite for entry frags or pressure plays.

Trait-wise, Scopesmith is a core pickup for this build and incredibly important for making the Deadeye feel consistent, as it lets you stay in scope view and fire faster.
For solo, I prioritize Necromancer, Scopesmith, Vigilant, Magpie, Dauntless, and Kiteskin. I’ll pick Fanning whenever I have the 8 points required.
In teams, I’ll usually run Necromancer, Resilience, Scopesmith, and Vigilant, and again adding Fanning whenever I can.

The total cost for this loadout is 592 Hunt Dollars, keeping it just under the 600 Hunt Dollar cap. You can cut the price further by replacing the spear with a knuckle knife, swapping the derringer for decoy fuses or choke bombs, downgrading the stamina shot, or skipping high velocity ammo on the Vetterli — bringing the total cost down to around 425 Hunt Dollars. If you drop high velocity on the rifle, swapping the Conversion for a Scottfield to stack ammo types is also a strong option, although slightly more expensive.

But without further ado — let’s dive into it.