Pistol (Rapture)

BioShock
The Pistol is the first ranged weapon obtained in BioShock. This weapon can be first obtained in Welcome to Rapture. Pistol rounds have a good rate of fire, good range and accuracy, and deal a moderate amount of damage. The damage and clip size can be upgraded at a Power to the People station, making the Pistol a far more effective weapon. Headshots with the Pistol will inflict 400% damage against Splicers.

Power to the People Upgrades

 * 300% Clip Size Increase
 * 25% Damage Increase

Ammunition Types - Pistol

 * Standard Pistol Rounds - standard ammunition for the Pistol, inflict a moderate amount of (piercing) damage.
 * Armor-Piercing Pistol Rounds - rare ammunition for the Pistol, inflict a high amount of (piercing) damage against Security Devices and Big Daddies.
 * Antipersonnel Pistol Rounds - inventible ammunition for the Pistol, inflict a high amount of (piercing) damage against Splicers.

Strategy

 * The ability to headshot, along with the ability to zoom, make this weapon efficient for sniping before acquiring the Crossbow.


 * A well-placed headshot will kill any Splicer in one shot in the earlier levels of the game, even with standard ammunition equipped. As such, it is possible for a skilled player to save up their special ammo for later.


 * Likewise, the damage upgrade will extend the period where the player can one-shot a Splicer with standard ammo. It also makes it easier to bodyshot an enemy to death.


 * Armor-piercing rounds are effective against machinery and Big Daddies. This makes the Pistol a good weapon when disposing of Security Bots and Security Cameras, as well as being a weapon of choice if the player wishes to provoke a Bouncer into entering a fight or a trap.


 * This weapon works particularly well when used in tandem with Winter Blast. Freezing enemies makes it much easier to headshot them, although killing them while frozen will shatter them, yielding no loot to the player.


 * The ammo extension upgrade makes this weapon spammable. If the player isn't particularly good at aiming, or simply low on other forms of ammo, the commonness of pistol ammo makes it possible to simply fire away at an enemy until they die. Be careful when spamming, though, as the maximum rare and inventable ammo the player can hold will be housed in a single clip, and the standard ammo in two.

Recommended Tonics

 * Natural Camouflage makes it much easier for the player to line up a headshot, as well as ambush enemies.


 * The Damage Research line of tonics will significantly increase damage against enemies researched with the Research Camera.


 * The Machine Buster line of tonics will increase damage against machinery.

Help Caption
Press _ to fire. Base ammo: .38 caliber rounds -- Moderate amount of piercing damage. Advanced ammo: .38 caliber armor-piercing rounds -- Moderate amount of armor-piercing damage. Inventible ammo: .38 caliber antipersonnel rounds -- Moderate amount of antipersonnel damage.

BioShock 2 Multiplayer
The Pistol returns as a usable weapon in multiplayer, and is unlocked right from the start. It is listed as an accurate and moderately damaging weapon, good for mid-range combat.

Multiplayer Upgrades

 * Automatic Firing Mode: unlocked at Rank 5. Allows the Pistol to fire on full-auto, but reduces its maximum fire rate. This upgrade makes the pistol stronger at a shorter range, but it also reduces its accuracy at long range. The upgrade itself resembles a mass-manufactured version of the Clip-Size upgrade for the Bioshock Pistol.
 * Damage Upgrade: unlocked at Rank 27. Increases the Pistol's damage output at the expense of fire rate. This makes the pistol more suited for medium to long range.
 * Extended Clip: Unlocked with Sinclair Solutions Tester Pack. Increases the Pistol's clip to nine shots.

Trivia

 * After the capacity upgrade, it is visible that the primers on the rounds are already used even though they are about to be fired.
 * The pistol that Jack actually uses, the one found in the baby carriage, is extremely large, and is labeled "Revolver". Other Pistols found in the game, labeled "Pistol" and dropped by enemies, are smaller. The "Revolver" is probably a Webley Mk VI, a service revolver used by the British Army and originally chambered for .455 calibre ammunition, while the "Pistols" appear to be Webley Mk IV, which are chambered for .38 calibre ammunition. The game texts also refer to the gun as a .38. His weapon is probably larger to ensure that the player does not miss it.
 * The Pistol was originally supposed to be a lot less effective of a weapon than it is in current form. It had a very slow rate of fire because it was single action, as seen in the "Hunting the Big Daddy" video.
 * When Jack is done reloading, he flicks his wrist to connect the cylinder and gun. Doing this in real life is not recommended, as it has a large chance of misaligning the cylinder as well as jerking the cartridges out of the barrel, and possibly injuring the user's wrist.
 * Like all other upgrades, the pistol's upgrades are visibly cobbled from scrap metal, the most obvious being what looks like a fruit can as the outer casing of the capacity upgrade.
 * A fourth multiplayer upgrade can be seen in Deco Devolution, BioShock 2's official artbook, and looks like an Accuracy Increase upgrade with two lenses mounted on the Pistol's barrel. It is not explained why this upgrade was not retained for the game as all the others upgrades on the artbook are present in BioShock 2 Multiplayer.