Pistol (Rapture)

BioShock
The Pistol is the first ranged weapon obtained in BioShock. You pick up this weapon in Welcome to Rapture. Pistol rounds have a good rate of fire, good range and accuracy, and does 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. Head shots 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
 * Armor-Piercing Pistol Rounds
 * Antipersonnel Pistol Rounds

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.

BioShock 2 Multiplayer
The Pistol returns as a usable weapon in multiplayer.

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 first Pistol found in the game, 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 caliber ammunition, while the "Pistols" appear to be Webley Mk IV, which are chambered for .38 caliber ammunition. The fact it is unique compared to the others might explain why the Splicer treats it as a child, in addition to the general insanity of its kind.
 * 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 chamber and gun. Using this is sometimes bad, as it could un-align the chamber.

Gallery
Pistole