Magnum Pistol

"Oh… my… GOD."

- Rochelle

"Niiice!"

- Nick

The Magnum is the most powerful handgun in Left 4 Dead 2. It has an eight bullet magazine and deals a lot more damage; however, it cannot be dual-wielded. The Magnum is able to achieve a one hit kill almost anywhere on a Common Infected, as well dealing moderate damage to Special Infected. The weapon can also blow limbs off Common Infected. The Magnum appears typically where an extra Pistol would be waiting, though it is considerably more rare. It also has the unique feature of having identical accuracy when incapacitated as when standing. The Magnum is modeled after a Desert Eagle.

Tactics

 * When using the Magnum, aim for the body to compensate for its huge recoil.
 * The Magnum can be used effectively both at close and long range against the Infected.
 * The Magnum has superior penetration against Common Infected and as such can quickly dispatch entire lines of rushing or clustered zombies.
 * The Magnum is not as useful against most Special Infected (excluding the Boomer and Spitter who are comparatively weak), especially on higher difficulties. The weapon's small magazine, high recoil and mediocre fire make it an unsuitable weapon against targets that can absorb entire magazines before falling.
 * Generally, people who use shotguns do not need to carry the magnum. Their primary weapons already do high damage, and they could easily run out of ammo using only these low capacity weapons. But they might want it for effective long distance shooting.
 * A Magnum is good to have when incapacitated. The power of the gun will tear through multiple Common Infected at once and can dispatch a Witch faster than the P220.
 * While increased damage is always good against the Infected, it is much worse against teammates. The Magnum will do much more friendly fire damage than normal pistols.

Pros

 * Extremely powerful for a sidearm.
 * Kills Common Infected in one shot.
 * 80 damage per bullet and infinite ammo.
 * Useful against hordes as it has a penetration effect.
 * Very accurate at all ranges.
 * Provides superior ground cover when incapacitated.
 * Rounds can pierce through multiple infected

Cons

 * Lower rate of fire.
 * Has a high amount of recoil that may reduce accuracy when using a high rate of fire.
 * Holds only 8 rounds at a time.
 * Deals more friendly fire damage.
 * Cannot be dual-wielded.
 * On the harder Difficulties, such as Advanced and Expert, the Magnum will take 2 shots to take out a normal Infected if they are farther away.

Behind the Scenes
The Magnum was originally supposed to be called the "Desert Cobra". A string calling the Magnum the Desert Cobra is in "left4dead2_english.txt" under a line about the Magnum. The name Desert Cobra only appears in the final on the sign next to the Magnum in Whitaker's Gun Shop, which calls the weapon the ".50 Desert Cobra".

Trivia

 * Even though the Magnum is modeled in the .50 AE caliber, the 8 round magazine is only used in the .44 magnum variant.
 * Similar to the P220 Pistols, the Magnum has no walking animation.
 * According to the text on the Magnum's side, the Magnum is produced by "1337 Weapon Industries (yOgi) PWN." and is made in Shyville.
 * Both the left and right side of the Magnum are identical, down to the grease stains, while the P220 Pistol has slightly different left and right sides.
 * While incapacitated, the Magnum's accuracy and rate of fire is the same as if you are not incapacitated and standing still. Holding crouch while incapacitated will result in uncanny accuracy.
 * On Nick's survivor page on L4D.com, the bottom picture has him holding the basic P220 pistol. However, one of the picture's captions erroneously says that it is a Magnum.
 * On Realism mode, the Magnum can still kill Common Infected in one shot regardless of where it hits.
 * The HUD icon shows a different flashlight attachment than the in game model has.
 * According to the sign next to the Magnum in Whitaker's Gun Shop, only 2000 Magnums were made.
 * The Magnum is modeled after the real life Desert Eagle XIX, designed by Magnum Research and manufactured by Israel Weapon Industries.