M1911 Pistol

"If it shoots bullets, I'll take it."

- Bill

"Another pistol... Yeah, this'll work."

- Zoey

The M1911 Pistol is the backup weapon of the Survivors in Left 4 Dead. It is also the only weapon that they can use while incapacitated, although with a slower rate of fire and greatly decreased accuracy. Besides the Minigun, pistols are the only weapons that have infinite ammunition. However, they are still limited to a magazine capacity of 15 rounds.

Even though they are meant as emergency weapons, the Pistols make great secondaries, or even primaries for Hunting Rifle and Pump Shotgun/Auto Shotgun users because of their unlimited ammo, decent power, and above average accuracy.

Second pistols for dual-wielding will usually spawn on the first level of each campaign. This occurs most frequently on Easy and Normal. However, on Advanced and Expert, they are often not available during the first level.

The M1911 Pistol is succeeded by the P220 Pistol in Left 4 Dead 2.

Dual-wielding
"Heh. Double my fun!"

- Francis

Pistols can be dual-wielded once a second pistol has been found during gameplay. Second Pistols are placed by the Director and can also be picked up from fallen teammates.

Double pistols are intrinsically beneficial in many ways. Firstly they double the player's ammunition capacity to 30 rounds and rate of fire from 181 RPM to 362 RPM: useful features when mobbed by Infected and when presented by a mass target crammed into a choke point such as a window, passage or doorway. Secondly, the dual Pistols' volume of firepower is key to earning the "Akimbo Assassin" Achievement. Thirdly, an incapacitated player retains the two Pistols, making it easier to hold off the Infected until help arrives.
 * The only relatively minor drawback with dual Pistols is a slightly longer reloading time.
 * The dual-wielded, left-hand Pistol has no light.
 * It is impossible for a player to revert voluntarily to single Pistol mode once a second Pistol is picked up. A dead player previously equipped with dual Pistols is re-spawned with a single Pistol.

Tactics

 * Crouching when firing a Pistol greatly enhances its accuracy at all ranges.
 * Dual-wielded Pistols are capable of a rate of fire on a par with that of an Assault Rifle: an invaluable asset when mobbed or presented with a mass target of Common Infected.
 * Pistols have excellent long range accuracy (when fired from a crouched position) and therefore complement short-ranged Pump Shotgun or Auto Shotgun.
 * When using the Hunting Rifle as a primary weapon, it is advantageous to switch to Pistols while running because the Hunting Rifle is quite inaccurate when firing on the move.
 * They are also a good complement for Assault Rifle users because of quite low ammo reserve for latter one and fact that Pistol causes slightly more damage than M16.
 * In certain situations (e.g. when mobbed), switching to Pistols is often a better option than spending time reloading a Primary Weapon.
 * If a distant teammate is disabled by a Hunter or a Smoker and the magazine of a player's Primary Weapon is empty, Pistol fire can often kill the Special Infected (thus affecting a rescue) faster than reloading the Primary Weapon.
 * Because Pistols have unlimited ammo, switching to them in low-threat environments conserves Primary Weapon ammo.
 * A Pistol's rate of fire is determined by the speed at which a player can operate the fire control button.
 * Pistols should be kept fully loaded at all times when not in use and reloaded immediately after even brief actions.
 * The amount of bullets required to kill the Infected increases as the difficulty scales up, so try to aim for the head if possible.

Behind the Scenes

 * Originally, the Pistols had limited ammo. It appears that you were able to hold 240 maximum rounds in addition to the rounds loaded in them. This was scrapped and replaced with infinite ammo.
 * It also had a different reloading animation as well. When equipped with one pistol, after emptying or partially emptying its magazine, the player will always rack the slide. When picking up a second pistol, after emptying the magazines the same way, the slides would lock back requiring the slide releases to be actuated.
 * At one time, when dual-wielding Pistols, both Pistols had a flashlight on them. This can be seen on the Intro Scene, where both of Zoey's pistols have flashlights attached.