P220 Pistol

"I'll grab that pistol!"

- Ellis

The P220 Pistol is the backup weapon of the Survivors in Left 4 Dead 2, replacing the M1911 Pistol from Left 4 Dead. It is one of the weapons they can use when knocked down, although with a slower rate of fire and greatly decreased accuracy than that of the first game. The Pistol(s) is one of the only weapons that has infinite ammunition. However, they are still limited to a magazine capacity of 15 rounds.

Even though they are meant as emergency weapons, Pistols make great secondaries, or even primaries for Grenade Launcher or shotgun users. They pack a punch larger than that of the M16 Assault Rifle, but smaller than the Combat Rifle, and possess better accuracy than most of the Tier 1 weapons. Pistols 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.

Upon picking up a melee weapon, Survivors drop their Pistol (if they are dual-wielding, they will drop both Pistols). However, when they are incapacitated, they still pull out a Pistol, and once revived, the Pistol is no longer part of their inventory and the melee weapon is still in the secondary slot. While illogical, this is due to the fact that a Survivor downed with no handgun of any kind is a sitting duck, and it would be impossible to defend a teammate reviving them. It is possible that they keep their pistol in its compartment, but don't use it.

Dual-Wielding
"Gonna go all akimbo and shit!"

- Coach

If a second Pistol is found it will be a semi-automatic Glock and the two pistols together can be dual-wielded. Second Pistols are placed periodically by the Director but can also be picked up when dropped by a teammate who has taken a Magnum, melee weapon, or has died. Dual pistols double the player's available pistol ammo capacity to 30 rounds and increases the maximum rate of fire from 300 to 600 RPM. The only downside of having two Pistols is that it takes slightly longer to reload, but this delay is marginal and does not affect gameplay much. When dual-wielded, the left hand Pistol has no light. The pistol is the only weapon in the game that can be dual-wielded.

Pros

 * Can be dual-wielded.
 * When dual-wielded, inflicts higher damage per second than the Magnum (providing the Pistols are fired as fast as possible).
 * Has a high rate of fire, firing as fast as a player can pull the trigger.
 * Has a magazine of 15, 30 if dual-wielded, and has infinite ammo.
 * Has a fast reload.
 * Deals relatively little friendly fire damage.
 * When dual-wielded, can kill most Special Infected quickly.
 * Powerful on Easy difficulty (only need one or two shots to kill a Common Infected).

Cons

 * Can require up to 4 shots to take down a Common Infected on a harder difficulty.
 * Inflicts very low damage on the Tank and Witch.
 * Much less effective when incapacitated than the Magnum (due to massive accuracy decrease and slowed firing speed).
 * Melee weapons are often superior at close range.
 * Has a longer reload time if there are no rounds or 1 round in the pistol(s).