Pistol

The Pistol is the backup weapon of the Survivors in Left 4 Dead. It is also the only weapon they can use when knocked down, although with a slower rate of fire and greatly decreased accuracy. Besides the Minigun, the pistol and dual 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 shotgun users. They pack a punch slightly greater than that of the Assault Rifle, and possess 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.

It is only possible to unlock the achievement "Akimbo Assassin" by completing an entire campaign using pistols.

Dual-wielding
If a second pistol is found, they can be dual-wielded. Second pistols are placed periodically by the Director, and can also be picked up from fallen teammates. This allows for twice the ammo capacity, as well as the rate of fire being increased from 300 RPM to 600 RPM. The downside of having two pistols is that it takes slightly longer to reload, but the extra damage and rounds are worth it. When dual-wielded, the pistol in the left hand will not have a light. Once a second pistol is picked up, there is no way to go back to using a single pistol without dying.

This makes achieving "Akimbo Assassin" much easier, due to repeated mashing of the fire button causing a 600 RPM wave of bullets. Dual pistols also carry over to the Incapacitated status, making it easier to hold off Infected attacking a downed Survivor yet making it longer to reload.

Tactics

 * Pistols can be quite effective. However, to be an effective pistol user, you must be accurate; try to crouch when the situation permits, as it will tighten your crosshairs and accuracy.
 * The pistols have great accuracy, and a pistol user must take advantage of this. When using a pump shotgun or auto shotgun, it is a good idea to use pistols for distant targets, as shotguns are ineffective at long range.
 * When using the hunting rifle, it is advantageous to use pistols while running, as the hunting rifle is not as good while running.
 * In certain situations, switching to pistols may be a better option than spending time reloading.
 * If a distant teammate is disabled by a Hunter or a Smoker and your magazine is empty, then draw your pistols and open fire. This will probably kill the Special Infected faster than if you were to reload, reducing the damage taken by your teammate.
 * Pistols have unlimited ammo, so switching to them will conserve your primary ammo for more dangerous situations, such as a horde or Tank.
 * The faster you click the mouse/press the trigger to fire, the faster the pistol fires. However, it's not automatic, so holding the button down does nothing.
 * Try to keep your pistols fully loaded even when you're not using them, as they are your only resort if you are incapacitated.

Left 4 Dead 2
The Pistol is the only Left 4 Dead weapon that doesn't appear in Left 4 Dead 2. Instead, it is replaced with the P220 Pistol and Glock.

Behind the Scenes
Originally, the pistols had limited ammo. It appears that you were able to hold 260+ maximum rounds in addition to the rounds loaded in them. This was scrapped and replaced with infinite ammo.

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.

The pistol is based on Counter-Strike's USP45 pistol. Its "price" in the gun's weapon file is the same as the USP45's.

Trivia

 * The pistol is based on the M1911A1.
 * The pistol is produced by the fictional company "Finleyville Armory." The name is derived from the Pennsylvania borough of Finleyville and may be meant to sound like Springfield Armory, a manufacturer of several popular M1911 models.
 * An actual single stack M1911 (which is what the in game model is based off of) uses 7, 8 or 10 round magazines. M1911s with higher capacities are double stack and bulkier.
 * The set-up of the M1911 in Left 4 Dead is somewhat odd: It uses stainless steel components and a fairly modern frame, with a beavertail grip safety, extended thumb safety, rounded hammer and integral light rail, but has M1911A1 style sights. The original M1911A1 stock sights are much harder to use than modern 3 dot sights.
 * Although when wielding dual pistols in-game the left-hand pistol does not have a flash light attached, in the opening cutscene, both of Zoey's pistols have flashlights attached.
 * Reloading your single pistol immediately prior to picking a second one results in the otherwise-unused "empty" reload for the dual pistols being played when the second pistol is picked up.
 * If a player dies, they drop a pistol with a flashlight attached. If a player only has a single pistol, and picks this up, the second pistol still doesn't have a flashlight.
 * The Pistols, as well as the submachine gun, are the only firearms in the game that cannot sever limbs or explode zombie heads.
 * Even though the pistol is incapable of doing so, during the opening scene in Left 4 Dead, Zoey shoots a Zombie's head off while covering Francis and Bill from the fire escape.