Blacktail was the best gun in the og, despite what many say, and I'll die on that hill. Barely less damage, and in return you had a very large capacity, rate of fire, and great damage. In the remake, the blacktail is still solid and imo is still better than the red9. That being said, more testing needs to be done on the starting pistol and the punisher as they are much better than they were in the og.

I think the Red9 slightly wins out on firepower but the Blacktail has crazy rate of fire, so it wins out on DPS theoretically. But anyway, I'm pretty sure all handguns are viable, so I wouldn't stress too much about selling a fully upgraded gun to get a better one. Just go for what feels the most fun!

I'm fond of the starting pistol. It's well balanced, powerful enough, and the random head crits can save your ass in a pinch.

Combined with the broken butterfly, riot gun, TMP, Stingray, and Bolt thrower (aka my grenade launcher) and we're good to go!

If there had to be a “best” then Blacktail would be that choice. It’s decent/great in almost every category and has no real negatives. Great power, great fire rate, great reload speed.

BY FAR the matilda. Only issue is it eats up ammo, but even on pro it absolutely decimated all the bosses when I was doing the minimalist run (though I did have cat ears) it's likely not use able in the normal sense due to how much ammo it eats, but in terms of what's the best it's easily the matilda with the stock.

After that I'd say the starting pistol, i uses that on my 2nd playthroigh after using red9 the first and the starting pistol has way better accuracy due to the laser sight, built in critical from the laser site and then 5x crit chance, it demolishes most of the twisty sobs

I felt really disappointed with the red9 in the remake after loving it in the original. They kinda did the gun dirty. At least it's free

In remake? Yeah, I'd say so. In original? No way.

Tbh I think each handgun has something that can suit a specific playstyle so whatever you prefer is groovy.

That penetration against the wooden shields is nasty

Prefer blacktail but to each their own.

Standard pistol is the best for me. That crit chance is insane

Red9 maxed with a stock is basically a semi-auto rifle. It's always my choice handgun.

I’ve always been a Blacktail guy since the original, but I’ve done a couple of runs with the Punisher in the remake and it is great. I especially like shooting through the head/chest of the guys with the spider plaga on their back and into the plaga

In the original it was good with the larger amount of enemies. And in the remake it's decent.

Biggest issue is the island has armoured shields and enemies which really holds it back.

The Punisher is great in the castle but falls off afterwards.

Red9 is great I just love the variety and that these debates can even exist. Punisher gang all the way for me though

All handguns are viable. 

My personal favorite is the starting SG-09. It’s good looking(the best looking handgun imo). It’s the one Leon uses in all cutscenes. Gotta love that lore accuracy. And it’s pretty well-rounded. Decent power and speed. Great accuracy with the laser. And I love the crit bonus. 

For Ada I again use her starter pistol, the Blacktail. Very powerful and very fast. Just pop pop pop. 

My favorite is Blacktail. Compact, precise, reliable power and ROF, and just an overall great pick.

Red9 will give you the most damage per bullet, but Blacktail has it beat in (I think) every other stat.

Sentinel 9

For Leon, I like Blacktail, I don't know why. It just felt right when I used it.

For Ada, I used Punisher with Laser Sight. I again don't know why. It just seemed right when using it.

pick ur favorite they’re all good tbh i fw red9 and SG09

With infinite ammo, Matilda is best, as it has absurd fire rate. But it’s impractical for normal play.

For that, Blacktail is best. See the infographic below for the stats. You can work out the DPS from this. It also handles well and takes up the least space.

https://www.reddit.com/r/residentevil/comments/12n6q56/i_made_an_infographic_on_some_hidden_numbers_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

SG-09 R has always been my favorite!! It certainly does feel really nice.

Blacktail all around but I prefer the Silver Ghost with the laser.

I also change the laser color to white and it looks and feels cooler to use lol

They did a good job balancing the pistols in this game.

They're all great in their own ways. In OG re4 it was red 9 or nothing. 5 damage per shot with a good rate of fire .

For handguns it's in my objective opinion.

Matilda Blacktail Punisher/sentinel nine (both good so can't decide on which gets third spot.)

The matilda with stock becomes an insane dps machine however does chew ammo so don't waste shots. Upside more space in case since it can hold up too 61 bullets max.

Blacktail has small size, consistent and small crosshair, fast fire rate and highest reload speed of all handguns. (Its damage is slightly less than red9 but don't be fooled by this. The fire rate and reload allow it to have higher dps.)

Sentinel nine has high fire rate. Second largest magazine and critical exclusive that gives it all round fantastic dps in most situations.

Don't know how to properly rank them because they have different uses but my most used:

Blacktail, Stingray, Riot Shotgun, Assault Rifle + Biosensor, and Killer7

I think the BlackTail, Riotgun and Stingray are the only 3 weapons you really need to get through the game in a relatively easy way

Yes. here is the official one from the capcom website:

1. Knife
2. Leon's default Handgun
3. Riot Gun
4. Everything else

This Bolt Action yous guys are mentioning is the first one that appears for purchasing?

Not counting exclusive upgrades, Red9 is the best just due to it’s firepower.

However when you factor in the exclusives, the Silver Ghost (starting handgun) is far and away the best. It gets a x5 crit boost for hitting weakness (headshots), and the boost also works on your melee and knife attacks. It’s possible this side effect was not intentional.

That said, all the handguns are very usable. There’s no wrong choice. Except maybe the Matilda.

Red 9, never have to headshot or melee ever again, just about every enemy you wanna use a handgun on will die in 3 shots AT most with it, you might even start selling handgun ammo for a but of cash cuz you'll be drownining in it

I like how quick the blacktail feels

I will never not use the red 9, it's feels like sacrilege at this point

Red nine, easy.

If you want to do high damage per shot, red 9. General workhorse, fire and forget. With stock basically becomes a marksman rifle.

If you want to go for headshots, silver ghost and sentinel. Excels against plagas and special variant weakpoints.

If you want to line enemies up or shoot through shields, punisher. Excels against crowds and shields.

If you want a balanced gun that has high damage but not the highest, decent fire rate, decent accuracy, etc. Then blacktail. General workhorse that does everything at a high level but excels at nothing.

If you want rapid fire and max dps at the cost of ammo efficiency, matilda. Excels against special variants and bosses bit runs out of ammo against mobs. Basically an assault rifle. Only good with stock.

Each gun excels at different things so it's up to playstyle.

If I had to choose an objectively "best" gun overall, I would say blacktail. That said I use almost exclusively the silver ghost because it fits my playstyle and I love the look, and I use the matilda because it's the most fun to me.

It’s kinda a toss up in the remake. For pure damage it’s the red9 but that also has pretty bad accuracy. The blacktail is basically the opposite, not as good damage but the accuracy is very good

I'm very partial to the SG-09 and the Sentinel 9. I love the high capacity and relatively high fire rate of the Sentinel 9 because it means I can hold more ammo in the same amount of space (31 in the gun and 50rd box) and the low recoil with the laser sight pairs very nicely with the moderate fire rate for quick follow up shots.

I tried the Red 9 in the shooting range and I personally hated it. Without the laser, it's brutally inaccurate and follow up shots can't be too plentiful. I haven't tried the Punisher or Blacktail yet. I don't much care for the penetration of the Punisher and the Blacktail's capacity makes me wanting more.

I tended to use the red9

I like the starting pistol. It does good damage and is compatible with laser sight. If red 9 was compatible with laser sight I would use it all day, but it isn’t, so I’m Happy with the original.

So for the Original RE4 *Silver Ghost (Handgun): it's pretty well balanced and weak but when maxed out 5x critical headshots are very useful and while there's nothing confirmed on paper (I've noticed) it increases the power of the knife a bit more. *Punisher: weakest of the handguns is the FN 5.7 aka the punisher it has a high ammo capacity and firing speed to compensate for lack of power however this isn't entirely useless as it's ammo will penetrate through groups of enemies (yeah no one cares unless you got mods on to make groups of enemies) but effective against shields. Best part is you can get one free if you get 10 medallions but if you get all 15 it comes with a free upgrade to firepower off the bat (I get all 15 cause it sells for more without buying anything) *Red 9: my personal favorite (I am a sucker for firepower above anything) the strongest of all handguns in the original GameCube, PC and PS2/3 this thing had a max firepower of 5.0 but the PAL version like PS4 and up gave it a 6.5 firepower either way this thing is a borderline magnum seriously kill a Dr Salvador in 4-6 shots and throw in it has a stock too for better accuracy and reduced recoil it's a great gun stranger though I wouldn't recommend this to beginners due to slower fire rate and reload speed, a gun like this requires some tactical thinking. *Blacktail: this Springfield XD is a great gun especially for beginners, most people swear by it and frankly I don't blame them it's got fast firing speed, reload speed, great accuracy, ammo capacity and third strongest handgun in the game (I know "it's the second strongest" but it's third) overall this is great and while sure I could stroke it's ego more I would say give it a try yourself and you'll see why people love it. *Matilda: The VP70 with stock is the second strongest gun in the game (sure it could be the strongest beating Red 9 but it has one flaw beating that chance) reason I say it's second strongest sure it's firepower is lower than the blacktail but it's got a 3 round burst firing system which is amazing taking its lower number and multiplying it by x3 making it deal excellent damage but the flaw in it's system putting it in #2 spot is it eats up ammo rather quickly otherwise it's an amazing gun I would 10/10 recommend it especially when you can max it's capacity to hold up to 100 rounds per magazine.

Recommended for first timer: Blacktail or Silver Ghost

Remake Now over to the Remake this time I'll be adding a bit more *SG-09: This standard starter is the Silver Ghost and like before pretty balanced but weak starting but critical hits get x5 and can attach the laser sight to it making it great for critical hits. *Sentinel Nine: This gun at start is better than SG-09 but as you upgrade it it's slightly weaker than it but does hold more ammo making it great for large groups of enemies especially if the laser is attached to it also good for critical hits with x5. *Punisher just like before it's not much different from the OG counterpart other than you can attach a laser to it, though even without it it's one of the most accurate handguns in the game. Blacktail: this time it is the second most powerful handgun in the game and definitely recommended for beginners faster reticle speed to boot with its other attributes it's only downfall is it has the lowest ammo capacity with a max of 14+1 in the chamber and cannot have the laser equipped to it. *Red 9: I still swear by this gun in my handgun and knife only gameplay while most guns in the remake got nerfed compared to the OG the Red 9 still maintains its power over all standards but I DO NOT recommend this to anyone without the stock due to its wide reticle and with it still being slow and low ammo capacity not for beginners it too cannot equip the laser. *Matilda: so this time the Matilda is the 3rd strongest due to the fact you can't just up and burst fire like before. Without the stock honestly it's kinda trash truthfully since it's semi automatic function is dog water with groups or tough enemies, but it shines with the stock going burst fire function taking enemies down with ease, like before it'll eat up ammo rather quickly but this time it's not a problem since you can craft ammo with the handgun charm +30%, Don Jose charm +15%, Soldier w/hammer charm +20%, and Silver case increase chance to drop handgun ammo you'd be lucky if you ever ran out.

Recommended for beginners: SG-09, Sentinel Nine, Blacktail

I've made weapons guides, walkthroughs, tips and tricks for almost every Resident Evil game (only completed CVX once so sorry for nothing there)

Punisher in castle. Black tail everywhere else.

re4 2005: red9 + stock

re4 remake: sentinel nine + dot + 5x crit upgrade

I just use standard with the laser sight, definitely not the best but feels good and consistent for me

assuming you're talking about the original lol

Stock Handgun is pretty good, and if you max level it you get a nifty bonus critical hit chance which is pretty fun

Blacktail is also good, but I've never really liked how it boosts your aiming sensitivity. Besides that it's got pretty good stats

Red 9 is the fan favourite. Super high damage for a pistol, great accuracy with the stock; just reliable in any situation (and imo the most satisfying to shoot)

There is also the Matilda; unlocked post final boss. Shreds through everything but also eats through your ammo wit the whole 3 round burst gimmick. More of a fun gimmick weapon but it can be pretty good for bosses or if you wanna breeze through a crowd