.44 Magnum

The .44 Magnum is a revolver featured in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Single Player
The .44 Magnum is almost always carried and used by General Shepherd throughout the campaign. Shepherd is seen using the .44 Magnum at the beginning of the mission "Team Player", the end of "Loose Ends" to kill Ghost and Roach, and in "Endgame" when he attempts to kill Soap and Captain Price.

This weapon is not available in the singleplayer campaign; however, while in the level "Museum", the player can pick up this weapon either from the display shelf or by killing General Shepherd.

Multiplayer
The .44 Magnum is available for Create-A-Class at level 26, being the second Handgun unlocked. The weapon always kills in three or fewer hits, regardless of the use of Stopping Power - the perk only increases the range at which a two-hit kill is attainable. In Hardcore gamemodes, the .44 Magnum requires just one hit to kill regardless of range or perks, unless used against a player using Painkiller, Final Stand or Last Stand, or if shooting through cover.

The .44 Magnum has moderate visual recoil, but has very low actual recoil, and can have all six rounds fired quickly with little loss of accuracy up to medium range. Its main drawbacks are its small six-round capacity and moderately slow reload animation - however, it does have a quick Reload Cancel, which reduces the reload time by roughly half.

The .44 is often compared to the Desert Eagle, as both have close to the same stats, with high damage and low ammo capacity. When looking very closely, one can see that the .44 Magnum has more damage and accuracy, while the Desert Eagle has a larger magazine capacity. When using the Akimbo attachment, the .44 Magnum is inferior to the Desert Eagle due to its lower capacity, longer reload, and virtually the same amount of recoil. However, when used alone, the .44 Magnum is overall better than the Desert Eagle, with less recoil, correctly aligned iron sights, and ability to kill over a longer range without the need of Stopping Power.

This weapon is most commonly found in Multiplayer with the Tactical Knife Attachment, and used with the combination of rushing perks Marathon, Lightweight, and Commando. The knife attack is very effective with a Tactical Knife, especially with the increased melee lunge range due to Commando. If someone sees the player advancing upon them and the player is outside of melee range, the Magnum's high damage and low recoil is perfect for medium range kills.

Weapon Attachments
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 * FMJ
 * Akimbo
 * Tactical Knife

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
The .44 Magnum appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. It has a wooden grip instead of a black synthetic one that the Modern Warfare 2 version had. The hammer also appears to have been either cut or filed down to a shorter length. It features the same reload animation as the Modern Warfare 2 version but the sound effect of Treyarch's World at War .357 Magnum

Multiplayer
The .44 Magnum is unlocked at Level 46 in Modern Warfare 3's multiplayer. It has slightly reduced damage than it's Modern Warfare 2 counterpart,

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2

 * On the left side of the barrel, there is writing that reads: "BRAD ALLENCONDA .44MAGNUM," a reference to Brad Allen, Infinity Ward's lead artist.
 * The .44 Magnum is one of five revolvers to appear in the Call of Duty series, the others being the Webley Mk IV, the .357 Magnum, the Python, and the MP412.
 * On PC, when using the .44 Magnum in Multiplayer the finish will change from silver to black.
 * In Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer, all pistols say; "Semi-Auto" in the Create-a-Class stats except the .44 Magnum.
 * When equipped with the Tactical Knife, the .44 Magnum's reload changes slightly; the character will flick his wrist to close the cylinder after inserting the speedloader, rather than close it with his other hand.
 * In the single player level Museum, if the player picks up the .44 Magnum from the display case and then kills Shepherd, the player can pick up his .44 Magnum too without picking up ammo or dropping the Magnum they already have. General Shepherd's .44 Magnum and the regular one either have different coding or General Shepherd's Magnum has FMJ that has not been labeled.
 * The .44 Magnum has the smallest hipfire spread of any weapon in the game.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3

 * It now has a wooden pistol grip instead of a synthetic plastic one.
 * The new .44 Magnum somewhat resembles the Python from Call of Duty: Black Ops, being less shiny and with wooden grips.
 * It appears that unlike the previous title, the .44 Magnum will not be as powerful, most likely due to balancing with the newly added accuracy.
 * The .44 Magnum uses the Desert Eagles's firing sound from Modern Warfare 2.

.44 Magnum