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The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: United Offensive. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Finest Hour. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty 2. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty 2: Big Red One. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty 3. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Roads to Victory. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for the Nintendo DS. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: World at War. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: World at War for the Nintendo DS. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized. The subject of this article appeared in Modern Warfare 2: Ghost. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Classic. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Black Ops. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Black Ops (Nintendo DS). The subject of this article appeared in Find Makarov: Operation Kingfish. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for the Nintendo DS. The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty Online The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Ghosts The subject of this article appears in Extinction mode The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare The subject of this artcile appears in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Exo Zombies The subject of this article appeared in Call of Duty: Black Ops III. The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Zombies The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: WWII The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: WWII Nazi Zombies The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Mobile The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Warzone The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Vanguard The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Warzone 2 The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III The subject of this article appears in Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile The subject of this article appeared in Zombies mode
"Effective at close range. Fastest weapon swap and movement speed."
— Category description in Call of Duty: Ghosts.
M1911 menu icon WaW

The M1911, a handgun featured in most major Call of Duty games

Handguns (which include pistols and revolvers, and are also referred to as side arms) are a type of secondary weapon in the Call of Duty series. Handguns usually have moderate stopping power and are able to pull off many shots in quick succession. Lower caliber handguns usually have higher magazine capacities, while the higher caliber handguns are louder, have more recoil and have a smaller magazine capacity. In general, semi-auto pistols are less powerful than revolvers.

Compared to other weapons, handguns can be drawn the fastest, and switching to a sidearm is always faster than reloading. When aiming down the sights they have the fastest ADS time, have no zoom, and they retain full "look/aim" movement speed when doing so. However, handguns have moderate damage (if it's a revolver) and sometimes low if it's a pistol with a magazine (such as the M1911) outside of their usually short ranges. The low magazine size and semi-automatic nature limits them to ADS outside of point-blank ranges. Since their hipfire spread tends to be relatively poor, the user will often find him/herself running out of ammunition should they attempt to kill an enemy without aiming. Additionally, players cannot simply "sweep" the crosshairs over an opponent while continuously holding down the trigger and expect a kill, as every shot must be fired manually. There are some exceptions to this though. Some post-WWII handguns, like Glock G18, have a high rate of fire combined with a high magazine capacity.

In the original Call of Duty and Call of Duty: United Offensive, handguns have a dedicated slot, and can be drawn by pressing "3" on keyboard. However, from Call of Duty 2 onwards, this slot is removed so a handgun occupies 1 of the only 2 primary gun slots. This change makes pistols much less appealing to many, as carrying one means giving up a full-sized weapon. However, with a handgun in hand, a player may actually run much faster. This trait makes handguns especially advantageous in single-player campaign, in which running to the next cover unscratched would often save the hassle of dealing with respawning enemies. Combined with the aforementioned ability to draw quickly, they are still worth considering even for competitive online players.

In Extinction, the player will spawn in with a handgun by default, and unlike other weapons, this handgun cannot be removed or lost. The player can choose which handgun they spawn in with.

Handguns are some of the most commonplace weapons in the Call of Duty series, with the M1911 appearing in more games than any other weapon featured in Call of Duty.

List of Handguns in the Call of Duty Series[]

Call of Duty and Call of Duty: United Offensive[]

Call of Duty: Finest Hour[]

Call of Duty 2[]

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One[]

Call of Duty 3[]

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex Edition[]

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Nintendo DS)[]

Call of Duty: World at War[]

Call of Duty: World at War (Nintendo DS)[]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2[]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized[]

Modern Warfare 2: Ghost[]

Call of Duty: Black Ops[]

Call of Duty: Black Ops (Nintendo DS)[]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3[]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3: Defiance[]

Call of Duty: Black Ops II[]

Call of Duty Online[]

Call of Duty: Ghosts[]

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare[]

Call of Duty: Black Ops III[]

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare[]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered[]

Call of Duty: WWII[]

Call of Duty: Black Ops 4[]

Call of Duty: Mobile[]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare[]

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War[]

Call of Duty: Vanguard[]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II[]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III[]

All weapons from Modern Warfare II carry forward to this game; only the new Modern Warfare III handguns are listed here.

Cut Handguns[]

Call of Duty: Ghosts[]

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare[]

Sounds[]

Trivia[]

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