Resident Evil 4 Remake: The Best Pistol (& How To Unlock It)

Players can unlock quite a few weapons in the "Resident Evil 4" remake, but the pistol is the first one they get, and it's more than likely the one that they will be using the most often — so naturally, many players want to know which is the best one. Not only is it the only gun type that Leon will have from the very beginning of the game, but it's also likely the weapon that players will naturally find the most ammunition for. In addition to the ammo's high spawn rate, crafting handgun ammunition has a lower gunpowder requirement than shotgun, rifle, or submachine gun ammo, making it easy for players to have a plentiful supply — so long as they aren't overly trigger-happy. This makes it the gun that many players will lean on for most of the game while they save their more powerful ammunition for the numerous boss battles.

Upgrading weapons in "RE4" is expensive, however, so many fans will want to be sure that they're investing their hard-won Pesetas in the right weapon. There are a few good options available. Punisher can be obtained early on and has the best penetration while the Blacktail is a solid mid-to-late game weapon with the most well-balanced stats — but it's the Red9 that hits the hardest.

One of the many awesome things about the Red9 is that it's one of the few weapons in the game that players can get for free. Rather than being purchased from the merchant for an exorbitant sum of money like most weapons in the game, players can simply find it out in the world.

The weapon is located on the shipwreck in the middle of the lake that Leon explores in Chapter 4. After a rocky encounter with a certain aquatic mutant, Leon will have to find a new boat to traverse the lake. Once he does, the player can use this to go to the center of the lake and dock on the semi-sunken vessel. There will be a treasure inside of a big red chest straight ahead as soon as Leon steps onto the dock, but players who walk around the remains of the cabin to the prow of the ship will find a blue chest. This contains the Red9.

It's a powerful weapon right out of the box, but it needs some work before it becomes the best handgun in the game.

One thing that's constant across most of the "Resident Evil" franchise is that ammunition is a limited and valuable commodity. That's why it's generally best to invest in getting the most bang for your bullet. The Red9 offers the most punch out of any of the handguns on offer in the game (other than the magnums), and it can be acquired pretty early on.

That said, it isn't all that impressive when players first find it. Those who pick it up and equip it right away might find it slow and unwieldy at first. That's because the Red9's impressive Power is tempered by a slower Reload Speed and lower Accuracy. These can be somewhat improved by spending Pesetas to upgrade it at the merchant, but the main trick to unlocking this weapon's full potential is by equipping it with the unique Red 9 Stock modification, which becomes available in Chapter 6. Players have to trade a whopping nine Spinels to unlock it, but it's absolutely worth it as this mod gives the Red 9 an almost rifle-like level of stability.

The biggest downside to the Red9 is that when it's equipped with the stock, it takes up quite a bit of space in the player's inventory. It will also never shoot or handle quite as quickly as some other weapons, but a fully-upgraded version of the Red9 is hard to beat when it comes to making every shot count.