Chaos Ranks Every Call of Duty's Best Pistol, Then Crowns the Greatest of All 20

Pistols in Call of Duty started out as dinky last resort weapons, but they have evolved into a massive part of the experience, with some absurd standouts along the way. I went through every mainline game plus COD Mobile to pick the best pistol in each one, and then at the end I ranked all 20 of those picks from worst to best.

COD 4's Desert Eagle Kicked Off the Series' Craziest Pistol Era

COD 4 has four pistols. Two are okay, one was terrible for whatever reason, and then there is the Desert Eagle, which was one of the most absurd pistols I have ever seen in a first-person shooter. It was massive, it kicked halfway up your screen when you pulled the trigger, and it hit like a tank.

If you were using Stopping Power, the Deagle would basically kill anybody with two bullets. It was a great gun to swap to if you were trying to finish somebody off, since if they were hurt at all there was a good chance a single shot would drop them. This was the first crazy pistol in Call of Duty history.

World at War's 357 Magnum Was Held Back by Its Own Map Design

The 357 Magnum was honestly kind of stupid. Much like the Deagle, it was a super high power pistol, absolutely gigantic compared to the other handguns in the game, but what made it so stupid was that it barely kicked. You could hit people from ridiculous distances without much of a problem.

The wide open map design, limited ammo capacity, and long reload animation held it back from its true potential, which kept it from being quite as memorable as the Deagle. Still, by far the best pistol in World at War, and one of my favorite revolvers in the series.

Modern Warfare 2's M93 Raffica Set the Gold Standard for Burst Fire Pistols

The M93 Raffica was the first burst fire pistol in Call of Duty history, and it is still by far the best. It had the exact same damage profile as a full size M16 but with way better handling than a smaller magazine, meaning you could run it as your primary and zip around the map with the power of an M16 and the mobility of a handgun. It was, in my words, "stupid, absurd, crazy."

Every burst fire pistol that came after it gets compared to it, because despite being the first one ever, it remains the gold standard. I still remember someone on a rooftop getting a nuke with the M93 Raffica, and to this day it is always going to be the best.

Black Ops 1's Python Was Untouchable With a Speed Loader

The CZ75 had some sauce if you were running the full auto attachment, which was my preference, but the Python with a speed loader was untouchable. It was a two shot kill monster with pretty manageable recoil and ultra fast handling. You could spin through your entire AUG or Galil magazine, and right when your streak looked like it was about to end, you could swap to the Python and take two or three more people down.

Modern Warfare 3's MP9 Was an SMG Wearing a Machine Pistol's Clothes

To this day I have no idea what the MP9 was doing in the machine pistol category, because it was literally an SMG. It had a 32 round default mag, 48 with extended, fired at 900 rounds per minute, and killed in three to five shots. Since it was classified as a machine pistol, you could throw it in your pocket and also dual wield it.

Some people probably expected me to pick the FMG9 here instead, but it was not anywhere close to being as versatile as the MP9, and the akimbo MP9s were just as good as the akimbo FMGs.

Black Ops 2's Cap 40 Got Banned From Competitive Play Instead of Nerfed

The Cap 40 was a full auto pistol that genuinely outclassed about half of the SMGs in the game. It was so strong that it ended up getting banned from competitive play, because Treyarch could not figure out how to nerf it without bringing it down to the dirt, and they did not want to ruin the experience for non-competitive players by nerfing it that much. So they just pulled it from the competitive pool entirely.

That is a way better mindset than the current one, in my view. I brought up Sledgehammer's handling of the FG-42 in COD World War II as a contrast, where instead of banning it from competitive play, they nerfed it into being a bottom five weapon for everyone. As I put it, "Why can't we just accept that some guns are too good for competitive play and the devs just pull them out of the pool and leave it for the rest of us as it is so we can have fun?"

COD Ghost's P226 Won by Simply Not Being Bad

This is probably the most underwhelming pick on the entire list. The pistols in COD Ghost were not good across the board, so the P226 gets the top spot because it was functional and did not ruin your experience when you used it. It was okay, predictable, and you almost never saw it online because nobody cared about pistols in that game. It won simply by not sucking.

Advanced Warfare's DLC 1911 Turned a Classic Handgun Into a Deagle in Disguise

The Advanced Warfare 1911 was added as DLC to the Xbox One and PS4 versions a few months into the game's life cycle, and it functioned very differently from other versions of the classic 1911. Instead of heavy visual recoil, it was laser accurate, had a high damage profile of up to 52 base damage, and carried a 40 percent damage boost to the head.

It was essentially a Desert Eagle in the body of a super accurate standard handgun. I do not know why Sledgehammer decided to do it, but after several underwhelming versions of the M1911, it was refreshing to finally get one that was busted for a change.

Black Ops 3's 1911 Edged Out the Marshal on Versatility

The Black Ops 3 version of the 1911 was a two shot kill with hardly any recoil and phenomenal handling, locked behind supply drops. I seriously considered putting the Marshal here instead, since it was an instant kill through 20 meters, but the 1911 could two shot kill from anywhere, which made it far more versatile in my eyes. It is also a bit strange that two games in a row had a DLC version of the 1911 as the best pistol pick, especially since the 1911 showed up a lot on my worst pistol list too.

Infinite Warfare's Hornet Barely Counts But Still Takes the Crown

The Hornet was technically filed under the classic weapon category rather than pistols, but it was obviously a secondary sidearm, so I am counting it. It was a remake of the classic G18 from Modern Warfare 2, a bullet hose with an absurd time to kill if you could control the recoil, or you could just run it akimbo and not worry about it. I believe the Hornet was banned from competitive play, though that might just be because classic weapons were banned across the board for tournaments.

COD World War II's 9mm SAP Won by Being the Only Reliable Option Left

The pistols in COD World War II were not good. The 1911 kicked too much and had a horrible fire rate, the PO8 was decent but the visual recoil was silly, and the two DLC revolvers were awkward and not fun to use. The 9mm SAP was the only one left that felt reliable in any way, and it was not even that good. For the second time on this list, a pistol won simply by being okay.

Black Ops 4's Mozu and Skull Splitter Were Pure Cheese and I Loved It

The Mozu, specifically with the Skull Splitter blueprint, was a six shot revolver with a guaranteed one shot kill to the head no matter what, plus a speed loader and barely any recoil. People always get upset when I bring this one up. As I said, "It was pure cheese. I loved it." It was the best pistol in Black Ops 4, hands down.

Modern Warfare 2019's Renetti Became a Burst Fire Monster With One Attachment

The Renetti was a standard handgun that could be converted into a three round burst monster with a single attachment. There were other crazy pistols in that game, including the 50GS and the .357 which would have been the best pistol in the game if it had not been nerfed, but the Renetti blew them all out of the water with its absurd burst fire time to kill and amazing handling. Once you unlocked the three round burst mod, it was game over.

Black Ops Cold War Brought Back the Controversial Marshal, Now for Everyone

I questioned why Treyarch looked at the backlash to the Marshal 16 in Black Ops 3 and decided to bring it back, this time giving it to everyone instead of locking it behind supply drops, and adding incendiary shells as an attachment option. Everyone having access to it just meant everyone could spam it constantly, which made it more annoying. Whatever anyone wants to call it in the weapon menu, it was a pistol, and it earned its spot on this list.

Vanguard's 1911 Won Simply Because It Was Not Terrible

This pick reminds me of the P226 from COD Ghost. The pistols in Vanguard were not particularly good, so the 1911 sat there as a normal, functional gun that was enough to stand out. There is not a lot more to say about it, and honestly I do not like spending much time on Vanguard anyway.

Modern Warfare 2's X12 Was a Deceptively Powerful Sleeper Pick

Sometimes you cannot go wrong with a good old fashioned Glock. The X12 in the newer Modern Warfare 2 was super reliable and consistent, and it hit deceptively hard for something so small, with a damage output that was kind of nutty for a pistol that fired so quickly and had such low recoil. Its iron sights were crystal clear too. Other pistols in that game killed quicker or looked flashier on execution, but the X12 was by far the most reliable weapon at your disposal.

Modern Warfare 3's Renetti Stayed Reliable With Another Stupid Conversion Mod

The Renetti returned in the newer Modern Warfare 3, and while I would not say it was quite as busted as its 2019 version, it was still the best pistol in the game, once again thanks to a conversion mod that made an already reliable pistol overpowered. I do not know if the Renetti is coming back in Modern Warfare 4, but I said I would be willing to bet it will once again be a reliable pistol paired with a conversion mod that makes it stupid.

Black Ops 6's 9mm PM Was Fine and Completely Forgettable

I played a lot of Black Ops 6 when it launched, more hours than any post Warzone-era COD I've played, and I still could not remember anything significant about any of its pistols. The 9mm PM is the pick, and it was straightforward with no surprises. It was fine, and that says something about the state of pistols in that game.

Black Ops 7's Cap 40 Remake Is, Once Again, Just Fine

The best pistol in Black Ops 7 is a remake of the Cap 40, and it is once again fine. I admitted I am dismissive of Black Ops 7 whenever I make these every-COD rankings, not on purpose, but because I genuinely do not understand why anybody cares about the game. Still, the pistol does its job.

COD Mobile's Machine Pistol Feels Stronger Than It Actually Is

COD Mobile added the World War II era machine pistol not too long ago, and it is definitely better than the version in COD World War II that got nerfed into the ground. It is not amazing, but a lot of players gravitate to it because in a mobile game where everyone is slower, something that fires this quickly and is easy to control feels much more powerful than it actually is. If you dropped this same weapon into a full COD game with everyone on controller or mouse and keyboard, I would call it mid.

The Full Ranking, Worst to Best

• 20. P226, COD Ghost
• 19. 1911, Vanguard
• 18. 9mm SAP, COD World War II
• 17. 9mm PM, Black Ops 6
• 16. Cap 40 remake, Black Ops 7
• 15. Machine pistol, COD Mobile
• 14. Hornet, Infinite Warfare
• 13. 357 Magnum, World at War
• 12. X12, Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
• 11. 1911, Advanced Warfare
• 10. Python, Black Ops 1
• 9. Desert Eagle, COD 4
• 8. Renetti, Modern Warfare 3 (2023)
• 7. 1911, Black Ops 3
• 6. Marshal, Black Ops Cold War
• 5. Renetti, Modern Warfare 2019
• 4. Mozu / Skull Splitter, Black Ops 4
• 3. MP9, Modern Warfare 3 (2011)
• 2. Cap 40, Black Ops 2
• 1. M93 Raffica, Modern Warfare 2 (2009)

The 357 Magnum landing at 13 might look like a hot take given how absurd it was, and the Desert Eagle sitting at 9 might upset some legacy fans, but I stand by the guns above them as genuine juggernauts. The M93 Raffica at number one will probably never change for me. It is always going to be the best.

Do you agree with the M93 Raffica sitting at the top, or is there a pistol you think I ranked too low?