Handgun (Resident Evil 4)

This Handgun is a personal firearm that belongs to Leon Scott Kennedy. It was designed from the ground up by the gunsmith Joe Kendo in an attempt to create the ultimate tactical handgun. It was made on request from Leon just before the events of Resident Evil 4.

The gun itself is Leon's starting weapon in Resident Evil 4 and his primary weapon in Resident Evil: Degeneration. The gun has also made other appearances throughout the series.

Design
The handgun is often mistaken for a longer variant of the HK USP. However, aside from added length, a comparison reveals a plethora of discrepancies not readily visible to the untrained eye. Ryoumura Jyoshin (the weapon designer for the Devil May Cry, Biohazard, and Dino Crisis series) claims that he designed the handgun himself with no individual base model, though he admits that the USP was a source of aesthetic inspiration.

Anatomically, the handgun bears a resemblance to the Smith & Wesson Sigma, especially in the slide, magazine, and lower frame. However, it is shown with a hammer as opposed to a striker. This, along with the controls (slide release, magazine catch and safety) all bear resemblance to the Ruger P85.

The grips are wood framed with polymer panels and a central medallion on each side, similar to the design used on the Samurai Edge grips. The slide is stainless steel, likely for aesthetics, and the barrel is threaded for suppressors. The words "Kendo Custom Shop" can be seen engraved on the slide.

Magazines are stainless steel and double stacked. A bullet-time shot from Resident Evil: Degeneration reveals the handgun rifling pattern to be a 9 groove conventional pattern with a right-hand twist and approximately a 10 inch pitch.

There is a laser module attached to the frame, and a pressure switch affixed to the grips (these are strips that only activate the light or laser when the user applies pressure, and cut off when the user releases). In Degeneration, although retaining identical aesthetics, this module is changed to a flashlight.

Resident Evil 4
The gun appears under the name Handgun in Resident Evil 4. It is Leon's starting weapon. However, it can still be purchased from the Merchant for 8,000₧. It uses Handgun Ammo and it takes up 6 spaces in Leon's inventory (3x2). Of all the handguns, it has the most unsteady aiming in the game. However, it has a higher critical chance and is the cheapest to upgrade.

The Handgun also appears in the Shooting Range mini-game. It is part of the Sniping Weapons set. Here it has a capacity of 16 rounds, stock firepower, and reloading speed 1.47.

The gun also appears in the Mercenaries mini-game as part of Albert Wesker's load out. His Handgun is fully upgraded and comes equipped with a removable Silencer. The Silencer takes up 2x1 blocks of inventory.

With the Silencer equipped, the sound of each shot is noticeably dampened. Using it causes Ganado to not be automatically alerted to Wesker's presence. This allows the player to covertly take out Ganado until one of them raises the alarm, at which point the suppressor becomes pointless. However, the Silencer will still keep the Garrador from hearing the gunshots in the Castle level.

Tune up chart
Fire Speed and Reload Speed are given in seconds.

The Handgun costs 198,000₧ to upgrade.

Comments
"A standard 9mm handgun."
 * Examine: Handgun

"No longer your average handgun, it's chance of critical headshots is increased by 5x."
 * Fully upgraded Examine: Handgun

"A silenced version of the custom-tuned 9mm handgun. It's chance of critical headshots is increased by 5x."
 * Examine: Handgun w/ Silencer

"Increases the chance of critical by 5 times."
 * Exclusive

Strategies

 * A critical headshot will instantly kill the enemy. The plagas will still appear, but less often.
 * The likelihood for a critical headshot is estimated to be somewhere between 5-10%. With the exclusive upgrade, the Handgun can presumably have a 25-50% chance for a critical headshot.
 * Due to this weapon's light damage, it is not ideal for taking out tougher enemies, Ganado with masks, or bosses. However, against the regular Ganado, this weapon is great for headshots. To save 9mm ammunition, it is advised to use this weapon for the most simple Ganado and to use other weapons such as Shotguns or the TMP to take down every other enemy.
 * The critical headshot Exclusive of the weapon is very inconsistent compared to other handguns. For example, the villagers early on in the game will take an average 2 headshots to kill with the Blacktail, whereas the Handgun may take 3 or even more with the possibility of a one hit kill. Overall, you are performing more Critical Headshot kills but wasting a lot more 9mm ammo on non-kill shots.
 * It is worth noting that shot for shot throughout the game, despite the point above, the Handgun will usually use less ammo than the Blacktail or the Red9 if the player is aiming for the head of the most basic enemy.
 * Enemy Plagas are not affected by the Critical Headshot damage, so it is recommended to use a different weapon, preferably the Shotgun.
 * The handgun is the most unstable handgun (aside from the Red9 without the stock) in the game. This can make it difficult to perform headshots at long range or even medium range if the player isn't being careful. The player must consider this when using this weapon, otherwise they will miss out on this gun's valuable headshot Exclusive.

Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
Wesker is seen using his suppressed version again during Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, though an explanation as to how he obtained it is never given. It used by him during the Umbrella's End scenarios under the name Silenced Handgun.

Resident Evil Degeneration
In Resident Evil: Degeneration, Leon uses the handgun as his main weapon as well as having a Glock 30 as a backup.

Resident Evil: The Deck Building Game
The handgun was introduced as the Silver Ghost in the card game's third expansion set: Nightmare. This handgun offers an extra card-draw and action-play during the turn this card is played. The damage it deals is 10 (same as the ammo cost) and costs 30 gold to purchase.

Further Notes

 * No matter what gun Leon has equipped, he is always shown with the Handgun during cutscenes where Leon uses a gun. He carries it in his drop leg holster.
 * In the PS2 version of Resident Evil 4, the handgun's lower barrel is missing. However, when equipped with a suppressor, the lower barrel reappears.
 * The handgun makes a brief cameo in the first teaser trailer for Resident Evil 5, where Chris uses one outfitted with a compensator. It is left out in the final version of the game.
 * Chris is seen using this weapon as some of his attacks in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds.

Replicas
A limited run 1/6 scale model was released in Japan with preorders of the Resident Evil 4 PS2 game.

The January '06 issue of ARMS, a Japanese airsoft magazine, contained a Biohazard 4 special which included an article over a replica of the handgun built by the staff of ARMS in conjunction with Ryoumura Jyoshin. A translation of the article may be viewed here.