Handgun (Resident Evil 4)

The Handgun (RE:4) is the gun that Leon Kennedy begins Resident Evil 4 with. It uses 9mm handgun ammo. He is also seen using the same handgun during Resident Evil: Degeneration.

The Handgun is often mistaken for an HK USP or the HK Mk23. However, a comparison to either model 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 weapon himself with no individual base model. Anatomically, the Handgun bears a very close resemblance to the Smith & Wesson Sigma, especially in the slide, magazine, and lower frame. In-game, the gun has brown checked grips and a stainless steel slide. The weapon however is shown with a hammer as opposed to a striker. This, along with the controls (slide release, magazine catch and safety) both bear resemblance to the Ruger P85 pistol. The barrel is also threaded for suppressors.

Albert Wesker uses this weapon in the Mercenaries Mini game, albeit equipped with a silencer. Being Leon's starting weapon, you receive it for free, but it can also be purchased from the Merchant for 8,000 ptas, and it takes up 6 spaces in Leon's inventory (3x2). The Handgun costs 198,000 ptas to upgrade, and when fully upgraded, has a resale value of 103,750 ptas.

Upgrade Chart

 * Cost is in parenthesis*

|Level| Firepower      | Firing Speed  | Reload Speed  | Capacity      | |    |                 |               |               |               |   |  1  | 1.0             | 0.47          | 1.73          | 10            |   |  2  | 1.2 (7,000)     | 0.40 (5,000)  | 1.47 (4,000)  | 13 (4,000)    |   |  3  | 1.4 (10,000)    | 0.33 (12,000) | 0.87 (10,000) | 16 (6,000)    |   |  4  | 1.6 (15,000)    |       -       |       -       | 19 (8,000)    |   |  5  | 1.8 (18,000)    |       -       |       -       | 22 (10,000)   |   |  6  | 2.0 (20,000)    |       -       |       -       | 25 (12,000)   |

The Exclusive Upgrade for the Handgun increases the chance for a critical headshot by x5.

Trivia
- No matter what gun Leon has equipped, in cutscenes where Leon uses a gun, it's always the Handgun.

- When playing the Shooting Gallery mini-game provided by The Merchant, the Handgun is one of the weapons usable when choosing Sniping Weapons.

- In Resident Evil: Degeneration, Leon uses the Handgun as his main weapon, as well as having a Glock 30 as a side arm.

- The words Kendo Custom Shop can be seen engraved on the slide.

Replicas
A limited run 1/6 scale model was released in Japan with 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 Leon's Handgun built by the staff of ARMS in conjunction with Ryoumura Jyoshin.