Handgun (Resident Evil 4)

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The Handgun (RE:4) is Leon Kennedy's starting weapon in Resident Evil 4 and his primary weapon in Resident Evil: Degeneration. Like the majority of handguns in the series, it fires 9x19mm Parabellum ammunition.

Design

ARMS Jan '06 Cover

ARMS Jan '06 p34

ARMS Jan '06 p35 (Detail)

Leon's Handgun (hereafter referred to as the Handgun) is often mistaken for a variant of the HK USP. However, 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. Magazines are stainless steel and double stacked. A bullet-time shot from Resident Evil: Degeneration reveals the Handgun's rifling pattern to be a 9 groove conventional pattern with a right-hand twist and approximately a 10 inch pitch.

Gameplay

Being Leon's starting weapon, the player receives 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.

The suppressor occupies the same amount of space as a block of ammo. Albert Wesker uses the fully upgraded Handgun in the Mercenaries Mini game, albeit equipped with a removable suppressor. The suppressor takes up 2x1 blocks of inventory. It is an optional attachment, and can be removed by the player at any time. It also is very effective at dampening the sound of each shot, meaning that Ganados are not alerted to Wesker's presence by the sound of gunfire. This allows the player to covertly take out Ganados until one of them raises the alarm, at which point the suppressor becomes pointless. While the suppressor does keep the Garrador from hearing the gunshots, this is only relevant during the a small part of the Mercenaries minigame.

Upgrade Chart

Wesker's Handgun fitted with a silencer in RE4

• Cost is in parentheses*

  |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. A critical headshot will instantly kill the enemy and the Plaga will not expose itself.

Trivia

Leon takes aim (Degeneration)

Chris with the Handgun in the early RE5 teaser trailer.

• No matter what gun Leon has equipped, in cutscenes where Leon uses a gun, it is always the Handgun. He carries it in his drop leg holster.

• 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.

• When playing the Shooting Gallery mini-game provided by The Merchant, the Handgun is one of the weapons usable when choosing Sniping Weapons. It has a capacity of 16 rounds, stock firepower, and reloading speed 1.47. This may possibly hint at the "real capacity" of the Handgun, although this isn't for certain as the other weapons have capacities well past normal limits.

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

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

• Leon himself never utilizes the threaded barrel in either Resident Evil 4 or Degeneration. It is only utilized by Albert Wesker for attaching a suppressor.

• Wesker is seen using his silenced version again during Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, though an explanation as to how he obtained it is never given.

• The Handgun makes yet another appearance in the first teaser trailer for Resident Evil 5, where Chris uses one outfitted with a compensator.

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.

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