Magnum Owner's Manual

Hello and welcome! This guide will walk you through how to properly and effectively use the magnum and ensure maximum efficiency when it comes to dealing with the endless horde of zombies. By the end of this guide, you will have hopefully considered using the magnum more often or get better with it.

Basics

The magnum is a very powerful hand cannon with a reasonable degree of accuracy and high damage. It has 8 shots, and unlike primary weapons, reloading with at least one bullet left is faster than reloading empty. Also unlike primary weapons, starting a reload then switching weapons will not set your magazine to zero and force you to reload when you switch back to it. The magnum can penetrate once, be it through a wall or a zombie, allowing you to hit two targets at once or one target behind a wall. It is almost essential in expert realism, as it can one shot commons regardless of distance or part of the body hit.

Hitting the Mark

The magnum is most accurate when you're crouched and standing still. You will be able to hit things more consistently and not worry about bullet spread as much. It's nearly as accurate as the military sniper rifle, but suffers from damage falloff when dealing with specials. Count out your shots and reload when shooting is not urgent. Always go for headshots on specials.



The magnum is also a good weapon for when you go down. It's just as accurate and shoots just as fast as if you were just standing, allowing you to last longer if you're getting mugged by the horde. The reload speed is slower, however.

Saving Ammo

One thing all secondaries are good at is saving ammo for your primary weapon. The magnum can work well with many primary weapons, especially ones that have small ammo pools or deal low damage per shot. This will be explained more in-depth later in the guide.

The 7 Shot Rule

You should get into the habit of reloading after 7 shots, or before the magazine is empty. Reloading empty takes noticeably longer than reloading tactically, which may hinder you in a dire situation. Only use that last shot if it is really necessary, like if something comes out of nowhere. Remember, you have unlimited ammo, but not an unlimited magazine. Like with any weapon, shove anything that gets too close while you're reloading.

Stats

These stats are ripped directly from the wiki itself.

• Magazine size: 8
  
• Ammunition: Infinite
  
• Damage per shot: 80
  
• Rate of fire: 198
  
• Damage per second: 267
  
• Damage per magazine: 640
  
• Total damage: Infinite

Synergy

One thing the magnum excels at is ammo conservation. Most primary weapons have either a small ammo pool or low damage per shot. This can be offset by the magnum. While other secondaries can do the same thing, the magnum is more efficient at doing so since it can one shot commons and has good range. It has generally good synergy with all primaries, and that will be explained in this section for every weapon. For comprehensive stats of all the weapons listed here, I recommend this guide by Shao.

SMGs

SMGs have a high RoF and low damage per shot. This forces you to burn through ammo when a tank or a horde spawns and reload frequently. The magnum will allow you to kill small groups or loose commons and save ammo for a worst case scenario.

(MP5 is not transparent because the wiki sucks)

Pump Shotguns

The pump shotguns pack a punch but suffer low magazine size, slow rate of fire, and slow reloads. The magnum has the same magazine size of 8, but it reloads the entire magazine at once and fires much faster. Pump shotguns can one shot commons and make short work of specials, but this requires that you come in close. They're inconsistent at medium range and may or may not one shot commons, and can't do much at long ranges. The magnum comes in to save the day, allowing you to pop off long range shots and more consistently kill at medium range.

Sniper Rifles

The hunting rifle is my personal favorite, as it lets me accurately snipe anything at any range and penetrates zombies infinitely. However, it suffers a slow reload and a small magazine size compared to most primary weapons of its tier. It also has a small ammo pool, meaning your shots have to count or they're wasted. The magnum, despite having a similar theme, has unlimited ammo. You can save your primary ammo for specials and long range commons that are harassing your team mates. This also applies to the military sniper rifle, the one with a 30 round magazine and 180 ammo. As for the Scout and the AWP, your ammo pool is fairly high, and with their slow rates of fire, you are unlikely to burn through ammo as quickly. The magnum still has its purpose, however, since those weapons suffer a slow reload and firing speed whereas the magnum does not.


(Scout and AWP are tiny because the wiki sucks)

M16/SG 552

The M16 and 552 have very high rates of fire like the SMGs and are very accurate, but they have much less ammo. For this, I recommend a similar strategy to the SMGs. Use your magnum for stragglers or small groups, and save your primary ammo for specials or a horde. You'll probably have to use the magnum more often, since your ammo count is considerably smaller.
Note: The SG 552 is statistically identical to the M16, but it can zoom in and shoot slower.


(SG 552 is tiny because the wiki sucks)

AK-47

The AK deals decent damage and has a fair degree of accuracy with a lower rate of fire than its American cousin. On normal and below, this rifle can one shot commons, overshadowing the magnum somewhat. On advanced+ however, it loses this ability, requiring more ammo usage. The magnum stays true to its one shot promise and has you covered. The strategy is the same for the M16. Magnum for small groups, primary for hordes and specials.

SCAR

The SCAR has a large magazine size and good accuracy, but being a three round burst rifle, you're forced to fire three shots every click. You can actually interrupt this by shoving or switching weapons. But who wants to do that? Since the SCAR has 60 rounds and fires a 3-round burst against your will, it effectively only has 20 shots. It also has a relatively low ammo pool proportional to its magazine size and a slow reload. This rifle is really only good for mowing down specials and tanks. The magnum will allow you to save a lot of ammo for those situations and let you focus on killing pesky commons without wasting unnecessary shots.

Auto Shotguns

The auto shotguns have a high rate of fire, a quicker reload speed than the pumps, and high damage per shot, but they have a low ammo pool and limited effective range. Auto shotguns absolutely clobber specials at close range and let you doze through hordes with ease, so it's important that you save ammo for that. Since you burn through ammo quickly, you want to save as much as possible. Auto shotguns reload one shell at a time, while the magnum reloads the entire magazine at once. If you can't afford to take the time to fully reload your shotgun, switch to your magnum and clear the area. Your effective range can also be extended with the magnum, allowing you to take out that pesky smoker that keeps coughing and screaming at you.

Grenade Launcher

The grenade launcher is one of those temporary weapons, meaning you can't refill its ammo. Once it's out, it's out. The magnum gives you the major advantage of having a ranged option that doesn't send hot shrapnel into your team mates or yourself, so if a zombie gets close to you or your friends you can safely take them out without causing collateral damage. You can even combo specials with this. Just stagger them with a grenade, then take them out with the magnum. Note that this does not work with chargers.

M60

The M60 is another temporary weapon that can't be refilled. It's very powerful in panic events and against tanks, but you only get 150 rounds so you have to spend it wisely. The magnum will allow you to carry it around without having to waste ammo on random commons, giving you the opportunity to prepare for a tank without running dry before he dies.

Vs. Commons

The magnum is a very useful and powerful tool against the commons, as you have infinite ammo and can one-shot them, even in expert realism.

Dealing with the Horde

Since all common infected and most uncommon infected fall to one shot from this beast (exceptions being Jimmy Gibbs Jr. and the fallen survivor, which can take two or three), you don't have to aim for the head. Instead, I recommend trying to hit two zombies with one shot. The magnum can penetrate one wall or zombie. You'll be using half as much ammo in the already small magazine and you'll have to reload much sooner. The magnum can snipe commons from a fair distance, too.

If a horde is chasing you, try to kite them around corners or lead them into a funnel where they can only attack from one side. Remember, your magnum can penetrate one zombie! Shove the commons if they get too close, and shoot the ones that are approaching. Just be careful when shoving, as after 6 consecutive shoves you'll be penalized with a shoving cooldown that increases as you shove more, leaving you vulnerable to constant attacks.
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Expert Realism

In expert realism, this weapon is invaluable. Even sniper rifles cannot one-shot commons anywhere but the head. I always found that strange, considering the magnum deals 80 damage and has falloff, whereas the non CS sniper rifles deal 90 damage and have no falloff.

While melee weapons can also one shot commons, you have to get very close and risk getting hit, which is extremely risky as they can take you down in just 5 hits. With lag, the hit detection is even worse and hitboxes can sometimes betray the actual model, resulting in fake melee hits, leaving you open to being attacked. The magnum gives you range, consistency, and freedom to choose your targets, something melee weapons lack.

Since expert realism is a real pain, you're probably going to go down a lot. As mentioned before, the magnum is an excellent weapon when you're incapped. It retains its standing accuracy, but reloads slower. Still better than the 9mm's laughable accuracy and tickle damage when you're in the same situation.

Vs. Specials

While the magnum is excellent for destroying commons, it struggles somewhat in the special department. It is still powerful and can take them down in a few hits, but you need to be even more careful with your shots.


Hunters, smokers, boomers, and spitters will die to one headshot. Chargers and jockeys take two. Tanks can take many magazines depending on difficulty. As for witches, well, don't even try. You can't kill a witch quick enough with the magnum, so just use a shotgun or let your team mates do it.

General Strategy

For easy headshots, shove the special first. This will give you time to react before it can attack you. This is important especially for hunters and jockeys, as they can attack pretty much instantly as soon as they recover from the shove or fall off a ledge. Don't try sniping them, as the magnum will suffer falloff and minor inaccuracy at long ranges. Spitters and boomers can be sniped, but it takes a few shots due to falloff. Note that you can't shove chargers, but they can stumble from explosive rounds or charging into a wall.

Charger

If you're dealing with a charger, try to bait him into smacking into a wall. It's hard to headshot him from behind as his head leans forward and is partially obscured by his back. Try to aim for the head area anyways, as your bullets are more likely to hit his head and you'll probably kill him in 4-5 shots. He will be stumbled long enough to die. You can also combo him by using explosive rounds (grenade launcher won't work, even with explosive rounds).

Smoker

As for smokers, the most overpowered special infected above normal difficulty, try hiding behind a wall when you hear him scream. The magnum isn't accurate enough to reliably hit a smoker as it's dragging you for the first 2 seconds. With a lot of luck and knowing where the smoker is before he grabs you, you can kill him before you're defenseless. If he's on high ground or far away, there's little to no chance you can kill the smoker. If the smoker misses, he'll try to run away, and this is your time to chase the lanky bastard down and deliver a .50 Action Express directly into his stupid ugly face.

Spitters & Boomers

Spitters and boomers fall quickly to the magnum as they have low health pools. One or two shots and they're as good as a slab of meat on the side of a road. If they get in your face, just shove and shoot like you normally would with any other weapon. Just be mindful that you don't get Nickelodeon slime all over you by point-blanking the boomer.

Hunters & Jockeys

Hunters and Jockeys are notoriously hard to shove mid-attack thanks to the source engine's janky hit detection. But if you've got the timing correct, shove them as they jump at you or miss their attack. You'll get a good few seconds to blast them in the head. A hunter will fall to one headshot, and the jockey will die to two. If you have to pull off the old shove-reload, be careful when chain shoving either of them. Sometimes the shove animation won't reset when you shove them, so time it just as it ends if that's the case.

How to Improve

The best way to get better at using the magnum is to practice. It's not original, but it's true, I love brains.

One way you can improve is to play the mutation Lone Gunman. This way, you are exclusively using the magnum and have no assistance from bots or other players. It will also train you to shove commons more efficiently and improve your ability to avoid getting hit, a good skill to acquire for a magnum user. Note that some maps are nearly impossible to complete on this mutation without a lot of luck so don't feel bad if you can't finish some of them.



Another way you can improve is by playing the regular campaign and seeing what works with the magnum and what doesn't. Try deliberately aiming for headshots instead of center mass. You should also try to kill zombies that are chasing team mates without committing friendly fire. If your aim improves, so will your magnum capabilities.

You can also just find a skin or model on the workshop that looks good. No joke. Some people perform better when they have a custom skin or model for a weapon. I'm one of those people.

That's It!

You've successfully learned how to do the hampster dance the ways of the magnum! Hopefully this guide will have encouraged you to use it more often, or use it more effectively.
Happy hunting and kill all sons of bitϲhеѕ!

[gas station robbery]

He provided a detailed guide on how to use a weapon in the game and more info on other weapons, how is he ruining the community.

[ Dovahbear ]

Too bad. I've already portrayed you as the soyjak, and myself as the chad. Therefore, I win this argument.

[Captain_Crunk]

Minor note, the Magnum can actually be used in emergencies on Witches if you lack a scoped rifle or the AK-47. Witches can be stumbled on a headshot, and are extremely vulnerable for a few seconds and don't even count as startled during their stumble, so if you don't have a sniper on your team, the Magnum make can potentially help out. Keep in mind that I believe this only applies to sitting Witches, as non-explosions lose their stumble effect if I recall. Still not recommended for its low damage though.

[Azusa]

Aw, It's a real OP weapon

[Velen]

Make a "frying Pan " owner man

[Merim]

I love the magnum pistol. Also a note that Ak47 does more damage, but fire rate is a bit slow comparing to other assault rifles.

And to add another note, you need to also be a pretty good gunslinger with the magnum pistol. Every shot can kill a regular zombie and does some really good damage on specials, and the downside is it has low ammo (as mentioned in the guide). Its very reliable if you want to be a fighter, even when you are downed.

[Horseless Headless Helldiver]

i use the csgo revolver as a skin for the magnum and it really does make me better with it

[seyo.pdn]

I love that TF2 reference to a scout's line "It's not original, but it's true. I love brains"

[<<<BO$$_К@4AЛКN>>>]

*I'm writing this through a translator because I don't know English.
Excellent and detailed guide ! Despite my experience with the game, it helped me refresh my memory and L4D2 skills . I'm waiting for your guides on other weapons from L4D2.
P.S. I've always adored L4D handguns in dilogy.

[MXRVXL]

the magnum pistol is too big to be desert eagle but it is the best pistol with high damage