Battlefield 1: Best sidearm

There are a lot of pistols in Battlefield 1, so picking the right one is a hard task. This is made even worse by the fact that a lot of pistols are class specific, so I’m here to help you with that.

To me there are three types of pistol that every one falls under. There’s the average pistol, which do everything well, but nothing great. The revolvers, which choose damage over reload time and ammo capacity. Then there are the fast firing pistols that favour rapid fire and a large capacity, but lack damage, recoil, and range.

If you’re simply looking for a pistol you can use across all classes and get good with, then I recommend the 1911. It gives you averages for every statistic, and offers much better sights than its rival, the P08. It will serve you well, but you must be accurate as it has decent recoil.

But if you don’t mind mixing up your weaponry, then I recommend you go with the fast firing category of weapons. These include the 1903 Hammerless, Taschenpistole M1914, Modello 1915, and the Frommer Stop. It doesn’t matter if you forget the names of the firearms as you only need to look for the gun with the fastest firing rate in the customize screen. These pistols will serve you well and are the best to have at your side, and I’ll explain why.

In comparison to Battlefield 4, the pistols have had a nerf to their range, so the average class of pistols have had the effectiveness decreased. Because of the decrease in ammunition they receive another blow to their effectiveness, but they got it light in comparison to revolvers.

Revolvers have basically been neutered in this game. They too have had their range slashed; meaning a factor that made them so appealing is gone. Another great feature they had was their one shot headshot capability, which DICE have decided to remove. I can’t imagine why this has been done, as in my opinion this was never overpowered, but a way for the class to be competitively viable against faster firing opponents. Combining this with their painfully low reload of inserting each round individually, they are now completely useless.

This then brings me to the fast firing pistols, and you may be able to tell why I use them already. The pistols, overall, are less effective at range, so your best option is using them in close quarters, so it makes sense to use fast firing ones. They will surely save your life if you’ve run out of ammo in your primary, but you’ve shot your enemy a couple of times already, and may even be able to claim the life of a full health one of you become proficient enough with it. A lot of combat takes place in fairly close distances anyway, if not, you will probably have time to get that reload done before your opponent reaches you. But when the moment occurs when I need that sidearm to finish the job, I know I’ll always be relying on my fast firing badboy.

Related articles:

Battlefield 1: Ranking up guide
Battlefield 1 Battlepack Guide
Battlefield 1: Best Assault Class guns
Battlefield 1: Best Sniper Class rifle
Battlefield 1: Best Support Class LMG
Battlefield 1: Top 3 starter items
Battlefield 1: Best Medic Class gun