Which Ones Are ACTUALLY Good? – Dual Pistols Mastery | Hunt: Showdown 1896

Intro

Hey guys, Rex here!

Hunt: Showdown has a massive lineup of pistols – and every single one brings something different to the table. Some pack a serious punch and fire quickly, like the Officer, but they’ve got their limitations. The Officer, for example, can’t be fanned – which really holds it back in certain loadouts. On the other hand, you’ve got budget options like the Conversion pistol which, when paired with the fanning trait, turns into a laser beam and becomes an absolute menace for next to no money.

Then there’s stuff like the Sparks pistol – slow, deliberate, and devastating. You sacrifice fire rate for raw stopping power, which can either be a game changer or a complete liability, depending on the situation.

But today, we’re not just talking about pistols – we’re talking about dual wielding. All 1-slot pistols in Hunt can be run akimbo style. The catch? You lose the ability to aim down sights, and even if your pistol supports fanning, you can’t use it while dual wielding. You’re stuck with hip fire – and that can be either totally fine or a complete mess.

Some pistols that feel amazing solo absolutely fall apart when dual wielded. Others, weirdly enough, shine when you’re blasting from the hip.

So I decided to run a challenge – dual wielding my way through one version of every pistol family in Hunt: Showdown, from the dirt cheap to the absurdly expensive.

That includes everything – even the Uppercut and Dolch – and yes, it took a while. So the video’s a bit longer than usual, but trust me, you’ll want to see how this one turns out, as there were some genuine surprises.

Before we get started, it’s worth mentioning a trait that can boost your reload speed with dual pistols—Ambidextrous. It costs 3 trait points and can be a handy pick if you find yourself reloading often. That said, most pistols don’t tend to run into ammo issues in my experience. Enjoy the video, and let’s dive into it!

Thoughts & Recommendations

Now that I’ve gone full cowboy and emptied both chambers across all these loadouts, I’ve got a lot to say.

First of all – this was way more fun than I expected. Dual wielding in Hunt used to feel pretty RNG-heavy. You’d land some shots, whiff others, and just kinda hope for the best. But after the 1896 update back in August, everything feels so much smoother. It’s more consistent now, which really makes dualies more viable across the board.

That said, the results definitely weren’t what I thought they’d be. One of the biggest shocks was the Nagant pistols. For something that costs almost nothing, they absolutely held their own. I went into it expecting them to be just okay, but they ended up being super reliable and easy to use.

On the other hand, I had relatively high hopes for the Uppercut dualies – but honestly, they just didn’t deliver. Even when I slapped on explosive ammo to spice things up, it felt more gimmicky than effective. The damage is nice, but the awkward handling and reload speed made them feel clunky and not worth the price.

And then there were the Sparks pistol dualies… I expected those to be rough, given the slow fire rate and just two bullets before a full reload, but somehow, they ended up being some of the most effective pistols I tried. The extreme damage output often leads to kills where other pistols wouldn’t, and when you land your shots, it feels incredible.

I also ran a few Dolch rounds, and they performed well, as you’d expect – but for the insane cost, I honestly didn’t feel like they were that far ahead of the much cheaper options. Kind of the same story with the New Army and Scottfield, which were both solid overall but nothing crazy. The Conversion pistol once again proved itself to be one of the best value picks in the game, and it is not without reason that this is my go to budget pistol for a variety of loadouts.

I’ve got to give a special shoutout to the LeMat, which was probably the most fun overall. Being able to switch into shotgun mode mid-fight and blast someone at close range never gets old, and I highly recommend you give it a try!

The only real letdown for me, apart from the uppercut, was the Bornheim. It’s fast, sure – but the low damage just makes it feel weak in a dual wield setup, especially when you compare it to what everything else brings to the table.

So there you have it! Dual wielding pistols in Hunt is in a better place than ever, and this challenge really opened my eyes to which ones are worth running, and which are just a waste of cash. There were definitely some surprises, both good and bad, and I can definitely recommend giving it a try if you haven’t already.

But now I want to hear from you. Which pistol is your favorite to dual wield, and why? Let me know in the comments, and until next time I’ll see you in the bayou!