Pistols in NMRIH will be your most versatile weapon in NMRIH - they hold enough ammo to get you out of most close calls (ranging from 6 to 17+1), can be used with a flashlight (instead of being stuck using it for melee), they all have painted sights, they're all (with one exception) semi-automatic and can hold an extra round in the chamber and (obviously) weigh the least out of any firearm.

A few basic tips for pistols:
- If you have some space between you and a zombie, aim down the sights and don't move - after a few seconds, your screen tints orange and your shot will do a lot more damage!
- Even with clear iron sights on the pistols (sometimes with luminescent paint), don't take a long shot. It's not worth the wasted bullet if you miss.
- Each pistol has its own ammo type (excluding the new pistol). Try not to use a weapon that needs the same ammo (unless you've found nothing but).

*poke, poke*

The weakest pistol of the group, the Ruger uses .22 LR rounds. While ammo for this gun will be easy to carry en masse, it'll take more than a few shots to bring down a zombie (exception: realism mode), even when in focused mode. The red dot on the sights will make it easier to line up farther shots (which will make multiple hits easier), but, again, it's almost necessary to do so.

Ammo capacity: 10 +1
Ammo Type: .22 LR
Damage for Kill: 1 Focused headshot, 2 unfocused headshots

Pros:
Ammo carrying - You can carry a lot of bullets, and usually find a lot more.
Very light - You'll have no problems carrying another pistol and primary weapon.

Cons:
Weak shots - If you only have a few shots left, it's pretty much useless.
Weak 2 - Because you need to fire multiple shots per zombie, you might miss due to recoil, wasting more ammo.

Final thoughts:
I'm ranking this as the worst pistol - it doesn't have the largest clip (that goes to the beretta), it has the lowest damage, and ALL pistols have painted sights. It does, however, shine in realism (thanks to a headshot being a 1-hit kill regardless of weapon).

UPDATE: Liro Raeriyo is correct: you can take down a zombie with one focused headshot, or two unfocused ones, at a closer range. Either I had really bad aim, or it's changed since last time I picked it up (well before greenlight). My pride My memory's faulty I don't know which one.

"Half of what's needed to be the Akimbo King"

A solid pistol, the Beretta uses very common 9mm rounds. It'll take a couple of shots to bring down a zombie, unless you're in focused mode (and aim for the head). Thanks to its large mag. size, the Beretta is a great sidearm to carry around.

Ammo Capacity: 15 +1
Ammo Type: 9mm
Damage for Kill: 1 Focused headshot, 2 unfocused headshots

Pros:
Magazine size - With 16 bullets, you're not likely to get caught with an empty gun.

Cons:
Low damage - As with the Ruger, a headshot isn't an instant kill. Try to shoot in focused mode.

Final thoughts:
The "middle" pistol - it has alright damage, but the large mag. size makes it stand out. I'd rank it higher, but it's got some very stiff competition.

"The bomb has been planted"

The Glock is the new pistol on the block, added soon after NMRIH got Greenlight'd. Boasting a (slightly) larger clip than the Beretta without any damage loss, the Glock should be familiar to all Counter-Strike players. Burst-fire (wisely) left out.

Ammo Capacity: 17+1
Ammo Type: 9mm
Damage for kill: 1 Focused, 2 unfocused headshots

Pros:
Mag. size - At 18, you've got more shots than the Beretta. Don't waste them!
Quick-aim - It's noticably faster when you're switching in and out of aiming mode.

Cons:
Same as the Beretta.

Final thoughts:
I've been using this pistol for a while, and it seems to be a straight upgrade from the Beretta - damage is the same, fire rate... The only differences are the model & iron sights, and the fact it can carry a couple more shots.

"Do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya?"

With a relatively small 6-shot size, the S&W Magnum has its own way of standing out: power. An unfocused headshot will one-shot a zombie (test are inconclusive about body shots), and any hit will take care of smaller zed. Just be careful - it's not a semi-automatic, so no rapid-fire.

Ammo Capacity: 6
Ammo Type: .357 magnum
Damage for Kill: 1 headshot, piercing potential (at least 2 others)

Pros:
Massive damage - As long as you've got the skill to make headshots, you're golden. No Focus needed.
Piercing - The only pistol that can take out more than one zombie at a time (headshots always recommended).

Cons:
Small capacity - Getting surrounded is a death sentence.
Slow fire rate - As the only non-semi-auto pistol, it (almost) takes a second per shot. A very large problem when you've got runners.
Slow, but steady - You can halve the delay between shots by not looking down the sights, but your accuracy will suffer.

Final thoughts:
A solid weapon - heck, it's practically a small shotgun in terms of damage! However, as soon as you've got a few runners of small zombies, you better have a backup option - you can't melee between shots.

'The "official firearm of Utah"'[www.cnn.com]

In-game as the Colt 1911, this pistol serves as the step between the Beretta and the S&W - 7+1 magazine, but a kill on headshot without the piercing. It uses the less-common .45 ACP ammo that is used in only one other gun.

Ammo Capacity: 7+1
Ammo Type: .45 ACP
Damage for Kill: 1 unfocused headshot

Pros:
Damage - One (well-aimed) bullet = one dead zombie
Ammo Type - It's one of only two guns that use .45, so it's easy to carry another weapon.

Cons:
Ammo scarcity - It's less common to see this ammo type around (not by much)

Final thoughts:
My personal favorite - I've used this pistol to get through Chinatown more times than I can remember, and nothing else.