Bandolier

Bandolier
Game	Red Dead Redemption
Type	Increased ammo capacity
Obtained by	Purchase from a Gunsmith

“	Doubles ammo capacity on rifles and repeaters.	„
	—In-game description

The Bandolier is a piece of clothing that also functions as practical equipment in Red Dead Redemption.

Characteristics

The Bandolier is a type of belt designed to hold extra ammunition, namely repeater and rifle rounds, and doesn't affect any other types of ammunition. Once purchased, it appears on certain outfits Marston wears.

The Bandolier, along with the revolver/pistol holster's cartridge belt, changes in appearance with the number of cartridges left on it. It seems to start changing when less than 50 rounds are left and around 20-30 for the revolver holster's cartridge belt. When the player is out of ammo, both the Bandolier and the belt do not contain any cartridges.

The Bandolier does not appear on Marston's outfit if he is wearing the Deadly Assassin Outfit, Elegant Suit, Gentleman's Attire, Bureau Uniform, U.S. Marshal Outfit, U.S. Army Outfit, Reyes' Rebels Outfit, Rancher Outfit, Expert Hunter Outfit or the Savvy Merchant Outfit. It is also absent on the Legend of the Apocalypse Outfit and Undead Hunter Outfit from the Undead Nightmare DLC, and their undead counterparts; Legend of the Undead and Army of the Undead.

All outfits show the revolver/pistol holster and cartridge belt. The only time the gun belt is absent, is at the very start of Undead Nightmare, when John is tying up his family. Furthermore, this is also the only time John's satchel is absent (you could also possibly count the Duster Coat and Legend of the West Outfit for this rare trait, but the satchel would only technically be underneath Marston's long coat).

Background

Traditionally, the Bandolier is worn over the chest and is made from canvas or leather. In the American West, the wearing of a fully-stocked bandolier communicated the wearer's participation in a violent profession, but that they were also wealthy enough to maintain a full stock of expensive ammunition.

In-game, Marston can purchase a Bandolier from any Gunsmith or some General Store clerks for around $125. Doing so allows doubles the amount of repeater and rifle that Marston can carry (200 rounds). Once purchased, it cannot be resold to the merchant or removed from the player's inventory. While earlier game material showed Marston wearing two bandoliers, this was dropped in favor of just one.

In Undead Nightmare, John equips the Bandolier after the mission "Love in the Time of Plague", appearing to have already purchased it during the events preceding Undead Nightmare.

Trivia

• Despite that fact that Marston carries both repeater and rifle ammo, the Bandolier only shows rifle rounds.
• It is not usable in Multiplayer, although many character models have non-functional bandoliers.
• Some outfits will show a bandolier in their menu preview even if it has yet to be purchased.
• This does not increase ammo capacity for explosive rounds, sniper rifle rounds or shotgun rounds.
• Originally, there was a double bandolier for Marston to wear, but this item was removed from the final game. An unused icon of the double bandolier can found in the game's files, however.
  • A second Bandolier is worn by Marston when he wears the Bandito Outfit, although it does not increase the maximum rifle or repeater rounds he can carry.
• It is present on the Legend of the West Outfit and the Duster Coat, despite Marston's satchel, Hunting Knife and Lasso not being visible.
• If Marston wears the Mexican Poncho, the Bandolier can be seen underneath.
• If the character has the infinite ammo cheat activated, the bandolier will be empty in cutscenes but full in gameplay in "You Shall Not Give False Testimony, Except for Profit".
• If the Golden Guns effect is activated, the bullets in Marston's Bandolier will be gold.
• Even if John never buys the bandolier, Jack's version of the Cowboy Outfit will have one. However, until the bandolier is actually purchased from a store Jack's will be purely cosmetic, having no effect on the amount of ammo he can carry.

Bugs

• The bandolier is prone to a glitch where it will randomly cease to function. This error will cause the player to be unable to pick up ammunition until fewer than 100 rounds remain. This glitch seems to be linked to changing outfits. Saving and reloading the game after having changed your appearance will fix this glitch.
• Even when you have the maximum amount of rounds for all of your weapons and weapon types, the bandolier is never completely filled, it always has a few bullets missing. This is likely meant to appear as though Marston has already loaded these bullets, and rather than top off his bandolier he leaves these slots open so he can put away the pre-loaded shots when cleaning and tending his weapon.
• Another glitch with the bandolier is that when you sit down to play a game like Poker, Liar's Dice or Blackjack, a lot of the rounds in the bandolier will disappear and the bandolier will seem empty. Even after getting up, the bandolier will remain empty. An easy way to fix this though is that after you are done with the activity, to go to a safehouse or a camp, save the game and just load the game again from where you last saved it and your bandolier should be full again or switch your long-arm weapon from a rifle to a repeater and it will refill.

Gallery

Marston's bandolier is fully stocked with rifle and repeater ammunition.

Pre-release inventory showing the Bandolier and Double Bandolier.

Unused image depicting the Double Bandolier.