Volcanic Pistol

For the Red Dead Redemption 2 variant, see Volcanic Pistol (RDR 2).

Volcanic Pistol
Statistics
Games	Red Dead Redemption
Power	Moderate
Range	Moderate
Rate of Fire	Low
Reload Speed	Medium
Ammo Capacity	8
Ammo Type	Pistol Ammo

“	Older model lever action pistol. Holds more rounds than your run-of-the mill six-shooter.	„
	—Gunsmith description

The Volcanic Pistol is a weapon featured in Red Dead Redemption.

Description

The Volcanic Pistol uses a lever action mechanism to chamber cartridges.

Acquisition

Red Dead Redemption

• The Volcanic Pistol is sold at the Gunsmith in Armadillo.
• It can be also obtained for free by beating the Twin Rocks gang hideout.

Undead Nightmare

• The player can obtain it by saving Twin Rocks from a zombie outbreak.
  • The player can also obtain it in a "I Don't Feel Too Good Mister" Random Encounter by hogtying the victim before he/she turns Undead.

Multiplayer

• The Volcanic Pistol is unlocked into the player's regular inventory upon reaching rank 5.
  • The "Volcanic Killer" weapon challenges are unlocked at the same level. Completion of these challenges turns the weapon golden for the player.
• It can also be obtained by killing another player who has the weapon equipped.

Combat

• The Volcanic Pistol, although relatively obsolete compared to larger-caliber revolvers and automatic pistols, can still be used to effectively dispatch enemies.
• The weapon in multiplayer is capable of quick kills and can kill a player with one headshot, unlike many other pistols and revolvers which would require 2 or 3.
• It may be hard to utilize the Volcanic to its fullest potential due to the fact that the weapon uses Pistol Ammo, which, at the beginning of the game, is rare and expensive. By the time ammo is readily available, the Volcanic Pistol is obsolete because of the presence of better weapons that use pistol ammo.

Trivia

• The Volcanic Pistol is based on the real world Volcanic Pistol.

• Very few were ever made in real life, in the 1850s, and by 1911 they would have been rare collectors' items as well as completely obsolete. This may explain why the Volcanic Pistol is featured on the emblem to the Exquisite Taste Achievement/Trophy, which requires players to buy a rare weapon. However, the weapon itself doesn't qualify.
• Although it was short-lived and lever action pistols didn't catch on, the Volcanic Pistol had a far-reaching legacy. It was designed by Horace Smith and Daniel Wesson, who went on to found Smith & Wesson, one of the most prolific manufacturers of revolvers (including the Schofield Revolver). Oliver Winchester was a major investor and production was supervised by B Tyler Henry. The lever action design of the Volcanic pistols and carbines were refined by Henry and Winchester with the Henry Repeater (1860) and the Winchester Repeater 1866 and 1873 rifles.
• The pistol is shown being reloaded through the breach when in reality bullets had to be loaded through a magazine tube near the muzzle.
• In-game, the Volcanic Pistol fires like a Double-action Revolver rather than a lever gun. This is evident in the cutscene for The Gunslinger's Tragedy.
• In an ad in the 1911 edition of the newspaper, the gunsmith in Armadillo states the Volcanic Pistol is a fine weapon but has large stocks that must be sold quickly. This may be to make room for more modern weapons.
• Although in the game the gun has greater power than the Cattleman Revolver, the reverse would be true in real life due to differences in ammunition; the Volcanic's so-called "Rocket Balls" were notably feeble.
• This weapon is used by Vincente de Santa in some missions. He is the only member of the Mexican Army to do so.
• This is one of the few handguns you can get at the beginning of the game. The Volcanic Pistol has slightly better power than the Cattleman Revolver (given as the default gun), and it can hold 8 bullets while the Cattleman holds 6. However, the Cattleman Revolver would still be more viable because it has better range, fire rate and reloading speed. And the faster reload makes the pistol's extra 2 bullets obsolete. And on top of that, pistol ammo is pretty rare at the beginning of the game.
• The Volcanic is one of the only pistols which isn't reloaded with a magazine, the other is the Mauser Pistol. Instead, it is reloaded one round at a time similar to Revolvers and Repeaters.

Gallery

The Volcanic Pistol as shown in the player's inventory.

Achievements/Trophies

The Volcanic Pistol can be used to unlock the following achievements.

	BULLSEYE 20 gamerscore Bronze bronze Get 250 headshots in any game mode.

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	IN A HAIL OF BULLETS 20 gamerscore Silver silver Kill 500 enemies with any pistol or revolver in any game mode.

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	THE GUNSLINGER 5 gamerscore Silver silver Get a headshot while in Expert Mode in Singleplayer.