What's up urybody? I've got lots of nice rifles in FNV and I have a few decent pistols/revolvers, but none that just dominate. The best revolver that I have is the Hunting Revolver + modded with a longer barrel. It's punchy, but not like a Blackhawk from the .... you know.... the game that came before this one. Anyone one have any suggestions on these guns?

Thx, G

I like sneak attacks, so I favor the .45 auto. Not as much damage as a lot of others, but it can be silenced.

Ranger Sequoia
Lucky
That Gun
A Light Shining in Darkness (ALSID for short)
Hunting Revolver (GRA)
Mysterious Magnum


Those are the ones that get the most praise, specifically with the Ranger Sequoia, ALSID and Lucky being named the most.

The Ranger Sequoia is probably what you're looking for, as it simply hits hard. It's a unique hunting revolver that uses .45-70' Gov't and hits hard with low spread. Hand Loader and Cowboy can both be used to increase it's damage. Getting it though is often impossible unless you're willing to kill an NCR ranger that has it or complete a certain quest in a way that harms the NCR Rangers. As an alternative for those unwilling to go through with getting it, the Hunting Revolver (GRA) is functionally similar, with lower damage and slightly less accuracy, but a mini scope to make up for it. The damage on it before perks, as I recall, is in the 60s (68?).

ALSID focuses more on DPS, firing and reloading fast as hell and critting fairly often. With the Grunt perk, it's damage becomes just that much more dangerous. With Hand Loader, it becomes even more dangerous still. ALSID is often a realistic alternative to an SMG, allowing you to fire a full clip of it in VATS with relative ease. Aiming with it yourself though is a bit odd as the ironsights are off. Still, a nice benefit of being able to use a full clip of VATS is that VATS gives a slight crit bonus, and that way you can ensure every shot is a headshot for double damage, and in emergencies where you gotta kill the enemy quick, this is a gun that won't disappoint (save maybe with deathclaws) as it can keep firing quickly nonstop thanks to the firing and reload speed.

Lucky is deceivingly simple, yet powerful. It has low base damage (39?) which can be improved with the Cowboy perk and Hand Loader ammo. However the real attraction is it's crit rate being extremely high while utilizing one of the cheapest, most common forms of ammo in the game (.357 Magnum). On a crit Lucky can easily match a Brush Gun in damage, and with the right build, it'll crit every second hit. Considering it's good firing speed and it's surprisingly good accuracy for a revolver, it's easy to dish out a good 360-720 damage (360 for characters that crit every second hit with it, 720 for if they aim for only headshots) with Lucky in a single clip. The reload speed on it is fairly slow, so it's not for low agility characters, and it does rely on Luck, so you'll need that up too. With the right setup though, it's deceivingly powerful, offering you a gun that can deal equal damage to a rifle for cheaper ammunition.

Lil' Devil is pretty good too. its basically a souped up 12.7mm pistol that is concealable.

but Ranger Sequoia is boss. when you absolutely positively, need every mother [censored] in the room. except no substitutes.

It has the highest base damage and lowest spread of any pistol, which makes it good for shooting deathclaws in the noggin.

Yep I agree with everyone else the Ranger Sequoia is pretty [censored], it just [censored] [censored] up!

ALSID is my sidearm of choice-It never left my side once I acquired it and as Longknife said, the grunt and hand loader perks really bring out it's full potential.

The ranger sequoia is also a beast if revolvers are your thing. If you don't want to kill an NCR ranger then there is one up for grabs in the quest return to sender, depending on the outcome of the quest.

Ranger Sequoia fr when you just need to kill everything in sight. that thing is beast and i find myself using it more than my riot shotgun.

Well for me my pistol that I keep on me at all times is Maria. It uses 9mm and packs a punch. If you use VATS from far Lucky is useful because it pulls of some pretty impossible shots ( hence the name Lucky). If you want power I recommend Ranger Sequoia with SWC rounds with all related pistol/revolver perks.

I prefer flare.

I use a .45 auto with an upgraded slide, my favorite gun in the game. It isn't the best, but whatevs

If I might recommend Lucky, a good gun.

High crit and high sneak build the .22 silenced on low DT characters is all I need..... Until I get to higher levels then the fully modded .45 Auto. I once did a independent play only using the .22 silenced. Thought about OWB and LR run but figured it wouldn't last long.

The .45 Pistol with mods is awesome. As is A Light Shining In The Darkness. .45 pistols are among my favourites.

Also good are
That Gun
Mysterious Magnum
Hunting Revolver(GRA) with mods
Maria
The Projecto Emiter

I honestly don't see the point of the Ranger Sequoia.

Ok, it hits hard and it's accurate.....But so does the Medicine Stick. And it hits harder....and it's MORE accurate. And it uses the same ammo.
The Ranger Sequoia is attempting to be a rifle, but that's not what a sidearm is for. To me, a sidearm should be there to help you conserve on stronger ammo and instead use up weaker ammo when possible.
Hence why I use Lucky. .357 Magnum rounds are EVERYWHERE and lightweight, as are .357 revolvers, making Lucky incredibly easy and cheap to use and repair. Furthermore, on a crit it even manages to hit as hard as my Medicine Stick. The Ranger Sequoia? Why bother; just use the Medicine Stick for everything, bring twice as much .45-70 Gov't ammo and leave the RS at home. ALSID? I use it on some characters, but ideally, the ammo weighs a bit too much for my tastes, and it's not exactly like .45 auto is a common ammo type. No it's ammo DOESN'T spawn period outside of merchant inventories, so it seems to defeat the purpose when the sidearm ammo is more rare than the rifle ammo. That Gun is almost exactly like Lucky, and I probably would opt for it on a low agility character, but experience tells me Lucky's extra bullet in the chamber DOES actually make a difference and being able to interrupt the reload sequence generally prevents any reload issues from arising. Finally, Lucky is easier and cheaper to repair than That Gun, and .357 is more common, although 5.56 ammo is common too.

I gotta go with That Gun.

Ammunition is common.
Hits like a truck with the right perks.
Crits like an automatic critting machine.
Can get it early on.
Shoots straight.

My go to gun for a crit build.

The Ranger Sequoia is usually my main weapon with any "gunslinger" type character. its lighter than most rifles, packs more punch than most rifles, more accurate than most rifles (including Brush Gun and Medicine Stick) and defiantly seems to crit a lot more. And its essentially free. yeah, there is always a better gun. stats are good and all but I like it because of its flavor too. It has an engraving on each side of the barrel "For Honorable Service", and "Against All Tyrants" I find it to be one of the best guns as far as combining style and substance. to bad its not a holdout gun.

Medicine Stick is more accurate. Ranger Sequoia's spread is .1, Medicine Stick's is .06.

But yeah, my point wasn't so much it's trash, but rather it's not a sidearm. Using it as your main weapon, ok, but it does NOT fulfill the job of a standard sidearm.

I typically travel with:

1) An all-around rifle that's decent for all ranges of combat.
2) A sniper for long range
3) An SMG, automatic weapon or otherwise high DPS weapon for close range (ALSID can fall into this category, depending on the character)
4) A sidearm to conserve more powerful ammo for my rifle/SMG
5) Misc: an unarmed weapon for unarmed characters, a melee weapon for melee characters, a shotgun for shotgun-perked characters

To me, Ranger Sequoia basically falls in the first category, and while you can use it over the Medicine Stick and do fine (and btw the RS does crit more), I prefer the Medicine Stick or another rifle.

So to me, when there's discussions like this, yes it deserves mention, but I think it's important to ask "what is the purpose of a sidearm," cause if OP is looking for a standard sidearm, the Ranger Sequoia doesn't really fit the bill, as it's more of a stand-alone weapon.

I used to carry Lucky with me, until I got ALSID. Now my main side arm. Other than that, I use the silenced 12.7mm pistol for a side arm. A lot of kick to it, and the suppressor makes it even better for sneaking.

Sorry, meant to say "excluding," my vocabulary is tired from doing homework.

anyways, I prefer to not carry lots of weapons and ammo (as I play on hardcoe) other than some dynamite/mines , I might carry another light weapon like a knife or hatchet (yes I use the cowboy perk) so I'm not using .45-70 to kill a bloat fly. I usually have no problem with overkill though. Its underkill that gets you dead. If i know i might need it I'll dust off the Anti-material rifle for sniping some deathclaws.

Lil' Devil seems like a legit sidearm. plus its a holdout weapon.