.357 Magnum

.357 Magnum Revolver
Production information
Faction	Black Mesa Resistance
Model	Colt Python Elite
Type	Revolver
Technical specifications
Damage	40 (75 in HL2DM)
Magazine/reload type	6 round speedloader clip
Max ammo	36 (HL) 12 (HL2)
Weapon category	2: Hand guns
Ammo type	.357 Magnum
Rate of fire	Medium to low
Recoil	High
Projectile speed	Hitscan
Accuracy	High
Range	All distances (best overall for long range)
Usage
Used by	Gordon Freeman Barney Calhoun Gina Cross Colette Green
Counterweapon(s)	Shotgun (close range) Pulse Rifle (medium range) SMG (medium range) Other accurized weapons
Game information
Entity	weapon_357 weapon_python
Designer(s)	Steve Theodore (HL) Stephen Bahl (HD)

 

The .357 Magnum Revolver is a powerful handgun: more accurate and powerful than the Pistols, though with less common ammunition and considerably slower fire and reload times. It is featured in most of the Half-Life series' titles.

Overview

The Magnum is a double-action revolver that fires one round. Whilst it is very powerful, it has a long reload time and a low rate of fire. It has near-perfect accuracy, but rapidly firing shots will cause accuracy to significantly decrease because of the weapon's fair amount of recoil.

Appearances

The .357 Magnum's first appearance, in Half-Life.

• In Half-Life, the Magnum can first be picked up near a dead security guard in the chapter Blast Pit, near the Tentacle roots under Silo D.

• In Blue Shift, the weapon can be found in the chapter Captive Freight next to a dead security guard outside of a car.

• In Decay, two magnums (one for each player) can be found in the mission Resonance in a security station. Both players will spawn with the weapon in all following chapters, bar Xen Attacks.

• In Half-Life 2, the weapon can first be found in the chapter Water Hazard, in a Civil Protection outpost on the Canals. Like most weapons, it can be acquired later; near a Citizen's corpse at the Petroleum Station along the Coast, for instance.

• In Episode One, it can be found in the first room of the Technical Trainstation.

• In Episode Two, whilst in the Antlion caves in the Victory Mine, the Magnum can be found in one of the Antlion's nests, with ammunition available throughout the caves.

Tactics

• In the multiplayer maps of Half-Life, the secondary fire button triggers a zoom which may be used for long-range sniper shots.

• Since it has no built-in scope in Half-Life 2, the HEV Suit zoom can be used to aim for long-distance shots. It is advised to zoom into the target and have it in the center of the crosshair, then quickly release the zoom, then fire. Alternatively, the primary fire button may be held down while the zoom is being released to instantly fire a round and diminish jolting.

• Ammunition for this weapon is very rare in all of the games, so players should use this weapon only when its pinpoint accuracy and stopping power is required, such as against Alien Grunts or Combine Elite soldiers standing far away.

• Using this gun in the deathmatch modes can result in many easy kills at any range as long as the gun is aimed at the head.

• This is the most effective firearm against Hunters. The source code for Episode Two states that this is because players perceive the weapon as the strongest in the game.

• This gun is very effective against HECU marines, as a headshot kills them instantly while they take 2 shots to be killed. Headshots can be a bit difficult to hit however, as the marines often move a lot and attack you aggressively.

Behind the scenes

Half-Life viewmodel, multiplayer version, with non-functional laser sight addon under the barrel.

• As heard in an unused Half-Life sound file for the HEV Suit and as seen on the cut ammo box model, the Half-Life Magnum was originally to be a .44 Magnum revolver.

• The Magnum in Half-Life was based on the real Colt Python.

• The Half-Life Deathmatch Magnum model features an attachment under the barrel that resembles a laser pointer but acts as a scope and emits a fake laser (as a small red dot in the center of the screen). While that scope is absent in Half-Life Deathmatch: Source, its function remains. This attachment was originally to appear in Half-Life's single-player mode as well.

Trivia

• In the Half-Life 2 games, all six cartridges of the Magnum's cylinder are reloaded together. Still, there is no speedloader (the cartridges just float in mid-air as a circular group). The animation is instead more suited for the application of a moon clip. Overall, this is merely a design oversight.

• "Colt Python Elite" can be seen on the weapon's Source viewmodel. However, the worldmodel has the words "Colt Anaconda" on the side.

• In the Half-Life 2 series, on the weapon's viewmodel cartridges "Federal 357 Magnum" headstamps can be seen. Taking into consideration cartridges in ammo boxes, it can be concluded that Gordon uses Federal .357 Magnum JSP ammunition, although the design of the .357 Magnum boxes themselves could be based on PMC ammunition boxes.

• The worldmodel used in Half-Life 2 is the same as the worldmodel used in Half-Life, just with different textures.

Gallery

Half-Life and expansions

• 

  Half-Life HUD icon.

• 

  Half-Life worldmodel.

• 

  High Definition version.

• 

  Half-Life viewmodel.

• 

  With laser sight addon.

• 

  High Definition version.

• 

  With laser sight addon.

• 

  Opposing Force viewmodel.

• 

  With laser sight addon.

• 

  High Definition version.

• 

  With laser sight addon.

• 

  Blue Shift viewmodel.

• 

  With laser sight addon.

• 

  High Definition version.

• 

  With laser sight addon.

• 

  Early ammo box, displaying ".44 Magnum".

• 

  .44 ammo box boxart.

• 

  Unused speed reloader worldmodel.

• 

  .357 cartridge, as part of the viewmodel. No worldmodel is used when firing.

• 

  Early viewmodel, with the attachment under the barrel.

• 

  Ditto.

• 

  Half-Life ammo box.

• 

  A .357 Magnum lying on the ground.

• 

  The Magnum as first found in Blue Shift.

Half-Life 2

• 

  Half-Life 2 HUD icon, from HalfLife2.ttf file.

• 

  HUD pickup icon, from HalfLife2.ttf file.

• 

  HUD ammo pickup icon, from HalfLife2.ttf file.

• 

  Half-Life 2 worldmodel.

• 

  The Half-Life 2 viewmodel.

• 

  Half-Life 2 ammo box, labeled "Centerfire .357 high velocity pistol loads".

• 

  A .357 Magnum with other items on a table in a small maintenance room in Gate 5.

• 

  Citizen who committed suicide with a Magnum at the Petroleum Station, along the Coast.

• 

  A .357 Magnum on a crate in St. Olga.

List of appearances

Main games

• Half-Life (First appearance)
• Half-Life: Blue Shift
• Half-Life 2
• Half-Life 2: Episode One
• Half-Life 2: Episode Two

Other

• Half-Life 2: Deathmatch (Non-canonical appearance)
• Half-Life 2: Lost Coast (Non-canonical appearance)
• Source Particle Benchmark (Game files only) (Non-canonical appearance)

References

Combine OverWiki has more images related to .357 Magnum.

External links

• Colt Python on Wikipedia