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All Game Modes in Call of Duty (CoD) Modern Warfare 2 (MW2) Beta

How to Pistol Swap & Draw Your Secondary Faster in Modern Warfare 2

Want to get a little quickdraw action going? Here's how to pistol swap and get the edge on your foes.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is here, and there’s plenty of content for fans to discover to gain an edge over the competition. For all pistol enthusiasts, a new mechanic has been implemented to help make the class a bit more viable in situations. This mechanic is called pistol swapping, and in case you missed it, here’s what you need to know about pistol swapping and how to do it in Modern Warfare 2.

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What is Pistol Swapping?

Pistol Swapping in MW2
Image Source: Infinity Ward via Twinfinite

Pistol swapping is a new mechanic introduced in Modern Warfare 2With pistol swapping, you can pull out your secondary at a moment’s notice, allowing you to stand your ground against oncoming opponents.

For the past 15-plus years, a great CoD multiplayer tip to know is the difference in the swap and equip times when you pull out your secondary weapon in a pinch. When you equip a pistol as a secondary, swapping to that weapon will be noticeably faster than if you run another primary or a launcher as your secondary. Knowing this is key; if someone is pushing you and you find yourself low in ammo count, pull out your pistol to keep them at bay or to reposition yourself out of harm’s way.

Pistol swapping is a faster version of this animation as it allows you to pull out your secondary while your primary is equipped. It takes some time to get used to, and it requires an attachment for the pistol of your choice.

How to Pistol Swap

How to Pistol Swap in MW2
Image Source: Infinity Ward via Twinfinite

In order to take advantage of the pistol swap mechanic, you need to attach a specific Rear Grip attachment to the pistol of your choice. Here’s the list of pistols that can take advantage of this mechanic:

  • P890: Equip the Bruen RSH-80 Grip.
  • .50 GS: Equip the GS .50 Wood Grain
  • X12/X13 Auto: Equip the Cronen Lima-6
  • Basilisk: Equip the SO RO-99 Grip.

Each of these grips requires you to experiment through the Gunsmith platform and level up these secondaries to unlock their attachments. After unlocking and equipping the attachment, simply press your weapon swap key with the pistol as your secondary, and you’ll have performed a pistol swap.

That’s all you need to know about pistol swapping and how to perform the new mechanic in Modern Warfare 2. We’ve got plenty of related CoD content to help you conquer the battlefield, such as the best perks for every playstyle, our rankings of all the killstreaks, or check out our review for Modern Warfare 2.


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Author
Image of John Esposito
John Esposito
I love almost every type of video game, and when I'm not playing them, I'm writing about them... a lot. I have too many favorites to list so feel free to ask about them! Long live Ugly Sonic and the Resident Evil 3 Remake (this is a meme btw).