Summary
7 Days To Dieis a great zombie survival game that finally came out of early access in July 2024. It offers a single-player experience and co-op, and there is also a desiccated server application available for player groups to set up a private game.
Thissurvival FPSgame has a full range of both melee and ranged weapons, all of which can be looted or crafted by the player at different tiers of quality, with tier 6, the highest, requiring special legendary parts. Pistols have a valid role in the game, primarily as a sidearm or secondary weapon. Although some pistols, such as the Desert Vulture and SMG-5, stand up well as a primary weapon also.

The Pipe Pistol is incredibly easy to craft very early in the game, it will be one of the first ranged weapons7 Days To Dieplayers will gain access to. And as one might guess with such a simple weapon, it isn’t particularly deadly. Even a tier 6 Pipe Pistol made with legendary parts is going to be outclassed by every other pistol in the game.
To reload the Pipe Pistol, the player has to crack the weapon open, empty out the spent shells, and put fresh ones in. This takes several seconds and is not something that a player wants to be doing in the middle of combat. That being said, the Pipe Pistol does have a place as a sidearm, especially at tier 6, if the player has no other options available to them.

Recommended Pipe Pistol Build
This build is intended to be used as a sidearm to provide a backup option to finish off an enemy when the player’s main weapon comes up empty, and they don’t have time to reload. It is intended to be fired from the hip, and theweapon modsreflect this.
The 9mm Pistol is a pretty solid ranged weapon in7 Days To Die. In the early to mid-game, if a player is lucky enough toloot onebefore they can craft one, this would be a game-changing event. Players are advised to search every toilet they come across in the early game, as tier 1 pistols and knives can sometimes be found inside.

In the later stages of the game, the 9mm Pistol becomes the perfect sidearm, and can be used with armor-piercing rounds to take down armored enemies easily. Overall, carrying a 9mm Pistol as a backup weapon with a stack of armor-piercing and hollowpoint ammo to be used situationally, works very well.
Recommended 9mm Pistol Build
This is another sidearm build, and as such, is intended to be fired from the hip. The hollowpoint rounds provide additional damage, without the high cost of using armor-piercing rounds. In the later game stages, or during ablood moon in7 Days to Die, feel free to switch to AP ammo when appropriate.
The .44 Magnum does very high damage for a pistol in7 Days To Die. This makes it an excellent choice as a secondary weapon loaded with armor-piercing rounds, for picking off armored enemies at range. It can make a good sidearm too, but this is a bit of a waste.

The only downside with the .44 Magnum is the fact it can only ever be loaded with 6 rounds, as there is no magazine extender available for revolvers in the game.
Recommended .44 Magnum Build
This build is intended to be used to snipe armored enemies from range. However, without a silencer, it will break the player’s stealth as soon as it is fired.
With a name like Desert Vulture, there can be no doubt that this automatic pistol in7 Days To Dieis styled on the iconic Desert Eagle manufactured by Isreal Military Industries. As with its real-world counterpart, this is a high-damage weapon.

However, it is unlikely that a player will be able to get their hands on this awesome pistol until very late in the game. However, once it is procured, it can be used to great effect as a long-range,stealth weapon.
Recommended Desert Vulture Build
The Desert Vulture is most useful as a silenced weapon that compliments the player’s main weapon. This adds utility, allowing the player to take out high-risk enemies at range, without pulling the whole POI with loud gunfire.
The SMG-5 is a submachine gun, and surprisingly, is classified as a pistol in7 Days To Die, with all pistol skills applying to its use. This may sound strange at first, but it means that a player can use a fully automatic weapon, alongside a capable sidearm, by only taking one skill tree.

The downside of the SMG-5 is that it really can burn through ammo very quickly. Then again, it uses pistol ammo, which is cheaper to craft than rifle ammo anyway. Overall, the SMG-5 is a solid choice as a primary weapon.
Recommended SMG-5 Build
This SMG-5 build is intended to be used as the player’s primary weapon. The massive 60-round ammo capacity means the player can take down groups of enemies at range, very quickly indeed.