R8 Revolver Guide for Counter-Strike 2
Damage, the trigger delay, fanning the hammer, and what $600 really buys.
The R8 Revolver hits harder than anything else you can hold in a pistol slot: 86 damage with 93.2% armour penetration. A headshot kills a helmeted opponent out to 9,414 units - about 239 metres, further than any map is long - and two chest hits kill an armoured one out to 97 metres. It costs $600 and both sides can buy it.
The trade-off is the trigger. The R8 fires once every 0.50 seconds, the slowest of any pistol, and the primary trigger holds the shot back before it fires. It moves at 220 normally and drops to 180 while holding the primary trigger, and carries 8 rounds with 16 in reserve. This page goes through the numbers, the fanning, when to buy it, and the skins and cases.
September 2026
Weapon stats checked against CS2 build 1.41.7.6.
R8 Revolver at a Glance
The full stat sheet, straight from the game.
Every number below comes from the game build of 18 March 2026. Two of them define the R8 Revolver: 86 damage and 120 rounds a minute. It hits harder than any pistol and has the slowest primary fire rate in the game. Everything else follows from that pair.
Damage and money
| Price | $600 |
| Kill reward | $300 |
| Side | CT and T |
| Base damage | 86 |
| Armour penetration | 93.2% |
| Headshot multiplier | 4x |
| Damage lost at 500 units | 6% |
| Wall penetration | 200% |
| One-tap range, helmet | 9,414 u (about 239 m) |
| One-tap range, no helmet | 9,984 u (about 253 m) |
Handling and ammo
| Rate of fire | 120 RPM (one shot every 0.50 s) |
| Magazine | 8 |
| Reserve | 16 (24 total) |
| Reload | 2.27 s (rounds in at 1.97 s) |
| Deploy | 1.17 s |
| Mobility | 180 (knife is 250) |
| Tagging power | 60% |
| Accurate range, standing | Not listed (1.9 m fanning) |
| Running inaccuracy | Not listed (116 fanning) |
| Recoil | Set pattern |
| Console command | give weapon_revolver |
The source sheet leaves accurate range and running inaccuracy blank for the primary trigger and lists them only for fanning the hammer - 1.9 metres and 116, which are close to useless numbers. What is listed is enough to see the shape of the gun: the hardest-hitting pistol in the game, the slowest rate of fire, and 180 mobility, the lowest of any weapon except the Negev and the scoped snipers.
R8 Revolver Damage & Armour
What one bullet does, and how many it takes.
Everything here assumes a full-health player at close range. Armour means kevlar on the body and a helmet on the head. The general rules behind these numbers are on the weapons hub.
Damage per bullet
| Hitbox | No armour | Armour | Bullets to kill, no armour | Bullets to kill, armour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head | 344 | 320.6 | 1 | 1 |
| Chest and arms | 86 | 80.2 | 2 | 2 |
| Stomach | 107.5 | 100.2 | 1 | 1 |
| Legs | 64.5 | 64.5 | 2 | 2 |
Armour barely registers: 93.2% penetration turns 86 into 80.2 and a 344-damage headshot into 320.6. A stomach hit through kevlar does 100.2 - a tenth of a point over a kill, so it works at point-blank range and nowhere else.
Where the R8 Revolver holds up
The R8 loses only 6% of its damage for every 500 units of distance, less than any pistol:
| Shot | Works up to |
|---|---|
| Head, no helmet - 1 bullet | 9,984 u (about 253 m) |
| Head, helmet - 1 bullet | 9,414 u (about 239 m) |
| Chest, no armour - 2 bullets | 4,382 u (about 111 m) |
| Chest through armour - 2 bullets | 3,813 u (about 97 m) |
| Legs - 2 bullets | 2,058 u (about 52 m) |
| Stomach, armour or not - 1 bullet | Point-blank range |
Past each of those distances the count goes up by one. Damage is multiplied by 0.94 for every 500 units of distance, and it drops smoothly in between. In practice every one of those ranges is longer than any sightline you will play.
What this means in a fight
On paper the R8 is the best pistol in CS2: one headshot kills anyone at any distance on a map, and two chest hits kill an armoured opponent out to about 97 metres. What stops it being the obvious buy is the half-second between shots and the trigger delay before the first one (see Recoil & Accuracy). The damage is not the problem, the timing is.
R8 Revolver Recoil & Accuracy
The trigger delay, fanning the hammer, and why neither is free.
The R8 has two triggers, and they behave like two different guns. The left button pulls the hammer back and holds the shot for a moment before it fires; the right button fans the hammer for a faster, far less accurate shot. There is no spray viewer on this page - with 0.50 seconds between shots there is no spray to plot.
The primary trigger
The delay between click and shot is what keeps the R8 out of serious play. The gun itself is accurate enough to land a headshot at any distance on a map, but the shot leaves when the animation says so, not when you click - so a target that is moving has usually moved.
Fanning the hammer
The right button fires faster, 150 rounds a minute against 120, and moves at 220 instead of 180. What it costs is accuracy: 1.9 metres of accurate range and 116 running inaccuracy, both numbers that only make sense at contact range. Fanning is for an opponent already on top of you.
Standing still
The source sheet does not list an accurate range for the primary trigger. What it does list is damage that holds to 239 metres and 200% wall penetration, twice what other pistols get - so the limits here are the delay and your aim, not the bullet.
Moving
At 220 mobility the R8 is slower than most pistols, and while holding the primary trigger it drops to 180: 50 below the Deagle's 230 and 60 below the rest. Stop before you shoot: tapping the opposite movement key - counter-strafing - brings you to a stop faster than just letting go of the key.
When to Buy the R8 Revolver
Eco rounds, long angles, and why $600 usually goes to a Deagle instead.
The R8 costs $600 and both sides can buy it. On damage it beats every pistol in the game; on timing it loses to all of them. That is the entire decision.
What it changes
One headshot kills a helmeted opponent at any distance you will meet on a map, and two chest hits kill an armoured opponent out to about 97 metres. No other pistol reaches that far: the Deagle's helmet one-tap ends at 51 metres, the Five-SeveN's at 9.
On an eco
A save with an R8 costs $600 and keeps the rest of your money. Against a full buy, one landed shot from a long angle wins a duel a P250 could not. Against anything close or moving it is the wrong gun - the delay gives the other player the time.
R8 or Desert Eagle
The Deagle costs $100 more and fires more than twice as often, 0.22 seconds against 0.50. Its helmet one-tap runs out at 51 metres, which is longer than most sightlines anyway, and it moves at 230 against 180. The R8 wins on paper - more damage, more range, one fewer body shot - and the Deagle wins on every fight where the first shot misses.
When not to buy it
If the round will be decided at close range, in a rush, or anywhere you have to move and shoot, the R8's trigger delay and its drop to 180 mobility while holding the primary trigger make it a poor pistol for the job. A $500 Tec-9 or Five-SeveN kills an armoured opponent in four hits and shoots while you move.
R8 Revolver vs Other Pistols
What the R8 does better, and what it gives up.
The R8 wins on damage and range, ties the Desert Eagle for the highest armour penetration, and loses on rate of fire, mobility and ammo. The table below has all ten pistols side by side.
vs Desert Eagle
$100 more and the closest comparison. How the two split is in When to Buy above. Past that, the Deagle holds 7 rounds with 28 in total against the R8's 8 and 24, and its headshot multiplier is 3.9x against the R8's 4x - the only gun in the game that does not get the full 4. Details in the Desert Eagle guide.
vs Five-SeveN and Tec-9
The $500 pistols. Both get over 90% through armour, like the R8, but with 32 and 33 damage they need four chest hits where the R8 needs two, and their helmet one-taps end at about 9 metres. They fire at 400 and 500 rounds a minute against 120, and move at 240 against the R8's 220 normally, dropping to 180 while holding the primary trigger. Details in the Five-SeveN and Tec-9 guides.
vs P250
$300 cheaper and the standard eco buy. 38 damage with 64% armour penetration: five chest hits through kevlar against two, and no helmet one-tap at any range. It fires every 0.15 seconds against 0.50 and holds 13 rounds against 8. Details in the P250 guide.
vs the starting pistols
The Glock-18, USP-S and P2000 cost $200 and need six to eight chest hits through armour, where the R8 needs two. None of them takes a helmet with one bullet. What they have is speed and ammo - 353 to 400 rounds a minute and up to 80 rounds a round, against 120 and 24. More in the Glock-18, USP-S and P2000 guides.
Pistol Stats Table
All ten pistols side by side, with the R8 Revolver already open.
This is the same table as on the weapons hub, but filtered down to pistols. The R8 Revolver row is open with its damage per hitbox and full stats, and it is already ticked for comparison with the Desert Eagle, Five-SeveN and P250. Untick any of them, or tick the Glock-18, USP-S, P2000, Dual Berettas, Tec-9 or CZ75-Auto instead - up to four at a time.
Click a column header to sort. The R8 row shows the primary trigger, and the fanning numbers are in its card under variants. The full table with all 36 weapons is on the weapons hub.
Click any weapon for damage per hitbox, full stats and variants.
| Weapon | Type | Price | Kill $ | Damage | Armour pen | RPM | Mag | Total ammo | HS kill vs helmet |
|---|
Comparing 0 of 4
Stats from the CS2 Weapon Spreadsheet, game build of 18 March 2026. Shotgun damage is per pellet. Headshot ranges are converted from game units at 39.4 units per metre. Zeus and knife values come from the game files rather than the sheet.
R8 Revolver Skins & Cases
R8 Revolver skins by market listings and price, and where they come from.
Three ways to look at R8 Revolver skins. Most listed are the ones with the most offers across the markets I track, in other words the ones currently offered most often. Most expensive are the skins that stay expensive even in their cheapest wear. Cheapest are the ones that stay cheap even in their best wear. Prices update every 15 minutes, and the range on each card runs from the cheapest variant to the most expensive one, wear and StatTrak included.
Bone Mask
$0.02 - $7.09
View prices →
Mauve Aside
$0.01 - $0.03
View prices →
Cobalt Grip
$0.01 - $84.28
View prices →
Crazy 8
$0.29 - $5.59
View prices →
Banana Cannon
$0.26 - $3.61
View prices →
Desert Brush
$0.06 - $0.50
View prices →
Inlay
$0.02 - $0.26
View prices →
Dark Chamber
$0.02 - $0.16
View prices →
Fade
$69.69 - $109.83
View prices →
Llama Cannon
$8.34 - $40.06
View prices →
Skull Crusher
$4.46 - $9.91
View prices →
Phoenix Marker
$3.01 - $6.27
View prices →
Blaze
from $2.40
View prices →
Canal Spray
$1.38 - $12.00
View prices →
Reboot
$0.96 - $14.06
View prices →
Amber Fade
$0.92 - $18.00
View prices →Mauve Aside
$0.01 - $0.03
View prices →
Leafhopper
$0.02 - $0.13
View prices →Dark Chamber
$0.02 - $0.16
View prices →Inlay
$0.02 - $0.26
View prices →Desert Brush
$0.06 - $0.50
View prices →
Bone Forged
$0.13 - $0.54
View prices →
Survivalist
$0.24 - $1.10
View prices →
Monarch
$0.20 - $1.49
View prices →All of them, with a price for every wear, are on the R8 Revolver skins page.
Cases with R8 Revolver skins
Every case that can drop an R8 Revolver skin, newest first. The number under each case is how many R8 Revolver skins it holds.
Gallery Case2024 · 1 skin
Revolution Case2023 · 1 skin
Recoil Case2022 · 1 skin
Snakebite Case2021 · 1 skin
Prisma 2 Case2020 · 1 skin
Shattered Web Case2019 · 1 skin
Prisma Case2019 · 1 skin
Horizon Case2018 · 1 skin
Clutch Case2018 · 1 skin
Spectrum 2 Case2017 · 1 skin
Gamma Case2016 · 1 skin
Revolver Case2015 · 2 skinsR8 Revolver skins that never came from a case
Some R8 Revolver skins come from map collections, operations, or the Armory instead of cases. Collections marked "souvenir" also come in souvenir packages from Majors.
The 2018 Inferno Collection1 skin · souvenir
The 2021 Dust 2 Collection1 skin · souvenir
The 2021 Train Collection1 skin
The Achroma Collection1 skin
The Ancient Collection1 skin · souvenir
The Anubis Collection1 skin · souvenir
The Ascent Collection1 skin
The Bank Collection1 skin · souvenir
The Boreal Collection1 skin
The Canals Collection1 skin
The Dust 2 Collection1 skin · souvenir
The Harlequin Collection1 skin
The Havoc Collection1 skin
The Spy Tech Collection1 skinBrowse all CS2 cases and all collections, or check what your own skins are worth with the Inventory Value Calculator.
Common R8 Revolver Mistakes
Small habits that cost rounds, and what the numbers say instead.
Clicking as if it fires instantly
The primary trigger holds the shot back before it leaves. Against a moving target that delay is the whole fight: you have to click where the opponent will be, not where they are. More in Recoil & Accuracy.
Fanning the hammer at range
Fanning fires at 150 rounds a minute instead of 120, but accurate range drops to 1.9 metres and running inaccuracy is 116. It is for an opponent already on top of you, not for a second attempt at a missed shot.
Taking close, moving fights
At 180 mobility and one shot every 0.50 seconds, the R8 loses any fight that starts inside a few metres against a gun that shoots five times in the same window. A $500 Tec-9 does the same job against armour and moves at 240. More in When to Buy.
Aiming at the body when you have the angle
Two chest hits kill an armoured opponent, but the second shot comes 0.50 seconds after the first. One headshot does it at any distance on the map. The numbers are in Damage & Armour.
Forgetting how little ammo it has
Eight rounds in the cylinder and 16 in reserve is 24 for the whole round, the least of any pistol. Three missed shots are a meaningful part of that.
Reloading after every fight
Since the 18 March 2026 update, a reload throws away whatever is left in the cylinder and takes a full one from your reserve. The R8 has two spare cylinders of 8, so reloading with four rounds left costs a sixth of your ammo for the round.
More Pistols
The other nine pistols in CS2, starting with the other hard hitter.
Desert Eagle
As expensive as it is powerful, the Desert Eagle is an iconic pistol that is difficult to master but surprisingly accurate at long range.
Read the guide →
Five-SeveN
Highly accurate and armor-piercing, the pricy Five-Seven is a slow-loader that compensates with a generous 20-round magazine and forgiving recoil.
Tec-9
An ideal pistol for the Terrorist on the move, the Tec-9 is lethal in close quarters and features a high magazine capacity.
CZ75-Auto
A fully automatic variant of the CZ75, the CZ75-Auto is another inexpensive choice against armored opponents. But with very little ammo provided, strong trigger discipline is required.
P250
A low-recoil firearm with a high rate of fire, the P250 is a relatively inexpensive choice against armored opponents.
Dual Berettas
Firing two large-mag Berettas at once will lower accuracy and increase load times. On the bright side, you'll get to fire two large-mag Berettas at once.
