Tec-9 Guide for Counter-Strike 2
Damage, armour penetration, the helmet one-tap, and the best gun in the game to shoot while moving.
The Tec-9 is the T side's $500 pistol. It gets 90.6% of its damage through armour, so four chest hits kill an armoured opponent, and inside about 9.6 metres a single headshot kills through a helmet. Its running inaccuracy is 10.7 - the lowest of any gun in CS2, better than any SMG or rifle.
The trade-off is range. It loses 21% of its damage for every 500 units, more than any other pistol except the Dual Berettas, so the helmet one-tap and the four-hit kill both end around 9.6 metres. It fires 500 rounds a minute from an 18-round magazine. This page goes through the numbers, the accuracy, when to buy it, and the skins and cases.
September 2026
Weapon stats checked against CS2 build 1.41.7.6.
Tec-9 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 Tec-9: 10.7 running inaccuracy and 90.6% armour penetration. Nothing in the game shoots better on the move, and only three guns get more through kevlar. What it gives up is range - 21% of its damage lost every 500 units.
Damage and money
| Price | $500 |
| Kill reward | $300 |
| Side | T only |
| Base damage | 33 |
| Armour penetration | 90.6% |
| Headshot multiplier | 4x |
| Damage lost at 500 units | 21% |
| Wall penetration | 100% |
| One-tap range, helmet | 380 u (about 9.6 m) |
| One-tap range, no helmet | 589 u (about 15 m) |
Handling and ammo
| Rate of fire | 500 RPM (one shot every 0.12 s) |
| Magazine | 18 |
| Reserve | 54 (72 total) |
| Reload | 2.57 s (mag in at 1.33 s) |
| Deploy | 1.00 s |
| Mobility | 240 (knife is 250) |
| Tagging power | 50% |
| Accurate range, standing | 22.1 m |
| Running inaccuracy | 10.7 |
| Recoil | No set pattern |
| Console command | give weapon_tec9 |
Two numbers look odd together: 22.1 metres of accurate range, the same as a P2000, but a damage drop that takes the helmet one-tap away at 9.6 metres. The gun stays accurate long after it stops hitting hard. On the move it is in a class of its own - 10.7 against the Glock-18's 17.6 and the Five-SeveN's 51.1 - and it fires 500 rounds a minute, faster than any pistol in its normal firing mode except the CZ75-Auto.
Tec-9 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 | 132 | 119.6 | 1 | 1 |
| Chest and arms | 33 | 29.9 | 4 | 4 |
| Stomach | 41.25 | 37.4 | 3 | 3 |
| Legs | 24.75 | 24.75 | 5 | 5 |
The two armour columns barely differ - that is what 90.6% penetration buys. Kevlar turns 33 damage into 29.9, and a helmet turns a 132-damage headshot into 119.6. Neither changes the bullet count at close range.
Where the Tec-9 drops off
The Tec-9 loses 21% of its damage for every 500 units - more than any other pistol except the Dual Berettas:
| Shot | Works up to |
|---|---|
| Head, no helmet - 1 bullet | 589 u (about 15 m) |
| Chest, no armour - 4 bullets | 589 u (about 15 m) |
| Head, helmet - 1 bullet | 380 u (about 9.6 m) |
| Chest through armour - 4 bullets | 380 u (about 9.6 m) |
| Stomach, armour or not - 3 bullets | 243 u (about 6 m) |
| Legs - 5 bullets | 243 u (about 6 m) |
Past each of those distances the count goes up by one. Damage is multiplied by 0.79 for every 500 units of distance, and it drops smoothly in between. Five chest hits through armour kill out to 853 units, about 22 metres, and six out to 1,240 units, about 31 metres.
What this means in a fight
Inside 9.6 metres the Tec-9 treats a full buy like an eco: one headshot, or four chest hits in 0.36 seconds at 500 rounds a minute. That is faster than any other pistol kills an armoured opponent. Past that distance the one-tap goes and the chest takes five hits, then six past 22 metres - so the gun is at its best in the fights it can reach.
Tec-9 Recoil & Accuracy
The one gun in CS2 that shoots properly while you move.
The Tec-9 has no set recoil pattern. Every shot after the first lands somewhere in a widening cone rather than along a path you can learn, which is why there is no spray viewer on this page. What makes it unusual is where that cone starts when you are moving.
On the move
Running inaccuracy is 10.7, the lowest number in the game - the Glock-18 is next at 17.6, the best SMG (MAC-10) sits at 27.9, and the AK-47 at 182. Combined with 240 mobility, that means the Tec-9 keeps shooting while you strafe, jiggle a corner or push through a doorway.
Standing still
Accurate range is 22.1 metres, as far as a P2000 reaches. The limit is not the accuracy but the damage: past 9.6 metres a helmeted head survives a headshot, and past 15 metres an unhelmeted one does too (see Damage & Armour).
Pace
At 500 rounds a minute, four chest hits take 0.36 seconds. Slower tapping keeps the cone tighter than rapid tapping, but the Tec-9 forgives a fast string better than most pistols because the fight it is built for is close.
Stopping before you shoot
Even here, standing still is more accurate than moving. Tapping the opposite movement key - counter-strafing - brings you to a stop faster than just letting go of the key; with the Tec-9 the difference is smaller than with any other gun, which is exactly why it suits aggressive rounds.
When to Buy the Tec-9
Force buys, rushes, and what $500 buys on the T side.
The Tec-9 is the T side's force-buy pistol. At $500 it is the most a T can spend on a sidearm short of a Deagle, and the money goes into armour penetration and accuracy on the move.
What it changes
Against a full-buy CT inside 9.6 metres, the Tec-9 kills with one headshot or four chest hits in 0.36 seconds - the same counts as against someone with no armour at all. A P250 needs five chest hits and never one-taps a helmet; a Glock-18 needs eight. That is the case for the extra $300 over a P250.
On a force buy
With armour ($1,000) a Tec-9 round costs $1,500, where a MAC-10 with armour costs $2,050. The pistol leaves $550 more for the round after, and inside 10 metres it kills an armoured opponent faster than the SMG does - 0.36 seconds against 0.45.
On a rush
10.7 running inaccuracy is the reason the Tec-9 fits rounds where you are moving through a choke rather than holding an angle. Nothing else in the game keeps its accuracy that well at a run, and the fights those rounds create are exactly the close ones the gun is built for.
Against an eco
Against players with no armour, the penetration is wasted: a $300 P250 kills in three chest hits up to about 16 metres and one-taps an unhelmeted opponent out to about 50 metres, while the Tec-9 manages about 15.
Tec-9 vs Other Pistols
What the Tec-9 does better, and what it gives up.
The Tec-9 wins on accuracy while moving and on kill speed against armour up close, and loses on damage at range. The table below has all ten pistols side by side.
vs Five-SeveN
The CT side's $500 pistol and the closest thing to a mirror: 32 damage with 91.15% armour penetration against 33 and 90.6%, four chest hits through kevlar for both, and a helmet one-tap for both - 366 units for the Five-SeveN, 380 for the Tec-9. The Tec-9 fires faster, 500 rounds a minute against 400, reaches 22.1 metres of accurate range against 13.7, and is far better on the move, 10.7 against 51.1. The Five-SeveN holds 20 rounds against 18 and loses less damage at range, 19% against 21%. Details in the Five-SeveN guide.
vs P250
$200 cheaper and available to both sides. How the two compare against armour is in When to Buy above. Past that, the P250 does 38 damage against 33, loses only 10% every 500 units against 21%, and one-taps an unhelmeted head out to 50 metres against 15. On the move it is nowhere close: 31.1 against 10.7. Details in the P250 guide.
vs CZ75-Auto
The same $500, available to both sides, and fully automatic at 600 rounds a minute. 31 damage with 77.65% armour penetration: five chest hits through kevlar against the Tec-9's four, and no helmet one-tap at any range. It carries 12 rounds a magazine and 36 in total against 18 and 72, and is accurate to 11.4 metres against 22.1. Details in the CZ75-Auto guide.
vs Glock-18
The T starting pistol, $300 cheaper. It does 30 damage with 47% armour penetration - eight chest hits through kevlar against the Tec-9's four - and one-taps an unhelmeted head only out to 14 metres. It carries 20 rounds a magazine and 80 in total, and its running inaccuracy, 17.6, is second only to the Tec-9's. Details in the Glock-18 guide.
Pistol Stats Table
All ten pistols side by side, with the Tec-9 already open.
This is the same table as on the weapons hub, but filtered down to pistols. The Tec-9 row is open with its damage per hitbox and full stats, and it is already ticked for comparison with the Five-SeveN, P250 and CZ75-Auto. Untick any of them, or tick the Glock-18, USP-S, P2000, Dual Berettas, Desert Eagle or R8 Revolver instead - up to four at a time.
Click a column header to sort. 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.
Tec-9 Skins & Cases
Tec-9 skins by market listings and price, and where they come from.
Three ways to look at Tec-9 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.
Army Mesh
$0.01 - $4.58
View prices →
Groundwater
$0.01 - $11.14
View prices →
Urban DDPAT
$0.02 - $4.10
View prices →
Slag
$0.05 - $0.72
View prices →
Blue Blast
$0.01 - $5.97
View prices →
Rebel
$0.05 - $0.72
View prices →
Raw Ceramic
$0.01 - $0.03
View prices →
Brother
$0.27 - $3.43
View prices →
Terrace
$72.95 - $128.36
View prices →
Nuclear Threat
$36.35 - $625.00
View prices →
Decimator
$12.90 - $163.43
View prices →
Hades
$10.70 - $20.97
View prices →
Rust Leaf
$9.43 - $10.87
View prices →
Fuel Injector
$8.81 - $52.43
View prices →
Toxic
$8.70 - $38.90
View prices →
Blue Titanium
$8.08 - $20.09
View prices →Raw Ceramic
$0.01 - $0.03
View prices →
Tiger Stencil
$0.03 - $0.09
View prices →
Citric Acid
$0.02 - $0.12
View prices →
Garter-9
$0.02 - $0.13
View prices →
Banana Leaf
$0.02 - $0.15
View prices →
Perimeter
$0.03 - $0.53
View prices →Rebel
$0.05 - $0.72
View prices →Slag
$0.05 - $0.72
View prices →All of them, with a price for every wear, are on the Tec-9 skins page.
Cases with Tec-9 skins
Every case that can drop a Tec-9 skin, newest first. The number under each case is how many Tec-9 skins it holds.
Kilowatt Case2024 · 1 skin
Revolution Case2023 · 1 skin
Fracture Case2020 · 1 skin
Shattered Web Case2019 · 1 skin
CS20 Case2019 · 1 skin
Prisma Case2019 · 1 skin
Danger Zone Case2018 · 1 skin
Horizon Case2018 · 1 skin
Spectrum 2 Case2017 · 1 skin
Operation Hydra Case2017 · 1 skin
Gamma 2 Case2016 · 1 skin
Gamma Case2016 · 1 skin
Chroma 3 Case2016 · 1 skin
Operation Wildfire Case2016 · 1 skin
Revolver Case2015 · 1 skin
Huntsman Weapon Case2014 · 1 skin
Operation Phoenix Weapon Case2014 · 1 skin
CS:GO Weapon Case 32014 · 1 skin
CS:GO Weapon Case 22013 · 1 skinTec-9 skins that never came from a case
Some Tec-9 skins come from map collections, operations, or the Armory instead of cases. Collections marked "souvenir" also come in souvenir packages from Majors.
The 2018 Nuke Collection1 skin · souvenir
The 2021 Train Collection1 skin
The Alpha Collection1 skin
The Ancient Collection1 skin · souvenir
The Anubis Collection1 skin · souvenir
The Arabesque Collection1 skin
The Ascent Collection1 skin
The Aztec Collection1 skin
The Bank Collection1 skin
The Boreal Collection2 skins
The Cache Collection1 skin · souvenir
The Canals Collection1 skin
The Dust 2 Collection1 skin · souvenir
The Gods and Monsters Collection1 skin
The Harlequin Collection1 skin
The Havoc Collection1 skin
The Inferno Collection1 skin · souvenir
The Italy Collection1 skin · souvenir
The Nuke Collection1 skin · souvenir
The Radiant Collection1 skin
The Rising Sun Collection2 skins
The Safehouse Collection1 skin · souvenir
The Sport & Field Collection1 skin
The Spy Tech Collection1 skin
The St. Marc Collection1 skin
The Train 2025 Collection1 skin · souvenir
The Train Collection1 skin · souvenirBrowse all CS2 cases and all collections, or check what your own skins are worth with the Inventory Value Calculator.
Common Tec-9 Mistakes
Small habits that cost rounds, and what the numbers say instead.
Taking the fight at range
The Tec-9 stays accurate to 22.1 metres but stops hitting hard much sooner: the helmet one-tap ends at 9.6 metres, the unhelmeted one at 15, and past 22 metres an armoured chest takes six hits. Accuracy is not the limit here, damage is. The numbers are in Damage & Armour.
Standing still with it
With 10.7 running inaccuracy, the Tec-9 loses less by moving than any other gun. Playing it like a P250 - hold an angle, stop, tap - throws away the one thing it does better than everything else. More in Recoil & Accuracy.
Buying it against an eco
Against players with no armour, the penetration is wasted. A $300 P250 needs three chest hits up to about 16 metres and one-taps an unhelmeted opponent out to about 50 metres, against the Tec-9's 15. Save the $200. More in When to Buy.
Spraying the magazine
There is no pattern to control - the cone opens with every shot. Four hits kill an armoured opponent up close, and 18 rounds do not make a long stream any more accurate.
Aiming at the body when you could aim at the head
One headshot kills a helmeted opponent inside 9.6 metres and an unhelmeted one inside 15. That is one bullet against four, on a gun that fires every 0.12 seconds.
Reloading after every fight
Since the 18 March 2026 update, a reload throws away whatever is left in the magazine and takes a full one from your reserve. The Tec-9 has three spare magazines of 18, so a reload with nine rounds in the gun throws away an eighth of your ammo for the round.
More Pistols
The other nine pistols in CS2, starting with the CT side's $500 pistol.
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.
Read the guide →
Glock-18
The Glock 18 is a serviceable first-round pistol that works best against unarmored opponents and is capable of firing three-round bursts.
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.
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.
R8 Revolver
The R8 Revolver delivers a highly accurate and powerful round at the expense of a lengthy trigger-pull. Firing rapidly by fanning the hammer may be the best option when point-blank stopping power is required.
