CS2 USP-S pistol displayed in the weapon inventory

USP-S Guide for Counter-Strike 2

Damage, the silencer, the pistol round, and 36 rounds to make it work.

The USP-S is one of the two CT starting pistols, and the quiet one. It does 35 damage a bullet - one headshot kills an unhelmeted opponent out to about 45 metres. With the silencer attached it is accurate to 23.8 metres and leaves no tracers.

The trade-off is ammo. The magazine holds 12 rounds and the reserve 24, so 36 for the whole pistol round, the least of any pistol you start with. Against kevlar each bullet does 17.7, so an armoured opponent takes six chest hits, half a magazine. This page goes through the numbers, the silencer, when to buy it, and the skins and cases.

Last checked

September 2026

Weapon stats checked against CS2 build 1.41.7.6.

USP-S 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 USP-S: a 1,784-unit headshot and 36 rounds for the whole round. It kills an unhelmeted opponent with one bullet to the head out to about 45 metres, and it has less ammo to do it with than any other starting pistol.

Damage and money

Price	$200
Kill reward	$300
Side	CT only
Base damage	35
Armour penetration	50.5%
Headshot multiplier	4x
Damage lost at 500 units	9%
Wall penetration	100%
One-tap range, helmet	None (70.7 damage)
One-tap range, no helmet	1,784 u (about 45 m)

Handling and ammo

Rate of fire	353 RPM (one shot every 0.17 s)
Magazine	12
Reserve	24 (36 total)
Reload	2.17 s (mag in at 0.97 s)
Deploy	1.00 s
Mobility	240 (knife is 250)
Tagging power	50%
Accurate range, standing	20.6 m (silenced 23.8 m)
Running inaccuracy	21.3 (silenced 20.3)
Recoil	No set pattern
Console command	`give weapon_usp_silencer`

The silencer is not just sound: with it attached the USP-S is more accurate standing and moving, and it leaves no tracers. Taking it off is possible, but its accuracy gets worse and tracers appear. The real limit is 36 rounds - three magazines for the round, where a P2000 has five and a Glock-18 four.

USP-S 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	140	70.7	1	2
Chest and arms	35	17.7	3	6
Stomach	43.75	22.1	3	5
Legs	26.25	26.25	4	4

Three chest hits without armour add up to 105, just over a kill, so that count only holds at short range - past it the chest takes four. Against kevlar the same three hits do 53, and it takes six. A single headshot kills an unhelmeted opponent almost anywhere you will meet one.

Where the USP-S drops off

The USP-S loses 9% of its damage for every 500 units of distance, the gentlest drop of any pistol together with the P2000's:

Shot	Works up to
Head, helmet - 2 bullets	3,684 u (about 94 m)
Head, no helmet - 1 bullet	1,784 u (about 45 m)
Chest, no armour - 4 bullets	1,784 u (about 45 m)
Stomach through armour - 5 bullets	1,046 u (about 27 m)
Chest through armour - 6 bullets	560 u (about 14 m)
Legs - 4 bullets	269 u (about 7 m)
Chest, no armour - 3 bullets	269 u (about 7 m)

Past each of those distances the count goes up by one. Damage is multiplied by 0.91 for every 500 units of distance, and it drops smoothly in between. Seven chest hits through armour kill out to 1,347 units, about 34 metres.

What this means in a fight

On the pistol round, where the opponent has no helmet, the USP-S is a one-shot gun to the head out to 45 metres - further than any fight on a pistol round is likely to be. Against a chest it is three hits up close and four past 7 metres, at 0.17 seconds a shot. Against armour it takes six chest hits up to about 14 metres and seven past that, so the head matters even more.

USP-S Recoil & Accuracy

What the silencer changes, and why the first shot is the one that counts.

The USP-S 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. With 12 rounds a magazine and 36 for the round, the first shot of every fight is the one worth setting up.

With the silencer

Silenced, the USP-S is accurate to 23.8 metres standing against 20.6 without, its running inaccuracy drops from 21.3 to 20.3, and its shots leave no tracers. Every number is better with the silencer on, so there is no accuracy reason to take it off.

Without it

Taking the silencer off makes the gun louder, shows tracers and costs accuracy. The only possible upside is that the louder shot is easier for teammates to locate by sound, but opponents get the same information.

Standing still

At 23.8 metres of accurate range the USP-S out-shoots every starting pistol except on raw damage. Tapping at that range works; rapid tapping at up to 353 rounds a minute opens the cone quickly and sends later shots wider.

On the move

Running inaccuracy is 20.3 silenced. That is low for the game, though the Glock-18 is better still at 17.6. The USP-S moves at 240, as fast as any gun except the knife. 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 USP-S

The pistol round, the $200 buy-back, and when the P2000 is the better default.

Every CT starts the pistol round with either the USP-S or the P2000 - you pick which one in the loadout, and both cost $200 to buy back later.

The pistol round

With $800 the two common CT buys are kevlar ($650) or a defuse kit plus utility. Against unarmoured Ts the USP-S kills with one headshot out to 45 metres or three chest hits up close. If the Ts buy armour, it takes six chest hits, so the head is where the round is decided.

USP-S or P2000

Same price, same 35 damage, same 50.5% armour penetration, same one-headshot range. The USP-S adds the silencer, no tracers and 23.8 metres of accurate range against the P2000's 22.1. The P2000 brings ammo: 13 rounds a magazine and 65 in total against 12 and 36. If you expect long fights or a lot of them, the P2000 lasts longer; if you expect to win fights with first shots, the USP-S is the more accurate gun.

Buying it back

At $200 it is the cheapest CT gun to replace. A USP-S plus kevlar costs $850, which is less than any SMG on its own.

On a force buy

Once the Ts have armour, six chest hits is the problem. For $300 the P250 gets 64% through armour instead of 50.5%, and for $500 the Five-SeveN gets 91%. If the round is a force buy and you have $300 spare, that money changes more than a grenade does.

USP-S vs Other Pistols

What the USP-S does better, and what it gives up.

The USP-S stands out for accuracy and a long one-headshot range for a starting pistol, and loses on ammo and against armour. The table below has all ten pistols side by side.

vs P2000

The other CT starting pistol, at the same $200. How the two compare is in When to Buy above. Details in the P2000 guide.

vs Glock-18

The T side's starting pistol, also $200. It does 30 damage against the USP-S's 35, gets 47% through armour against 50.5%, and one-taps an unhelmeted head only out to 14 metres against 45. What it has is volume: 20 rounds a magazine and 80 in total against 12 and 36, plus a burst mode. Details in the Glock-18 guide.

vs P250

$300 and available to both sides. 38 damage with 64% armour penetration: five chest hits through kevlar against the USP-S's six, and a headshot kills an unhelmeted opponent out to about 50 metres against 45. It is accurate to only 13.7 metres, so the USP-S is the better gun at range and the P250 the better one against armour. Details in the P250 guide.

vs Five-SeveN

The CT side's $500 pistol. 32 damage with 91.15% armour penetration - four chest hits through kevlar against six - and 20 rounds a magazine. It one-taps a helmeted head inside about 9 metres, which no starting pistol can do at all. In exchange it is accurate to 13.7 metres and its running inaccuracy is 51.1 against the USP-S's 20.3. Details in the Five-SeveN guide.

Pistol Stats Table

All ten pistols side by side, with the USP-S already open.

This is the same table as on the weapons hub, but filtered down to pistols. The USP-S row is open with its damage per hitbox and full stats, and it is already ticked for comparison with the P2000, Glock-18 and P250. Untick any of them, or tick the Five-SeveN, Tec-9, CZ75-Auto, Dual Berettas, Desert Eagle or R8 Revolver instead - up to four at a time.

Click a column header to sort. The USP-S row shows the pistol without the silencer, and the silenced 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

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.

USP-S Skins & Cases

USP-S skins by market listings and price, and where they come from.

Three ways to look at USP-S 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.

Mil-Spec Grade

PC-GRN

$0.09 - $2.75

View prices →

Mil-Spec Grade

Alpine Camo

$0.23 - $0.95

View prices →

Restricted

Ticket to Hell

$0.43 - $4.26

View prices →

Mil-Spec Grade

Silent Shot

$0.18 - $83.88

View prices →

Classified

Jawbreaker

$2.51 - $33.23

View prices →

Industrial Grade

Forest Leaves

$0.03 - $12.28

View prices →

Covert

Printstream

$26.56 - $206.46

View prices →

Restricted

Flashback

$0.42 - $2.57

View prices →

All of them, with a price for every wear, are on the USP-S skins page.

Cases with USP-S skins

Every case that can drop a USP-S skin, newest first. The number under each case is how many USP-S skins it holds.

USP-S skins that never came from a case

Some USP-S skins come from map collections, operations, or the Armory instead of cases. Collections marked "souvenir" also come in souvenir packages from Majors.

Browse all CS2 cases and all collections, or check what your own skins are worth with the Inventory Value Calculator.

Common USP-S Mistakes

Small habits that cost rounds, and what the numbers say instead.

Spending bullets you don't have

Twelve rounds a magazine and 36 for the whole round is the tightest ammo of any starting pistol. Two missed fights and you are reloading with nothing behind it. Tap, don't hold - at 353 rounds a minute the cone opens faster than the hits land.

Aiming at the body

One headshot kills an unhelmeted opponent out to 45 metres. A chest takes three hits up close, four past 7 metres and six against kevlar. On a pistol round that difference is the round. The numbers are in Damage & Armour.

Taking the silencer off

Silenced, the USP-S is accurate to 23.8 metres instead of 20.6, moves with 20.3 running inaccuracy instead of 21.3, and leaves no tracers. Every number is better with it on. More in Recoil & Accuracy.

Fighting armour with it

Six chest hits through kevlar is half the magazine. On a force buy, $300 for a P250 or $500 for a Five-SeveN changes that fight far more than utility does. More in When to Buy.

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 USP-S has two spare magazines of 12, so a reload with six rounds still in the gun throws away a sixth of your ammo for the round. How this habit caught me out is in the AK-47 guide.

Shooting on the move

Running inaccuracy is 20.3 with the silencer - low for the game, but standing still is still more accurate, and one headshot is what you are after. Stop first: tapping the opposite movement key - counter-strafing - brings you to a stop faster than just letting go of the key.

More Pistols

The other nine pistols in CS2, starting with the other CT default.

// CT · $200 · the other CT default

P2000

Accurate and controllable, the German-made P2000 is a serviceable first-round pistol that works best against unarmored opponents.

Read the guide →

// T · $200

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.

T defaultopen →

// Both · $300

P250

A low-recoil firearm with a high rate of fire, the P250 is a relatively inexpensive choice against armored opponents.

Anti-armouropen →

// CT · $500

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.

CT force buyopen →

// Both · $500

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.

Full autoopen →

// Both · $600

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.

Hardest hitteropen →

Explore CS2

More CS2 Guides

Guide

USP-S Guide for Counter-Strike 2

USP-S at a Glance

Damage and money

Handling and ammo

USP-S Damage & Armour

Damage per bullet

Where the USP-S drops off

What this means in a fight

USP-S Recoil & Accuracy

With the silencer

Without it

Standing still

On the move

When to Buy the USP-S

The pistol round

USP-S or P2000

Buying it back

On a force buy

USP-S vs Other Pistols

vs P2000

vs Glock-18

vs P250

vs Five-SeveN

Pistol Stats Table

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