Why use a pistol instead of a rifle?

Question

I'm currently reading GURPS4 to prepare myself for DMing. When I read about firearms I thought pistols to be vastly inferior to rifles to the point that if one carried enough armor to possibly survive a single hit from a rifle he/she would be left almost unharmed by a hit from a pistol. Now I'm thinking, what reasons would my players (and NPCs) have to ever use a pistol?

Reasons I found for using a pistol instead of a rifle:

• Easier to hide (holdout) - If you're not allowed to carry a firearm, a pistol is obviously much easier to conceal than an assault rifle
• Price - A bit less expensive
• "Just in case" - when a gunfight is not expected, but also not entirely impossible
• Style - for whatever reason, the character might think shooting pistols is way more wicked
• Backup weapon - if your main gun is jammed, out of ammo (and would take to long to reload or you really have no more ammo) or for some other reason unusable a pistol still hurts your enemies a lot more than harsh language
• Weight - a pistol is not that heavy and still is a lot more dangerous than a knife
• Mobility - most pistols have a bulk of 1 or 2, making the Move and Attack maneuver more appealing as you will suffer a smaller penalty to your attack compared with a longarm (which I can imagine is more useful in environments with plenty of cover, like indoors)

Only the last bullet point describes a situation in which one would possibly consider a pistol a better weapon for actual combat. For example, whilst knowing you can't conceal a rifle under casual clothing like you can a pistol you probably still wished you could if you'd be forced to use it.

So, do you know of any other reasons why one would prefer a pistol? At least for the moment I'll only use the Basic Set regarding available books. It is still uncertain what kind of setting we'll play, might be some kind of wild west as well as a futuristic world.

Answer 1

The reasons you list are all valid. There are additional real world/setting reasons people carry a pistol as opposed to a long gun.

• Legality: In some situations it (some concealed carry laws in the US) is legal to carry a pistol, while it would be illegal to carry a rifle or shotgun.
• Appearances: Even when carrying openly it sends a completely different message to walk around with a pistol in a holster vs a long-arm on a sling. In many places an openly carried pistol might raise eyebrows while a rifle (especially a military style rifle) would result in a conversation with police. Characters might not want that attention.

Another reason is that a pistol can usually be wielded in one hand, which is of benefit to people who only have one usable hand or need to have another hand occupied, such as with a radio.

Answer 2

You and @C.Ross make some very good points about why to use a pistol over a rifle. One additional reason is the capability to use Dual-Weapon Attack - B230 in Characters mentions that Dual-Weapon Attack (Guns (Pistol)) is learnable even in a realistic campaign (i.e. not cinematic).

From personal experience (as a PC in 3-4 TL7 or TL8 GURPS 4E games), I usually carry my longarm of choice (shotgun, rifle, etc.) along with a backup pistol (on one particular character, two backup pistols) when I'm expecting combat with little care for subtlety. In those types of instances, things like Tactical Vests with Trauma Plates and Ballistic Helmets are in use - not exactly "walking down the street" gear.

Alternatively, outside of heavy combat, a pistol in a belt holster (for a law enforcement character) or a shoulder holster (for Holdout) is more common, for the reasons @C.Ross highlighted.

If your question is "why would anyone use a pistol when loaded out for heavy combat," the only real answer I have for you is the Dual-Weapon Attack option. Honestly unless the PC is very proficient (20+ skill) even that isn't going to be nearly as effective as something like a shotgun or a rifle - pistols have lower damage, lower range, no rate of fire bonus or option for Spraying Fire or Suppression Fire.

One note - I don't know what equipment or advantages you're giving your PCs access to, but the comment "he/she would be left almost unharmed by a hit from a pistol" seems very, very unlikely to me. A Auto Pistol, .40 does 2d pi+ - an average (7 damage, multiplied up to 10 for large piercing) hit in the average (10HP) person's arm could cripple it depending on the outcome of the health roll, or could even leave an unarmored foe unconscious with a torso hit. And that's if a single round fired hits - the .40 is only recoil 2!

Answer 3

Using only Basic, the only combat reasons I can come across are:

1. The ability to use two pistols at the same time,
2. The ability to draw another pistol instead of reloading, and
3. The penalty in the form of bulk in CQB (B391)
4. With Gunslinger, you get the ACC bonus of 1H weapons without the need to aim (B58)
5. Depending on situation and campaign, pistol ammo can be easier to come by/cheaper than rifle ammunition.

As many combats start within a range for these factors to come into play, they can make a big enough difference.

You can increase the reasons to use a pistol over a rifle adding the following books:

1. GURPS: Gun Fu
2. GURPS: High Tech
3. GURPS Martial Arts: Fairbairn Close Combat Systems
4. GURPS: Tactical Shooting

Those only help with the systematic reasons; most of the sociological reasons have already been covered very well.

Answer 4

Normal people do not wear armour and a pistol is enough to take some one down. People walking around in armour, if they are either not in a war zone or police etc tend to create a lot of attention quickly. The same point is true in any background, in real life most knights did not wear plate all the time, plate was for battle wearing it around town would soon cause trouble with the local lords knights.