Ammo

Ammunition, also called Ammo, is a staple item found almost universally across the Silent Hill series.

Three types of ammo can be found, with quantities of each varying from game to game. The level of game difficulty chosen also influences the quantity of ammo found, especially between types of ammo. Like health items, ammo is scattered throughout the games, so players should be attentive as they explore and be sure to grab every box they can. The ammo types are handgun ammo, rifle ammo, and shotgun ammo, although there are variations of said ammo, such as the silver bullet found by Henry Townshend in Silent Hill 4: The Room.

The only game in the series so far not to feature any sort of ammo is Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, the gameplay of which did not feature a combat mechanic or usable weapons.

Handgun Ammo
Typically the most plentiful type of ammo found and the total amount of ammo that can be found varies between the different game titles. Depending on the game, the total number of rounds found per box of ammo can vary as well.

Silent Hill
Introducing both the ammo and handgun, the ammo boxes in Silent Hill contain fifteen rounds each. Handgun bullets are plentiful, so overuse isn't much of an issue. However, responsibility with ammo reduces the chance of running out at crucial times.

Silent Hill 2
In Silent Hill 2, the handgun's magazine size was reduced from fifteen to ten; because of this, each box of ammo only contains ten shots. The box has "Penguin" on it.

The sub-scenario Born from a Wish features a revolver rather than pistol. It functions in the same manner as the handgun, with a ten-round cylinder and boxes of ammo coming in tens.

Silent Hill 3
Handgun bullets are, once again, the most common form of ammunition in the game. By default, each box of handgun ammo holds ten shots.

Silent Hill 4: The Room
Silent Hill 4 has two types of guns: a pistol and a revolver.
 * Pistol Bullets come in boxes of ten by default. The pistol holds, by default, ten rounds.
 * Revolver Bullets are found in groups of six. Richard's revolver holds six shots of these.
 * Silver Bullets are only found one at a time and there's only two or three in the entire game. They only have an advantage over Ghost-type enemies, instantly subduing them. They, too, are fired by the pistol.

Silent Hill: Origins
In Origins, there are three types of handguns, hence there are three types of ammo for them: target ammo, service ammo, and redeemer ammo.
 * Target Ammo, a .22 caliber bullet, comes in boxes of 24. The target pistol can fire six shots before needing to reload.
 * Service Ammo, a 9mm bullet, comes in boxes of 16. The service pistol can fire eight shots before reloading is required.
 * Redeemer Ammo, a .44 caliber bullet, can be found in boxes of 6. The redeemer can fire six shots before needing to reload.

Silent Hill: Homecoming
In Homecoming, there are two available handguns, the MK. 23, and the Chrome Hammer.
 * The MK. 23, by default, can fire up to nine rounds before reloading, and can carry eighteen rounds max. Ammo can be found in groups of nine by default.
 * The Chrome Hammer, an upgrade to the MK. 23, can, by default, fire off twelve shots, before reloading is needed, and can hold up to 24 rounds total. Ammo is found in boxes of twelve by default.

Silent Hill: Downpour
Handgun ammo is, unlike in previous games, very scarce. Since the main focus is flight over fight, and most of the combat will be with melee weapons, using guns should be saved for difficult encounters with monsters, such as being surrounded or outnumbered. There are a total of three different pistols: the Colt, the Golden Gun, and the pistol. All of them use the same type of ammo and have a magazine size of seven rounds.

Shotgun Ammo
Shotgun ammo is generally harder to find and less plentiful than handgun ammo, though not as rare as rifle ammo.

Silent Hill
The shotgun is limited to a slow reload time and a small round capacity; six shots before reloading is required. Ammo is found in boxes of six.

Silent Hill 2
Like Silent Hill, there are only 6 shots with this gun before the player must reload, and loading is slow. Ammo is found in sixes. The box has "Crow" on it.

Silent Hill 3
The shotgun holds six shots, and ammo comes in six. The box reads "Bullet of shotgan (sic)".

Silent Hill: Origins
Unlike previous games, the player only has two shots before they need to reload. The player will find themselves reloading often. Ammo is found in boxes of four.

Silent Hill: Homecoming
Homecoming has two variations of the shotgun: a 12-gauge shotgun, and the BlueSteel.
 * By default, the 12-gauge can fire four shots before needing to reload, with eight rounds held in total. Ammo comes in fours.
 * The BlueSteel, by default, can fire off five rounds before a reload is necessary, with ten rounds total. Ammo is picked up in fives.

Silent Hill: Downpour
Shotgun shells are even harder to find than pistol ammo, since coming across a shotgun is a very rare occurrence, except in the final stages of the game. It should be used wisely only against packs of stronger enemies where raw stopping power is a must.

Rifle Ammo
Rifles, using various names throughout the games, are generally the most powerful firearms available. As such, ammo is scarce and should be conserved.

Silent Hill
Rifle ammo can be found in boxes of six, and the gun can hold up to six rounds. Ammo is rare and isn't found until a good majority of the game has passed. Ammo may be rare, but within Nowhere, stocks of it can be found.

Silent Hill 2
Rifle ammo is scarce, so save it. Ammo comes in boxes of four, with the rifle able to fire four shots before reloading. The box has "Owl" on it.

Silent Hill: Origins
Origins has two variations of the rifle: a hunting rifle and an assault rifle.
 * The hunting rifle holds four shots max with ammo coming in groups of four.
 * The assault rifle holds eighteen bullets before a reload is needed with ammo found in boxes of eighteen.
 * Curiously, the Assault Rifle has two different models of ammo, a "Civlian" ammo box like the other weapons on PSP but a full-size military ammo box on PS2.

Silent Hill: Homecoming
In Homecoming, there are two variations of the rifle: the M14 Assault Rifle and the police marksman rifle.
 * The M14 holds, by default, five shots before reloading, with ten max. Ammo comes in boxes of five.
 * The marksman rifle, like the M14, holds five shots before reloading. It’s more powerful than the M14, but under the circumstances, the player may only have enough ammo for one clip, so use it wisely.

Silent Hill: Downpour
Rifle ammo is not obtained conventionally in the game. In order to obtain the ammo drops, the weapon needs to be redeemed inside a locker opened using a special code. Once the weapon is unlocked, ammo drops can be found scattered through the town.

Silent Hill: Book of Memories
The ammo pack items are exclusive to the spin-off title Silent Hill: Book of Memories. Unlike sources of ammo found in the main series, ammo packs will fully reload any single projectile weapon regardless of the amount of ammunition left in it. Ammo Packs can be purchased at Howard's Shop for 300 MR or found scattered throughout the dungeons. Ammo packs tend to appear more frequently in Book of Memories than in other installments, in part because they play a more crucial role to gameplay. The player is originally limited to carrying four ammo packs at a given time, but this number may increase depending on the number of backpack upgrades the player has purchased.