The best replacement for pistol is revolver.

The best alternatives to pistol are rated as following:
★★★★★  revolver
★★★  shotgun
★★★  rifle
★★  handgun
★★  gun
★  shotgun home defense
★  sbr
  rifle primers
  shotgun formation
  shotgun for home defense
  carbine
  double action
  bear spray
  shotgun torchlight 2
  revolver difference
  rifle ballistics
  rifle engineer gw2
  revolver accuracy
  glock
  .45 pistol
  glock .45 caliber handgun
  shotgun football
  revolver which is better
  single action pistol
  small rifle primers
  m&p 22 pistol
  22
  rifle fable 3
  revolver concealed carry
  9mm
  sig sauer
  rifle first
  1911

Your alternative for pistol is not listed? Suggest!
Speaking about pistol, one probably shouldn't forget about laser.

Other search terms related to pistol and their ratings are:
★★★★★ laser
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Google Trends

Scale is based on the average worldwide traffic of pistol in all years. Click on graph for more.
pistol
revolver
shotgun