Posted on 11/02/2018 5:09:09 AM PDT by w1n1
Small hideout guns tend to be small caliber and that means ineffectual stoppers.
The current crop of ultra-light polymer-framed .32s and .380s with double action only trigger mechanisms are also very hard to hit anything with. There is a more effective alternative available.
American Derringer has beefed up the traditional Remington Double Derringer to .45 Colt caliber and it also will chamber the 2½-inch .410 shotgun shells. The .45 Colt is a one-shot stopper with a hit to the vitals, and you have two shots.
It is a close range weapon, but then most gunfights are also close range and an attacker coming at you will shorten the range for you. At these ranges, stopping power is everything and that mandates a .45.
This one is small enough to slip unnoticed into a pocket and yet has a big enough grip that with a tight hold on it you won’t be bothered by the recoil. It is the perfect close range backup weapon to a .45 automatic or revolver.
How effective is it? Let’s look at three examples.
-In Wyoming a hunter left his rifle in camp as he went a short ways into the woods to relieve himself. A moose stepped out of the brush right in front of him and he shot it dead with his .45 Double Derringer. A grizzly was nearby and tried to claim the carcass by attacking him, but once again the little .45 Double Derringer came to the rescue, killing the bear at a distance of a few feet. Read the rest of this Derringer pistol.
Since it is a single action, and you have to thumb the hammer manually, a trigger guard isn't strictly necessary. But that said, most of the Bond Arms derringers do have trigger guards.
I doubt I could fire one accurately.
They're meant for "bad breath" distances, so precise aiming isn't required.
I still wouldn't carry one as my only concealed pistol..I think they appeal most to the 'cowboys' who also like single action Army revolvers and lever action rifles. Those SASS types... ;^)
That is a problem, particularly for those with smaller, not necessarily weaker, hands.
My hands are about medium size, with good strength, due to weight training for shooting.
I hold the Bond Arms in my hand with the meaty part of my lower thumb area over the top of the grip and my trigger finger over the barrel.
I then use the thumb to pull the hammer while steadying the pistol with my trigger finger and middle finger, then dropping my trigger finger under the barrel as soon as the hammer hits full cock.
It's one smooth motion, ending with the web of your hand (area between thumb and index finger) jammed tightly against the cocked hammer.
Takes a little practice, and make damned sure you're practicing with an UN-loaded gun!
These little cannons are not for everyone and I wouldn't recommend carrying one for primary self-defense.
I carry mine in my left back pocket, when I do carry it.
Most of the time, it is my truck gun, reposing either in the door side pocket or on the magnet under the dash.
Truth be told, I consider it more a toy than a true tool, but to each their own.
It beats a sharp stick.
They’re single action only. A triggrrguard would only make it bulkier.
Thank you for that info.
I’ve never even thought about buying a derringer. But the reports on the 45/.410 combination is impressive.
Wonder how well one could control the recoil on that little pocket rocket?
I’ve been contemplating adding a Mossberg Shockwave in .410 to my home defense. Load it with 0000 buckshot.
Very few preferred the issue stuff and would quickly trade, beg or borrow to get what they felt was most effective.
Myself, after being in-country for a few weeks, saw very quickly what worked best, and I "picked up" an M-14 with full auto.
It was what I had trained on, what I learned the Manual of Arms on and was what I was most familiar with.
It was "off the books", but was authorized.
I never saw a personal weapon carried by a grunt...personal meaning one that he had purchased in the States and brought to VN for his personal use.
I did see a few officer-types (REMFS, mostly) that switched out the grips on their issue-1911's and a boatload of personal knives, of course.
Quite a few of the "Swash-buckling" slick pilots and goonie drivers had fancy firearms, but they'd routinely get their asses chewed by some new CO just in town and have to hide them for a while.
I liberated a nearly-new AK and carried it for a while, but sold it to a newby who thought he could get it back home.
(He couldn't...but I'm sure he sold to another newby with the same story.)
To the best of my knowledge, there has never been an authorization for soldiers to procure and carry privately-owned weapons, except for a few officers and some of the fly-boys and a few of the Spec Ops guys.
In our history, necessity being the mother...etc, etc...we all know that privately-owned firearms were used, but as our Armed Forces evolved and uniformity became more of an issue for economic and training purposes...the privately-owned firearm has faded into that history.
Don’t they also have insanely tough triggers ? Does anyone here actually own one ?
I looked at one before that had , as I recall, a twenty-ish pound trigger. Maybe my memory is falsified like the guy who killed a moose and a bear with his.
But yeah, don’t they have heavy triggers ?
I bought a new loading press a few years ago. It is a Redding Boss. At the time I upgraded my die selection, powder scale and components, preparing for it to be hard to source. Can reload most of what we have weapons for. I was reloading shot shells when I was 13. My brother and I were great shots. Instinctive shooting, is essential for quail. Not time to think.
Most of it has never been out of the box, but I have it.
smile.
Yep.
It’s just a shame that all my brass and primers were with my guns in that tragic boating accident a few years ago/.///
I bought a .38 Derringer years ago. I fired only a couple of rounds of .38spec through it. Hurts like hell. I load special low power cartridges for it now. Derringers are a last resort.
In olden Times,
I shot one,frequently.
10 pound Trigger would be my Guess.
45 long Colt was “Weak”
Compared to the .410 shell.
“(He couldn’t...but I’m sure he sold to another newby with the same story.)”
My recollection is our unit arms room would lead a barrel which would qualify a weapon for shipment back home. I personally did not see or try this. But for some odd reason our unit was allowed personal weapons as this I did witness. However, our unit, being Radio Research (aka ASA under ops control of NSA), was not the run of the mill Army unit.
I had the full auto M-14 which I kept with me at all times, locked and loaded. I’m saying this as in some of our newer sandbox wars, I’ve heard our soldiers cannot keep their issued weapons all the time, or keep them loaded all the time, which to me is dumb. I was also assigned to an M60, now this was kept in the arms room until needed.
wink, smile.
PPPing (Pocket Pistol Ping)
Well isn’t that just the cutest little thing ?
The you can take it home was a fairy tale in RVN. I had a Canadian Browning 9mm I had taken from an NVA officer. Carried it for months. It was taken from me at the evac hospital when I got hit and told I couldn’t keep it. I’m sure some remf ended up with it.
It's 'Am Shooting Journal. They have special knowledge. 8~)
“A guy went to take a leak and was jumped by a moose and a grizzly and took them both out?”
I was reading along with that story in the article and to be honest... I was anticipating a punchline.
I was stationed up in Kodiak Alaska and I’ve also worked around Valdez Alaska quite a bit, I just can’t imagine... Seriously cannot imagine killing one of those big Browns up there with a .45 Long Colt round.
”The hand-size-to-gun-size ratio...”
I’m looking at the size of the cartridges and at the size of the shotgun shells in comparison to the size of the Derringer. It looks a lot bigger than I think I imagine a derringer to actually be. So it’s kind of a magnum size Derringer if you will... I would like to see one and handle it just to ensure a good fit before a purchase.
But for quick access, less of a chance of it snagging, not to mention a familiar homing area for the trigger finger.
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