Derringers - Any practical value or just a range toy?

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whatnickname

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Now here’s one that ought to stir up quite a bit of dust. First let me say that I’ve owned a couple. Both made by American Derringer. Both were used and purchased at a considerable discount. One was chambered 45 Colt / 410. The other was in 357 Magnum. Originally my thought was that the 410 might be good for snakes. However with the short barrel the pattern got pretty thin at fairly short ranges which limited its usefulness. 45 Colt was substantial, but then again you only have two shots and you have to manually cock the hammer. The 357 had a defective barrel. The recess for the cartridge rim was milled out of alignment with the chamber and would not chamber a round. Would like to have seen how they test fired that one at the factory. From a design standpoint there were safety issues if you carried one of these in your pocket. The spring loaded hammer block would easily disengage at which point you had a loaded gun in your pocket with the hammer resting on the firing pin that was in turn resting on the back of a primer. Had a friend that got out of his truck with one of these in his pocket and accidentally hit the door frame with the hammer of the gun and...BANG!

Fast forward to today and Bond owns a good chunk of this market with guns that are well made and much more safe. So all of this taken into consideration, do derringers have any practical value or are they range toys? What is the best caliber for one of these?
 
A local acquaintance carried a 38 caliber one in a holster that also carried 4 rounds. Riding high on belt it was a light weight nifty looking rig. Predated many of today’s pocket pistols like the LCP or LCR.
I have two on in 22LR and one in 32 ACP both Davis, Conversation pieces only I think.
 
I have a High Standard hammer less derringer in .22mag. It fits in a nice shoot thru wallet type holster in my back pocket. You would never know it was there. I like to carry it in the summer months when wearing lighter clothing. My other derringer is a .36 caliber Black powder twist barrel. This is more for fun, but I have also carried it on occasion.
 
They wouldn't be my first choice, or for that matter, my third or fourth.

But if I had to go out in the dark, and I suspected something ugly was out there, I'd choose any Derringer over an empty hand.

This would be the quandary: if I could pick up a large kitchen knife, would I relegate the Derringer to a pocket? In no case would I leave it behind.

As has been pointed out, many of the older designs are neither pocket safe nor drop safe.
 
If all I had was a well made modern Derringer in .38 Special I would carry it.
That said I would be more comfortable with something with a little more capacity like an LCP or LW 5-Shot Snubbie.
 
I had a Cobra .38. It was reasonably well made, but the lack of a trigger guard caused them to install a lawyer-friendly 35lb trigger pull.

I am not a small person nor do I have a weak grip and I needed TWO fingers to pull that switch.....and the the recoil was massive with plain old 130gr. LRN range ammo.

Accuracy? Forget about it beyond fist fight range.

Cocking it one handed quickly? Nope.

With all the fine pocket autos out there, not to mention J-frame revolvers, my opinion is no one should carry one of these for any serious SD purpose. And an M36 with alternating HP and shotshells makes a much better critter gun, IMO.

Heck, even a North American Mini Revolver would be a better choice.

As far as a range toy.......maybe in .22. Otherwise, no, just no.
 
I’m looking at the bond roughneck line. Seems a bit steep still for 2 shots but I wouldn’t balk at it. I do think a revolver is a better option, but Derringer’s intrigue me.
 
Last ditch weapon. That's all they are. Not fun to shoot unless you get a 22. Not accurate, terrible recoil, only two shoots( yes some are one shot maybe you to four shoots). If I had one it would be my hail mary gun big bore. Maybe 44mag.
 
The Derringer style pistols got superseded by the Vest Pocket pistols. They were similar size and weight and chambered in 22 or 25acp and held considerably more rounds than the Derringers or little Mossberg like options.

FN 1906 Vest Pocket:
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Beretta 1919:
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Colt 1908 Vest Pocket:
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Baby Browning:
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Walther Model 9:
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They are all striker fired 25acp center fire and so often more reliable than rimfire calibers and all but the Beretta are 6 + 1 format while the Beretta is 7 = 1.
 
There was a Sergeant in our department who's wife kept bee hives in some remote property they had by the Navasota River. She went out there every morning rain or shine. One day she had a problem with a trespasser so she bought some piece of crap (Davis or Cobra I don't remember) .22 LR derringer. Now this is a guy who was retired military and had been an LEO for 10 years. He carried a 1911 on duty and had a S&W snub as a backup/off duty piece and knows his firearms. He tried to talk her into something else but she wanted the derringer and as most of us married folks know when to back off a subject, after a couple months, he let matter drop.

She kept the derringer in a front zipper pocket of her overalls. One morning she was in the garage putting on her overalls and the derringer's trigger caught on something and bang. The .22 round went right through her heart. Dave had just come off working the night shift and was sleeping in their bedroom at the opposite end of the house. He never heard the shot although a neighbor did. She died before the ambulance arrived.

So yeah they work. Even unintentionally. Bond Arms makes a fine derringer with a cross bolt safety so if I was in the market for a derringer, which I'm not, that would be the only manufacturer I would consider. If you need to go small look at a Beretta Jetfire in .22 or .25 ACP or a Bersa Thunder in .22 LR.
 
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I have a mess box for when I go car camping in remote areas.
Inside one of the partitioned drawers I have a Bond Arms in 9mm loaded with snake shot.
So far I've had luck moving buzzworms with a snake hook, but it is nice to have a quick option.

So it has a niche use, but I sure wouldn't want it for SD.
 
I have a bondarms 45 that holds 788 +/- #12 shot that Was my “fishing” pistol until I made 380 shot shells that ran. I haven’t used it in years now, should post it in the classifieds.

For that use it worked quite well just a bit heavy for just 2 shots.
 
I have a High Standard hammer less derringer in .22mag. It fits in a nice shoot thru wallet type holster in my back pocket. You would never know it was there.

When I worked the streets I carried one in my back pocket as my “Onion Field” gun.

Research The Onion Field police officer murder and you will understand why.
 
When I worked the streets I carried one in my back pocket as my “Onion Field” gun.

Research The Onion Field police officer murder and you will understand why.

I've read Joseph Wambaugh's book. It's very well done and one of the better examples of books of the genre in my opinion.
 
My brother carries N/A 22 mag derringer or a 45ACP double tap as a back up for his CCW. The double tap is a little uncomfortable to shoot but could save your bacon IMO.
 
I actually want one now that bond arms has a budget model. Strictly asa back up for my backup. I’m stoked cause they make them so well you can buy barrels of other caliber and swap them yourself. So I’m going for a 9 and a 38.
 
I had a Bond Arms Snake Slayer IV. It was beautifully made, functioned as advertised, and was utterly silly when you consider the size and weight to capacity ratio.

If you want one because you want one, go for it. If it’s a last ditch belly gun to you, yep, it’ll work for that. But in a world of micro 9mms and 380s, I don’t think there’s any rational way to justify it as a primary carry gun.

But it doesn’t need to be rational to be fun.
 
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