Charter Arms Dixie Derringer?

[ducktapehero]

I saw that Charter Arm was offering what they called the Dixie Derringer. Does anyone know anything about these? How are these ANY different than the NAA mini revolvers? The price is about the same, they look exactly the same. What's the point? NAA makes a high quality product and Charter Arms has a spotty reputation to say the least. What's up?

http://www.charterfirearms.com/dixiederringer.php

 

[Jim March]

I have an old Freedom Arms minirevolver marked "Casull's Improvement", dates to the late 1980s I think. Most people don't realize that Dick Casull of 454 fame invented this minirevolver pattern and sold the design to NAA...for a while, both FA and NAA made them.

Charter seems to have gotten the old FA tooling or something...I see more similarity between theirs and the FA than theirs and the NAAs, but I could be wrong.

In any case...NAA customer service is so ridiculously ahead of Charter's that to me, unless the price diff was MASSIVE, you'd be crazy to get the Charter. Charter seems to be cutting the price by not offering "dual caliber combos" but the double-caliber 22LR/22Mag guns from NAA are incredibly useful and fun. Controllable as hell in 22LR, potent little defenders with the small number of magnum loads that work with short tubes (CCI MaxiMag +Vs and +V/TNTs will pull 1,200fps from a 1 & 5/8ths tube).

Upshot: the Black Widow with fixed sights (not the oversize adjustable) and both of the 22 cylinders is far and away the best mini. From there, either slim down the rubber grips or buy smaller wood grips - the BW grip frame is the same as the shorter-barrel "Magnum Minis" and can take the same small wood grips as come stock on those, or an "intermediate size wood grip" in their catalog halfway between the big rubber and the smallest wood.

With any of these smaller grips, the BW is a superb front pocket companion loaded with magnums, and both comfortable and cheap to practice with in 22LR.

And surprisingly accurate...the BW and 4" version "MiniMaster" have the barrel carved out of the same metal as the frame, with no constriction at the base of the barrel possible and generally excellent alignment. These are among the most accurate "mouseguns" ever built.

 

[Ala Dan]

We have the NAA 'Minis" is .22 LR and .22 magnum
caliber in my household; and have been perfectly
satisfied. At $199 @, I would think the NAA to be
the better investment!

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[BluesBear]

From the Charter Arms website;
The Dixie Derringers are 1-1/8" Barrels, 5 shot chambered in 22 Long Rifle or 22 Magnum. Weighing 5 oz. and 6 oz. respectfully. They are available in stainless steel and feature our patent pending safety system.

Now does anybody else notice that the magnum version has a longer barrel? If the company can't get their advertising right, are we supposed to believe they can get their manufactiring right?
Colour me skeptical.

I'll stick with the NAA versions too.

 

[mec]

on a related note

Penetration of Long rifle standard (non hollopoint) from NAA.

I ran into a guy in the local gunshop who had been behind the curve on safe carry of SA revolvers. He was walking around with the hammer sitting on a loaded chamber.

The bad news is that he dropped the revolver and shot himself through the leg just above the ankle.

The good news is that the bullet went all the way through his leg. This greatly simplified the medical response and also gave him confidence that his mini- revolver is capable of effective penetration.

 

[scbair]

I saw the Dixie Derringers

at a local gun & knife show about 3 weeks ago; first I'd heard of them. They were in a dealer's display case right next to a couple of NAAs. The Charters fared badly by comparison . . . The NAAs exhibited much nicer finish.

To their credit, the Dixie Derringers seemed to be solid & had minimal cylinder play. I couldn't check the timing and action, due to gun show rules (weapons were rendered "safe" via plastic ties; I didn't want to ask the dealer to cut a tie and let me check it out, as I had no intention of purchasing one.

Even if the NAA customer service, finish, and well-earned reputation for quality weren't factors (yeah, right!), I would have "passed" on the Charter simply because of the safety. It's a crossbolt, hammer-block type located at the upper rear of the frame. It appeared awkward and subject to inadvertent activation and also added an unnecessary projection on a pocket revolver.

Gotta agree with Jim March on the Black Widow. I purchased a used model, and was extremely impressed. It was well-used, though, and test firing produced 1-2 failres to fire per box of ammo (regardless of brand of ammo). The main spring is just fatigued (it'll be going back to NAA for refurbishing ). Its accuracy and controllability, coupled with the amazingly small cylinder diameter, make it a top-notch backup pistol, or "immediate action" weapon for those occasions when my bigger sidearm is less accessible (due to concealment concerns in the SC summertime). Not wanting to go without its availability while NAA has it, I purchased a second model. This one is new, with the improved cylinder pin release, is 100% reliable, and I LOVE IT!

IMHO, any company trying to compete head-to-head with NAA, offering a nearly identical product at a similar price, needs to give its R&D staff a reality check. If it were a (very) slightly larger model, chambered for, oh, say, .32ACP, we might have a winner (for those of us inherently distrustful of pocket autos).

 

[Rangie]

What's the extra pin in the frame above the hammer screw ?

They didn't try to add some half-assed safety like the Heritage .22 revolvers ?

Edit - just read the part about the patent pending safety B.S.