Wanting to learn something about Deringers, I ordered this kit from Dixie. Did it with low expectations given the reviews of it on the Dixie web site. Problem was, it's the closest thing available to the original products of Henry Deringer that doesnt cost as much as an original. The kit and a completed version come from Palmetto Arms in Italy. The fully assembled pistol is back ordered - a situation that can extend from two months to infinity depending on the motivations of the manufacturer. Dixie has been selling these things for years due more to customer demand than any expectation of quality. Dixie does that, sells what the demand supports but then allows customers to rate the products on line. Palmetto Arms products are not well liked by consumers and the only faintly positive reviews they get usually end up"..... It is a Great Replica! and someday I may take it out and shoot it!"
The kit lived down to expectations. At first glance it became obvious that duplicating Henry Deringer's finely finished pistol would not be possible. Inletting for the metalic furniture was oversized. The walnut stock had important voids and it developed that no major or minor part escaped the need for further inletting,machining or modification. It wasn't a nightmare. It was one nightmare after another after another. To many nightmares, little and big to relate them all but one highlight occured when the tip of the upper sear arm crumbled away. I was able to recut the angle and restore the function of the lock- at least for a while. Another matter of interest was ignition. The nipples were to small for even #10 caps. I had to shorten them and thin the tops as well as unscrew the nipple about half a turn to get any sort of consistent cap ignition. It never did reach 100%.
Dixie has a general one year warranty. However, if you loose or break any of the parts you are on your on. Spares are not availble from Dixie and Palmetto will not answer e-mail in english or italian.
I did get it shooting and possibly learned something about Deringers in the process. H. Deringer small pistols appeared in the same general from the 1830s until the Civil War in calibers ranging from "38"- 45-50. They quickly became the gun to imitate among housholders and travelers.
The J. Wilkes Booth pistol seems to have had a bore of .45 and shot a patched .41 Caliber ball. The Dixie gun has a groove to grove measurement of about .40" with land to land measurement of .390". It is supposed to use a .380 patched ball with the charge recommended by Palmetto being 20 grains of FFFG.
On the heals of that, Palmetto then issued a companion powder flast with a 10 grain spout. I tried the ten grain charge with Swiss fffg powder getting 261 fps.
Increasing to twenty grains brought the average velocities to 451 fps and 351 fps with the same charge of Goex fffg. Swiss delivered 37 ft lbls of energy while the goex load was more like a .22 CCI mini cap from a rifle- 24ft lbs.
Fully loaded, the ball came within 3/8" of the muzzle of the pistol. I didn't expect much accuracy but was gratified to shoot a 7" group on a silhouette at 30 feet. I made head shots at 5, 10 and 15 feet. This is about what I would expect from such a small pistol.
Building and shooting the Palmetto Derringer was like taking a trip back in time in Professor Peabody's Wayback Machine. During the first decades of the replica arms industry, there was no such thing as quality control and decent performance was a rare commodity. The better Gardonne Valley companies have greatly improved but Palmetto holds fast to the decades- old tradition.
