derringers??

[lubbockdave]

Can anyone think of a good excuse to get a little derringer? the only "real" excuse I can come up with to tell the little lady is that it would make "GREAT snake charmer during those early season scouting sessions and bow season-nice and litle, compact, not to hard to explain if comfronted by a warden" That is If I get one in 38 spl and load it with the CCI snake shot #9's...


what do ya'll think?

also, what do you use for a "carry" pistol in the woods? I have a GP 100 6 in barrel 357, but would imagine that gets a little cumbersome carrying all day, but a 9.5 oz 2 shot 38 should be easy, NO?

thanks

Dave

[PaulS]

lubbockdave,

I have a cheep little derringer from Cobray. It is 45/410 with a three and a half inch barrel and about an inch of rifling. I can keep 45's on a standard NRA target at fifty yards but I would be sure of hitting a man at that range. I keep it loaded with a 410 birdshot load for snakes (the kind that crawl on the ground and the ones with two legs - if I need to use it I will be able to put it against the perp's neck and pull the trigger. Without a way to trace the shot I don't have to wait around to explain to the police why I shot the snake.

PaulS

[Buford]

Because they are fun - I don't need an "excuse" to buy anything....yes, I lack in spousal supervision.

[Norwester]

I had a Davis 38 spl,it was handy carrying especially in the summer,fits into a Levis back pocket nicely. Recoil was manageable with cast loads and it was accurate enough for anticipated use,5-10ft. I don't think I ever fired it further.

[Mikey]

LubbockDave:  I dunno man, I've had derringers and don't really consider them a viable option.  As PaulS indicated, they are a contact weapon - if you have to, can't avoid or have the only choice but to put the barrel to your adversary and fire.

PaulS is verrrry accurate with his, to hit at 50 yds but that is way beyond the norm, and he may not be able to do that under stress.  Again, it's fun for him to play with but I don't consider that a viable option.

You were talking about a 2 shot 9.5 oz 38 caliber - OK, it sounds good, but the grips on those things are not conducive to either easy handling or stress-fire.  You can go 3.5 oz heavier for a 13 oz 5 shot Titanium 38 snubbie that you could put onto the best grips your wife could ever want to be able to handle (like pachmyers), slide that into a nice light belt holster and be one hay of a lot better off than she would be with a 2 shot.  

Now, if your 6" GP 100 is a bit tooooooo long or heavy for all-day woods carry, consider having it rebarrelled to a 4" - makes for much easier packing and although not much lighter, it sure feels that way because it then becomes easier to handle, especially for your wife.  

OK, this is just my opinion but please consider something a bunch more effective than a 2 shot for your wife.  Having contributed my own 2 cents worth to this topic, I say HTH and good luck.  Mikey.

[Old Griz]

:cb2: I looked at the Bond derringer but figgered might near anybody would be able to shoot me while I struggled with trying to cock the hammer. It has about a 50 lb. pull on that sucker. Thought I'd go with a little Beretta. Both the .22 and .32 are smaller, and I can at least empty it into someone before I could fire the derringer.

I haven't loked at other brands. Maybe they're easier to shoot.

[Deaf Smith]

in CAS coppetition befour I got my hands on a nice topbreak 32. Now its for show and a safe queen. I always did want an american derringer in the alalkan model with over sized grips and 8 inch barrels in of course 45/410 caliber. chamler both barrels for 3" 410 and you have a neat but small enough double bartreled 410 shotgun perfect for snakes. for other two and four legger critters I beleave a taurus tracker in both 41 magnum & Tititanium would be light but what a kicker when fired.
Just speculation of course but I do like the idea of a double barreled 410 derringer with the 8" barrels.
Jim L

[kjeff50cal]

I was in a small (mom & pop) gun shop a couple of months ago (getting huntin' supplies) and saw a derringer (wasn't American Derringer) chambered in .45/.410 X 2 1/2". It was not as well made as an AD but it was interesting (I used to have a AD .45LC/.410) the proprietress informed me that the ATF ruled that owners that were caught loading and firing .410 shotgun shells in a derringer would be classified as using a Class 3 device (a sawed off shotgun) and could be fined 10 & 10 (10 years in prison and fined $10,000). I told her I could not find any such ruling. Any body know the straight skinny about this? :shock:

[Lloyd Smale]

shot my buddys bonds in .44mag and .45 colt with heavy 300 grain loads. You can tell her that every time you make her angry you will shoot one for punishment. Personally id rather get punched in the face!

[Deaf Smith]

of this type(rifled barrels like the derringers and the contenders) is CA. They have declared them to be Sawed off shotguns but thats the nuts in sacremento and its state law. As long as the barrel is rifled the feds just don't care so the store owner fed you a load of malarky. Or some of the stuff that comes out of the southend of a north bound horse. Just so long as the barrel is rifled you are just fine the guns are designed to fire both rounds 45 colt and the 410 shotshells.
Jim L

[jhalcott]

I don't think you are allowed to carry ANY fire arms when bow hunting here in Md. unless it is during the firearms season.I know I've been hassled about hand gun hunting for ground hogs by some over zealous L E people.I'd hate to be packing a concealed hand gun when one of these dudes ran into me.!  jh

[Zeus]

I had a Bond Arms in 44 magnum.  With full house 44 magnum loads, it was definetely a handful.  Not much there to hold onto with the fun started.  Pretty useless to me really.  I sold it for $260 about 2 months after I bought it.  Needless to say, the new guy doesn't shoot it much either.  Was decent with accuracy at about 10 yards but not much of a target gun.  Don't really miss it as it was really a novelty gun anyway.  To each his own though.  GS

[Castaway]

Instead of a derringer, I'd lean toward  Kal-Tech in 32 or 380.  The size isn't that much different and the convenience of carrying more than two rounds is more comforting.  As far as the larger calibers go (44 or 45 Colt) I think, if the truth be known, they far exceed the comfort zone of most men, let alone a smaller woman.  You might be able to squeeze off the first shot, but the second is going to be an iffy proposition.  Asie from that, I've never been comfortable with the safety of a derringer.  I speak of a Davis specifically, but the loading and closing of the barrels leaves me uncomfortable with shutting the breech on extended firing pins.

[rugerman]

This summer I bought a cobray 38 derringer (I'd always wanted a derringer since I was a kid and saw the tv show about a guy who used to have about 10 on him-believe his name was Yancey Derringer ). It felt ok in my hand and in my pocket and then I took it out to shoot it. The trigger pull was about 25lb and it shot about 2 ft low at 10 yards and on the 5th round the top barrell stopped firing so now I have a 1 shot piece of crap instead of a two shot one. The manufacturer said that they would repair it if I would send it back and pay for shipping both ways. Hell thats about what I paid for the sorry thing!!!!! So save your money for just get a big rock. It does make a nice paper weight and if someone were to break in I could throw it at them. :evil:

[Dusty Miller]

I thought it was a real screamer that somebody would start a discussion about derringers in a Handgun Hunting forum!  Then it dawned on me that out there somewhere at this very moment there is some bozo contemplating a bear hunt using his .32 caliber derringer!!  Its not true that it takes all kinds to make the world, but we've gott'm just the same!

[Questor]

What do you mean, Bozo!?! I used to know a guy named Eddie, whose nickname was "The retarded guy". He used to hunt egrets, stray pets, songbirds, and tarpon with a .22 magnum derringer. It was made, I think, by High Standard and appeared to be of good quality.  He seemed to prefer solids and he was the first handgun "hunter" I ever met.

True story. You can't make stuff like this up.

[Old Griz]

I thought you needed at least a .38 to hunt bear!  :-D

[Savage]

I'm sure the Bond derringers are a cut above the old imports of 30 years age. I had an old 38 that I played with for years. It was heavy, and accuracy was nonexistant, but it went bang when you pulled the trigger. The thing was very unsafe. You had to be sure to pull the hammer to half cock after firing, so the firing pin would retract. Otherwise it would be possible to fire the gun on closing the barrels. It was nickel plated witth black grips. When I found someone who wanted it, I let the little beauty go!
Savage

[Mikey]

One more thing that I forgot to add in my first response (and I apologize), is that with a little 22 lr pocket rocket (and, of course I always recommend the Beretta 21A or now the new S&W Titanium 9 shooter), you can use or load in the little birdshot rounds.  I don't know if they have enough ooopmh to cycle the action on a 22 locket semiauto but to have one or two loaded into that 9 shot S&W would serve many purposes, including having a snake charmer for your wife as well as a few more real snotty 22s for anything larger.  BTW, 22lr birdshot will either kill that snake or send it packing, depending on when she hits it.  HTH. Mikey.