Derringers...

There has been a resurgence recently of Derringer pistols and I think it's great.

For those of you who don't know a derringer is a small "over/under" style handgun which holds two round of anything from a .22 all the way up to a .45 colt/.410 shotgun. They are generally single action only.

The biggest benefit to a derringer is concealability. They are small, smaller than most compact revolvers and easy to carry around.

I have one and, without equivocation, it has the largest "oooohhhhh" factor of anything I own.

Ok, so leaving behind the fact that it's wicked cool and everyone wants to try it out it really is a good weapon. Mine is a Bond Arms "Snake Slayer" chambered in .45 colt/.410 shotshell. Think about that just a minute... Yeah, I have the world's smallest sawed off shotgun riding around with me in a rig on my belt, how cool is that?



See what I mean?

The upsides are many, It has a good weight and the recoil is super easy to manage all the way up to but NOT including 0000 Buck shot. Those puppies hurt like a mofo to shoot. It is very easy to use and to run through its battery of arms. It's single action only and has a manual safety on it. All in all, a nice gun.
It also conceals very well in an IWB holster and lays nice and flat.

The downsides are that you only have two shots. However, with some of the new self-defense loads for .410, you only need two for anything less than a platoon of bad guys. 0000 buck shot, for instance, shoots out 4 .38 caliber lead balls all in a nice neat line perpendicular to the horizon. When I tried this round out at the range I hit the target in the face, sternum, belly, and bladder... all in one shot.
Yeah, it'll get the job done, no doubt. But if you happen to have anything other than a 3.5 inch barrel shotgun in your hand (which I do) then you are going to have to aim the thing and be a little accurate. When I use .45 in mine, it does well, it's relatively accurate considering what I'm holding and all that.

However, should you choose something much smaller in caliber, I suggest practicing a lot. You only have 2 shots and it's slow to reload, so I would suggest making those shots count. If you're using the .410 meat grinder attachment, then...well, maybe it isn't so important to put lots of rounds down range, but you should still practice.

...Derringers make a heck of a car/truck gun.