Derringer Suggestions

[toehanus]

I'm wanting to pick up a derringer and was wondering if anybody here has some experience with them. Mainly looking for something like a .22 magnum or a .38 special. I looked online at the Bond Arms derringers and I don't want to invest that much money in one. Anyone got any recommendations? Thanks.

toehanus

 

[surjimmy]

I vote NAA 22mag, around $200 and you get 5 shots.

 

[jspurgeon]

I have one of the cheaper versions , Davis I think, in a 38. Shooting standard 38s is rather invigorating. It might have something to do with the lack of grip. The trigger pull is quite heavy, but I guess you wouldn't want too light of a pull on this anyway. Its accurate enough for its intended purpose, but not much fun for plinking.

 

[NINEROUND]

I also have one of the cheaper ones, possibly a Davis, in .22 magnum. It doesn't kick that much, but the fireball is impressive. For it's intended purpose, I'm happy with it. As stated above, grip is lacking, sights are rudimentary, and accuracy is ok. Think I gave $150 for it.

 

[toehanus]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm mainly wanting one for demo purposes, but if I'm going to get one it might as well be something useful. I was thinking the .22 mag or .38 special would be handy with shot shells to carry on the farm. I've seen way too many cottonmouths the past two summers.

 

[n423]

I had a NAA that was a piece of cr@p, couldn't wait to sell it.

I would buy a Davis, Cimmaron, or Cobra. I had a RG and always worked. It was a 22 mag.

Bond Arms have really nice ones, BUT ther is no frickin' way I would pay around $400 for one.

 

[dennishoddy]

I've had a Davis .22LR, .38 spcl, and currently have the .22 mag.
I actually did a chrono test on the .22 mag in another thread on here when a guy asked about using it for SD.
1200fps was the fastest it would run.
I got rid of the .38. I tried shooting one of my burn barrels, and it only dented it. No penetration. Heck of a recoil though.
The .22 mag will go through both sides of the drum.

 

[Toney]

Naa...

 

[sethk]

I have no first-hand derringer experience but I've been doing a bit of research.

I believe the Cobra derringers are the same as the Davis ones--they bought the design and tooling after Davis folded in the 80's. The Cimarron Derringers are also made by Cobra. Cobra does make "long bore" versions of the .22mag and .38spec which have 3.5" instead of 2.75" barrels. There were Remington-style derringer in .38 Special imported from Europe at one point (Rohm RG and Umberti's Maverick).

There are also American Derringer offerings that are heavy-duty enough to come in calibers up to .45-70. They are a less favored and less frequently found than the equally expensive Bond Arms models. Almost as impractical as a .45-70 derringer is the COP Derringer, which was produced and very low numbers as a clunky, 4-barreled derringer (it looks awesome, though).

As far as less tradition looking modern derringers, you have O/U double actions like Heizer/DoubleTap and Hi-Standard derringers (discontinued and then reproduced by American derringer). And then there are those ugly black numbers by the defunct Cobray/Leinad/FMJ (all the same folks) that you can find floating around for cheap, usually in .45lc/.410 (they did actually make one in .22wmr--a manually indexed 10 shot pepperbox).

Those are pretty much what I can think of in terms of derringers made in the calibers mentioned (or comparable) in the past couple/few decades.

 

[Boehlertaught]

Double Tap. There's one for sale in the Firearms section.