[Wiebelhaus]

Originally Posted by Old_Crow

For the purposes of a derringer I would rather have a small revolver. decent trigger pull 6 shots and it can be used for a club. I would avoid semi-autos for self defense in derringer range, there is to much to go wrong.

I've always kinda felt this way but thought maybe I was being unreasonable but I feel very comfortable with a j-frame that will hopefully give me enough time to get to my rifle.

[Mongo]

[QUOTE=Wiebelhaus;958611]Do modern "derringers" still have the problem where if you don't manually engage the safety after loading that when you close the barrel, the hammer would strike the round

I have a Cobra .22WMR, yes you must put safety on before closing the loaded derringer. Putting the safety on puts your derringer into the "half cocked" position. This allows both firing pins to retract. If you load the derringer and close the barrels without the safety, there is a danger of a discharge because one of the firing pins will be protruding. This should be explained in the owners manual.
I did improve(lighten) the trigger pull on my derringer. I also put my index finger along the side of the barrel to help aim it and squeeze the trigger with my middle finger.

[blackhawk44]

Bond Arms is by far the best quality but they are larger and heavier than a J frame Smith and far slower to get into action as cocking their heavy single action is quite distracting. There are a number of small semiautos that would serve better.

[hmh]

You can stop a revolver from shooting by grabing the cylinder in double action.

[Old_Crow]

Originally Posted by hmh

You can stop a revolver from shooting by grabing the cylinder in double action.

Good luck with that! It's much easier to grab a slide that is as long as the gun.

[Wiebelhaus]

[quote=Mongo;960007]

Originally Posted by Wiebelhaus

Do modern "derringers" still have the problem where if you don't manually engage the safety after loading that when you close the barrel, the hammer would strike the round

I have a Cobra .22WMR, yes you must put safety on before closing the loaded derringer. Putting the safety on puts your derringer into the "half cocked" position. This allows both firing pins to retract. If you load the derringer and close the barrels without the safety, there is a danger of a discharge because one of the firing pins will be protruding. This should be explained in the owners manual.
I did improve(lighten) the trigger pull on my derringer. I also put my index finger along the side of the barrel to help aim it and squeeze the trigger with my middle finger.

Wow man, this is a deal breaker for me.

[nitestalker]

Crabbing guns to stop a cycle such as slide or cylinder is cool on TV shows but not in the real world. Studies going back to 1929 in over 4,000 hand gun shootings makes it doubtful. In 51% of these shootings were in the range of 20 feet. In 24% of these shootings it was 31/2 to 10 feet. These would be very long reaches for any human.

As a Certified Combat hand gun Inst. we have studied many types of shootings. You are more likely to encounter a handgun that fails to fire than someone stopping a cycle of fire.

[slog]

Originally Posted by nitestalker

Crabbing guns to stop a cycle such as slide or cylinder is cool on TV shows but not in the real world. Studies going back to 1929 in over 4,000 hand gun shootings makes it doubtful. In 51% of these shootings were in the range of 20 feet. In 24% of these shootings it was 31/2 to 10 feet. These would be very long reaches for any human.

As a Certified Combat hand gun Inst. we have studied many types of shootings. You are more likely to encounter a handgun that fails to fire than someone stopping a cycle of fire.

Judging from what I've seen on youtube, getting the derringer ready to fire and having it set up reliably when you need it is a chore, and would probably give an attacker time to close in with a knife. A bare minimum pocket pistol would have to be a hammerless snub-nose revolver. No slide or hammer to fumble with. Just ready, aim, fire. You could fire it from your pocket if needed, too. I saw a guy on COPS a while back that shot an armed mugger from in-pocket. Probably not the best method but if you just can't pull it, you might have to shoot from concealment.

[Old_Crow]

Originally Posted by nitestalker

Crabbing guns to stop a cycle such as slide or cylinder is cool on TV shows but not in the real world. Studies going back to 1929 in over 4,000 hand gun shootings makes it doubtful. In 51% of these shootings were in the range of 20 feet. In 24% of these shootings it was 31/2 to 10 feet. These would be very long reaches for any human.

As a Certified Combat hand gun Inst. we have studied many types of shootings. You are more likely to encounter a handgun that fails to fire than someone stopping a cycle of fire.

With all due respect, why does the Marine Corp bother teaching soldiers such techniques (grabbing the slide)? The Marine Corp does teach deception, elusion and trickery to get yourself out of such a situation. The basic knife fighting technique taught to everyone that goes through AIT is to grab an attacker with your weak hand, hang on for dear life and stab your enemy as many times as possible, twisting the knife with each stroke.

Pistol qualifying was different during my time. The instructors were more concerned that you could clean the gun for inspection than actually being able to shoot it.

Ten feet does seem like a long distance. But if one hesitates for just the blink of an eye most skilled fighters will be delivering some serious punishment. Especially someone who is right with god and has no fear of death.

[danf_fl]

Hey guys! How about another thread?

I think it would be interesting reading without hijacking this one. Thanks!