Derringers - Who Buys Them?

Cannon films always had the craziest gun choices. Death Wish 3 was insane.
That pistol was in Charles Bronson's personal collection. Sidetracking from the topic at hand...

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Now imagine that same gun with the barrel shortened to where the Tip of the bullet is right at the muzzle.
Yep, did a .38 and a .45 acp like that.
You and Ned Buntline would have been arch enemies.
 
as posted above: i have had the NAA versions.
sold the last one two weeks ago.
other guns got better and smaller.

my wife still has her grandfather's.
she will never sell that one.
 
Meh... I've had a few over the years out of novelty or just so cheap I figured why not. They never stay because they serve no legitimate purpose. I don't shoot cowboy action and beyond that there are so many better options. They are range toys and nothing more.
 
Someone mention Derringer?

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Y'all have really impressed me with the variety of answers to this question, and I have absolute respect for your choices and reasons why. :) It both was and wasn't what I was expecting in many cases, and the multitude of different reasons confirm that the derringer platform is far from dead. Good work, y'all. :D
 
I own, shoot and carry a Doubletap Defense and have both the 9mm and .45 acp barrels for it. I chose this because it has no external hammer and I don't like a single action weapon for personal defense. Derringers with a double action firing mechanism are less common and more expensive than the single action only variety but are much simpler to use.

It took some effort to find the right ammo combination to get this little beast to function reliably, especially with the .45 acp barrels. The main problem with the .45 was firing both barrels simultaneously, probably due to the heavy recoil. while painful to shoot when that happens, it still would be effective in a "get off me" gun. Once this was resolved however, I found it to be reliable and effective on a man sized target out to around 7 yards.

Some folks like to carry a space mag. For a similar weight, I prefer a spare gun.
 
Y'all have really impressed me with the variety of answers to this question, and I have absolute respect for your choices and reasons why. :) It both was and wasn't what I was expecting in many cases, and the multitude of different reasons confirm that the derringer platform is far from dead. Good work, y'all. :D
Thank you for posting this. I have dealt with this for most of my life. I did not chose to be this way. It is a great relief to finally come out. I can now proudly say I am a man and I like little useless guns!!
 
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Hey folks! A non-forum member friend of mine raised an interesting point to me... Bond Arms is one of the only remaining makers of Derringers, and that's pretty much all they make. How are they still in business? Who buys derringers nowadays? He and I are curious because neither of us could think of a single friend of ours that wants one unironically, and neither of us want one. But *someone* has to be buying them, otherwise Bond Arms would be out of business.

His suggestion is it's the cowboy action shooting guys that like them. They're cowboy concealed carry. He asked me to ask here to see if he was right.

Do you like Derringers?
Why do you like Derringers?
Have you actually bought one?
Are you into cowboy action shooting, if you do have at least one?
Why did you get a Derringer and not something more advanced?

Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks!
I'd like to have one of these
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No logical reason.
picture courtesy of https://www.icollector.com/item.aspx?i=19089308
 
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I would LOVE to have one of those barrels!!
So did the person who bought it from me, they paid up, was originally owned by a Texas ranger
Bond Arms was willing to trade 2 for one barrels to get it out of circulation, I didn’t take them up on it
Very few 44 mags in circulation, early on someone supposedly dislocated a finger while firing it
 
Do you like Derringers?
Yes

Why do you like Derringers?
I have no idea, I also like mayonnaise with fries so there’s no telling.

Have you actually bought one?
Two, three if you count the NAA mini revolver.

Are you into cowboy action shooting, if you do have at least one?
Nope.

Why did you get a Derringer and not something more advanced?
The first one was a Cobra .38 and was cheap ($40 or $50), it was a novelty and it sucked as a carry gun. In fact it just plain sucked. I sold it and got another lightweight.38 revolver.
The NAA was well made and really cool. But I had no use for it.
The current Rohm is a POS but was $20. It fires. It’s perfect for keeping the stray cat that pisses on my driveway away (with rubber bullets, primer only).

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