Derringer as a backup for concealed carry?

[Smoke Jensen]

Howdy, I am new to this forum and I am playing with the idea of using a Derringer as a back-up concealed carry. What is ya'lls thoughts on this? Is too much fire power a Bad thing? I have heard about certain manufactures (such as Cobra) where you can buy one derringer and purchase differnt calliber barrells to use one the same body. (multiple guns with one body) 

[St. George]

For the weight of a modern 'derringer' - you can carry 5 rounds in a S&W Airweight and 6 in a Colt Cobra.

That's far better than the 2 you'd have in something quaint - no matter how many barrels you get with it.

Scouts Out!

[Abilene]

I imagine that the average civilian will very very rarely need backup firepower.  But you never know, eh?  As for the Cobra, that and similar small derringers have really heavy triggers and that and other reasons makes them not accurate beyond extremely close range.  Bigger derringers like the Bond can shoot bigbore serious ammo but are pretty big for the pocket.  Even smaller in size than the revolvers St. George mentioned would be one of the tiny .380 semis like the new Ruger or the Keltec.  Those small derringers are "better than nothing" but not much.  IMO.

[rickk]

17 ounces. 357 magnum x 5 shots. No sharp corners to hurt you, rubber grips.

http://www.ruger.com/products/lcr/models.html

[WyrTwister]

17 ounces. 357 magnum x 5 shots. No sharp corners to hurt you, rubber grips.

http://www.ruger.com/products/lcr/models.html

     I would hate to try to hang on to that little critter !   :-(  With 100% .357 Mag ammo .

     Course , you could down load it to the point of controllability .

     When I was young , I fired a friend's .38 Special Dillinger .  It was harder to control than a 1911 .

     Also had a 5 shot S&W .  It was controllable , but no walk in the park .

     Now a days , when I shoot a wheel gun , I shoot a big S&W , lot more to hang on to .

God bless
Wyr

[ZVP]

 Smoke,
I do carry a Cobra .Longbore 38 Special for protection while out either airgunning or Small Bore shooting. It's a comfort to have along and in the unlikely event of it being pressed into service would feel safe in it's use. The Heavy trigger pull usually goes away after about 100 shots and the pull is quite acceptable. I have broken-in the gun using a mix of handloads and Full Factory ammo.
The Cobra derringer trigger pull is definatally aceptable once you pass through this break-in period using mainlly the heavy factory loads.
Inital break-in took about 4 months as a derringer isn't a pistol that you want to sit and run 100+ loads through in one sitting. I broke it in shooting between 15 and up to 20 shots at a time, sometimes only firing 6 shots through the little gun at a time.
The Cobra Derringer is sset up for confrontations at conversatioal distances and the old advice to shoot for the Belt Buckle is good advice! The recoil of the .38 Special is easilly controlable but you must remember this is a "rea;" self-defense cartrige producing some recoil. The felt recoil is none the worse than it is fired through a small frame revolver! The upper barrel generatres more upward recoil due to it's plcement in the frame and the lower barrel is more controlable for this fact.
While the 2 shot capibility is somewhat lacking in a large confrontation, the 2 shot capibility should be adequate for defending oneself against a single pr perhaps double threat, Pratice is the key in using a small capacity gun such as a double derringer. There is no "Spray and Pray" with a derringer! On the topic of cartrige capibility, one needs to address a quick reload. The extractor of the Cobra works extremelly well and a quick reload can be accomplished "Shotgun Style" by grabbing 2 shells and praticeing reloading by touch. Rapid Reloading can be done  if praticed.
Galco and several companies offer inside the waistband and pocket holsters for these large frame models
Hth,
ZVP

[5judge]

I tend to carry a S&W Bodyguard primary CCW and, probably the only judge on the bench, a Colt #2 in .41 rimfire as a screw-in-his ear back up.

[Shotgun Franklin]

If you're going to carry any gun CC then you ought to shoot some kinda course with it to show proficiency.

[ZVP]

 I thought that the sidematch was supposed to demonstrate the situation (ie: a 2 shot pieplate or "ringer"). A CCW pistol is not designed to fight prolonged combat with , rather it was a last ditch effort to save your life.
The Derriger for instance was a highly concelable package which was hopefully powerfull enough to repel an attacker at the laswt moment.
Looking bacdk to the derringer, most were single shot pistols (even in the cartrige era) and so if you wanted to try and repel attackers you had to carry two.
Derringer calibers were relativelly weak powered cartriges. The 41 rimfire shot through a 2" to 4" bbl wasn't any barn burner. The best you could hope was that it hurt enough to stop the fight and make the attacdker want to just go to the doctor and get the filthy slug out so infection would be minimal.
I think that a 2 shot target is sufficent to represent how one would use a CCW gun back in those days.
Yes there were some cut down revolvers but this string was talking derringers.
ZVP

[Koyote]

Howdy;
Well I don't know if you can call it a backup gun. But I have 5 Davis Derringers in all calibers.
I always have one of them with me!
I prefer my S&W Air-Lite 6 shot .32 H&R MAG or my PPK/S .380 for CCW but I still have one or those 2 shot derringers handy.
Also have a S&W 317 Air-Lite in .22LR 8 shot, The girls in the family love that one and holds 8 rounds as well.
But I guess I got off topic a bit.
But the weather is cold and almost 2 feet of snow here up here in New England.
So I figured some may read this.
KK

[ZVP]

 KK,
I find it very intresting that you have an assortment of Davis Derringers to compare for us.
I have a .22 LR Standard Frame Davis and a Longbore, Large Frame .38 Cobra Derringer.
The little .22 Davis as a sweetheart! It fires all sorts of .22LR ammo from CB Caps to Stingers. My only complaint is that with the exception of all but the CB Cap load, all cases swell at discharge and the cases are hard to extract. Essentally you have just a 2 shot gun that you can't reload quicklly. The 2 shots you get are ultra reliable and powerfull enough to protect oneself and hopefully deter a human attacker
The Cobra .38 however is a very quick gun to reload and very reliable!
  The old 41 loading is actually less powerfull in FPE than the .22LR and definatelly less powerfull than the .38Special!
How do the other calibers act and fair-up to the old .42RF? How do they compare to the .22LR and the .38Special?
ZVP

[Trooper224]

What is ya'lls thoughts on this?

Don't do it.  Find a back-up that's more easily manipulated and has a better size to firepower ratio.

[PJ Hardtack]

I've got a .22 PPK, a S&W M60 .38 Spl., an original .38 Colt 'Lightning' (nickle plated, fully functional) and a Great Western Arms Derringer in .38 S&W - all concealable and reasonable 'back-up' guns. However, in Kanuckistan, I cannot legally pack a handgun of any type.
Any of them would serve the purpose and be effective if produced in a serious social situation. The two rds of the Derringer would most likely be enough to save the situation. The 1st Rule of Applied Firepower states that it isn't the first round fired or the number f rounds fired - it's the first round tjat hits the intended mark.

Other than that, no gun with a bore size under .44 is worth staking your life on. It's one time where size does matter .....

[RickB]

I would highly recommend a Ruger LCP in .380. I have one and it fits nicely in a pocket but holds 6 rounds of ammo in the mag. Plus I carry 2 extra mags loaded with Federal Hydroshock ammo. That is a good backup to my H&K USP compact in .40 or my Springfield 1911 .45.

I guess the question I would ask is would you bet your life on what you are wanting to carry.

I love the guns of the old west but I wouldn't use one in place of a more modern pistol that would suit the job better.

The ability to reload a semi-auto pistol with a mag beats even the speed I can reload my Schofileds. And I love my Schofileds.

[Jamie]

Lots of thought provoking stuff here, most of it with pretty good background to back up the opinions.  Myself, I have a Smith Airweight Ti in 38 Special, and a Cobra derringer in the same.  They weigh just about the same, and frankly, I'd rather carry the Smith in any kind of jacket  that has extra pockets.  In a polar fleece jacket that has a zippered upper sleeve/shoulder pocket on the left arm, the Smith fits perfectly, and as bizzare as it sounds, scarcely prints at  all.  I think it must be due to the weight/surface area ratio.  It stays put in the pocket, and doesn't sag to the bottom, or pull down on the sleeve.  You hardly feel it there, and even my fellow observant gun toters have to be told.  On the other hand, the Cobra, in the same spot, pulls down like mad, slaps you every time you move your arm quickly, and doesn't stay located.  A holster fit to the pocket would undoubtedly help dramatically.  In a pants pocket however, the situation reverses.  The Smith is just enough thicker through the cylinder that it is less comfortable, and, I think, more obvious than the Cobra, which still moves around more, and pokes you, sometimes less than gently.  Again, a holster would undoubtedly help here too.
As for shooting, the Smith will hit anything with aplomb.  That gun will shoot just about anything I'm careful enough to aim at within 24 to 30 yards, with just about any ammo I've put through it.  It lets you know when you shoot something heavy.  The Cobra shoots well, just remarkably high, as has been attested to previously, and sends a fair percentage of different loads through the target sideways at 7 yards.  Other loads look fine at 15 yards, so it pays to play.  Either gun (3 inch barrel on the Smith) will deafen both the shooter and the target.  For serious carry, unless you can't afford anything else, the Cobra is far from ideal, but the mere presence of the gun will repel many.  Many more however don't give a rat's pitootee.  The recent spate of 380's, not to mention the incredible advances in ammo for same is a far better choice than either from the standpoint of compactness, reloadability, and hide-ability.  At least that's how it seems to me.  On the other hand $150 or so for the Cobra will, realistically, put alot more of them in pockets than $300- $500+ for either a revolver or a pocket 380, no matter their superiority.  Ultimately, any gun you have on you in an emergency is better than nothing, though a war club at close range might well ace any of them if it was already in your hand...
Jamie

[Trailrider]

IMHO, you'd do much better with one of the small semi-auto pistols. They are relatively flat, and hold more than 2 rounds. A Walther PPK or Ruger LCP 380, combined with Federal Hydro-Shok bullets will do just fine...IF you ever had to use the backup gun. For a primary gun, I'd go for something in .45 ACP.

Just MHO.

[Dead I]

I'm a big fan of the Smith Model 36, five 38 Specials.  It is very accurate and quite small.

I have had to use a pocket pistol twice, and neither time did I have to shoot it.  Nor did I have to branish it.  The OP just saw it on my hip and I won.  The pistols?  One was a Ruger Bearcat and the other a tiny Sterling .22... 

However, sometime one may have to shoot, and in those times the bigger the gun the better. I think the best knock down gun is still the 1911 or another .45.   A big slow moving bullet will indeed knock someone's d**k into the dirt.   

[Major 2]

I'm a big fan of the Smith Model 36, five 38 Specials.  It is very accurate and quite small.

 

Same here

[ZVP]

I think we are getting away from the issue here. I agree a Chiefs Special is a fine revolver but I brought up the Cobra as "in the spirit of the game". We are talking Cowboy guns here!
A cowboy would not have had a chance to get a Model 36...
In the realm of Cowboy action shooting a Cobra .38 double derringer would be what a cowboy might carry (or for Sidematches).  TODAY we have many semi autos and revolvers designed for the purpose.
That was the intent of this post. Also in the real world, the 2 shot .38 Special would be a formidable defense device. The .38 Special is vrey much more powerfull than the .41 rimfire of olden days.
To use old tools for todays uses is the intent of the post!
ZVP

[St. George]

No, the intent was clear.

It's folks with more experience trying to show that something like a two-shot derringer can get you killed, and that there are far more suitable weapons for personal defense in today's world.

Scouts Out!