.357 Magnum derringer

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katanaa

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Regina, Sask
So my wife and I are looking to get a hand gun to shot at the local range and while watching sons of guns on discovery one night my wife says lets get one of those. The gun she was refering to was a little pink handled derringer that was brought to the show by "lady derringer".

As any good husband would do I called up lady derringer in texas and inquired about the gun. Also I have looked into it and they can make the derringer legal in Canada as long as the barrel is longer than 100mm (4.2"). And although it is a bit of work to bring a restricted firearm into Canadait isn't impossible.

My question for everyone is what would be a good caliber to get it in because it is a small gun. "Lady derringer" recomended .38 special rather than .22LR because of the mechanics of the rim fire vs. the center fire and how the trigger is a much heavier pull with rim fire. She recomended ideally that we go to a .25 cal or a .32 cal, but I'm pretty sure both are illegal in Canada.

I was thinking that it might be worthwhile to get it chambered for .357 magnum so that we could use it with .38spl but if we ever wanted to we could but .357 magnum in it too.

What are peoples thoughts on this, would the recoil be too much to hold onto? we have never shot a handgun before so we have no idea what to expect. Also we want something that is cheap to shoot.
 
katanaa said:
What are peoples thoughts on this, would the recoil be too much to hold onto? we have never shot a handgun before so we have no idea what to expect. Also we want something that is cheap to shoot.
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Not too much recoil at all, but of course build up your shooting with .38sp so you don't develop a flinch from .357. Dump out a few hundred .38 and get your form figured out, then move over to .357 when you're ready.

.38 off of the shelf can be cheap, reloading it becomes outright affordable to have a blast at the range and not watch your round count.

The thing about the Derringer is that due to the two barrels you'll always get one bullet shooting close to point of aim and one bullet shooting below that. They don't print very well unless you learn the gun and adjust accordingly. Still a very fun gun and puts holes in the paper at reasonable distances.
 
I do not want to burst your bubble but don't waste your money. This is not a gun to shoot at targets with and I am sure one round of 357 mag will be all your wife will ever shoot out of it. The recoil and muzzel blast will be very servere and unless you are an extremly good shot you won't hit anything with it anyway.

Buy a nice 357 revolver like a S&W or Ruger with the 4.2 inch barrel and both of you will enjoy that and if you do not it will be very easy to sell it.

I am told it is quite a bit over 300.00 to import a gun in from the US now.

Just my two cents worth.

Graydog
 
I suppose if I really thought about it, I could come up with a worse choice for a beginner to learn to shoot with.
 
I have a hard time taking seriously anything they do or say on "Tons of Dumb" - definitely from the "Trees Have Eyes" branch of humanity.

As for the deringer (yes, proper spelling is 1 "r") the fun runs out quick and you're left with a pistola that you paid a bunch of money for but can't hit much of anything at all with. I second the plan to get a GP100 or S&W 686 with a 4.2" barrel and enjoy for years to come (while still being able to actually hit what you're shooting at)...
 
graydog said:
I do not want to burst your bubble but don't waste your money. This is not a gun to shoot at targets with and I am sure one round of 357 mag will be all your wife will ever shoot out of it. The recoil and muzzel blast will be very servere and unless you are an extremly good shot you won't hit anything with it anyway.

Buy a nice 357 revolver like a S&W or Ruger with the 4.2 inch barrel and both of you will enjoy that and if you do not it will be very easy to sell it.

I am told it is quite a bit over 300.00 to import a gun in from the US now.

Just my two cents worth.

Graydog
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^^^^
This
 
mudgunner49 said:
I have a hard time taking seriously anything they do or say on "Tons of Dumb" - definitely from the "Trees Have Eyes" branch of humanity.

As for the deringer (yes, proper spelling is 1 "r") the fun runs out quick and you're left with a pistola that you paid a bunch of money for but can't hit much of anything at all with. I second the plan to get a GP100 or S&W 686 with a 4.2" barrel and enjoy for years to come (while still being able to actually hit what you're shooting at)...
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When I talked to the lady at Deringer (thanks for the proper spelling) she said that when they did that test shoot of the deringer that she brought she actually hit the camera guy with the shot. I'm not sure why the camera man didn't set up a remote camera, but that does say something about the intelligence of all the people on the show.
 
tiriaq said:
I suppose if I really thought about it, I could come up with a worse choice for a beginner to learn to shoot with.
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It would bee a challenge for certain... ;)

katanaa said:
I love this one. That bad hey?:bangHead:
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Not necessarily bad (although likely unpleasant to shoot for a beginner)... Just a very purpose built gun. It is made specifically for your wife to carry in her purse sh that, should the need arise, she can shoot a rapist/mugger in the face from 18 or less inches away... probably not the best choice for her first gun. there are "cute" guns out there that she may like that will also be more suitable for her to shoot on a regular basis.
 
I've shot a couple of buddys' deringers and none of them are great fun to shoot. They all shoot both barrels to wildly different points of impact. And without exception the trigger pull on that little spur trigger is heavy to the point of being absurd.

Both of the local guys I know of that bought the Bond guns sold them in less than a year. They were all smiles and giggles at first but the novelty wore off pretty darn fast. The other is one of the old "proper" prohib size original deringers in .38Spl. It didn't shoot any better or worse than the Bond. Which is to say that other than a few shots for giggles they are simply an expensive way to waste ammo to no good effect.

If you want a "cute" gun to shoot with I'd suggest something like a nice tarted up Ruger Single Six in .22. Or if you want a smoother and more authentic cowboy look then Marstar has Pietta 1873 clones that are very nice in .22 and .357. Or another "cute" .22 option that would likely fit your wife's hands well if she takes a smaller glove size would be one of the Ruger Bearcats in the Canadian legal 4.2 inch barrel length. If you find the grips are a little small then some custom wood grips can be made up by yourselves or someone skilled in wood working to custom fit the dainty little 6 shot Bearcat to suit you and your wife.

Getting them to make up a special Lady Deringer and then to pay the price to get it imported is going to add up to a price which is WAY over what the gun will potentially be worth WHEN you both tire of not being able to hit jack and decide to sell it.

Besides, if the two of you find that you enjoy shooting and get out regularly you will likely find that standing in one spot and perforating paper gets old pretty quickly. You'll soon begin casting around for some added flavour to season your shooting time. It may be one of the speed and accuracy styles such as IPSC or IDPA. Or if you enjoy a bit of whimsy it may end up leading you to shooting in Cowboy Action.

With this in mind it would be far better to start off with a good solid performing couple of handguns which will better teach the two of you the basics. And while the two of you are "learning your chops" visit the various events in your area and see what tickles your collective fancy.
 
katanaa said:
When I talked to the lady at Deringer (thanks for the proper spelling) she said that when they did that test shoot of the deringer that she brought she actually hit the camera guy with the shot. I'm not sure why the camera man didn't set up a remote camera, but that does say something about the intelligence of all the people on the show.
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I didn't mean you had spent her name wrong, just that the proper original spelling of Deringer was with one "r". Sorry for the confusion...:cool:
 
MikeHammer said:
To the OP: If your wife wants a derringer, then buy her one :) Who gives a sh*t if it's not the ideal gun to learn with, better to own a gun than not.
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After the novelty wears of and she hates the thing for not being able to hit anything or the ridiculous recoil from shooting her first gun, perhaps she will still be into guns enough to realize she just wasted a ton of cash for nothing.

She's a virgin, break her in slowly and the right way, and she just might stick around for more.

;)
 
A .357 magnum derringer loaded with full powered ammo would be all but uncontrollable for a seasoned shooter to manage. A .357 is more than some folks enjoy in a K frame revolver that weighs 35 oz, never mind in a gun win a miniature grip that weighs a dozen ounces less.

Of course recoil reduction is an excellent reason to handload, and .38s loaded with a pinch of Bullseye under a 90 gr bullet would be far more pleasant to shoot in your derringer than factory equivalent .357s. I shot a .38 Special derringer only once, but I remember that I was amazed how well it shot. It was like I could do nothing wrong, and I hit everything I pointed it at, which caused me to reassess my opinion of very small handguns.
 
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