Philadelphia Deringer

G

gburner

New member
I am looking for a working, firing replica of a .44 caliber cap and ball deringer similar to the type that JW Booth used to assissinate Pres. Lincoln. I understand that Dixie Gun Works makes a 'kit gun' of this type but my research indicatess that it is of dubious quality re. fit, finish and materials. Can anybody point me in the right direction?
Thanks.
 
They have a fully assembled one with all the accessories that go in the box.
the boxed(?) pistol alone costs about $450 which seems kind of expensive. Both the kit and the Deringer are made by Palmetto. I don't know if Dixie has a full supply of parts. I find some derringer parts on their site but no mention of the main and sear springs.
 
I have four of the CVA derringers (Made by Jukar in Spain), and they are great little pistols. They turn up often on ebay, and usually go for $50 to $80. I paid between $26 and $50 for my four.

r-ard142.jpg
 
Hey Jbar,

I have the pistol that you pictured, and another with a longer barrel in .50 cal. I've never shot either of them, though I shoot BP revolver & rifle regularly. Dunno why I've never packed them, maybe uncertain about how that grip will perform under heavy recoil. I know I'm not gonna drop 100 grains in there like I do my .50 cal rifle, but..... *sigh*, rambling now ;)
 
something a lot like the one pictured is available in kit form through Dixie.$100. The load you here mentioned most is 10 grains of fffg which shouldn't recoil very much. the Liege Screw Barrel Derringer holds 9 grains and is very mild.
 
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Liegi derringer

I also own two of the liege typ derringers. my experience shooting it showed that it shoots a lot harder if i load it with a .464 ball. The ball gets pressed absolut tight into the barrel by beeing put on the powderchamber and screwing the barrel on. The barrelkey they supply is useless, instead I use a piece off bicycle tube to hold the barrel while screwing it on.As it takes quite a bit to force to get the barrel on one has to be carefull to hold the gun in a way that doing this does not break the little wooden handle(it`s pretty weak). Did enlarge the chamber that takes the powder a little bit,so now about 12 grains of fffg will fit, but I definately don`t recomend doing this .This little pistol shoots with very noticable recoil and the ball penetrates a lot more in pine than it does with the recommended ballsize. Biggest jump in power was because off the bigger ball. Funny gun laws here in Germany made me experimenting with these little derringers just for the case one day they make it impossible for me to own my legal modern guns.(single shot blackpowder pistols are free to own if you are over 18). To use an oversized ball was the actual reason for the invention of the screw barrel system. I unfortunately have a chrono to measure the fps but I figure it beeing now in the 550 fps range.Before anybody tries this he should check the bore size as these might vary(in my two guns they are the same)
 
these pedersoli guns are probably pretty consistent in measurements. Well made but they really do look fragile. Rifled bore but no sight picture of any sort-just the back of the hammer sticking up right in the middle. It was pretty easy to put them right in the middle of a silhouette target at 20 feet.
 
Deringer

Seeing that these were generally gamblers guns, basicly made for across a card table 20 feet sounds pretty good.
 
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