Philidelphia Derringer

B

Big Shrek

New member
Picked up a Philly Derringer at an LPS today for $30 :)
Barrel is marked Dikar, Spain, .45 Cal.

Unknown if it is a Jukar/CVA or a Dixie Gun Works one, but its a neat little pistol.
Took it apart & cleaned it, the trigger return spring is broken, .
Trigger just wiggles and clanks around...but works and is around 2 &1/2 pounds pull.
Front Sight blade is missing...

Looks just like this one, minus the sight.
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Any info from Anyone would be helpful ;)
Like, what kinda sight blade goes on it??
 
Some had a front sight and some didn't. The sights I've seen were a short length of triangular brass with a stud on the bottom that pressed into a hole in the barrel. Some just had a crosspin through the wood to hold the barrel on, while others had a decorative brass escutcheon plate on each side the pin also went through.

I've currently got 4 of them -


I took the cheapest one of the bunch ($26.01 on gunbroker a dozen years ago - 1st one on the left above), shortened the barrel & fore stock, and reduced the grip to make it more "derringer sized". Here it is alongside one of the others (3rd from left above). Two of these, including this one, came without a trigger guard, so I made them out of flat brass stock.


The other three I paid $40, $50, and $51.01, all about a dozen years ago. Dixie and CVA just imported them - they were made by Dikar/Jukar in Spain, which are the same company - somewhere along the years the name was changed from Dikar to Jukar.
 
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One of those "real true honest history" channels showed one of those recently as the gun that killed Lincoln. Aaaarrgggh! The same doofusses who showed an AK-47 and an SKS in a story about Bonnie and Clyde, and WWI pictures of the French attacking - the British!

Jim
 
The trigger wiggles around in mine too. Didn't know there was a spring for it. I build the kit in the 70's, and don't remember a spring...?? :confused:
 
Lots of these were assembled from kits. They were available in the 60s and 70s. Many will not have the barrel pin plates on them as they were pretty rough cast brass pieces and a PIA to try and inlet. Easier to leave them off.
 
The brass pin escutcheons on mine are pretty nice and detailed. I don't remember polishing them when I was a kid. They have a nice patina on them now. I didn't inlet mine, but they're on it.
 
This site really puts me to work. I got my old philly derringer out of the safe and looked it over. I never did a good job finishing the wood when I was 16. Had a kind of varnish on it that my dad let me use. I took it all apart and sanded the old finish off of it. Then used some good stain, and will polish it with some of my wife's beeswax / oil formula. Already looking way better. If all works well, I'll start on my dad's old CVA colonial pistol. Inletting the brass pin plates has me intrigued as well. Shouldn't be hard, but I'll have to file down the pin to make it work.
 
Thanks for all the info so far!!

Any idea when Dikar changed to Jukar??
I'm still trying to estimate the date...and the serial doesn't seem like much help.

With mine the brass sideplates hold the barrel pin in place.

It has a hole for a sight, so I'm going to order that.

Decided to go with Brownell's Plum Brown on the barrel, I use it as a hot application tho,
found out that it makes cold blue products work a LOT better ;)

Haven't totally finalized the choice on a stock stain, other than a darker one...
mostly it depends on what I have in my stain cabinet ;)
 
To elaborate further on what James K said, the Hystery Channel is about entertainment, not history.
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That is probably true when it comes to most well documented historical events.

I watch H1, H2, and AHC quite a bit. If one knows history, one can always glean certain points of view that do not fit well into what is taught as conventional wisdom/conventional history.

Storied university historians have a penchant for believing their version of "history" is absolute gospel when many other non-storied scholars can punch holes in their beliefs.

Just sayin'

Jim
 
Ok, due to getting frustrated with the stains I had on hand...
The Wifey got involved...
so now its going to be a Pink Pirate Derringer
to go with her Naughty Pirate Wench costume ;)

Stock will be Pink with Skull & X-bones motifs, Barrel will be Plum Brown,
the hardware will get a good polish, but stay the same.
Did have to sand the stock skinnier for her hands...so its smoother/thinner than norm...


Weird thing, all of the sudden Plum Brown bluing has been dropped from Gander & Academy sports...
so I have to order that in...

Fun part, she'll be fully armed at all times in costume, and nobody will know it ;)
 
A tad off topic but here I go....

To elaborate further on what James K said, the Hystery Channel is about entertainment, not history.
Click to expand...

True of the news channels too. There is no such thing as "news media". There is "news entertainment media".
 
OK, I was totally blind-sided by that pink mind picture....literally made me LOL!
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So was I...but heck, whatever Wifey wants ;)

I did a Marlin 60 stock for her awhile back in pink, still have a ton of the stain left...
so it'll be easy ;)
fullsize
 
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