Derringer: Primary Carry?

[fredj338]

"At least I have a gun" doesn't mean it's okay to have a useless piece of trash. Better than nothing, but you're still bad.

But hey, I guess having standards is harder than empty mottos.

It could be far worse than nothing if you can not get to it or deploy it effective. This leads to a false sense of ability & may actually get you deeper in the poop IMO. I can just see fighting an attacker for his gun while you try to get your pocket rocket out with one hand & use it, much less two attackers with just old hands & feet.

 

[fredj338]

I disagree. A Philidelphia derringer has prooven it to be deadly. Just ask
Abe.

I love ridiculous statements like the above. Yes, anything would have killed ole Abe at contact distance including a pointy stick or decent size rock. It doesn't make either of those things adequate self protection against armed attackers????

 

[fredj338]

...what kind of gear I should have been wearing whilst wearing shorts and a polo shirt in NYC? How about whilst wearing a suit in Boston? While we're at it, how about in San Francisco? Seattle? Honolulu? Anchorage? Detroit? Beverly Hills?

Specifically interested in YOUR 'knowledge' re: what type carry...IWB or OWB? How/where should I have carried handcuffs? Credentials?

Though now retired, wondering how I should have done things.

Oh I get it, badge & gun, you got this. Yes I am returning your snarky BS.
FWIW, I keep things really simple, same IWB rig for all occasions. If I cant have a gun, which is often, then I don't carry one, but I always have other options for SD.

 

[sigp220.45]

I don't think a two-shot derringer is adequate for dealing with three attackers

(and no, I don't think two cartridges is reasonably sufficient for even a single Angry Dude, I just went with the funny one)

Actually, it would probably work just fine about 90% of the time.

When I was busy flunking out of Air Force navigator school at Mather AFB my new bride and I lived in an off-base apartment in run-down Rancho Cordova. No carry permits in CA in those days, at least for semi-transient military types, but when I would go for my evening jog I would put my trusty Beretta 950 .25 in my sweat pants pocket.

One evening as I plodded along three yutes on the other side of the street stopped and course corrected to intercept my path. There was no one else around. Maybe they were coming from a dress reheasal for Gangbangers On Ice, or wanted to thank me for my service, or meant to rescue a kitty from a tree behind me. No way to tell.

I said Hi Fellas and held up my little Beretta like I was showing them a pocket watch. Didn't point it at anyone, just making the I Have A Gun point.

They stopped, conferred, and the lead guy grinned and gave me a little wave. We all went on our ways.

Before all the MMQBs pile on with the accumulated wisdom of their CCW Instructors, I'm not recommending this approach to anyone. I know there are lots of people who don't consider their gun a threat management device short of gunfire. Good for them.

In this case nobody got shot. I didn't get robbed or stabbed. For some reason these young folks didn't report a felonious brandishing by a slow moving jogger. I went on to absolutely bust night celestial navigation at which point the USAF made good on their promise to make me a cop and send me to Minot by doing exactly that. I had a ball as an AF cop and then an FBI agent.

My little Beretta wasn't a derringer, but a derringer would have had the same effect.

I don't think a derringer is an optimal tool, even though I know a UC agent who killed a guy stone dead with a High Standard .22 Mag. But ANY gun is better than no gun, because any gun fulfills the I HAVE A GUN role which has defused countless altercations.

 

[Wise_A]

Actually, it would probably work just fine about 90% of the time.

I'm being facetious to make a point. Hence the deliberate selection of three attackers for a two-shot gun, the eyerolling emoji, etc.

I posted elsewhere about how having a gun is all you need in the vast majority of DGUs, and how a working firearm is all that's needed in the vast majority of the remaining few.

And here's one where I--again, facetiously--posted on the relative usefulness of communication vs the usefulness of a firearm.

http://smith-wessonforum.com/140410626-post62.html

That said, while a derringer, or a Hi-Point, or some other firearm requiring a minimum of either effort or expense would statistically be just fine, great defensive handguns are so small and typically available so cheaply that there's no point to either the derringer or the dumpster fire.

 

[sigp220.45]

Nice! After 127 posts we all agree!

Insert appropriate emoji here.

 

[The Big D]

I see...

..your self professed expertise does not account for variables.

To the point, why carry IWB 'for all occasions?'

Re: YOUR 'badge & gun' comment, I have carried in EVERY state of the union...46 of 'em on the job...all 50 of them off duty. And now at least 24 states whilst as an armed citizen. Nary an issue...but always looking to improve.

Oh I get it, badge & gun, you got this. Yes I am returning your snarky BS.
FWIW, I keep things really simple, same IWB rig for all occasions. If I cant have a gun, which is often, then I don't carry one, but I always have other options for SD.

 

[rickjones]

As a former owner, and I stress former the Bond Arms was extremely well made, durable and as simple as you can get. It was the worst shooting experience ever holding on to that small grip with my large hands! If you have very little training it has its place for self defense. That said, I am really pleased with my 640 pro series for deep conceal. Money wise you aren't that far off and the steel 640 is a real pleasure to shoot.

 

[Drm50]

I love ridiculous statements like the above. Yes, anything would have killed ole Abe at contact distance including a pointy stick or decent size rock. It doesn't make either of those things adequate self protection against armed attackers????

This wasn't suppose to be taken as serious. Even though my wife has drug me to watch plays that I would have rather be shot in the head. If I was worried enough to carry it wouldn't be a derringer or a SA.

 

[elm_creek_smith]

My last experience getting shot at involved 155mm HE-SQ rounds a long time ago that resulted in no casualties and me spending a good part of the next day helping my crew replace fenders and sponson boxes on my tank.

My last self-defense situations both occurred while delivering pizzas after retiring from the Army. The first involved a drunk musing out loud about kicking my @$$ and taking the pizza. Luckily he wasn't drunk enough to miss the sound of a .25 ACP Beretta 950BS cocking under the pizza box. I got a $10 tip when he shakily handed me a twenty to cover the pizza and said keep it. The second involved some young gentlemen coming out of the bushes beside the house where I was making a delivery. I put my hand in my black Army raincoat pocket and wrapped my hand around the grip of a 9mm CZ-75. I didn't pull it, but I assume they realized that their plan had gone sideways since they disappeared. I delivered the pizzas to the house and got a small tip which was nice.

Derringers? Nope. I carry a S&W Model 469 or a Model 65-1 with a Model 12-2 or Model 640 if I'm carrying a backup.

Sent from my XT1710-02 using Tapatalk

 

[fredj338]

..your self professed expertise does not account for variables.

To the point, why carry IWB 'for all occasions?'

Re: YOUR 'badge & gun' comment, I have carried in EVERY state of the union...46 of 'em on the job...all 50 of them off duty. And now at least 24 states whilst as an armed citizen. Nary an issue...but always looking to improve.

Because iwb is easier to conceal than owb & faster than pocket, also can be done I. Any attire but swim trunks & I dont ccw in swim trunks. How you carry is how you carry.

 

[fatcat3]

I love ridiculous statements like the above. Yes, anything would have killed ole Abe at contact distance including a pointy stick or decent size rock. It doesn't make either of those things adequate self protection against armed attackers????

Lighten up will ya

 

[fatcat3]

If I ever need to shoot a guy in the back of the head while he's watching a play, I'll remember that.

you can also lighten up

 

[fatcat3]

good lord people so of ya sound like your best coon hound has been kick for no good reason

 

[ShivasIrons]

Time to hug it out... These types of arguments often end up like this.

The definition of masochist? A guy who shoots IPSC with a Derringer!

 

[fredj338]

Interesting subject, as the prevailing wisdom these days seems to gravitate to 18+1 bottom feeders with two or three spare mags and a BUG. The same crowd raise both eyebrows when someone says their EDC is a five or six shot revolver, ("Do you have a death wish?"). Seriously, with as much info as is on line regarding the ineffectiveness of pistol rounds, especially out of a short barrel, two shots and a cumbersome reload tend to raise my eyebrows too.

I dont see many advocating full size service pistol & 2 spare mags for ccw, but there is a huge diff between 2 shot derringer & even a 5 shot j frame, much less a 8-9 shot subcompact 9mm. A derringer is a nostalgia weapon. It wasnt effective in its hey day & certainly not now imo. Like advocating a Lever gun as a battle rifle. It was fine in its day but not on the 21 century. Will they kill, sure, so will pointy sticks bit no one really advocates such weapons for daily SD.

 

[Chief Wiggums]

eh... I guess...
Not for me though - Id opt for a Seecamp 6+1 w/ 3 caliber options

I always viewed the Derringer as a novelty
However - I also viewed the Shockwave as a novelty , that is until i Bought one.
Now its one of my go-to boom sticks

 

[murphydog]

Now an 18 month old thread, discussed thoroughly, and the OP along with one of the other main "contributors" are no longer members...thread closed.