What's a Dardick?

[DWalt]

Many here have probably never even heard of the Dardick revolver, let alone seen one. I have seen a couple of them, but not recently. There are several variations of the Dardick principle (not all of them firearms) that I will not get into, but there are several YouTube videos on the topic. I just viewed this one which I believe is very worthwhile as it delves so deeply into the mechanical design which the others do not. One thing only mentioned in passing was that it was possible to easily add a longer barrel and stock to convert it into a carbine.

Enjoy:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4QMVJE7bJY[/ame]

 

[Tony M.]

I always wanted to see a Dardick revolver set up for gyro-jet ammo...

 

[shawn mccarver]

Dardick - Modern Firearms

 

[jmace57]

Man, that is weird!

 

[moosedog]

I remember when these came out. Seen a few at shows but they looked and felt like junk.

 

[2152hq]

Either Dardick, his invention or a version of it were somewhat successful in use in the underground mining industry in blasting away rock IIRC.
I think that industry was his original field of work.

The pistols are quite rare to see anymore, the carbine attachment even more. Once in a great while a box or battered partial box of the trounds shows itself on a gunshow table and they usually beg for a collector/buyer.

 

[hkcavalier]

The only place I'd ever even seen this gun mentioned, before these forums, was in a 1980s pen-and-paper RPG where the creator was clearly enamored with the design and included it as "just another gun." Kind of in the same way film noir fans (and Battlefield 1 game players) know about the Webley Fosbery revolver even though it's virtually unknown even in the firearms community.

 

[Alpo]

Frederick Forsythe, The Dogs of War. Mercenaries hired to stage a coup détat in some African country.


They were armed with WW2 MP40s and Dardicks. Only time I recall them in a story.

 

[Muss Muggins]

What does one of them go for these days?

 

[CelticSire]

The pistols are quite rare to see anymore, the carbine attachment even more.

Intriguing design.

 

[Hamster65]

IIRC, one was showcased on Forgotten Weapons a few years ago.

 

[Genetically Swiss]

I am always fascinated by overly complex devices, like this. Excellent video.


GS

 

[DWalt]

It was earlier mentioned about the Dardick principle being used for mining. Not quite, but close. Back in the early 1980s, Dardick combined with a drilling tool manufacturer to develop oil and gas well drilling equipment in which ceramic bullets were fired into hard rock ahead of the drill bit. That broke up the rock and allowed more rapid penetration and longer drill bit life. The Dardick "Trounds" contained three ceramic bullets each, about .25 caliber. The magazine behind the drill bit contained about 4,000 trounds. Apparently the idea worked as intended, but for reasons unknown to me, it never became commercialized in the oil drilling industry. I actually saw a model of the Dardick drilling system at an oil and gas trade show back in the early 1980s, and somewhere I have a dummy 3-projectile tround. Wish I knew where it was.

There was also some development done on a Dardick machine gun, I think in England. I don't know much beyond that.

I once had a personal experience involving the Dardick which is a bit long to get into here. Maybe someday I'll write about it.