CVA derringer

[George]

In the mid-70s, when I was much younger and a little more foolish, I decided I might like to be a gun builder. To wet my toe I bought and built a .45 caliber derringer kit made by Jukar and imported by CVA. I found out two things... I wasn't destined to be a builder, and derringers are a lot of fun. I shot it for a while, then put it away and forgot about it. Yesterday, rooting around on a shelf in my BP closet, I ran across it. Not a bad little pistol, and if I remember correctly, a serious threat to anyone sitting at the same card table.

Spence

 

[NAA_Silent]

Nice piece of equipment :applause:

 

[Zonie]

I'm jealous.
You got the Target Model and I didn't. You could shoot rings around me.

"What's the Target Model?", you say?

Yours has a front sight! :rotf:

I think the one I own is also about the first muzzleloader I ever made. CVA must have sold over a million of those little Derringers.

 

[walruskid1]

i can account for two of that million! i built mine about 1977. you could hit a barn from the inside, if the doors were closed. :grin:

 

[mingo]

Nice job.
I found a couple old unbuilt kits I;m gonna tackle.

If you ever make it to Dixie Gunworks they have about a zillion originals on display.

Turner Kirkland rounded them up.
A real impressive collection.

 

[t.l.a.r. eng]

Finished this one last winter. It had passed from hand to hand and was started on and never finished. This one was a horrible example of a CVA kit. The trigger plate holes had been drilled wrong and the trigger guard would never fit the gun, so a new one was made. The lock plate threads were boogered beyond repair and the lock plate hole had been bored in the wrong place through the stock. Suprisingly,the lock was pretty decent for a cheap coil spring lock.
And of course, the hammer didn't come close to the nipple.
A real good challenge, but it does shoot reliably.
Definately not for a beginner :cursing:

 

[George]

If you ever make it to Dixie Gunworks they have about a zillion originals on display.

Turner Kirkland rounded them up.
A real impressive collection.

The originals are really neat pistols, to my eye. I had a friend who decided collecting derringers would be a smart move back around 1950. He put together a sizable collection of good quality ones, then sold them 15 years ago at an upscale auction. He did very well. He had no interest in them except for their investment value.

I was reading up on them when I stumbled across this one, and was reminded that the original Henry Deringer used only one R in his name. His pistols became so popular that many knockoffs were made, and the spelling on so many of them was derringer that it became the generic term for the pistols.

Here is a good link for anyone interested in these pistols, both about the building and the shooting of them. The ballistics will surprise you.
http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2008/03/05/building-a-blackpowder-kit-pistol/

Spence

 

[George]

Definately not for a beginner :cursing:

I do remember having to solve a lot of problems with that kit, and I wasn't qualified to do that at the time. Yours is much better done than mine, I can see. Nice job.

Spence

 

[t.l.a.r. eng]

Spence, don't consider it better than yours, it has many hidden flaws and I am disapointed in the color of this one. I wish it was the reddish color that you managed to apply on yours, what did you use?

 

[George]

I wish it was the reddish color that you managed to apply on yours, what did you use?

Sorry, it has been too long, I don't remember. In those days we were fortunate to have an excellent dedicated black powder gun shop here which was run by a very experienced builder, shooter and hunter. I learned a lot from him when I was getting started, and I would imagine I asked him what to use and followed his advice. I like reddish color on some of my guns, and do know I used Birchwood Casey Maple Stain, alcohol based, on my flintlock smoothbore. I may have used it on the derringer, too.

Spence

 

[rafterob]

That was the first BP gun I ever owned. I remember having to hold the hammer all the way back with my thumb to get enough spring to make the cap go bang.Had a ton of fun with it.

 

[Zonie]

That was back in the days when Birchwood Casey offered a water based stain called "Colonial Brown".


Colonial Brown produced a rich red/brown color on any light wood. It was intended to duplicate the red/brown color of many of the original Penn. rifles.

They dropped it from their line over 10 years ago but occasionally you will see a bottle of it for sale at gun shows.

 

[t.l.a.r. eng]

That's the color! Nice job!

 

[mazo kid]

I'm jealous.
You got the Target Model and I didn't. You could shoot rings around me.
"What's the Target Model?", you say?
Yours has a front sight! :rotf:

IIRC, I put one of Dixie's kits together in the mid '70s, cost $19.95. Still have that one and recently traded for another Jukar marked pistol. Both "target" models, both 45 caliber rifled barrels!!

 

[mykeal]

Try Herter's French Red Grain Filler, then stain with a maple, such as Laurel Mountain Forge.

Not what I used back in 1978, but it's worked recently on other guns.

Here's the 1978 gun, the first one I ever built (also the 'Target' model, Zonie, unfortunately the sights were out being adjusted when this photo was taken):

From an earlier post, my thoughts on:

How to shoot a derringer.

Find a large, (preferably red) at least two story barn. Pace off the long dimension and determine the halfway point. Standing at the halfway point, walk 10 paces directly away from the barn and turn around. Using both hands, carefully point (notice the lack of the word 'aim') the barrel at the side of the barn generally about head high. Squeeze the trigger until the round discharges.

If you're unable to find where the round strikes the side of the barn, go inside the barn and repeat the above.

 

[Stephen_D]

At a recent bowling pin shoot one of our members shot a pin from about 4 feet with a 45 cal derringer. 20 gr FFFg. It bounced off.

 

[vern faulkner]

I loved that.
:rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:

Vern

 

[flibuste]

This is a CVA / Traditions / Ardesa kit ; stained with India ink and with some inlays (accompanied with a Bondini Hawken):

and shooting at 25meters before the modifications :

Regards

 

[George]

At a recent bowling pin shoot one of our members shot a pin from about 4 feet with a 45 cal derringer. 20 gr FFFg. It bounced off.

Need more powder, double the powder. The site I linked to above fired a CVA derringer with 30 grains and with 40 grains at milk jugs filled with water. Each jug is equivalent to 3" of ballistic gel, used to check penetration in labs. With 30 grains FFFg the pistol only penetrated 1 jug, equivalent to 3" of BG, pretty wimpy, but with 40 grains it penetrated 4 jugs, equivalent to 12" of BG. Bad medicine for card cheats. He also tested a Kentucky pistol with a longer barrel, looks like 8"-9", with 40 grains FFFg and it penetrated the same.

Spence

 

[DrLaw]

This is one I did. Shoots fine with a .440 ball and t-shirt patch.