Philly Derringer from Gary Peacemaker.

[hawkeye2]

"The little Philly Derringer is quite an act. It's a keeper!"

They can be a lot of fun so long as you don't have high expectations for them.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Heres one for the historians out there. How did the "Philadelphia" part get incorporated into the name?

Because they originated in Philly????
Ok, educate us....

 

[Grenadier1758]

Henry Deringer was a gun maker in Philadelphia, PA. His little pocket pistols were so popular that many copiers made similar versions and "Derringer" became the generic name for a pocket pistol and the location use of Philadelphia was used to further identify the style of pistol.

Note: Copies of the Henry Deringer use two r's (DeRRinger) in the identifying name so patent and trademark issues were circumvented.

 

[Eutycus]

Could a person get away with that " skirting the patent" thing today by just misspelling the name? Afterall the intent was still there.I dont see it happening in this day + age.

 

[Zonie]

Heres one for the historians out there. How did the "Philadelphia" part get incorporated into the name?

Most likely the name was due to Henry Deringer opening his shop in Philadelphia in 1806.

He marketed several large bore short pistols before 1852 when he lit on the idea of a very small version which was to become known as the Philadelphia Deringer. (Note only 1 "r" in the name.)
It became so popular that dozens of other companies began copying it after changing the name to "Derringer".

If you get a chance to see a real Philadelphia Deringer you will be surprised to see how small they really are. The CVA version that is the basis for this post is mush larger in all dimensions.

This is a photo of the original gun used to kill President Lincoln, borrowed from Wikipedia.

 

[Eutycus]

The one that killed Lincoln was a 44 wasnt it?Or was it a 41?Amyway we know it wasnt a 45.

 

[bigted]

I had always thought it was 41 but can not remember where i got that impression.