.250 Magnum?

[LoneGoose]

This item is listed on GB. American Derringer Corp. autoloader in .250 Magnum. I looked around the internet for a description of the cartridge, and so far have had no luck. Is this the only gun made in this chambering? Less than 100 made. Is this a bad idea gone wrong?

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=529262771

 

[beag_nut]

Looks like a candidate for someone who must have one of everything in their collection, regardless of cost or utility.

 

[bannockburn]

I remember the old American Firearms Co. located in Texas which made spur trigger derringers, much like the original Remington over/under design, a stainless .25 auto, and later had the manufacturing rights to the COP 4 shot Derringer and the Semmerling LM4 .45 pistol. Can't say I ever saw anything about them making a .250 Magnum version of their .25 auto or anything about that cartridge either.

 

[MikeJackmin]

I'm guessing its a hopped-up .25 that ADC came up with. I'm curious about the cartridge, perhaps it's a bottleneck? I can't imagine a practical source for extra long, straight walled .25 pistol brass.

 

[LoneGoose]

Bannockburn, that's the company. They have a web site. When I get time, I may contact them about this mystery.

 

[racenutz]

I wonder if it's in .25 NAA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.25_NAA

 

[Goosey]

Found this:

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, in the 1980's...

American Derringer Corp. came out with a nifty .250-Magnum pistol
You won't find much info of that little beastie on the net...pre-net item
and its rare as hen's teeth...fewer than a hundred made, and fewer actually sold...

Bob Saunders used a lengthened .25 auto case (.090 longer) to create his .250 Magnum...
which had the power of a .380, cogitate upon that if you will...

 

[MCgunner]

Shucks, I was hoping for a derringer in .257 Weatherby Mag.

 

[rcmodel]

I have to wonder if any of the ammo ever escaped captivity at the factory?

It's gotta be pretty darn rare to not even find a photo or description of it on the AlGore Net!!

rc

 

[Archie]

Reminds me...

Somewhere around twenty-five to thirty years ago, someone mentioned building a 'locked breech' .25 ACP pistol. The idea was to build a .25 ACP pistol able to comfortably handle the familiar cartridge with a much higher pressure level.

I presume it would entail making a fully supported chamber in the barrel as well as a Browning type falling lug system. Probably better sights, trigger pull, grips and such than the norm. No comment on the cartridge case; reminiscent of the .38 Automatic/Super .38 modification.

Litigation lawyers had to be salivating.

The goal was a 50 grain FMJ bullet at a muzzle velocity of 1200 fps or more. (Recoil mild, muzzle blast fierce!) Could be interesting. Nothing ever came of it to my knowledge.

A short web search provides no information on a .250 Magnum handgun cartridge. So, we wait.

 

[R.W.Dale]

This is new to me.

I can't help but think a pmr30 variant in such a centerfire cartridge would be a real winner

 

[MachIVshooter]

Interesting. I got my first copy of COTW over 20 years ago, read until tattered, and now have other editions, including the most current. I'm also familiar with such oddballs as the Eichelberger micro cartridges, and most other wildcats. But I've never heard of this one until now.

 

[just for fun]

never even heard of it! But still trick! Something for the man who has everything!

 

[ironworkerwill]

This is going to bother me. I hoped it was a typo.

 

[Monac]

I have an old gun magazine article about the American Derringer .250 Magnum pistol. It's from the late 1970's or early 1980's. My guess is this prototype was the only gun made in this chambering, which was probably just 25 ACP lengthened a bit. Since 25 ACP headspaces on the semi-rim, the gun could probably use 25 ACP as well, at least if the recoil spring was lightened a bit. If there's any interest, I'll dig it up.

 

[LoneGoose]

Monac, it would be nice if the article could be scanned and posted in a technical archive here in THR. If not that, it would be good if we could know which magazine & issue the article was in. I'd be happy to contact the publisher and get a copy and permission to post it. We'd be preserving a bit of historical knowledge.

 

[Monac]

Ok, I'll go dig it out at home. I don't have a scanner, but I'll see what I can do at the local FedEx/Kinko's.

Later: Well, I found the article I was thinking of, but it was not the one that mentioned the .250 Magnum. It is about American Derringer's then-new 25 ACP pistol, which is the same basic gun as in the auction that Lone Goose pointed out, but without the novel chambering.

In case you're interested, the article is "The Unstained Marvel" in Gun World magazine, December 1970. No author is given. The company making the pistol was then the American Firearms Manufacturing Company, Inc., of San Antonio, Texas. That issue also included a small ad for the pistol giving its price as $58.50. The "Unstained" in the article title is a reference to the pistol being made of stainless steel, which was a novelty at the time.

This gun, like the Raven .25 automatic, was a response to the Gun Control Act of 1968, which kept small foreign pistols out of the US. By 1968, there were no US manufacturers of 25 caliber pistols. The Raven was much more successful than this gun, perhaps because of its lower price - back in 1970, $20 was real money.