Derringers-How were they carried?

[Packman]

So, I've never really handled a blackpowder derringer, so I'm curious...

How would one generally (historically) carry one of these little beasts? It doesn't seem as though carrying a loaded and capped derringer in one's pocket would be the greatest idea, if it falls out or gets a good bump, it's liable to go off, yes?

Did they have a half-cock position on the hammer? You sure wouldn't want to carry it hammer down!

Thoughts? Facts? Pictures? Musings?


Obligatory safety lecture: I don't own nor do I intend to carry a blackpowder derringer for purposes of defense or anything else silly. I'm interested in how it WAS done, not what I should do.

Thanks!

 

[7.62 Nato]

I believe these were originally carried in a vest pocket by the gentlemen, or in a garter or handbag by the ladies.

 

[TheBigAR2003]

hehe put one up each sleeve!

 

[gun guy]

The main cause of death, from derringers, was sepsis from poorly treated wounds. In most cases, the shots missed the target even at close range. Glorified in the tv show have gun will travel, I doubt in all the the wild west, there were half the kills Paladin achieved with his lil 38. in one season. However the pistol john wilks booth used was in fact in the derringer catagory, so, at point blank range, they could be lethal.

 

[Tommygunn]

Paladin carried his behind his belt buckle --- it was a .41 IIRC. Yeah, the cartridge types were fairly anemic powerwise but a LOT of people back then died from sepsis after surviving the initial bullet wound.
They were last ditch, close-in weapons. Paladin used them that way. Of course, he was the hero of a TV show and thus HAD to win -- or the show was over.

 

[Packman]

Hahaha. Thanks folks.

What I actually meant though was this: Were they carried already capped? (I'd assume so...) If so, did they have a half-cock position that was safer? What about the cap falling off the nipple in this case? Were they just carried hammer down on the capped nipple and hoping for the best? Were they kept cocked and ready to use?

Basically, how does one carry one of the thing in such a manner that it could be quickly used while avoiding blowing ones toes or fingers off?

 

[Old Fuff]

During the cap & ball era a fairly large number of companies or individual gunsmiths made small/big bore pocket pistols, now collectively called "Derringers."

Most of them had a half-cock notch on the hammer, and a few had a sliding safety that locked the hammer in the half-cock position. Also, believe it or not, some carried with the hammer down on a caped nipple.

As a concealed weapon they were usually carried in this-or-that pocket, and occasionally in pairs.

 

[arcticap]

I wonder if they used anything like the modern device known as the "Kap Kover". It's a brass cover that fits over the capped nipple, and the hammer can be lowered onto it to keep it in place while serving as a safety block mechanism. It's tethered to the gun so that it won't fall to the ground when the hammer is cocked and it just falls away. A plastic tire valve can serve the same purpose but may fit tighter. A simple piece of leather placed over the capped nipple may also serve the same purpose, to keep the cap in place and to act as a safety while carrying the gun (not that I would recommend using leather).
Percussion BP hunters use similar devices too.
In some cases the cap might simply be properly sealed with wax to insure that it stayed on the nipple while pocket carried on 1/2 cock for a spell-condition red!

 

[IBEWBULL]

I see this was an old post but here we go.
I believe they used bees wax to weather proof and keep the cap in place.
Check out some local ronduvous and the old timers there.
Some were flint too.
Back when the west was being setteled a lot of frontiersmen used flint locks since precussion caps could be in short supply and flint could be found.
Not so much for fighting but a hunting arm.
About all I can remember at this time. I havent done the buckskinning since we got into the Harley moad.

 

[BHP FAN]

Pretty simple to stick a thick peice of scrap leather under the hammer to protect the cap, and you're a lot less likely to lose a cap that way.