Pedersoli Philadelphia Derringer?

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Panzerschwein

Panzerschwein

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Hey guys! I was at Cabelas yesterday and saw a small black powder pistol next to the usual Pietta cap and ball revolvers. It was a Pedersoli made Philadelphia Derringer, a repro of the gun used to shoot President Lincoln:

PH0913.jpg

It is a .45 caliber pistol, and man it looked very sharp and well made in person. Has a nice browned barrel and well inletted mountings. Very attractive wood that looked nicely checkered. It was a little high, about $400, but Pedersoli makes good stuff and I own their Harpers Ferry repro and love shooting it.

Any feedback on these little guns? I think it would be a fun little piece for range use and would consider carrying it for CCW as well (as a backup gun). Thanks! :)
 
I want one! I had a kit built Jukar .45 derringer as a kid but it's long gone. That one seems kind of high to me. I sure wouldn't trust it as a BUG.
 
(Seems I've seen this post elsewhere...)

I've given several a look over before, and the ones I've seen were quite nice. One was very nice, actually.

At only $200 or $250, I'm sure I'd already have one.

But for what they're asking -- and for what you can do with it (gee, I dunno, plink a few shots at 10 or 15 yards, one at a time..) -- I have some difficulties justifying spending that $$$ amount.

Unless you value the history or novelty of the piece at $150 or so...

Then, it's likely worth the $$$, but that's just my opinion.

Tight groups.

Old No7

(Maybe you've seen this response elsewhere too...)
 
Thanks guys, I think these are way better than the Spanish Jukar guns.

I'll have to admit, I almost slipped and fell on the puddle of drool I made when I was looking at it in Cabelas.

I wonder how accurate it would be? It does have sights and is rifled.
 
Those old Jukar Philadelphia Derringers didn't come with any sights if I recall but these Pedersoli Derringers are head and shoulders over those old Jukars from Spain.

But those old Jukars were cheap so I don't know about this one at that price.
 
If I do end up getting one, I'll be sure to check it out thoroughly before I buy it in store.

I've got a couple weeks before I have to head back that way, just needing some thoughts and feedback.
 
If it managed to kill a president I don't see why it would not be considered suitable as a BUG. As I remember it happening a knife was used as the back up weapon in that event.
 
Cooldill, when I manage to make mine shoot, it shoots about 6in high at 4 yds. It a Jukar model, the pedersoli model is much nicer looking, online on cabelas they're $350 and you can get 10% off and free freight right now
 
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The Pedersoli models are well made and a reasonably accurate copy of the peanut size derringer. At $400 they are a bit over priced by in my opinion about $150.
With a little looking on auction arms and gunbroker you can find the American Historical Society sets that consist of two guns, a bullet mold, loading rod, fancy nipple wrench, and powder flask housed in a book type case. These were made by Uberti back in the 1980 for the Society and sold as suedo collectors items. Bad investment then but a great deal now as you can generally get a set for between $700 and $850 and the guns are twice the quality of the Pedersoli guns and fully the equal of the originals quality wise.
 
No thank you, I prefer single shot percussion pistols. I have had far better luck with them over revolvers, much more reliable and trouble free in my experience.
 
You aren't seriously thinking about carrying one of these little pistols...are you? Have you ever seen any shooting tests which include the crono results? Roundball will give you barely 430 fps as there is barely 1" of effective barrel length...and accuracy will be dismal at anything but contact range. The Remington 41 RF that was used in their double barreled derringer was about as pathetic, but at least you had two shots though neither would be much more efficient.

Getting one because of the history and to enjoy as a range toy is enough to justify wanting to get one, but please....do some research and see how woefully armed you would be with carrying one. The problem is the Law will consider you to be carrying a firearm...but unless you put the thing against the back of someones' head...it's going to be pathetic in the effectiveness should you manage to score a hit.

Also remember...back in the day of Lincoln that ANY wound would be very dangerous to your life due to infection so just the presentation of a firearm...even a woefully pathetic one was enough to give an assailant pause for their well being. Sadly such is NOT the case today.
 
Actually the plan was for the deed to be done with a Whitney Revolver, but the frame got bent over a federal officer's head and Booth had to improvise.

Death was not instantaneous, despite the shot to the back of the head.

I wish someone made the next size Henry Deringer up. These had more barrel and a bit more grip yet were still considered concealable in those days. Think twice the barrel and another finger's worth of grip and sights far enough apart to be useful. Thinner than the so called pirate pistols made in Spain that show up on GunWhatever auctions.

-kBob
 
I'm not very into close range single shot; but i got one of those Jukars in a trade with some other BP guns a couple years ago. I assume it's not accurate and have never shot it. I'd value it at $75 or $100, no where near $400, so i'd hope the Pedersoli version is a lot nicer for the cost spread.
 
I thought we had some holster makers who were active on this forum.
 
kBob said:
Actually the plan was for the deed to be done with a Whitney Revolver, but the frame got bent over a federal officer's head and Booth had to improvise.

Death was not instantaneous, despite the shot to the back of the head.

I wish someone made the next size Henry Deringer up. These had more barrel and a bit more grip yet were still considered concealable in those days. Think twice the barrel and another finger's worth of grip and sights far enough apart to be useful. Thinner than the so called pirate pistols made in Spain that show up on GunWhatever auctions.

-kBob
Click to expand...
It's also thought by some that if the Dr.s hadn't probed the wound possibly shoving the ball in deeper Lincoln might have survived the wound.
 
That 4 1/2 incher is nice also plus it comes with a loading lever. I never give up on Taylor's though they seem to always come through.
 
I'm actually a bit curious, considering something very small as a BUG, why this would be better than the Remington Pocket?
 
rodwha said:
I'm actually a bit curious, considering something very small as a BUG, why this would be better than the Remington Pocket?
Click to expand...
It wouldn't be.

But I'm partial to the single shots. It doesn't do the "jammings" as often.
 
I've not read anything about jamming problems with any of the Remington models.

I've looked over this same pistol myself and like it, but it's rather low on my list.
 
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