remington rider derringer

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Busyhands94

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a little over a month ago i got a Remington rider derringer in standard white finish. i have used it for a while now and i must say it is a really good gun. i do not buy the expensive .17 BBs, i mold my own. i also buy crossman field point pellets and roll them between a piece of steel and a piece of paper on a glass table that sizes them down to 4.3 mm from a 4.5 mm pellet. they actually shoot really well, and from 20 feet away the pellets leave a round hole instead of keyholing so i know they are engaging the rifling of the bore. i do not buy percussion caps either, i use plastic toy caps as the primers and i put 4 paper caps into the breech piece. believer it or not this sends the tiny round about 600-650 FPS! when the gun discharges it sounds like a noisy CO2 airgun and the sound of the pellet hitting a soup can is usually louder than the initial report of the gun. being cap n' ball it requires no permit to order nor do you have to go though an FFL dealer to get one. you order it from Dixie Gun Works and it will get to California in 7 days without any paperwork to fill out. it is an amazing gun and is worth every penny of what it costs! if you are thinking about getting one of these they are incredibly fun and you can shoot in your backyard or garage. i recommend using resized pellets, they are so much cheaper than the mega ultra expensive 4.3 mm BBs. if you want to shoot in your living room get plastic strip caps (they seem to be more powerful) and a pellet trap. you can shoot them at low velocities with just a cap but you can still shoot through a pop can. pretty good considering that the cap only contains less than .20 grains of powder. it is a great low cost target handgun!
 
failed to mention this gun works great with snake shot. i can load it with about a grain of 4f black powder, then as the wad i use a piece of wooden dowel that tightly fits the bore, and then about 10 birshot down the muzzle with a little cotton on top to keep them from rolling out. it is more powerful than CCI .22 shotshells and can bury the shot into wood pretty nicely! the pattern is about 2 inches wide at 3 feet and it seems between 3 and 5 feet is the effective distance for a tight pattern for use un snakes lizards and rats. however it will remain pretty effective at up to 15 feet. i have no doubt i could make a clean kill on a bird at 10 feet. although if i was pest hunting i would want to use a single pellet instead off shot. nonetheless it still is pretty good for a .17 caliber shotgun even though it won't win you any skeet competitions.
 
I have all three of the Pedersoli small guns, the Rider, the 209 primer Derringer and the Liegi .44 Derringer. The problem with all of them is the sights, or the absence of them. The Rider I've found can accept some BP into the little breech cup, and I made a sizing die for regular pellets to size them down to fit.
The power with just a #11 cap is pathetic, as is accuracy.

The 209 powered Derringer has no rear sight, I made modifications on it so it would shoot better, namely removing the pinhole block that screwed into the barrel that limits blowback pressure. I understand the reason for it but with that in place the power was truly pathetic. My heaviest load actually bent the pivot pin of the gate! Without the blockage screw it will shoot through a 1" pine board with the lead BB's. I load the BB's from the front with a tiny patch and a dab of antiseize.
No matter what I did the 177 pellets would strip the riflings and leave lead in them, so BB's are all I'll use in that one. Terrible accuracy again.

The Leigi .44 Derringer is a powerhouse, I think I've heard that the powder chamber holds 15 grains, and with a round .452 soft lead ball penetration (for me) was very similar to the .45 ACP out of my Dan Wesson CBOB. The barrel that came with it supposedly had 18 to 1 twist rifling, but mine had straight rifling that would not stabilize a conical lead bullet. I made a new barrel about 1" longer in .429 (True .44 caliber) that had 22 to 1 twist that stabilizes a .44 magnum slug nicely, but all for naught since there are no sights, and since the percussion hammer sits smack dab in the center there cannot be any added.
 
i found that for the rider derringer you can use the paper caps you buy at toy stores for the powder, (i like to put about 4 in) and a plastic cap as the primer. for the perfect projectile you can use a resized pellet and it works especially well if you have one that fits the bore nice and tight that is well lubricated. that load will shoot about 650 FPS in mine and is accurate. if you want accuracy you will need to mess with the sights using a dremel or file. i had to tweak mine a little but after i did it is now pretty dang accurate. put it in a vice nice and tight with some leather to keep from scratching, fire 5 shots onto a blank piece of paper, and then file the sights carefully until it is lined up perfectly with the grouping. also you need to practice, remember to keep it as still as you possibly can.
 
i have always wanted a break action over/under derringer. however i am very happy with mine! what it lacks in bullet size it makes up for in accuracy and versatility. you can fire conicals, ball ammo, snake shot, blanks, you can load it with a percussion cap, piece of tissue in the bottom of the breech piece and a pinch of cornmeal on top to take out bugs, you can use airgun pellets with a primer only, you can even make little tiny incendiary rounds believe it or not, they are a lot of fun! today i had found a nasty albino leech while i was doing yard work. i like to keep this in my pocket while i am out working in the yard for i usually encounter many nasty pests. i keep the bold loaded in a matchbox and not in the gun. i had an explosive .17 pellet (a pellet loaded with 3 paper caps in the skirt and some wax to seal it) and a small propellant charge. i was about 5 feet away and stuck the bolt in the gun, cocked it, aimed, and then squeezed the trigger. it made a sound that was similar to a firecracker and a tiny bit of recoil. there was no remnants of the leech, only a 3 inch wide crater with a twisted up pellet and a few flakes of lead in the hole. pretty darn cool and they are also really good for blowing up stuff!
 
I designed and built some of my own BP pistols as kid myself [a design remarkably similar to your own by the way, though I used flat springs, yours are better] I guess great minds think alike...LOL!
 
Busihands94, were you born in 1994? Pretty good for a 16-17 year old. I like your homemade derringer. You should register on homegunsmith.com and post pictures.

Now, if you want a double-barrel C&B derringer, check out the FMJ double-barrel BP derringer. These are SxS, but look cool and can handle pretty stout loads. And they are under a pound.

I believe you can find one here: http://www.practicaltacticalky.com/Leinad.html It's not listed, but if you email the guy, I'm sure he'll accommodate you.

Thanks for posting the video.
 
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thanks! i have really enjoyed making them and i am planning a .177 caliber rifle that fires a steel or lead BB or maybe even a thick enough airgun pellet with just a 209 primer, although i am considering .22 short blanks. i realize i have all the materials for it and all i need is a decently thick airgun barrel! as for the stock i can make it out of oak, and the trigger and hammer i can make too! i already drew up the plans for it so when i get the barrel and some wood i can start! i will be making a video on how to make one actually, i will post it in the black powder section when i am done! the mainspring will only be about a dollar at my local salvage yard, and the barrel is only about 10 bucks! even though it will be inexpensive it will still be a very sturdy, well made rifle!
 
The ones I made as a kid were all .177 or .22 , mostly I used barrels salvaged from air guns, and a section of .22 barrel I had ... most were percussion. I usually would cannibalize the last one I made for parts for the new model I was makeing. When I joined the Navy, they all dissapeared. I think my stepmother tossed them...
 
Thanks, I now see why he calls himself busyhands... Not for the reason I first thought of... ;-))

I don't see the homemade Remington Rider copy review, though. Would like to see it in more detail.

Busyhands, great work! You might just become the next John Browning! Good luck to you.

P.S. Never mind, found a closeup in another video.
 
i am glad you enjoy my videos! lol, i created my account when i was younger and did not get that it sounded kinda...yeah... i did not get that it could be taken the wrong way! haha! but then again my mother watched Bevis and Butthead while i was in her tummy, so now i get a good laugh about it!! haha! i am planning a how-to video on a rifle, i will make it sometime this year, i might make either a .22 rifle that fires CBs or .22 pellets using .22 short blanks, or a .177 caliber rifle that fires BBs or thick pellets using either a 209 shotgun primer or a .22 blank. i have not decided on the propulsion mechanism yet but i know i want it to be breech loading and have some decent velocity to it and i want to put a nice long rifled barrel on it to make it more accurate and maybe dampen the noise a little!
 
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