Break open BP Derringer

[LAGS]

Here is my latest project that is almost done.
I will ask Armoredman to post some pictures for me.
This pistol is built out of parts that I had from a .22 lr Knife Pistol
The barrel is made from a part of an old Mauser barrel
When the pictures get posted I can walk you thru what I used and how it is built.

[armoredman]

Here we go.











And two more;

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[LAGS]

This is going to take a little time posting an explanation of what the pictures are showing.
Picture 1
That is the Parts that I used to make this pistol.
The receiver is from a knife pistol shown in picture #2
Those two Knife pistols are sort of like a Powell and Brown pistol made about thirty years ago down in Tucson Az.
The cut barrel is off a Yugo Mauser that I built a custom deer rifle out of 20 years ago.
The other parts are the hammer , trigger and barrel release leavers.
Those two Saw Blades are what I use to make the main spring and trigger spring.
Picture #2 is two of the three .22 LR knife pistols that I have built.
Picture #3 is the built or Modified parts that I made for use on this derringer.
Picture #4 and 5 are the rough finished pistol that does function well for a pistol built out of junk parts.
Picture # 6&7 are taken during my building.
This project was not a “ just build the parts and assemble the pistol “
I had to hand fit the parts one at a time so they functioned well .
Now I have to do the finishing on the metal and make some grip plates.

[armoredman]

I think this is going to be very cool, amigo.

[charlie b]

I think so too. Is the silver piece behind the barrel to be welded to the frame as a sort of breech?

[LAGS]

That back plate is set in by two 5/40 screws
You can see that plate in picture # 1 where it is square.
In picture # 3 you can see the round one I made to match the barrel and cut the groove wider to clear the nipple and primer.
You can also see how I had to modify the hammer and drill the holes in the parts to make them fit.
I had to play with locating and drilling all the holes in both the frame and parts.
I had to do three hammers to get all the issues worked out so they fit and matched up to the trigger to work well.
That was the time consuming part of this project.
But I did figure things out and the action works well .
The part of that Mauser 8 mm
Barrel was drilled out to .45 cal smooth bore and a 1/2” bolt was installed for the breech plug.
A pistol with that short of barrel does not need to be rifled since it isn’t a 100 yard gun.
The barrel is welded to a short piece of 3/16” thick steel plate for the mounting and hinge plate.

[Reg]

Very nice !

[AK Islander]

This looks really neat. Please follow up with pics of the completed pistol and field testing!

[LAGS]

I will post pictures when I finish the pistol . Lots of members only care about the finished items rather than what it took or how it was built.
Armoredman will probably do a video of me shooting it once it is done like he did on some of my other projects.

[armoredman]

We can do that indeed. This is the derringer gamblers wish they had in the early 1800s...

[charlie b]

I like how the parts fit. Is there something like a half cock so the pistol can be capped without being at full cock?

[LAGS]

The hammer and trigger have a Half Cock set up to prevent the pistol from firing when you carry it.
It is also set up so the primer can’t hit the hammer when you put the primer on the nipple and shut the barrel.
On the back plate I also installed a set screw that prevents the hammer from coming forward and hitting the nipple hard enough to damage the nipple if the gun is accidentally dry fired.
So far the guns actions work well and it is reasonably safe if you pull the hammer back to Half Cock before you open the gun , especially after it is fired or when you install the primer.
The pistol is also machined out to use my homemade primers if I want to.
I am also going to machine a nipple so it will use the Plastic Toy Gun Caps just for many more options of things to play with if you don’t make your own primers and can’t find any #11 caps anywhere.

[Texas by God]

It looks ready to send to me for longevity testing!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LAGS]

Yea
In fact,
Being a BP pistol , it can be sent in the mail.
But the cartridge Knife Pistol can’t.

[armoredman]

And as promised, here we go!

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This thing is neat.
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[LAGS]

Ok guys.
I have the pistol finished so you can see how it looks.
The receiver is stainless steel , so it is just bead blasted.
I only Cold Blued the barrel since I wasn’t doing any Rust Bluing right now.
That picture of the hammers on pic.#8 is just to show you what I had to do to get the hammer modified to work.
The top hammer is the knife pistol kind of hammer.
The hammer on the bottom is the one used in the finished pistol.
You can see the other three hammers are the ones I had to play with locations of the pivot holes and shaping it so it would function how I needed it too.

[K43]

I appreciate seeing the process. That is much nicer, though reminiscent of, the little pistol places like Numrich and Dixie used to sell a few decades ago.

[armoredman]

I wanna see a boot holster for this little gem.

[Gtrubicon]

That is great! Wow!

[LAGS]

The reason I built this pistol was,
I have built a couple of Knife Pistols that are cartridge pistols.
I can build them for myself Legaly but I can’t sell them at any time or even give them away.
But,
If I build a pistol from scratch and it only shoots Black Powder , then I can sell it if I have to or give it to a friend.
I don’t make guns as a business , but only as a hobby.
But building a whole bunch of Unserial numbered pistols can make a pile of guns that you don’t use , or can get rid of.