American Shooting Journal by Jim Dickson 11/2/2018
Small hideout guns tend to be small caliber and that means ineffectual stoppers. The current crop of ultra-light polymer-framed .32s and .380s with double action only trigger mechanisms are also very hard to hit anything with. There is a more effective alternative available.
American Derringer has beefed up the traditional Remington Double Derringer to .45 Colt caliber and it also will chamber the 2½-inch .410 shotgun shells. The .45 Colt is a one-shot stopper with a hit to the vitals, and you have two shots. It is a close range weapon, but then most gunfights are also close range and an attacker coming at you will shorten the range for you. At these ranges, stopping power is everything and that mandates a .45. This one is small enough to slip unnoticed into a pocket and yet has a big enough grip that with a tight hold on it you won’t be bothered by the recoil. It is the perfect close range backup weapon to a .45 automatic or revolver.
How effective is it? Let’s look at three examples.
-In Wyoming a hunter left his rifle in camp as he went a short ways into the woods to relieve himself. A moose stepped out of the brush right in front of him and he shot it dead with his .45 Double Derringer. A grizzly was nearby and tried to claim the carcass by attacking him, but once again the little .45 Double Derringer came to the rescue, killing the bear at a distance of a few feet.
-A soldier was shipping out to Iraq and was allowed to take one of his own guns. His wife insisted he take the .45 Double Derringer because he could always have it on his person. In Iraq he was hit by an IED that overturned his Humvee. An Iraqi came up to shoot him through the window and finish him off, but the G.I. pulled the little .45 Double Derringer from his front shirt pocket and killed the Iraqi with it. He dropped the gun as he scrambled to get out of the burning vehicle and it was burned with the Humvee. He recovered the Derringer from the ruins of the burned out vehicle and sent it back to American Derringer where they fixed it for him free.
-A woman stateside was attacked in her home by an intruder. She killed him with her .45 Double Derringer.
THE COMMON DENOMINATOR in all three cases was that the gun was compact enough to be there and powerful enough to get the job done. Sure, a M1911A1 is the better gunfighting pistol, but it may not be there in all the places a backup gun can be. Despite the ease of carrying and concealing a full-size fighting pistol, there is no denying that the Double Derringer is lighter, smaller and easier to carry and conceal. These are the virtues that balance out its short-range two-shot limitations and make it desirable.
More:
http://americanshootingjournal.com/american-derringer-pistol/
