Posted on 03/14/2015 5:24:28 PM PDT by DonPaulJonesII
Which brings up the more likely scenario: This is sorta my situation, too. You pocket the little derringer when you're going out in a hurry or you're going to a part of town known to you where you feel at least somewhat secure for the activity in which you will be engaging and you figure in the extremely unlikely event of a mugging, the range will be contact and the cops will be there before the noise dies away on the wind, so you won't need more than two rounds. 99% of the time, when I'm running errands with my wife, that's me. I just choose to shove a Ruger LC9s 9mm into my pocket and a spare mag into the pocket designed for such in the cargo pants that have become my signature apparel. I wear them everywhere. Civilian BDU's (the field uniform of my era of active duty, lol) I wear them to work, to the movies, to an IDPA match and everywhere else that doesn't require either a suit or a tux.
So, instead of taking the time to dress around a Sig MK25 9mm with CROSSBREED IWB rig, I just risk a confrontation with the Ruger that is extremely unlikely anyway, but IF it does happen I've got 7+1 ready to launch and 7 more in the spare mag and I ALWAYS carry a spare. I'm carrying a little gun that I know I can shoot center mass from contact out to 15 feet rapid fire. Sometimes, it get's a little worse. Sometimes instead of the Ruger, if I happen to be in a suit or needing to be ultra discreet, I'll shove a NAA .22LR mini-derringer into my pocket. That's a real "mouse gun" and if you whip that thing out in an attempt to deter a crime, the bad guy will probably laugh himself to death before he decides it's real and a threat. I've already decided if I have to pull that baby out and go to work, it's GOT to be at contact distance and I'm gonna just shove it into his eye socket and pull the trigger. I load with .22LR tracer for a little extra sizzle. My point in this long winded response (sorry, but just ask Travis McGee, I love to write as much as he does) is that I paid a lot more than $150 for the Ruger and although the NAA was a gift from my late father in law, I have a practiced protocol for it's use. Back up guns or more accurately, speaking, secondary carry guns shouldn't be an afterthought. Put as much care into your secondary as to your primary. Here endeth the lesson as Sean Connery put it in the Untouchables.
Interesting you had to spend the money like that. I had a Kahr .380 which had some chambering/ejection issues and took it to a local gun shop. They said it was under warranty and shipped it off for me and notified me when it was returned after repair actions - cost me $20.00.
I wandered into .32 as a carry caliber because even though I prefer the .45, I can carry a very small, flat pistol in .32 and I can also put two rounds rapid into a soda can at 15 yards over and over. Other calibers like 9mm P and .380 recoiled so energetically in a small, concealable pistol that it takes longer to recover for the second round.
I guess it's always up to the individual taste/preference/body size.
The key thing is plenty of practice and being sure of your pistol/ammunition combination.
Don, I’ve had to fix two Cobra derringers with this issue. The problem I’ve found is chambers reamed with dull reamers. This is an issue your local gunsmith can address or if they can’t, let me know and I’ll be happy to help.
But, with that being said, yes, Cobra is a low end product that I do not recommend to my customers.
Sometimes I think I’m a snob when it comes to guns but then I remember things like what you’re experiencing and I put the feeling of snobbishness away.
I carried a Phoenix Arms .22lr for years and only had to pull it once in all that time. Perp peed himself at the sight of a gun barrel, so I didn';t have to shoot, but the aim was directly at his head at thirty feet, so he probably had no idea the caliber. At that range I had practice hitting eye-socket sized targets and would have dropped him instantly since I had cocked the hammer on the single action cycle. That is one reason I like the Ruger SR22 so much; it is double action so I can load the firing chamber and have only to pull the trigger ... and it is very reliable and deadly in .22lr caliber.
If I'm carrying the Bersa 9mmUC Pro I would probably put one or two rounds in the lower pelvis and then one to the brain pan if I had to pull it. Nice pistol. I carry a courrier's pouch all the time outside the home, so I can pretty much haul around anything I want to load up. The Bersa UC Prohas greater capacity than the CZ82 making it just a smidgen more preferred, but not by much. BTW, a Bond Arms in 9mm with three inch barrel might make a nice back-up, too. Wouldn't go below a 9mm in two shot derringer though ...
ExSolider, you are truly an American jem. I thank you for your experience and assistance. My derringer is my third level piece. Glock, Ruger LCP (380 ACP) then the derringer. By the time I would need to use my derringer I would be far, far up doo-doo creek. My only interest in making my first original post on FreeRepublic.com in almost 20 years is to warn others that Cobra Enterprises makes Made in the USA garbage. Again, I thank you for your help!
Thank you for not being snarky. I posted this article to inform others who may not be aware of my lack of quality experience with Cobra. Never would I assume to be a SME on gunsmithing. Not even close. I have tried to smooth out and reshape the extractor using a Tipton vise and a Dremel tool. If this does not work I would be happy to ask you for your address to send the weapon to you to repair. Of course I would expect to pay you for your time and for shipping.
What about the ROJAK 19!
If you like that type of gun be sure to look into a Bond Arms derringer. The examples I have seen are all beautifully made and completely reliable.
That's sound advice in any self defense firearm. It's what I teach under 99% of circumstances. Some exceptions are notably, my wife who was a great shot with her 45 Commander until six years ago when she got a very aggressive form of breast cancer which she thankfully survived but left her severely weakened for probably the rest of her life and so she can in no way tolerate the recoil of a serious handgun. So I got her a Kel-Tec PMR 30 in .22WMR with three 30 rd magazines. She prefers not to use it and I understand. Anywhere she might need one, I'm there and carrying. She knows how to chamber, load and fire everything in my possession, so if there is an emergency, she will acquit herself well, I know. She is after all, besides being my wonderful bride of 27 years, the daughter of a US Marine Colonel and a hero of WWII (R.I.P).
I have an elderly and very wealthy client whom I taught to shoot for his CCW permit. I've been working with him for months. He doesn't want to wear a holster and lug around a weight. He's got some serious health issues. To top it off he has the most extreme case of recoil sensitivity I have ever seen and he had it before he came to me. I start everybody and I mean EVERYBODY on a .22 revolver. (I don't care if you're a SEAL) -- if you take my CCW class you'll do a cylinder of 22LR from a S.A. Ruger before we go any further. This guy is dedicated to his own security. He could easily afford a top tier security team if he wanted it, but he want's to be prepared on his own. So we work together when he's in town (he jets around the world tending to his business interests).
At this point he has rented just about every possibility we can find at the local ranges and not liked any of them. I'm torn between the possibility of one of these on the small caliber side and maybe one of these in a 9mm. Problem is the latter is so new I can't find one anywhere, let alone one to rent! Brand new gun there's no track record on self defense yet. I've not seen many reviews, either. So I'm leaning in the direction of the .22WMR, but we'll see.
I did not mention that one of my carry tools is a Taurus 941 WMR with two inch barrel. I bought it, tested it, then did a hammer spring job on it and it is so nice now that I have placed a small Lazerlyte laser on the side. Very accurate at inside forty feet and never jams or fails to fire all eight rounds with the pull of the trigger. Nearly no recoil. Only thing I would differently with that tool is put a green laser on it instead of the red, but that’s just due to my aging eyes.
I am a new registrant, saw your post. If you still have the paperweight and would like to divest yourself of it, please reply and I’ll check back once the account is not restricted by newness (I tried to do private reply and that’s just a user rule of some sort).
Sorry. I was posting an example picture. I do not own one. Please read the thread and see if anybody does own and not want anymore.
I prefer J-frames as a rule. But my Beretta Pico is very easy to hide, shoots quite well for a little gun, and has been (so far) 100% reliable. Need more than 200 rounds to know, but 200 for 200 is a nice start.
But if I’m going for a walk in the nearby desert, where I assess the risk at below 0.0001%...I may slip the NAA 22 in my pocket. If I ever need to pull it, I assume it will be a surprise - and I wouldn’t bother to pull it from more than about 5 feet. It is a “Pull, extend arm, shoot in face, wipe powder burns off BG, try again” type of gun. But BECAUSE it is so small and concealable, getting a 3’ range shot off at a BG might be possible.
In cooler weather, I’ve been known to carry a Beretta 92 - mostly to remind myself it is possible. At the 3’ range, I’d probably use it like a hammer to save on cost of ammo.
I also carry my 686 sometimes. 7 rounds of 357. But like the 92, it weighs a lot and concealing takes some doing. Not happening when it is 100+ degrees out. Although I can’t remember the last time I read of a BG shooting someone in 100+ degree heat, or at 9AM on Saturday in a hardware store. I’m not sure the typical thug even knows what a hardware store is...
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