[Ronin]

I wonder how hard it would be to design a 12 gauge shotgun pistol. Something like an oversize derringer.

Of course you’d have to develop special loads as well because a regular 12 gauge shell would probably take the shooters arm off a the shoulder, but could you imagine the look in a mugger’s face when he faced a bore that size?

And heck, with one of those, you’d only need one shot anywhere.

Messy cleanup, though.

[Kenny Bunk]

M.....12 gauge shotgun pistol. Something like an oversize derringer...

What you're looking for is the LeMat Pistol, designed in the mid 19thC. Very popular cavalry weapon during the Civil War. It was a big-bore six-shooter with a 16-gauge barrel underneath, looking something like the idea of the 40MM tube under an M16.

The LeMat is currently being manufactured in Italy and the US by a couple of those companies that work the Cowboy Shooters and collectors markets. Apparently works great!

www.civilwar.si.edu/weapons_lemat.html

Should be enough to cause immediate and severe local sanitation problems amongst your neighborhood perps.

IMNSVHO, not a good candidate for IWB concealed carry, unless you weigh about 375 and wear muumuu's under a parka.

[AnTiw1]

I knew a gunsmith in Wyoming who would cruise pawn shops looking for over and unders, which he would transform into huge 12 gauge derringers.

Illegal as hell, apparently. He still had a lot of customers, and he wasn't cheap...first class hand cannons, look just like the grandpappy of all derringers.