Thursday, October 06, 2011

Nobody ever went broke...

...underestimating the sense of the American shooting public.

In a world where Taurus sells every Public Defender Raging Titanium Polymer pistol they make, these should sell like hotcakes.

At least you don't have to thumb-cock it between shots like a standard Derringer, so it's got that going for it, at least. I mean, if you got two incredibly lucky shots, you could stop, not one, but two bad guys with it! (And then lightning would strike you, causing the winning Powerball ticket in your pocket to burst into flames...)

The quote of the moment comes from Ken Rihanek in comments over at ToddG's place:
"The industry trend is toward guns that are hard to shoot and control. This gun is a natural in todays market. They have outdone the airweight snubby."
This is why I shouldn't check the internets while I'm on the road. If I hadn't, I could have gone another couple days blissfully unaware of that little mutant.

31 comments:

perlhaqr said...

Cool! I wonder if they'll make on in 10mm!

Mikee said...

Twice as good as a Liberator! All I need now is for the two German sentries to stand real still as I sneak up on them, with me dressed as a French resistance fighter in striped shirt and beret!

Roberta X said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Roberta X said...

Perlhaqr: My personal bet is the extensive porting is not for recoil reduction or muzzle control, but to keep the barrel safe from excess pressure; so that would be a no.

Tango Juliet said...

Want no part of that, no sir! I don't understand the market but maybe there are more folk packing in forbidden zones than one suspects.

Jim said...

It needs a rail. Just ain't tacticool without a rail!


Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Bubblehead Les. said...

Do they make one in .410? Then you can have a Backup to the Judge.

Cj said...

Waiting for thee slew of "would this be an ideal choice for bears while hiking in Alaska?" postings in various forums.

Shrimp said...

Well, shoot, CJ! I was just about to ask that very question...

John said...

The steady increase of the 'dumb' quotient among the 21st Century American populace manifests itself in so many ways.

perlhaqr said...

Yeah, I was just trying to riff off Tam's post from a couple days ago about crazy wildcat round bitter clingers. ;)

Man, I hope the barrel isn't made of titanium, too. I'm not sure I'd trust that. Titanium has very weird stress properties.

Trent said...

I may lose whatever chance I have for getting a cool kids gun-owner card but I think that gun is, while not the best thing for your 'One Gun' or anything but in a niche its not awful and potentially very useful.

It fulfills 'have a gun'

I wouldn't want to get shot with it once much less twice

Its better than not carrying a gun.

As long as folks understand what they have I really don't have any problem with the fad of .410s or this little guy.

Weer'd Beard said...

If it'll cheer it up, I've taken a shine to the small pocket guns in 9x19, and those are actually quite comfortable to shoot, and most are smaller and flatter than the ugly mess that is my beloved air-weight J-frames.

The Kahr PM9 you get get the better part of 3 fingers around and 6+1 of 9x19 +P. Surprisingly easy to shoot for such a tiny light gun.

Anonymous said...

Next up, polymer pepperbox!

JD

Guffaw in AZ said...

I think it was Col. Cooper who asked the quintessential question regarding sales of firearms: "What is it for?"
And, the quintessential answer was always, "Why, to SELL of course!"

Kristophr said...

The old steel ADC .45 ACP derringer was absolutely painful to shoot.

And these folks felt a lighter double action version was a good idea?

John A said...

OK, it seems silly to me too. And doubtless will be priced to end as a collector's oddity, not weapon of choice for the clerk at the 7-11.

But perhaps sneering comes just a tad too easily? Say two people, a stone mason and a watchmaker, need a hammer for their jobs, and another person - an accountant - for the once-every-four-years one-nail picture-hanging. Any odds they will select three different types of hammer? Probably from three different hammer-selling outlets, and at least two (more likely three) different hammer makers? That the accountant is not looking for a hammer that is the most comfortable for driving seven hundred nails per day, or for beating a one-karat lump of gold into a twenty-inch-on-a-side sheet?

For someone who hopes never to fire a single shot, even at a target, and considers it a certainty that if he/she ever does need to fire it will be at someone[thing] less than four feet away, what the heck - an Olympic-level target pistol likely seems even sillier to buy than this slice of bologna.

NotClauswitz said...

You can easily carry four in your ninja-socks alone - two per leg, inside and outside. The cufflink version should be coming along soon. I'd keep a fifth under my fedora...and a fifth of vodka in my suit pocket to deaden the pain.

Goober said...

I don't understand. Why would you want a pistol that only shoots twice? Why would you want a pistol that light loaded with a round that heavy?

I've often questioned whether I'm doing the right thing with my hammerless 38 smith because it is light, not exactly easy to control, and only carries 5 rounds. This thing is in a category all on it's own - sort of like the twin barrel derringers they're making that are chambered in .410 shotgun. I'll bet you only shoot that mother once before you go get something else.

Will said...

As for derringers, there was the (70yr old?) customer in the barbershop who took out two robbers with one. Think it was a .22mag, and both were head shots. One dead, the one standing next to him lived. Carried it in a rear pocket, covered up with a handkerchief. Somewhere in the South East, a few years ago.

Buck said...

Give it six months or less and you'll see it in a movie or on TV. probably CSI Miami as the newest deadly weapon to hit. the streets.

The Raving Prophet said...

While it suffices for the "have a gun" part of "how to defend yourself with a handgun," my guess is the price and weight is going to be in excess of the already difficult to shoot but known to be decent pocket guns already available.

The P3AT/LCP and the heavier/weaker Beretta Tomcat and similar concept guns may not be anybody's idea of an ideal weapon, but methinks they'll be easier to shoot, cheaper to buy, and generally more useful than a Ti derringer in .45ACP.

I have seen the plastic Taurus Judge, and while I can't stand Taurus and think the Judge idea to be silly, I've been tempted to buy one for no other reason than to piss off the annoying wheelgun purists. They don't like my 327 TRR8, they don't like my BG38, and sometimes it's just fun to tweak people who refuse to consider the enjoyment found in guns that aren't all steel pre-lock K frames.

Anonymous said...

Crimson Trace announces laser grips for it in 3…2…1...

Gerry

Just My 2¢ said...

Watch it light your clothes on fire during a speed rock.

Since it's ported down that entire barrel, it ought to have a muzzle velocity of about 2.

Justthisguy said...

So, was I a bad person for encouraging the Sweety to buy the 442? Hey, it was affordable, and she point-shoots with it like magic, which is good because she never ever exercises with it.

Jon Moore said...

Ah well WTF. They were reasonably successful marketing the .45 GAP weren't they?

Ken said...

Twice as good as a Liberator! All I need now is for the two German sentries to stand real still as I sneak up on them, with me dressed as a French resistance fighter in striped shirt and beret!

(mortally wounded Resistance fighter staggers in, reeling off furniture, walls, and people)

ALL: "Latrine!"

Sport Pilot said...

Pardon my atomic fireball as I shoot my pocket rocket sir.
Anyone here recall the High Standard DAO 22 Mag derringer? Terrible trigger, loud, fireball bigger than anything and stung when you shot it. If I'd only bought a pair of them then to sell now...sigh.

John Stephens said...

It's been done:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COP_357_Derringer

J.R.Shirley said...

I see Mikee beat me to it. A much more expensive Liberator.

With a bit more barrel, and no porting...if it wasn't too expensive...I'd take one in .38 Special.

But, wow- there's a LOT of red in that website!

Anonymous said...

I suppose if money wasn't an object, one could always send Ken Rihanek a matchlock....