Deringer Pistol -Semi Relic/Project-

This is an 1850's-era copy of a Henry Deringer percussion pistol with a 2" barrel (1.5" tube + .5" breech plug). There were quite a number of famous infringements to the Henry Deringer design such as the Wurrflein, Slotter, Schneider, E. Schmidt, Gillespie, Dimick, Beerstecher, Bitterlich, Butterfield, etc. We can find no markings on this one however. Overall length appears to be about 5-1/2". Bore has rifling and looks to be approx. .44 or .45 caliber. Deringers came in various sizes but this one appears to be fairly close dimensionally to the one John Wilkes Booth used to assassinate Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Engraving is present on the lock and barrel but either a maker's name is no longer visible or there never was one. The story we were told was this little Deringer was dug up out of the ground. If that's the case, all I can say is that it must have come from the floor of a barn or from underneath a house as the wood seems to have survived in remarkable condition with only about 1/2" missing from the front end. The wrap-around checkering on the grip is still sharp as are the inlets for the German silver inlays.

Overall, the gun is 80% intact. Lock, stock, and barrel are there along with many of the smaller components...just bear in mind that not everything is there and some things that have survived are broken and in need of restoration. For starters: the lock is complete and appears to be in working order with the hammer still attached except for the spur and striker which have been broken off many years ago. The trigger and baseplate w/ finial inlay is intact but trigger guard, inlay for the bottom handle, shield inlay, and the barrel key inlays are all missing. Left inlay and lock screw eyelet inlays are both present. All screws are present...many show engraving. Barrel has some pitting along with a chipped tang coming off the breech plug and the slot for the key on the bottom is missing. Barrel key is also gone. The front flare or schnabel to the wooden grips will need to be completely re-fabricated along with the barrel key slot. As a result of the chipped tang and missing barrel key, the barrel is not secured to the wood...although we laid it in the channel during the photo shoot to give the viewer some idea of what it's supposed to look like. This may be a small gun but it's not a small project. The good news here is that it's not $1000+ like all the rest of the Deringers and their famous and numerous Infringements. I truly believe in the right pair of skilled hands, this really could be rebuilt back into a very respectable looking Deringer OR leave it alone and display as a colorful relic.

Item# 1336

$425