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A Philadelphia Deringer is a small percussion handgun designed by Henry Deringer (1786-1868) and produced from 1852 through 1968. A popular handgun of the era, this design was widely copied by competitors, sometimes down to the markings. Over time, the misspelling "derringer" has come to refer to any small-sized, large- caliber, non-reloading handgun.Henry Deringer's production records, and contemporanous records of his imitators, indicate that these pistols were almost always sold in matching pairs. This was, in part, to compensate for the limited power of a single-shot short-barrelled pistol. Original Deringers are almost never found still in their matched pairs today.
Initially popular with military officers, the Deringer became widely popular with civilians who required a small and easily concealable pistol for self defence.
In total, approximately 15,000 Deringer pistols were manufactured. All were single barrel pistols with back action percussion locks, typically .41" rifled bores, and walnut stocks. Barrel length varied from 1.5" to 6", and the hardware was commonly a copper-nickel alloy known as " German silver ".
Because of their small size and easy availability, Deringers sometimes had the dubious reputation as being a favored tool of assassins. The single most famous Deringer used for this purpose was fired by John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
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