I recently took the plunge and bought a Bond Arms Texas Defender. It's a stainless steel derringer with 3" barrels. My gun has a set of .44 special barrels. I've also placed an order for a set of .45 Colt barrels.
Here's a photo of my gun, plus an Altoids tin which I use to carry spare ammo...
I bought the gun kind of as a novelty, but also because I wanted a very compact, yet reliable handgun that I could carry while hiking, camping, hunting, etc..
For a brief time, I owned a NAA Mini Revolver in 22LR. It was such a beautifully crafted firearm, but for me, it wasn't very practical. It was inaccurate, underpowered, and very hard to shoot safely due to its tiny size and also due to its lack of a trigger guard. I was always afraid that I'd shoot my hand or drop the gun and have a negligient discharge, so I eventually sold my mini revolver back to the gun shop.
I recently got the tiny gun bug again. I was originally thinking about a compact semi-auto (like the Ruger LCP or the KelTec 32/380 pistols). However, although those semi-autos are great guns, I wanted something different.
I finally opted for the Bond Arms Texas Defender. I like its all stainless construction, its compact size, and its safety features (rebouding hammer and trigger guard). I also like the available calibers that the factory offers for this gun.
I picked up my gun yesterday and took it to the range today. I was a little bit nervous about shooting the gun because I had heard (on the Internet) that the gun kicked too much, was wildly inaccurate, etc.. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of this compact firearm.
The gun shoots well for such a tiny beast. I shot factory and handloaded ammo (standard pressure) at 10 feet (around 3 meters) and for my first 8 shots, got two nice, tight groups. The first group, which was from the bottom barrel, was about 2" below point of aim. The second group was about 3" above point of aim.
Here's a photo of the results of my first 8 shots ever from this little gun...
I also tried shooting the gun at 11 yards. This was more challenging due to the tiny sight radius, the heavy trigger action, and the small grip size. However, I still managed to keep my most of shots on the paper and all of them were within the torso of a human-sized silhouette target that was stapled behind my circular target. The lower barrel shot closer to point-of-aim, but the upper barrel seemed to hit quite high.
The gun has its quirks - the handle is very compact so getting a grip is tricky, but it is possible to find a grip that is comfortable/secure, yet still allows you to operate the gun.
Also, the trigger action is heavy and it requires that you pull the trigger back while simultaneously pushing it down. However, with a little practice, you get used to this action, and if you do it right, the actual trigger pull weight isn't as heavy as it first seems.
It takes a little muscle to cock the hammer, but I can do it quickly and with one hand. However, a person with weak or arthritic hands might have difficulty cocking the hammer single-handedly.
Note that the manufacturer offers extended grips that make it much easier to hold the gun and cock and fire it. However, since I want a compact piece, I will stick to the standard compact grips on my pistol.
The recoil with standard pressure .44 special loads was manageable due to the weight of the gun and the shape of the grip frame.
The gun is heavy (21 oz for the .44 sp version) and you only get two single action shots before you have to reload. However, the gun is very compact (in spite of the thick grip panels on the grip frame) and easy to carry and conceal.
I really like my new purchase. This little gun is quirky, and requires a lot of practice to get comfortable with its operation. However, it is very well made, reliable, reasonably accurate, and very durable.
In spite of its single action mechanism and limited capacity, the little gun is still a formidable weapon at close range (< 4 yards).
I plan to develop a .44 special load that uses a hard cast, 255 gr bullet and a .45 Colt load that uses a hard cast 265gr bullet that I could use when hiking/hunting/camping.
Here's a photo of my gun, plus an Altoids tin which I use to carry spare ammo...
I bought the gun kind of as a novelty, but also because I wanted a very compact, yet reliable handgun that I could carry while hiking, camping, hunting, etc..
For a brief time, I owned a NAA Mini Revolver in 22LR. It was such a beautifully crafted firearm, but for me, it wasn't very practical. It was inaccurate, underpowered, and very hard to shoot safely due to its tiny size and also due to its lack of a trigger guard. I was always afraid that I'd shoot my hand or drop the gun and have a negligient discharge, so I eventually sold my mini revolver back to the gun shop.
I recently got the tiny gun bug again. I was originally thinking about a compact semi-auto (like the Ruger LCP or the KelTec 32/380 pistols). However, although those semi-autos are great guns, I wanted something different.
I finally opted for the Bond Arms Texas Defender. I like its all stainless construction, its compact size, and its safety features (rebouding hammer and trigger guard). I also like the available calibers that the factory offers for this gun.
I picked up my gun yesterday and took it to the range today. I was a little bit nervous about shooting the gun because I had heard (on the Internet) that the gun kicked too much, was wildly inaccurate, etc.. Fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised by the performance of this compact firearm.
The gun shoots well for such a tiny beast. I shot factory and handloaded ammo (standard pressure) at 10 feet (around 3 meters) and for my first 8 shots, got two nice, tight groups. The first group, which was from the bottom barrel, was about 2" below point of aim. The second group was about 3" above point of aim.
Here's a photo of the results of my first 8 shots ever from this little gun...
I also tried shooting the gun at 11 yards. This was more challenging due to the tiny sight radius, the heavy trigger action, and the small grip size. However, I still managed to keep my most of shots on the paper and all of them were within the torso of a human-sized silhouette target that was stapled behind my circular target. The lower barrel shot closer to point-of-aim, but the upper barrel seemed to hit quite high.
The gun has its quirks - the handle is very compact so getting a grip is tricky, but it is possible to find a grip that is comfortable/secure, yet still allows you to operate the gun.
Also, the trigger action is heavy and it requires that you pull the trigger back while simultaneously pushing it down. However, with a little practice, you get used to this action, and if you do it right, the actual trigger pull weight isn't as heavy as it first seems.
It takes a little muscle to cock the hammer, but I can do it quickly and with one hand. However, a person with weak or arthritic hands might have difficulty cocking the hammer single-handedly.
Note that the manufacturer offers extended grips that make it much easier to hold the gun and cock and fire it. However, since I want a compact piece, I will stick to the standard compact grips on my pistol.
The recoil with standard pressure .44 special loads was manageable due to the weight of the gun and the shape of the grip frame.
The gun is heavy (21 oz for the .44 sp version) and you only get two single action shots before you have to reload. However, the gun is very compact (in spite of the thick grip panels on the grip frame) and easy to carry and conceal.
I really like my new purchase. This little gun is quirky, and requires a lot of practice to get comfortable with its operation. However, it is very well made, reliable, reasonably accurate, and very durable.
In spite of its single action mechanism and limited capacity, the little gun is still a formidable weapon at close range (< 4 yards).
I plan to develop a .44 special load that uses a hard cast, 255 gr bullet and a .45 Colt load that uses a hard cast 265gr bullet that I could use when hiking/hunting/camping.