Looking back on the history of the mouse gun, it's a little humbling to real that the rimfire was the first one. That in 1857, when Danial Smith and Horace Wesson invented the self contained metallic cartridge and the S&W model 1. That same year, Christian Sharps came out with the famed 4 barrel derringer chambered fro that first self contained metallic cartridge, the .22 short.
Now, over a century and a half later, the little guns still have the same use as back then; a small inconspicuous gun that can be dropped in a pocket and nobody knows ti's there. A pocket of deterrent to some low life criminal that has designs on your wallet without your consent.
When I was 18 years old and living a somewhat risky lifestyle in Washington D.C. I carried a little Italian remake of the Sharps derringer. With 4 rounds of .22 short, it wasn't what you'd want for a gun fight, but it got me out of a very bad spot one night in an alley at 1am. It took two rounds to get the job done and got the guy to stop trying to bash my brains in with a crowbar, but it worked. I think about the time since 1857 that some little derringer or pocket gun saved it's owner from harm. I guess contrary to modern gun guru's preaching, you don't really need a 17 round Glock to step out the door in the morning and go about your life.
From 1866 to almost WW2, Remington sold their famed over under derringer in good numbers, even after John Browning changed the game in 1905 with the invention of the .25acp round and the first small self loader that would fit in a vest pocket. A true pocket pistol in the best sense of the word. For over 50 years, the little .25 semis ere the popular pocket pistol of the day. When I was a kid in D.C. the little Italian Galisi and other low cost pocket autos where a dime a dozen. The low cost German made RG 22 revolvers were also common and one of them almost killed my friend Eli when he ran into a rival gang member outside a bar and he got shot in the gut at arms length. He decrtibed the .22 round in his bread basket as like a white hot soldiering iron twisting around in his stomach and it dropped hm on the pavement doubled over in agony. So much for a .22 not having an effect. He was the hospital after 4 hours of emergency surgery, for weak. It took him a few months to get back to semi normal. To this day as an old fart, Eli says it was a life altering memory.
For the past 30 some years, I've carried the small North American Arms mini .22 revolvers for my own self defense and they've done their job. Those few times when it took the point of a gun to get someone to leave me the eff alone, it did well. Criminals don't want to get shot by anyone, it's really bad ju-ju and results in emergency rooms and cops. It's funny to think that the little NAA is a off shoot of the old 1857 S&W model 1. The original mouse gun in .22 rimfire. A full 161 years after it was invented, a little .22 rimfire is still protecting this retired senior citizen.
It will probably still be in my pocket when I keel over with the 'big one.'
Now, over a century and a half later, the little guns still have the same use as back then; a small inconspicuous gun that can be dropped in a pocket and nobody knows ti's there. A pocket of deterrent to some low life criminal that has designs on your wallet without your consent.
When I was 18 years old and living a somewhat risky lifestyle in Washington D.C. I carried a little Italian remake of the Sharps derringer. With 4 rounds of .22 short, it wasn't what you'd want for a gun fight, but it got me out of a very bad spot one night in an alley at 1am. It took two rounds to get the job done and got the guy to stop trying to bash my brains in with a crowbar, but it worked. I think about the time since 1857 that some little derringer or pocket gun saved it's owner from harm. I guess contrary to modern gun guru's preaching, you don't really need a 17 round Glock to step out the door in the morning and go about your life.
From 1866 to almost WW2, Remington sold their famed over under derringer in good numbers, even after John Browning changed the game in 1905 with the invention of the .25acp round and the first small self loader that would fit in a vest pocket. A true pocket pistol in the best sense of the word. For over 50 years, the little .25 semis ere the popular pocket pistol of the day. When I was a kid in D.C. the little Italian Galisi and other low cost pocket autos where a dime a dozen. The low cost German made RG 22 revolvers were also common and one of them almost killed my friend Eli when he ran into a rival gang member outside a bar and he got shot in the gut at arms length. He decrtibed the .22 round in his bread basket as like a white hot soldiering iron twisting around in his stomach and it dropped hm on the pavement doubled over in agony. So much for a .22 not having an effect. He was the hospital after 4 hours of emergency surgery, for weak. It took him a few months to get back to semi normal. To this day as an old fart, Eli says it was a life altering memory.
For the past 30 some years, I've carried the small North American Arms mini .22 revolvers for my own self defense and they've done their job. Those few times when it took the point of a gun to get someone to leave me the eff alone, it did well. Criminals don't want to get shot by anyone, it's really bad ju-ju and results in emergency rooms and cops. It's funny to think that the little NAA is a off shoot of the old 1857 S&W model 1. The original mouse gun in .22 rimfire. A full 161 years after it was invented, a little .22 rimfire is still protecting this retired senior citizen.
It will probably still be in my pocket when I keel over with the 'big one.'