Wild West – June 2019

78

GUNS OF THE WEST

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WILD WEST JUNE 2019

REMINGTON’S POPULAR DOUBLE DERRINGER

REMAINED IN PRODUCTION NEARLY 70 YEARS

BY GEORGE LAYMAN

A PALMFUL

OF FIREPOWER

hose who grew up watching Westerns

readily recognize the Remington double

derringer, which most often pops up

on-screen in the palm of a shady gambler. The

compact rimfire pistol was as well known in the

real West. Remington produced more than 150,000

over-under double-barrel derringers between 1866

and 1935. Designed by New York dentist-cum-

gunmaker Dr. William Harvey Elliot and patented

by Remington, the derringer was chambered only

in .41-caliber. While its slow, heavy bullet traveled

at 425 feet per second, that was plenty fast to kill

an opponent across a card table.

Remington offered the derringer in a plain blued

or nickel-plated finish (engraving optional) with

metal, hard rubber, walnut, rosewood or special-

order ivory or pearl grips. Much like the Win-

chester Model 1873 lever-action rifle and Colt

Single Action Army pistol, it was an iconic weapon

1912

Remington made its

Type III double derringer

(marketed as the Model

95) from 1912 to 1935.

The

hammer

cocked,

the

firing pin

switches

position

to strike

the rim

of either

the

upper or

lower

round

of the era, remaining in production two years longer

than the first-generation Colt. Remington derrin-

gers made through 1912 bear three different sets

of maker’s marks due to the firm’s bankruptcy and

successive name changes; collectors often style the

succeeding models the Types I, II and III. After the

1912 merger of Remington Arms Co. and Union

Metallic Cartridge Co., all remaining derringers

were stamped REMINGTON ARMS--U.M.C.

CO. ILION, NY. Around that time Remington

began marketing the gun as the Model 95 double

derringer. The significance of “95” is unknown, but

this author feels the company sought to give its

firearm more contemporary nomenclature.

The rimfire double derringer functions rather

simply. On turning a latch on the right side of

the frame counterclockwise 180 degrees, the barrel

breaks upward for loading. The user then closes and

re-latches the pistol and cocks the hammer, which

T