Wild West – June 2019

79

GUNS OF THE WEST

JUNE 2019 WILD WEST

screen gamblers draw weapons in saloons or on

riverboats, their weapon of choice is almost always

a double derringer.

Still widely circulating in both standard and

special-order variations, Remington Model 95s

draw strong interest from firearms collectors. Orig-

inals with plain blued finish and wood or hard rub-

ber grips run in the $850 to $1,200 range. Models

in their original boxes or with special-order en-

graving or pearl grips, as well as those with (proven)

ties to a historic individual or event, can fetch up-

ward of $3,000. A loose frame hinge will natu-

rally detract from the value of these little Rem-

ingtons. Over the years other gun manufacturers

have produced double derringer replicas, many

still in production, with sturdier frames and in cal-

ibers ranging from .22 rimfire to .45 Colt center-

fire. Whether an antique or a replica, the famous

two-shooter bears a reputation and a silhouette

hard to forget.

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extends the spur trigger from its guard. When the

hammer is cocked, the firing pin switches posi-

tion to strike the rim of either the upper or lower

round. After firing both barrels, the user again

breaks open the gun and slides a serrated oval

latch on the left side of the barrel rearward to ex-

tract spent brass, though earlier models don’t in-

clude an extractor. A notable weak point of the

Remington Model 95 is the hinge joining the bar-

rels to the frame, which with wear and tear tends

to loosen and may break.

In the early 1870s, before becoming a household

name, Buffalo Bill Cody was known to have pre-

sented friends with engraved special-order der-

ringers. In 2017 Colorado’s Glenwood Springs

Historical Society paid $84,000 for a Model 95

(Serial No. 474) that reportedly belonged to den-

tist turned gunfighting gambler Doc Holliday. The

backstory went that while Holliday was trailing the

Earps in Tombstone, Arizona Territory, his rowdy

companion, “Big Nose” Kate Horony, presented

him with the double derringer, which has pearl

grips and is engraved on the backstrap TO DOC

FROM KATE. After the sale, unfortunately, its his-

torical provenance came into question, and the

society offered to return any contributions it re-

ceived to help buy the gun. Perhaps the story of

the faux relic will draw visitors to its Holliday col-

lection in the former Glenwood Hotel at 8th Street

and Grand Avenue, where Doc died in 1887. Long

after Old West scallywags and lawmen pocketed

Model 95s for close-range action, World War II

officers and enlisted men were known to keep them

as backups. No less a figure than General Douglas

MacArthur carried a Remington 95 double der-

ringer, one that had belonged to his father.

While Colt .45 Peacemakers and Winchesters

played starring roles in the “reel” West, the Rem-

ington double derringers saw plenty of screen time.

J.B. Books, the dying gunfighter portrayed by John

Wayne in the 1976 Western The Shootist, carried

one next to his wallet. James West, the fictional

19th-century Secret Service agent played by Rob-

ert Conrad in the 1965–69 TV series the The Wild

Wild West, concealed no fewer than three der-

ringers on his person. Paladin, the lead character

portrayed by Robert Boone in the 1957–63 series

Have Gun—Will Travel, kept a Model 95 backup

derringer behind his belt buckle. In an early epi-

sode of the 1965–69 series The Big Valley Jarrod

Barkley (played by Richard Long) gives brother

Heath (Lee Majors) a double derringer as a Christ-

mas present. Of course, whenever big- or small-

The pocket-sized

double derringer,

whose barrel broke

upward for loading,

was a favorite with

cardsharps in the

Old West as well

as the “reel” West.