HOT GAT or FUDD CRAP? Pocket Magnum or Accident Waiting to Happen?
Welcome everyone to the 251st edition of 'Hot Gat or Fudd Crap?', one of our many series here on TFB. If you’re new to the series, this is where we look at the most obscure firearms that are actually for sale and ask the question - is this Gat a sweet deal or only have Fudd appeal? Each week the TFB staff weighs in with their thoughts, but readers get the final say in the poll at the bottom of each article.
In our last edition, our poll showed that you, the readers, decided the custom Walther was nothing but fudd crap.
At this time the original auction is still up with the very custom Walther still up for grabs. We can only hope someone with a spare $35k will take this home sometime in the not-so-distant future.
In this week's edition of HGFC, we look at a custom four-barrel Derringer chambered in .357 Magnum. As is tradition, this magnum pocket gat is currently up for sale on GunBroker for $2,399 Current Bid or $2,599 Buy It Now.
HOT GAT or FUDD CRAP? Pocket Magnum or Accident Waiting to Happen?
Let's see what the Staff had to say about this week’s offering:
"Blow your loads and bank account on this suspect, sterling 4-shot." - Adam S.
“Punch yourself in the nose with every pull of the trigger” - Josh C.
“It’s got a certain elegance…” Matt M.
“Only buy this if you cheat at cards enough to afford it and need to defend yourself at the pharaoh tables in your local saloon” - Rusty S.
"It was in a Matrix movie, automatic hot gat" - Daniel Y.
Selling this retro gat is GunBroker seller HALL AND SONS, located in Jonesville VA. Let’s see what they had to say about this off-duty police derringer.
“Greetings fellow freedom lovers from Hall And Sons! I'm thrilled to offer a rare and desirable Derringer. The COP ( Compact Off Duty Police ) 4-shot Derringer in 357 Magnum caliber. Discontinued, this Derringer was built in Torrance, California. It has the stainless steel construction, matte stainless finish, 3 inch barrels, fixed sights and double action. No factory box. This famous Derringer has a gorgeous custom bright polished, mirror finish and custom Ram Horn grips. Condition is superb. High definition pictures don't lie like gun sellers do, check out all the high quality photos. ****NOW ACCEPTING CONSIGNMENTS FROM ALL FREEDOM LOVERS! GIVE ME A CALL TODAY*****I'm not one of the "big guys". When you call me, I answer or I'll call you right back. There's no pressing numbers, no waiting, no bs. Please call me for any questions. Check out my feedback and know with confidence you get what's in the pictures. Be sure to take this and all new to you firearms to a qualified gunsmith before firing. If this listing shows up on any site other than gunbroker it is a scam. All guns ship USPS Priority. If your ffl dealer has two different addresses on his ffl please have them circle which address I need to ship to through the post office. We prefer payment through postal money orders, cashier's checks or credit cards. I pride myself in getting things shipped out to you guys as soon as payment and ffl is received. I ship Monday through Friday every day. I sell pre-owned collector guns only, before loading or firing these firearms it is recommended that you take all used firearms to your gunsmith and have them checked out before firing or I'll gladly fire them if asked. I have started accepting a limited number of quality CONSIGNMENTS this season. Just give me a call and let me know what you have. Now accepting all major credit cards at plus 3.5%.”
I’ve never been particularly fond of derringers. Maybe I just grew up in the generation of magazine-fed guns and this is all lost on me. Even if it is, I’ve shot enough CCW revolvers chambered in .357 Magnum to know I already do not want to shoot this.
Granted there is a certain cool factor when it comes to multi-barrel guns. An over-and-under is cool, but a four-barreled pistol has a certain cool factor that’s hard to explain. So yes there’s a part of me that thinks this would be an interesting showpiece, but you certainly wouldn’t see me frequenting the range with it.
What do you think? Is this multi-barrelled gat worth it for a shade under $2.5k or are you better off finding a different off-duty police handgun? As always I leave it up to you, the readers, to decide.
What do you think? Is this Derringer COP a Hot Gat or stainless multi-barrel Fudd Crap? Be sure to let us know in the comments below, and cast your vote to let us know if this COP Compact Off-Duty Police .357 Mag 4-Barrel Derringer is a Hot Gat or Fudd Crap:
The author is a military contractor who enjoys conducting independent firearms research and reloading. Article inquiries and suggestions are welcome at austinjrex at gmail.com
More by Austin R
Comments
Join the conversation
These pistols are pretty awful in practice, the trigger is like a staplegun, the barrels aren't regulated for point of impact at all, and the sights are useless. You're looking at sloppy groups at even 10yds, so this thing would really work best at contact distance, which isn't great IMO.
I recall an anecdote by a cop who bought one in the 70s, who said he figured he would use one as his backup gun, in an ankle holster, and he only did that for a while because he noticed the hefty weight of this all steel pistol made him start walk a bit funny. He put a .25 caliber pocket pistol on his ankle instead.
However, I do think that this pistol is safe, it's built quite well, and the trigger takes a very deliberate pull, so even if the trigger sucks and the felt recoil and blast is rough, you'll live.
If this thing could be reinvented with an aluminum body, a somewhat lighter trigger with a safety dingus, and with .38 Special only chambers, maybe it would do better, but regulating the barrels for half decent point of impact would still make it expensive. As it is, a 5-shot snub with an aluminum frame does all of this things better, as does any modern compact .380 automatic.
These guns have their value just for being neat and unusual, they're a prime Curio & Relic weapon which will be worth it for some people just because they're an interesting pistol (and was in a few movies), so it doesn't matter that they kinda suck.
He's doing it completely wrong.
The correct course of action would be to 3d resin-print some transparent orange grips, and list it for $3k.