Anyone know anything about old Derringers?

[Billy Golightly]

My dad and I were cleaning out the gun cabinet and found one, forgot all about it. He got it and a .50 black powder rifle in trade for some stuff like 30 years ago heh.

It seems to be in pretty good shape, the close ups make the rust look bad but its actually only really surface rust. Probably hasn't had any WD-40 on it in 15-20 years. On the right side behind the hammer it says "DERRINGER" and then below that it says "PHILADELPLHIA. On the left side of the barrel its hard to read, because half of the stamp on the first letter didn't go completely on. it sure looks like an O, but it might not be. If it is an O, it reads:

Olkar Spain-45 Cal.
Black Powder Only

Further back on the barrel towards the hammer it reads 244276 (I assume this is a serial #). I'm not sure if its a real Derringer or not, It looks EXACTLY like the picture of the 1855 Derringer pistol in the encyclopedia, but I'm not sure about the Spain part, or is that just something about the ammunition? Heres the pictures.

[AirManCam]

It looks like its a reproduction from the 1900s. if it is an origional 1855 she would be worth some major $$$$$

[Jeb]

Hey Billy see if you can find anything about it on


www.gunbroker.com


ebay for guns.... :-D

[Billy Golightly]

Sweet Jeb! I been looking for a site like that, I'll look and see if I can find anything.

[mymint87]

looks like mine, bought it as a kit 30 years ago, assembled it myself...

not very accurate with the short barrel and all, nevertheless, fun to shoot....definately someones handy work

[TeCaTe_MaN]

if it is all origional, clean it and sell it you could prob get a good walletfull of cash :D

[AirManCam]

no way billy! gun prices are going up more and more every day keep it around for somemore time!

[ATC crazy]

Bill would sure like to have some ($$$) for his 500X....Good luck whatever you do.

*PS...Get a dehumidifier for your gun cabinet....no more rust :-P Cabela's ought to have them. They work very well.

[AirManCam]

Yeah how much you want for it bill? Id buy it just so i could see the 500x up and going another step!

[Billy Golightly]

I dunno, I'm gonna try to take it to a gun shop sometime soon and let someone take a look at it and see what they think.

[Trikeaholic]

that is a reproduction. Anything that says "black powder only" on it is a repro. I know this because I used to be big into antique guns and none of my original pistols like that (percussion cap or flintlock) said anything about what kind of powder to use, because there was no such thing as smokeless powder till around the turn of the century.( the century before this one! :D ) its a repop, not worth $25 sorry to say. Most repo's are made in spain and Italy. I have a repo 1860 Colt Army revolver made in Italy, got from Cabelas about 12 years ago. Its very high quality and fun to shoot, but it aint worth even $50. I just saw another Item. The Phillips drive screw was not even invented till the 1910's first used by ford motor company. All fasteners back then were made by crude machines and ALL were slotted or square headed like bolts and stuff. My barn was built in 1890 and has square head bolts and nuts tying the rafters together.

[Billy Golightly]

Ah, thanks Holic. I kinda figured it was a reproduction but I wasn't sure.

[AirManCam]

I said that too lol :D

[Billy Golightly]

Yes...but you didn't give any reasons why....