This item is an original, pre-Civil War Deringer pocket pistol in good condition.

In the early 1850s, these weapons were once considered the favorite handgun of American civilians. These quality-made weapons were large caliber, percussion, single-shot, muzzle loading pocket pistols and were produced by the Philadelphia firearms maker Henry Deringer.  In the mid-1840s through the early 1850s, Henry Deringer progressed to make smaller versions of his dueling pistols along with small and medium-sized, concealable pocket pistols for the civilian trade.  The lightweight and small size attributes of the pistol gained popularity over bulkier arms and helped lead to Deringer’s success in the personal defense firearms market. In fact, it was one of Deringer’s pocket pistols that was used in the assassination of President Lincoln at Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865. This infamous act would forever assign notoriety to the Deringer pistol in the American mindset.

This Deringer factory-made pistol is a large .44 caliber specimen and is stamped “DERINGER / PHILADEL / P” around the top of the breech and “DERINGER / PHILADELA” on the lockplate. Breech plug features two thick bands of fine silver inlay. Pistol features a flat topped, 4.00” long round barrel with traces of light wear and some minor scattered pitting. The pistol’s overall length is 7.50”.

This Deringer features a pleasing black walnut stock in excellent condition with slightly worn down checkering on the grips. There is a very small chip out of the wood to the rear of the lock. There are no observable cracks.

Standard hand-engraved scrollwork decorates the tang, lockplate, and hammer.

German silver is mounted for the wedge plates, trigger guard, triggerguard escutcheon, buttplate, bolster plate and forend guard, all of which are delicately engraved with fine scrollwork.   A plain, German silver shield device is inlaid in the stock behind the tang. The shield and buttplate show some scattered dark spotting.

Barrel and lock assembly have acquired a pleasing, dark patina finish overall.   Hammer does not hold full or half-cock. Original nipple is present.

Ramrod is present and brass tipped on each end. Brass on the rammer head is engraved with a scroll decoration while the opposite end is slotted for holding a cleaning patch.

This handsome weapon, in good overall condition, is a trademark Deringer-manufactured pocket pistol.  [ad]

DISCLAIMER: All firearms are sold as collector's items only - we do not accept responsibility as to the shooting safety or reliability of any antique firearm. All firearms are described as accurately as possible, given the restraints of a catalog listing length. We want satisfied customers & often "under" describe the weapons. Any city or state regulations regarding owning antique firearms are the responsibility of the purchaser. All firearms are "mechanically perfect" unless noted, but again, are NOT warranted as safe to fire!

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