High Standard American history and the Derringer
Bat Masterson. Doc Holliday. Wild Bill Hickok. John Wilkes Booth. All four are names familiar to anyone with even a passing acquaintance of United States history.
As a nation, we are rich in firearm lore.
Masterson, Holliday, and Hickok remain inextricably linked to our romance with the Old West.
Booth changed the course of American history with a single shot. All of these men showed a preference for a particular firearm, the Derringer.
Derringers have been around for a long time.
They were originally designed as a muzzle-loading single-shot affair, but more modern examples fire a variety of calibers, both rimfire and centerfire.
Modern-day Derringers generally have an over/under 2-shot configuration, but they still share a quality with their predecessors: they are easily concealable.
I have one Derringer in my collection, and it is a modern-era type. It is an over/under High Standard Model DM-101, firing the .22 WMRF (Winchester Magnum Rimfire) cartridge.
This pistol formerly belonged to my late mother-in-law, who bequeathed it to me several years before her passing.
She had received it from her husband, who rightly believed that she should have some form of personal protection in the event he wasn’t available.
While the .22 Magnum is hardly a foolproof one-shot man-stopper, some pistol loadings such as CCI bring the muzzle energy up to the standard .32 ACP level. Not too shabby for a vest-pocket gun.
My High Standard is very well built, and in near pristine condition.
It still has the original box and paperwork. It has a nice low-luster blued finish and faux mother-of-pearl grips. They may also be found in nickel and electroless nickel. The .22 Magnum line of High Standard derringers came in three different series. These can be identified by whether the model name, DM-101, actually appears on the weapon
(Note: High Standard also produced .22 Long Rifle derringers, which are Model D-101). The first two series carry the model, the third does not. Mine is a third series. These were produced from 1970 to 1984. The absence of an alpha character at the front of the number shows that mine was produced between 1970 and 1975, and probably close to the end of that run.
At the time, you could purchase one new for about $35; the .22 Long Rifle caliber was about $2 less. A recent check of gun auction sites shows asking prices between $350 and $600, depending on condition and if the original box and paperwork were available. My 2016 Gun Digest Book of Guns and Prices© shows a value of $450. With few exceptions, a well-made, quality firearm rarely decreases in value; the High Standard derringer is obviously no exception.
I have put a number of CCI .22 Magnum rounds through this little gem. For a diminutive caliber, it is a rip-snorter out of the Derringer. This pistol has a 3 ½” barrel, longer than the barrel on my Taurus 85 snub-nose .38 revolver and only 0.4” shorter than my old police duty Sig 229…and still fits in the palm of my hand. Is it accurate? At distances which Henry Deringer (whose consistently misspelled name we now know as “Derringer”) envisioned its use it is perfectly suitable. The sights on this piece are rudimentary, to be kind. At more than about five yards it begins to exhibit minute-of-dinner-plate accuracy. Across a card table or a bedroom, of course, that would be sufficient. The barrel selection is determined by a simple firing pin cam: whichever barrel didn’t fire last time is up next.
Loading this pistol is very simple. There is a piece called a saddle which rides atop the frame. To open the weapon, the saddle is simply thumbed upward, which allows the saddle/breech/barrel assembly to tip forward.
After loading, the assembly is swung back down and the saddle clicks securely back in place. Since this is a straight-forward double-action only firearm, there is no safety and you’re ready to point-and-click. After the first shot the firing pin cam rotates and you’re ready for barrel #2.
Extracting loaded or empty cases is easy; simply tip the assembly forward again then lift up on the saddle. Both barrels will be extracted and ejected. While we’re on the subject of firing this lil’ feller, I would note that the double-action trigger is STIFF. I read on a gun blog somewhere that the trigger pull is as smooth and silky as a Craftsman stapler; this is close to the truth. But, being this a firearm with a minimal trigger guard, this should be viewed as a good feature. I haven’t gauged the trigger pull on my High Standard, but if someone tells you they had an accidental discharge you may freely and safely call them a liar.
A word of caution in parting. Although chambered for .22 Magnum, it is NOT safe to fire .22 Long Rifle in this gun. Although the nominal bullet diameter is very close to equal, the case diameter is not.
The .22 LR case will leave too much room between case wall and breech, and the case will frequently split when fired, as opposed to remaining intact in a snug-fitting .22 Magnum. The escaping gas pressure must go somewhere so it pushes on the breech walls. Not good, even out of a .22 Long Rifle, and the potential for serious injury is high.
Don’t do it.
Although long out of production, there are still a lot of High Standard Derringers out there. If you want a tangible connection to firearm days of yore or just want something a little different to take to the (short) range, consider High Standard Derringers.