Press - Police - & Black-Powder Parlor Pistols:

"We removed some content or messages .. your Post" - so I've altered the title ..

Most public 'news' services - the bloody  'Presstitutes' - seem to be ignoring how close the world stands to a nuclear war catastrophe right now .. naturally it might not happen .. But imagine how terrified the academic members of Gun Control New Zealand will be if they discover that they are now survivors alone and unarmed on a remote undefendable island with no oil - no power - no survival tools & no takeaway food. - Neither New Zealand's English King or Maori Queen will be offering any help when stuff gets a bit basic ..

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- Most experts state that between 1860-63 - around 200 of these 'Derringer' type "Parlour Pistols" were sold by Remington .. 

These wee guns were bored .177" (4.5 mm) caliber and fired a lead ball driven ONLY by the gasses produced from a copper Percussion Cap.

Note: - I spent time researching WHY the .177" is generally the smallest gun bore and how & when it came to be so - but there's absolute confusion .. I GIVE UP.

Reproductions of this antique design are available from that excellent Italian manufacturer Pedersoli that may be bought and shot for sport in USA and other countries having a sane approach to guns and their use. - they are small with an overall length just over 12 cm. (4.75 inches) - What we are talking about here is 'CAP GUNS' that every kid used to run around bomb sites & gardens pretending to be a cowboy, back in the day when we had fun outdoors instead of ruining our eyesight & mental health by staring at a screen ..

After dinner entertainment used to be civilized in the olden days with targets hung before heavy curtain material or mounted in front of an unused brick lined fireplace .. not too noisy or smokey when shot with no black powder propellant,-  the tiny lead balls would manage velocities of around 300 feet per second - but some online correspondents have added a few grains of the mixture behind their projectile to hop them up, with some loss of accuracy while claiming up to 800 ft/sec velocities.

It likely would be a total waste of time to even think about importing these reproduction Cap Guns into New Zealand under our current Police State Rules - as for example they are demanding that fully licenced & Endorsed Target Pistol shooters must join an approved & separate 'Soft Air Club' before they can buy a plastic pellet gun.

Criminal Gangs are out of control while making huge profits dealing in illegal drugs and guns .. so our Police respond by oppressing and restricting the most law abiding section of NZ Society .. Licensed Firearms owners ..

https://americanhandgunner.com/handguns/palor-pistol-perfection/

However .. elsewhere it would be an easy conversion to fit a .177" sleeve (caliber converter) into a 'Pocket Pistol' such as a Liegi Pedersoli or even a clapped-out original barrel - for some harmless indoor fun ..

The U S importers would likely be pleased to supply a spare barrel in exchange for a few dollars cash.

- All you'd then need is an old air rifle, hacksaw and access to a lathe to generate your own Parlour Pistol.

https://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_experiments/parlor_pistol/parlor_pistol.html

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A Question of Law:

New Zealand Police Service heirarchy are on the record for stating that a genuine old 'gun' built before the end of 1898 - not capable of firing a 'self contained cartridge' and not being a copy or reproduction, may be owned as an "Antique" but not loaded and not shot.

Now - earlier this year I bought a large antique Flintlock Pistol  (one of two 'Ottoman Empire antiques) that was loaded - from an antique dealer who in his turn, got the gun from a "deceased estate" - and subsequently I wrote about it ..

https://flicense.blogspot.com/2024/04/working-on-ottoman-flintlock.html

No criminal offence has been charged - nor should there be - by NZ Police Service.

- Are you having a laugh? 

- Is 'NZ Firearms Law an Ass'? - Don't answer that ..

I seriously suggest that the path towards logical and effective Firearms Legislation here would be to require ALL Serving Police officers to obtain and maintain their New Zealand endorsed Firearms Licence under exactly the same conditions and regulations imposed by them on other law abiding citizens.

Marty K.

Multi Ball Pistol Loads? - Get wadded ..

Way back in time - before lawful New Zealand shooters came under fire from a punitive regime bent on BANNING GUNS .. I developed and had fun shooting DUPLEX LOADS in a couple of my pistols.

- As part of the "new" - long prepared - restrictions that were passed through parliament under eager haste - a rule was introduced banning ammunition from having multiple projectiles .. because this might be intended to defeat ballistic vests. - So I could no longer pass my tool to a shooting mate and watch the fun after firing five shots at a new paper target and counting TEN HOLES.

https://flicense.blogspot.com/2018/10/first-ever-recorded-firearm.html

I'm unsure as to whether NZ Police Heirarchy have heard of SHOT SHELLS .. but there you go - they are banned.

The two loads that I had fun with were my 10mm Glock 20 using 2 cast truncated cone projectiles loaded into the brass case 'back-to-back' .. and the second "Duplex" was for my Ruger 327 Magnum revolver where I worked-up a load using a light weight bullet PLUS a caliber sized round lead ball loaded in tandem.

Both of these (327 Mag and 10mm Auto) cartridges are great for tandem-duplex loads as they are longer cases than average - as also would be the 357 Magnum and 44 Magnum.

My initial idea was inspired by BOWLING PIN MATCHES - where the ideal 'Pin' caliber seemed to be that 'Slow Slug' .45" acp which was ideal for pushing bowling pins off the table - while my 10mm Glock splintered pins and left the shattered pins spinning around in any direction other than back & off.

My two 10mm cast lead "plates" with a light charge of powder did the trick by making "snake eyes" on target while sticking inside the pin's plastic coat to deliver a nice rearwards shove. 'BRILLIANT' I thought and I then declared this load to be perfect for IPSC 'double taps' onto the cardboard but a spoilsport IPSC Director (Thanks JD mate) said he would simply weigh each pill and declare them to be disqualified as underweight.

A couple of years back I had a laugh by asking our Club President did he think that the Police Service BAN on 'Duplex' ammunition would mean that any MUZZLE LOADER shooter who absent mindedly shoved a second ball down his smokepole barrel or into a revolver's chamber would be guilty of TREASON & the retained death penalty .. He did get a bit red in the face at my question.

ANYWAY .. I've been thinking again, - and my inspiration is that many shooters use a WAD to seperate the charge of propellant from the projectile. This WAD can be made from a variety of materials not restricted to polymer, - cardboard, - wool felt .. dry lubed or greased .. or even screwed-up paper, cotton moistened with spit, or animal skin, fabric wrapping etc.

- Where does any set of Service limitations dictate that a wad may not be made of a metal foil such as LEAD - or what thickness or shape the wad may not exceed - or again - must a wad be placed before or behind a projectile?

Just saying - but "LEAD SINKER FISHING STRIP SOFT ROLL" is offered for sale by Chinese Company AliExpress in various widths and thicknesses that can be cut to size and rolled to shape - Just saying eh. - but how many "wads" might an enthusiast punch-out from a roll of soft lead? - If lubrication is a high priority you might stick a card wad to each leaden disc and grease it for placement away from the powder but next to the ball. A 'composite wad'. - Is there any limit to what you might or might not do with malleable lead pushed out from the muzzle of a black powder charcoal burner?

Might somebody roll about and encase something in lead ? - What effect might a small 'can' of lead filled with plasticine modeling clay have on a softish target? - Who knows - not me 'cos I'm too old & past-it

Blackie Thomas is a black powder cheapskate developing his lubed wads on video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFb-UgewX8Q

INDEPENDANCE DAY ..

- Have you heard of a 'HAMMER SWAGE' ? .. For sure many projectiles commercially are made from chopped lead wire that is fed into a swaging machine to be pressed into a cavity forming the nose & tail shapes. - Shooters can use a much simplified version of this technique to cure a mismatch or shortages 

.. Imagine that you need some .36 inch projectiles but what you have in the shed are .44" caliber. - find a nice lump of steel and drill a hole through it of the right size - find or make an old bolt to fit the hole and use it as a punch to hammer your .44" balls through the hole and Voila and miraculously you now have .36" sized bullets.

Butt t  .. what if you've got .36 inch balls when you fancy a handful of .44" caliber pills? - Get out that drill and make your .44" caliber sized hole and another well fitting old bolt - drop each 36" in and give it a healthy whack with the hammer & bolt against something hard and I bet you've now got a load of light-weight fourtyfours. You could even load them two at a time .. Useful Link:

https://svartkrutt.net/articles/vis.php?id=32

There you go,

Have Fun .. Life IS good eh,

Marty K.

American Derringer Corporation M-1 in 10 MM Auto:

Back in September 1992 (Oh my gawd - that's 32 years ago) I imported from Waco Texas an unusual gun .. it was a made to order American Derringer Corporation M-1 Stainless steel two shot 'Derringer' in 10mm Auto caliber. 

As a certified FIT & PROPER PERSON I could own this gun here in New Zealand on my 'C' Category endorsed Firearms Licence .. but I was not permitted by Police regulation to shoot it. 

It is a strange situation here whereby our "authorities" forbid even licensed citizens from using their own property - while issuing semi-auto 9mm pistols and MSSA "assault rifles" to UNLICENSED POLICE to use as weapons whenever they feel justified. - Police are required to have a NZ Driving Licence to drive patrol vehicles but are not required to have a NZ Firearms Licence to shoot guns.

Equally as strange - the NZ Police management hierarchy now forbid sworn police officers from joining a Pistol Club to obtain their Endorsed Firearms Licence. I used to have a very decent Senior Detective Sergeant as a Pistol Club shooting Mate before the Big C got him.

NZ Police used also "encourage" sworn officers to obtain their Firearms Licence .. ..

Whatever .. This American designed & made derringer was finely built and I enjoyed custody of it for some years before passing it on at an auction to , I believe, a lady owner.

I chose the Derringer to partner with my Glock G20 semi-auto pistol and a S&W M-610 revolver also chambered in 10mm Auto - both guns I shot competatively and used in firearms Induction-Training Courses at the Garden City Pistol Club indoor range.

 The Texan makers of these derringers seemed to fade from the U S marketing scene - and I often wondered what had happened .. until I found a recently published story about these pistols and their maker:

https://smallarmsreview.com/heirloom-quality-backup-the-american-derringer-corporation-model-1/

The sad history is that the brilliant founder and designer of these all-american pocket pistols - Robert Saunders - developed Pancreatic Cancer and died the year following my purchase, in 1993 leaving his widow Elizabeth to decide how to carry-on.

Elizabeth Saunders knew that she was not going to let her husbands dream end there - so she went back to school and qualified with an engineering degree and determined to continue to produce these hand made beauties - albeit on a reduced scale - together with newly qualified engineer & Vietnam Veteran John Price - having let-go other employees over work issues. Link to their website ..

http://www.amderringer.com/

These are a range of high quality low volume niche weapons that deserve support from all shooters.

Please take a look at their site and consider if there could be room for one of these beautiful unique tools in your life.

Marty K.