From: n9020351@henson.cc.wwu.edu (James Douglas Del-Vecchio)
Newsgroups: rec.guns
Subject: Crap	 (was Re: Davis Derringers)
Date: 31 Jul 92 12:58:02 GMT
Organization: Western Washington University

cash@convex.com (Peter Cash) writes:

#In article <9207281541.AA02447@smrtstr.smartstar.com> smrtstr!"DONALD!PAUL"@uu.psi.com writes:
##Has anybody ever shot one of those Davis Derringers?  They are small 2 shot
##derringers that come in .22LR, .22Mag, .25acp and .32acp.  I was considering
##getting one for camping.  
#...
##Which caliber would be the best?  I have never shot a .25acp or a .32acp

I've shot them.

First of all, understand that the things stink from the word go.  As
Peter said, there is nothing to recommend about Davis Derringers,
any of the calibers mentioned, Derringers in general, or, for that
matter, Davis products in general. 


	As far as which caliber stinks the worst:  .25 obviously.  There
is nothing good about it.  .22 is a filthy soggy rotten caliber to depend
on to protect your life, especialy  with in such a shoddy zinc piece of 
garbage, but it is not quite as bad as .25 ACP for that purpose, and for 
plinking it is cheaper.   .22 Mag is no better than .22 LR in such a short 
barrel, but it does have the dubious advantage of being deafeningly loud, 
if that is what interests you.  It is much more expensive, of course.  .32 
ACP ball is perhaps better than .22 LR Stingers, but with this gun, who 
cares, right?

##before.  I question the knockdown power of a .25acp, though.  The .22Mag
##sounds like a good choice, but it would loud as a mutha.  The .22LR would
##be good, because the ammo is cheap and you could still shoot .22 shorts
##and shotshells.  Let me know what you think.

	What I think is don't waste your money on crap.   You want something
small and cool, right?  And you want something cheap, right?  Well forget
it.  Not Davis.  Not ever.  Spend some money, and have a gun to be proud
of rather than to cry over.  Look at the North American Arms keychain 
revolvers.  Their 5 shooters in .22 LR or mag are _way_ better than the 
zinc-lumps that Davis sells.   So they're $130 instead of $65.  So what?  
They are stainless steel, they are _real guns_.  Are you going to care 
about the 65 bucks in 6 months?   I bet you care if you have a crappy gun,
though.  The Taurus 94 9 shooter kit-gun with a 3 inch barrel is one 
million times better than a DD, but it only costs about $110 more.  
Or get a .38 revolver, anything.

	An extra hundred bucks or so will make the difference between 
having a little prize vs. some shamefull junker that will make you wish a
gun buy-back would come to your town. 


##Another question I have is the .25acp VS. the .22LR.
##I saw a bunch of cheap .25acp semi autos advertised in Shotgun News for
##$50-$100.  What would be the advantage of getting one of these over a
##.22LR like the Jennings J-22?  The .25acp shoots a heavier bullet, about
##50 gr, but it is much slower around 700fps.  It sounds pretty wimpy 
##compared to 1000-1200fps from a .22LR.  Out of a 2 inch barrel, wouldn't
##the .22lr be less though?  

	Stinger .22s average 1075 fps out of my 2.5" gun.   40 gr rem
hi-vels average 860 fps.  Either one beats .25 Auto in kinetic energy.

#_much_ less. There wouldn't be any measurable difference between a .22 and
#a .25. However, the .25 gives you more reliable ignition, since it isn't as
#susceptible to oil contamination as the .22. 
	
	Maybe a good point.  If I were getting another popgun, however,
it would be either the .22 again, (a wonderful plinking caliber, imo)
or one of those seecamp .32s.  They look neato to me, and even though
I would want neither a .25 or a .32, the .25 is so ghastly awful that
I wouldn't want to admit I had a gun chambered for it.   (just look at
the case, for christ's sake!  The primer pocket is the whole rim!)

#I think you need to think about why you want to buy a gun, and what you
#want to use it for. 

	Ditto.  And shop around, be willing to pay more than a junky
price if you want something other than junk.

#Peter Cash

Jim Del Vecchio