The record-union., 1893-11-30
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gunsmith named Deringer. He was
noted for the exquisite iineness Of his
work on firearms and its general excel
/ lence, particularly in pistols. The Hint
/ lock was then used, and 10 insure its not
missing fire, the lock work especially had
/ to be done with 4 great deal Of care.
The locks for double barrel gun of
the finest kind in those days cost $50
/ alone. old" Joe Manton says in a
/ little book on gunnery, printed III 1872,
/ that he habtually paid $40 for his gun
locks.
In 1888 the contract was let for the
/ pistols with which TO arm the First Regi-
Inent Of Dragons, Just created by Act OF
/ Congress. Two thousand holster pistols,
carrying thirty bullets to the pound" +"
! were wanted.
/ Deringer got the contract. The officers
/ OF the regiment also wanted pistols, but
of a finer quality than those OF the rank
and file. So Deringer made thirty-siN
pairs OF officers pistols. From that time
until 1860 he was the first small-arm
maker in the United States in the matter
/ OF pistols, or, perhaps, in the world.
Some of MS work in its delicacy and
! beauty was wonderful. Prince JOHN
/ Magruder the late General John Ma
gruder, famous officer of the artillery
/ in the old army and a Confederate major
/ general, owned the finest and most clab-
Orate pair Of small pistols that Deriuger
/ probably ever made. They had two sets
OF barrels fitted 10 each stock. One set
was four inches and the other six inches
in length. Each carried sixty bullets TO
/ the pound.
! The pistols were gold mounted. with
/ beautiful inlaid work wherever 1t could
! be placed, ia silver and gold. The locks
were made by BraZier, the most famous
maker Of gun locks in England, and they
cost $50 alone. The arms were present
! to Captain as he then was Magruder,
/ who was just going to Mexico TO take
command of his battery OF the First
! Artillery. He would never tell the
giver's name, but it was believed they
/ were the present of q very wealthy New
! \ ork lady, who was greatly attached 10
the handsome, gallant and graceful Off
/ Ger. He still owned them in 1862, when
in command in the Peninsula, and he
said that they had saved his life three
times.
st fifteen PAGES the four-inch barrels
would send bullet through an inch oak
plank, which no small revolver made in
1860 would do. The pistols were hair
triggered, and with the siX-inch barrels
Colonel Magruder was accustomed to cut
the spots out Of tie four of spades at
twelve PAGES distance. Another very
handsome pair of the Deringer pistols
were presented to General Beauregard
late in 1860 by Creole gentleman Of New
Orleans. They were also four-inch bar
rels, ir-triggered, and beautifully in
laid with silver work. What the cost
was, OF course, no one knew but the
maker and the purchaser, but, including
| the case and loading instruments, il could
not have been less than 500.
The modern revOiveTs do not afford
much opportunity for the fine work, de
luxe, that the single-shot pistols of
former days did.
Deringer also made very fine rifle
that some Phila delphia gentlemen pre-
sented to Davy Crockett of Crockett's
Bluff, on the White River in Arkansas.
Some beautiful pairs OF dueling pistols
were made also by Deringer, but they are
rarely now seen, except among old fam
lies III the South.
With the changes produced by the war
in the South the arms-carrying habit has
about ceased. The old-time weapons are
made no more. Their history is fast
passing into tradition. But the weapons
written OF above were those OF a manly
and gallant race of men, who were
taught like the great Greek warrior, ''to
ride, shoot, and speak the truth"