Folsom Prison inmate made derringer from 1880's-1890's era

[Marcus]

Adolf Hitler, speaking of the post-WW1 Allied disarmament of Germany, once said "If a people but desire weapons, weapons will grow in their hands."

While this quote is not meant as praise or approval of the policies or leaders of the 3rd Reich, I think the little weapon featured here illustrates the truth of this statement, as well as both the difficulty oppressive and hateful anti-Civil/Human/Constitutional/Firearms rights regime criminals would have disarming the freedom loving defenders of all that is good and right and keeping us disarmed, and the challenges of even keeping guns out of the hands of REAL criminals that show the fallacy and deliberate evil and lies of those who claim that taking guns away from law abiding citizens will somehow make us all safer and keep guns out of the hands of truly determined and resourceful criminals.

This pistol was completely hand made by an inmate in California's maximum security Folsom Prison sometime in the 1880's-1890's period. Folsom Prison was built to house the criminals who were too violent and dangerous for even San Quentin, California's first maximum security prison. If the trained, armed, uniformed prison guards and other law enforcement personel of that period - whose very lives are at risk from inmate violence and weapons - couldn't keep guns out of the hands of enterprising and resourceful criminals under constant watch and supervision in solid granite stone 8' X 4' cells with a solid iron door in a maximum security facility, somehow I don't think banning the possession of firearms by honest people is going to keep Trayshawn the Hood Rat, Toothless Tony the Tweaker, or Carlos the Cartel Killer from acquiring and using guns.

O.k., that ends today's little sermon. On to the pistol.

For years the administration at Folsom Prison maintained a little museum collection of the various weapons made and used by inmates and other items relating to the history of the facility. This little single shot, muzzle loading, cap and ball, hand made, derringer was one of those. I don't think any records were kept of who the items in the collection were confiscated from or when, but I plan on contacting "The Retired Correctional Peace Officer's Museum" at Folsom State Prison" - http://www.folsomprisonmuseum.org - and seeing if they might have any information or records on this. Anyhow, this collection was consigned for auction and sold by my friends at Little John's Antique Arms And Auctions in Orange, California at some time during the 1990's, and this pistol was among the items sold. I was not present at that auction, but sometime later this gun was re-consigned by the purchaser to a later auction in the late 1990's, at which time I acquired it. Somewhere I have the auction catalog listing it, the actual auction inventory number tag for it, and the receipt from Little John's listing it and showing what I paid....as I recall, it was something in the $60 range.

It's a pretty cool little example of the "prison gunsmith's" art. It is fully functional and operational, although as you cock the hammer you do have to push the trigger forward to get the sear to engage and lock the hammer back, and the hammer falls very, very easily. The barrel is bored all the way through as is the nipple, and filled with powder made from the heads of the big old wooden "kitchen" matches in use at the time and a projectile made of metal, stone, glass, ceramic, wood, or whatever else might be available at the time and place, this weapon could indeed be lethal at close range.

It's kind of interesting to see the various bits of scrap and other materials used in the construction of this gun. The base for the nipple and the bolster on the barrel are old small hex nuts. The trigger guard, backstrap, and a little reinforcing strap on the left side of the gun are sheet copper. All parts are hand cut and filed to shape. I don't know what - if anything - was used for a breech plug, so I have never attempted to fire this pistol. Some guns are more for looking than for shooting, if you know what I mean! Who ever made it had a fairly good understanding of how a percussion firearm of the period worked, and it would be interesting to see the inside of the lockwork, however, I have no intention of dis-assembling the gun.

[Marcus]

More photos. The last photo is of various edged weapons in the Folsom Prison Museum - can you imagine what correctional officers in an institution like this must go through and the stress and worries they must deal with on a daily basis, surrounded by murderers and ultra-violent criminals of every other sort who are armed with things like this and won't hesitate to use them?

I don't know if my friends at Faith Armory in Temecula, California still have it on display, but they have an interesting collection of various weapons local Southern California law enforcement officers who are also employees have taken from criminals they have encountered on the streets of Riverside and San Diego Counties.

[Vendetta]

Amazing. Cracks me up that it even has a trigger guard. Would love to hear the backstory to it.

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[racerguy00]

C&R eligible? In all seriousness, awesome piece of history, Im glad no one, felon or lawman, was hurt by it.

[Marcus]

Copyrighted photos used with the gracious permission of Jim Brown, the director of the Folsom Prison Museum. Jim has also informed me that they are planning on building a much larger museum dedicated to the history of prisons, corrections officers, prisoner rehabilitation, etc. with items in the museum collection from around the country and around the world - check out http://www.bighouseprisonmuseum.org for more information.

Coming from a family with a long and solid background in law enforcement, and having a general interest in all things historical, I find things like this a fascinating insight into a world that relatively few of us ever - probably fortunately - ever experience or are even really aware of. Like those who serve in the military, those in law enforcement and corrections are on the front lines of protecting us from some very bad and very dangerous persons - and we ourselves also share in the responsibility for our personal safety realizing that these people are out there, and walking among us.

[Junk Yard Dog]

Are you going to fire it? Looks like it would be OK with black powder so long as the breech block is solid. Reminds me of the zip guns so popular in the ghetto areas of the big citys years ago. Very interesting.

[Mike]

it would be interesting to see the inside of the lockwork, however, I have no intention of dis-assembling the gun.

Have you considered getting it X-Rayed to see if you can see any of the detail inside?

[Gsragtop]

Wow is that neat!!! I can't believe they built that in a jail

[Marcus]

I have considered firing it with a light load - I don't worry about the strength and integrity of the barrel, which is massively thick and sturdy, or the nipple/bolster setup. However, although I can stick a rod down the barrel and see where the breech plug ends (no worries there!), I don't know what is holding the breech plug in - threads, a cross pin, pressed force fit? I tend to believe anyone who knew enough to make this gun by hand was also capable of making a safe and solid breech plug, but I really don't want to risk my safety or that of the gun trying it. Also, even if the breech plug holds up fine, I don't want to risk damage to the wood or internal parts from the recoil.

Caliber seems to be around .40 or .41 - bigger than a .38 but smaller than a .45. I also photographed it next to a dollar bill for size comparison.

While talking to Folsom Prison Museum director Jim Brown - who was a correctional officer at Folsom for 32 years - he related an incident where an inmate smuggled in a 7 inch long pistol concealed in his.... well, if you have seen the "Gold Watch" sequence with Chistopher Walken in the movie "Pulp Fiction", you know!

[Junk Yard Dog]

A 7" long pistol up his fundament? Sounds like he had practice having things in there.

[soylentblue]

Amazing. Cracks me up that it even has a trigger guard. Would love to hear the backstory to it.

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That was my first thought - why bother with a trigger guard? But all in all, it looks pretty finished - not just functional.

[desdem12]

[Darryl]

I was looking at it and thinking .....there is a lot of room from the rear of the breach to the nipple. It seems like it would take a lot of powder to fill that area. It would have to be at least that much powder for the cap to set it off. That seems like a lot for that size weapon. I guess you could stuff something in there first to lessen that distance before adding powder. I guess not the best engineering going on when in was made.

I think you are smart not to fire it because it could be dangerous. But also, if it was damaged in firing it, it would be lost for ever as a collectable.

Reminds me of a Philly Derringer kit I put together as a kid. But I have to say, I think mine had better workmanship!

Interesting piece and story! Thanks for sharing Marcus.

Dolk

[Misfit]

I dig it. If you do fire it please get a video

[walnut red]

Hopefully the space between the breach and the nipple is filled up with the breach plug. Would you want to pocket carry that pistol WITHOUT a trigger guard?

[rayjd2]

I never knew Johnny Cash was in so much danger.
Holy crap, that's a serious weapon, not there's a joking weapon.