Henry Deringer Creator of the Deringer Pistol:

Henry Deringer was an American Gunsmith who created and gave his name to the world famous Deringer Conceal Carry Pistol. Born in Easton, Pennsylvania on October 26, 1786 young Henry Deringer was destined to be in the gun business. His father Henry Deringer, Sr., was a colonial gunsmith who made Kentucky Rifles. Deringer began his career in the gun business at 15 years old as an apprentice to a firearms maker in Richmond, Va. In 1806 he moved back to settled in Philadelphia and opened up his own Gunsmith shop. He would later on secure contracts to supply various types of guns to the United States government. His early percussion-cap pistols were long-barreled weapons that were designed to fit a belt. After 1825 he concentrated on making single-shot pistols which could be used as conceal carry gun. This stemed from his fascination with the element of surprise and advantage hidden pistols gave when produced in a fight or self defence situation. In 1852 Henry created a small cap lock pocket pistol he named the " Deringer Pistol " it instantly became a hit. The Deringer pistol was easy to handle and accurate at short ranges. It was less than six inches long and was bored in calibers from .36 to .45, with .41 being the most common. This model was copied by many other manufacturers and was quite popular between the 1840s and the American Civil War.

Used several times over as the preferred weapon of choice for hit men of that era. The Deringer Pistol was chambered in very powerful calibers like the .45 caliber and was so small it could be concealed in a pants pocket. A great advantage for hit men who wanted to sneak up on their intended victims with the Deringer Pistol, as its easily concealed in their pants pocket. Other pistols of that time were too large and required wearing an over coat to conceal the larger pistol on their side. An intended victim knowing they had a hit out on their life would obviously be on the look out for a strange person wearing an overcoat coming towards them. Most people killed by the Deringer Pistol never saw it coming.

The most famous hit carried out with a Deringer pistol was the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth (pictured on the left) an american stage actor who was upset with the Lincoln administration and the outcome of civil war. He snuck up on President Lincoln while he was watching a play in a theatre and shot him in the back of the head point blank range with a Deringer Pistol. Lincoln died the next day as a result of his injuries, becoming the first American President in history to be assassinated. This incident branded the Deringer as a " Hitman Special " pistol and sales went through the roof, even the clone Deringer pistols dubbed " Derringers " sold very well. With great success however came the pressure of knowing that the weapon he created, was used to kill an American President and Deringer started to receive negative press. Shortly afterwards in 1868 Henry Deringer stopped production of the Deringer Pistol.

While reporting on the events of the President's death, a local reporter called the pocket pistol used to commit the crime a Derringer, misspelling the name with two r's instead of one "r". The clone makers of the Deringer took this and ran with it, using this as the name of their clone Deringer pistols. Today there are several different manufactures of Henry Deringer's Pistol all using the name "Derringer ". Now over 150 years later after the first Deringer pistol was made it is still in production and still sells very well as a popular conceal carry weapon, primarily because of the element of surprise it can bring to a gun fight.