Selected Handgun Detail

Manufacturer
	American Derringer Corporation More Info

About the Gun

Compact two-shot over/under derringer with a hammerless double-action-only trigger, automatic barrel selection, and an open-front trigger guard. Stainless barrels, receiver, and lockwork sit on an aluminum grip frame with rosewood or other hardwood grips. It is American Derringer’s High Standard–pattern DAO pocket pistol, separate from the Remington-style single-action Model 1 line.

Production

Production ran from 1996 through 2003.

Market value

MSRP at production was around $250. Current used market value for examples in good to very good condition ranges $175–$300.

Cartridge Specifications
Cartridge:	.22 LR
Alias:	.22 Long Rifle
More Info

Analysis

American Derringer acquired the High Standard over/under double-action derringer design in 1990 and scaled it from the original .22 rimfire guns into a centerfire pocket pistol sold as the DA38. High Standard had built the hammerless D-100/D-101 series from 1962 until that firm’s derringer work ended in 1984; Benjamin Johnson Technologies then enlarged the lockwork for .38 Special before the design passed to Waco. American Derringer kept the internal hammer, the automatic lower-then-upper barrel sequence, and the open-front guard, added a hammerblock thumb safety, and chambered the stainless version first in .38 Special, then .357 Magnum, 9 mm, and .40 S&W, with a later .22 LR run on the same pattern. The pistol sat in a narrow backup-gun niche beside the company’s much larger single-action Model 1 catalog. Output was always small, the later centerfire calibers dropped first, and regular manufacture ended as the firm wound down. Used examples now appear irregularly; Bond Arms occupied the active two-shot derringer market the DA line once shared.