# Were sleeve derringers ever a thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2015, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-sleeve-derringers-ever-a-thing/740902 "2015-12-20T04:44:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-sleeve-derringers-ever-a-thing/740902/21 "2015-12-21T17:58:09Z")
> [@Tatterdemalion](#): > > Don’t forget to take the cannoli. Eats shoots and leaves. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-sleeve-derringers-ever-a-thing/740902/22 "2015-12-21T18:12:34Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > I actually owned the “Wild, Wild West” toy that did this. If you bent your arm just right it popped the derringer into your hand. Lots of fun until you did it just a little bit off and it bent. ☹ Maverick had one. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-sleeve-derringers-ever-a-thing/740902/23 "2015-12-21T18:16:46Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Not from a single shot, which is all it held. The whole idea of the gun retracting up the sleeve strikes me as fairly ridiculous. Better to wear gloves and just drop the gun by the body after having made the shot. That sleeve gun was a .32 acp…not exactly a barn-burner of a round. Of course, it was designed to be used while the muzzle was in physical contact with the target, so there would be additional damage from powder gases being blown into the wound. Even so, the muzzle would have had to be in contact with the target’s head, and in a specific area at that, in order to achieve an instant and silent kill. If the muzzle wasn’t placed to switch off the CNS, there’d be a lot of awkward thrashing and screaming and bleeding and maybe even some fighting back on the part of the target. I’m trying to come up with a scenario where the shooter achieves that muzzle placement and where the sleeve thing is also advantageous. Frankly, I’m having trouble envisioning a chain of events where a more conventional silenced pistol would not be preferable. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-sleeve-derringers-ever-a-thing/740902/24 "2015-12-21T18:26:50Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Frankly, I’m having trouble envisioning a chain of events where a more conventional silenced pistol would not be preferable. Perhaps they were given to locals. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-sleeve-derringers-ever-a-thing/740902/25 "2015-12-21T18:42:16Z")
Who then did what with them? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-sleeve-derringers-ever-a-thing/740902/26 "2015-12-21T18:59:16Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Who then did what with them? Shot a Nazi officer or turncoat and got caught. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2015, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-sleeve-derringers-ever-a-thing/740902/27 "2015-12-21T19:44:20Z")
When I was a kid, I had the Old West series from Time/Life book. I remember seeing such a rig in the volume about gamblers, but don’t have access to the books anymore. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2015, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-sleeve-derringers-ever-a-thing/740902/28 "2015-12-22T23:40:34Z")
The ring gun, the punch-percussion gun, even a false hand gun for amputees. But never a sliding forearm gun. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2015, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-sleeve-derringers-ever-a-thing/740902/29 "2015-12-24T06:06:46Z")
A spring-loaded sleeve-concealed derringer was prominently featured in the recently-concluded second season of _Fargo_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-sleeve-derringers-ever-a-thing/740902.md?page=1)