Get a Saturday Night Special
[Editor’s Note: Back when I was a kid, my mom used to carry a “Saturday night special” in her purse. I always thought it was a special surprise we kids were not supposed to see. I knew it was important though because she would always say things like, “Don’t worry, I’ve got my Saturday night special.” When I was older, I finally realized she was carrying a handgun and was thankful that she had enough forethought to plan for when things go awry. The Saturday night special is a great backup weapon and Jeremiah Johnson lists some great points about it. So, when you go out for dinner this weekend, don’t forget your Derringer .38.]
Good Day to all of you Readers out there! Welcome to Ready Nutrition for a segment that you ladies can’t afford to miss: JJ’s review of a Derringer. Yes, the Derringer is a miniature pistol that presents an opportunity for a “stealthy backup friend/backup piece” that you can turn to when it hits the fan. A backup piece can be used when the primary firearm is either out of commission/ammo or when stealth requirements do not enable you to employ your primary effectively.
I wish to recommend the Cobra line of Derringers. The Cobra Model CB-38 is a brand that is manufactured in Utah, and the one I wish to focus on is the model that is in .38 Special caliber. There are several reasons for this. Cobra makes a highly effective over-under barrel single-action derringer. The weapon is a two-shot. This means you pull back the hammer, take the safety off, and fire. Pull it back again, and fire your second shot. Very simple, very effective, with no feeding or jamming problems and effective delivery for your needs.
Now .38 Special is not too much weapon for the ladies’ hands. The Cobra is a very comfortable model, with a handgrip made of rosewood. There is hardly any recoil whatsoever, and the barrel is nice and short: compact enough to conceal and unobtrusive for either a pocket or a purse. There is another good reason for this as an augment to your SP-101, and here it is: you can fire your .38 Special ammo through your SP-101, which comes in .357 magnum. Now keep in mind: the reverse doesn’t hold true. You cannot fire the .357 magnum through the .38 Special revolver.
Also to be avoided are +P rounds, that hold a higher amount of powder and hence a higher muzzle velocity to the round. The chamber pressures are too much for the Cobra. Nevertheless, you can pick up some really decent hollow points with light recoil loads that are highly effective penetrators. The Cobra is designed very well for ladies’ hands, and it is easy to load. It has a side lever that locks the barrel in place and a shell ejector that lifts the spent cases by the rim, pulling them upward to enable grabbing them and extracting them from the chamber.
Load up two more rounds, flip the barrel over, and lock the barrel-locking lever back in place. Voila! That’s all there is to it. This author has field-tested it, and it is highly accurate out to about 10 meters/30 feet. It is designed to be a close-range performer. You’re not going to be breaking any world pistol shooting records with it. Cobra has a manufacturer’s warranty attached to it. The piece is available for about $200 in your local firearms establishment. They bring it in a matte-black finish that I believe preferable: you don’t need a mirror finish/shiny finish on such a piece. Davis makes a Derringer in .38 special, but it is in stainless and fairly reflective.
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