Shooting a .30 rimfire Marlin OK derringer

[ndnchf]

I collect the odd and unusual and then make ammunition for them. Many of these are long obsolete rimfire guns.

A couple months ago my wife and I were browsing through an antique mall when I spotted this little Marlin OK vest pocket pistol from the 1863 - 1870 period. I have a modest collection of vest pocket or derrenger type pistols, so this one caught my eye. It was very reasonably priced, so it came home with me.  After a thorough inspection and chamber measuring, it was determined to be a .30 rimfire!

I already make reloadable ..25, .32, .38, .41, .44 and .50 rimfire cases, so this was not too hard to make. They use .22 cal acorn blanks as the rimfire primer. Its not a pistol I'll shoot a lot, so I just made 5 cases.  Bullets were more of a challenge, I didn't want to spend a lot of money for a custom mold for this limited use. With a barrel groove size of .285", I found 7mm Mauser bullets are about the right size. So I cut down a few of them and turned a heel on the base.

It turned out well and is a fun little gun to shoot. Here is a video from my first range visit, and a few photos.

https://youtu.be/rS3aClX8vG0?si=fb1D9YeVKKO2zrw_