The present invention relates to a very small, lightweight pistol which is able to shoot two bullets without reloading. In particular, the present invention relates to a pistol which is generally intended for use as a “back-up” or concealed carry weapon which is small and light weight, but which is designed and constructed so as to provide a two shot capability, with successive shots made by successive trigger pulls. Alternatively, both shots may be made with a single trigger pull.
Small, light weight pistols, such as those made by Derringer, have been available for many years. While such pistols included double barrel pistols, they were not designed to provide a two shot capability (a so-called “double tap” shooting technique capability) without taking action other than by making successive trigger pulls. Thus, such pistols typically required some additional action by the shooter, such as the flipping of a lever, manually cocking the hammer, or the use of two triggers, in order to provide two shot capability. Even then, once the pistols of the prior art had been discharged they were not designed to be reloaded quickly, easily, or conveniently.
The prior art also included such single shot, small, light weight pistols as the “Liberator” which was quite inexpensive to manufacture and which included space within its butt where additional rounds of ammunition could be stored. Once again, however, the design of the Liberator pistol did not permit reloading to be quick, easy, or convenient. Further, the design of the Liberator pistol was such that it included numerous parts which were not “smoothly” integrated whereby that pistol could be quickly and reliably extricated from a pocket or other concealed location without a likelihood of some portion of the pistol (e.g., a hammer) catching on the user's clothing, etc., which feature is especially important in a tactical situation.
Accordingly, there has been an ongoing need in the law enforcement and military fields for a well made, light weight, readily concealed backup or tactical weapon which could provide the user with a two shot capability, as well as being easily concealed without fear that the design would catch on the inside of a user's pocket, or other article of clothing, or other concealed location when the user needed to quickly extract the weapon in an emergent situation.
There have also been ongoing needs for a pistol which could be discharged twice in rapid succession and then quickly and reliably reloaded with available cartridges, as well as for a pistol in which the barrel assembly can be quickly and easily changed without tools, and where different barrel assemblies can be adapted for use with different caliber cartridges.
Another unmet need of the prior art has been for a pistol which could have interchangeable barrels, whereby the same pistol could be used with multiple calibers of ammunition, as desired.