Excam TA.38

[Guest Fenris]

Hi all,

I had a relative give me one of these little derringers. There is little information on the net that I could find other than the company went out of business in 1990 and the gun has been rated anywhere from "inexpensive derringer" to "get a gunsmith to look at it if you are seriously thinking about firing it." I know it has no collectible value.

Looking at the gun, it does seem to be of a bit higher quality than say, a Jennings Arms piece (which I realize isn't saying much).

Anyone have any experience with these little derringers.

How much would a gunsmith charge me to give it the once over to make sure it was safe to fire.

I don't think I would use it for carry, but it might be fun to play around with at the range provided it won't blow up in my hand.

Thanks

[Farman]

Excam Derringer. This imported handgun is commonly known as a “junk gun” or “Saturday

Night Special.” Such guns are of poor construction and therefore prone to unintentional

discharge. The Excam, along with other imported junk guns from F.I.E. and Roehm/R.G. have

been associated with numerous incidents of unintentional discharge. For example, in one

incident that resulted in a lawsuit, a man was working in his son’s bar and carrying the gun in

the pocket of his vest. When he bent over the ice machine the hammer of the gun struck a box

and the gun discharged. The bullet penetrated his abdomen and exited his posterior right flank.

Even the weapon’s instruction manual acknowledged that the pistol could discharge if it were

dropped or bumped. Two expert witnesses in the trial testified that the pistol’s capacity to

discharge if the hammer were to be inadvertently bumped constituted a design defect. Yet the

gun was intended to be carried in a pocket rather than a holster, virtually guaranteeing that it

would be bumped. The court upheld a $125,000 verdict stating, “The evidence...supports the

jury’s findings that the TA38S derringer pistol designed and manufactured by Excam was

defective in both its design and manufacture.”

Some info for ya. I'd fill the barrel with epxoy and make a paper weight out of it.

[Farman]

And after rereading your post, I'd be afraid it'd blow up in my hand.