By Jeremy S.
Cobray Company, best known for manufacturing versions of the MAC series of pistols and the infamous Street Sweeper back in the 70’s and 80’s, also apparently spit out a few of these unique little gems – the Pocket Pal. I say apparently, because all Pocket Pals carry the “P.P.I., Ducktown, TN” mark.
Does that stand for Pocket Pal, Inc? Who knows? But we do know Cobray sold some of these weird little twin-barrel revolvers, which fire both .22 LR and .380 ACP. Why anybody actually bought them is another mystery entirely.
Quality is low, as the gun is clearly sand cast from some sort of “steel” with practically no cleanup after the casting process. The surface is covered with more pits and imperfections than Danny Trejo’s face. And it’s not due to their age — that’s exactly how they looked back in the day when they were brand spankin’ new.
Where machining is physically necessary, it looks just good enough to probably function. The exception here is the cylinders – one for .22 and one for .380 – which appear to be quality stainless steel with quality machine work.
Press on the top latch to break open the gun, insert the cylinder of your choice, [and if you’re strong enough to pull the extremely long, 15+ lb trigger] blast away. Well, you’ll get three rounds of .380 or five rounds of .22, and then the trigger and cylinder lock. All you have to do is open the gun up again, remove the cylinder, pick the empties out, reload the cylinder, line the notches up properly, put the cylinder back in, close the gun, tell your attacker that the “time out” is over, and resume shooting. Easy.
Best of all, it’s exactly as accurate as you think it is. Clearly intended for pocket carry and contact distances, there’s no worry about pushing it out of battery if you press the muzzle against something. And not much worry about accidentally pulling that weird trigger.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZuhch1MImY
This is a contact distance gun. Anything more than that is a bonus.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLOHIOl7Njc
Although it’s very compact, thanks to the fairly thick, cast metal frame it simply weighs far too much for its size by 2013 standards. I’m not sure what possessed somebody to sit down in the 70’s or 80’s and, um, borrow from the circa-1920 Mossberg Brownie design, but the result, is easily the most obscure, least reliable, silliest paperweight gun in my collection.
Mitch Werbell was the man.
Just ask the Coca-Cola Company…….they used his services.
When I was a kid…. I love stuff like this…..or at least the idea.
I had a 4 Ace 22 pepperbox Derringer I bought for 29 bucks in 1977.
It has never fired a cartridge….. I keep it to remind me…”everything looks good when its new”. (The Cobray disproves this).
I understand the attraction from a curiosity standpoint.
The Thunderstruck 22 Mag and the Altor 9mm are modern iterations.
Not nearly as nicely made as the old High Standard Derringer….or the DAD……or the COP…..or…..
Or the Brownie…..
Not a Brownie at all. The Brownie did not have a revolving cylnder.
If they retailed for less than 100 and grandma could shove it into a perps body then they have some merit, after all grandma and some grandpas are not going to master a snub .38 or 9mm slim line.
But the locking mechanism is like a Brownie
It is hideous. I want one.
+ 1
Also +1
Danny Trejo’s face…?
Grow up Dude
Lighten up Francis
Interesting article but, yeah, the Danny Trejo comment was pretty juvenile and rude.
Danny Trejo’s face is his brand. I’ll bet he loves references like this. In his business, recognition like that is money in the bank.
Besides, that thar was funny. Yup, it was.
Bet it would still put a hurt on someone.
actually my face is similar to the great Mr Trejos and this was an ugly comment.
I have 43 scars on my body according to the skin cancer screen an truly enjoyable thing if you have not had one. Three knife scars, a bullet pucker, a break from falling from a horse, another from hide and seek with a dog, a very good natured dog that tripped me, some from motorcylces, a few from women and the rest from the mundane such as working in a junkyard. After the good doctor was done I had 53 scars and he told me to tell everyone I had been in another fight. The reference to a bad case of acne was misbegotten actually and rude
Its hard to believe someone who went through all that would be cry-babying about a joke on the internet. Danny Trejo’s face is a brand much like Dolly Parton’s knockers, get out of your feelings. It was good writing and we all understood the imagery.
I was being absurd I could not give a shit actually.
My face isnt quite Mr Hydes but it seperates me from the herd.
Social justice warriors crack me up! Did you cry when you wrote this?
Since it wasn’t directed at you…Lighten Up Francis…
As a side note: As my Grand Pa was fond of say’n. “You can call me anything you like…Just don’t call me late to supper”.
Kinda cool, even if it does look like it was made in an 8th grade “Industrial Arts” class.
Would love to see an article about a Signal 9 Reliant, btw.
Danny Trejo is an ugly, craggy man, and he’s made a very lucrative and successful career out of it. Let him get offended by that crack at his rough-hewn mug if he cares to, but as a friendly bit of advice: getting offended on his behalf is the kind of thing a whining SJW pu$$y would do.
Valid point.
Never heard of any of the items the commenters here have mentioned. Now, I’m going to have to spend at least a couple of hours looking all of it up. Nutz!
What Was Mentioned vs. What I Found
4 Ace 22 pepperbox Derringer: Iver Johnson Pocket Ace OW 22LR 2in 4 Barrel Pepper Box Derringer (New product.)
Thunderstruck 22 Mag: S333 Thunderstruck by Standard Manufacturing 8 round /4 shot double barreled revolver in .22 mag. (Already heard of this one after all.)
Altor 9mm: ALTOR Pistol 9mm Single Shot Handgun. (Yup. Heard of this one too.)
High Standard Derringer: (Same.)
DAD: DA38 Double Action Derringer by American Derringer. Comes in .38 Special and .40 S&W
COP: COP .357 4-shot pepper box Derringer.
Brownie: Mossberg Brownie 4 barrel .22LR pepper box Derringer:
Signal 9 Reliant: Signal9 Defense Reliant 4 Barrel pepper box Derringer (Various calibers available.) I could have gone for this one if I didn’t already have an S&W J Frame in .38 Special.
Well, wow, this looks like a total POS. Would you trust your life to this pistil?. I actually believe I can make a zip gun with higher quality than this POS. Sorry but from an engineering perspective, it appears to be total Junk. Most people own a Cobray pocket pal? Really? Well maybe in Chicago but not in the real world. Spend another $10.00 and get a real gun. Sorry, Don’t mean to offend people, but please live in the real world.
So, for the stupid, pistil (pistol) was a pun.
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