As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
I featured this pistol awhile back, but as there was not any data on it, it was more like a "dream situation", but GA had an article testing the Diablo, and actual field data is better than no data at all.
At $479 in this configuration, the Diablo is not a cheap gun, but I think very reasonable, and with the wood grips and nickel finish it never reaches above $589. The holster in the video is another $129, and is very nice. My advice is to order the wood grips, which I will use for my next article on this gun. I’m no fan of the two finger grip decision for this gun, but if you only have two fingers, I would rather have wood.
What makes this two shot, shot pistol attractive, is it ships to your door, no background checks, as it is classed blackpowder muzzleloading, which it is, and therefore in the relic category.
I would differ with the author who tested this gun, as I did in the original article, because a firearm like this is not meant to blow hole through elephants. It is interesting that GA discovered that FFFG powder was better due to the faster burn than FFG powder which the manufacturer recommends.
For those not fluent in blackpowder, blackpowder is milled in 4 sizes or granuals. Fg, FFg, FFFg and FFFFg. The Fg is for cannons, FFg for rifles, FFFg for pistols and FFFFg for the flash in the pan of old flintlock firearms.
The reason you do not want a faster burn in cannons is that much powder will cause pressure increases which would blow the iron barrel into shrapnel and kill people standing by it.
That explained, I view this gun as I do most firearms for defense, as a barking dog in the yard. It is for display and meant to not have to be unleashed. A firearm displayed in most instances stops a crime from happening. In that, I do not believe in most criminal instances, that you have to blow a hole through a criminal to look through to stop them. Granted the pellets bouncing off of plywood might just irritate some criminals to beat you to death, so there is a point of non rubber bullet loads, verse loads that would penetrate and stay inside the body, but not produce recoil as in this picture and enough smoke to obscure the criminal.
Blinding yourself in powder burn helps the criminal, not you.
Loads are always something of legal action. I pondered why a rock salt load would not be as effective if not more than pepper spray or shotgun pellets. I would think from watching old movies that shot in the ass with rock salt was most unpleasant as it burns going in and staying in. Now law enforcement would ask why you are shooting criminals running away, but in a front end shot at rapists, rock salt would both cure, castrate and cauterize rape for taking place.
As firearms are meant to do damage, one would think rock salt to the face would dissuade a murderer or thug, to blinding or death.
The standard loads are shotgun pellets which come in a variety of sizes from BB to Buckshot, and of course slugs, which at 1 ounce would blow an almost golf ball size hole into a criminal. I used to enjoy playing a game in laying holes on me, which represented shot size holes. I soon learned that I did not, nor would a criminal desire to have large holes in me of those sizes.
I know the stats say that there are dozens of non lethal areas on a body, but I also know there are arteries and vital organs all through the body, and the odds are in not clipping a major blood flow really are not good odds. That is why numbers of people who get shot end up dead and why firearms were the smart phone of defense as everyone could figure them out.
Most people get shot at far too close of range, as most people shooting can not hit anyone that is over 20 feet away. In that, I would opt for lighter loads as the criminal would be closer, and if you needed both barrels to dissuade one or more felons, you should be backtracking and speed dialing, or having an ap that is a siren to alert others to the problem.
I would not want to use the Diablo as a mace, but that wooden grip would cold cock a thug with a blow behind the ear as good as a black jack.
Personally, I would love to try this thing on grouse and pheasants, just driving around illegally and plunking them in the head in the ditch out the window. I always was upset about that not firing out of vehicles as I was quite good at it, and thought it gave the game a better chance, as I would still be rolling along, driving, and shooting at flying game out the window. It was thrilling really, like Wild Bill after buffalo or Annie Oakley running around and shooting things on the move. People should not be criminalized for giving wild game a greater chance of surviving.
When the big donations come in, I plan on ordering a Diablo and all the piles of wads, shot, powder and grease I will need to play with it. I doubt I will fire it any more than I do anything else now, but it will be a cab pistol or something hanging behind the door, in case God forbid the Indians attack, or some other foreign entity.
With that said, Nuff Said.
agtG
agtG
