Miniature Guns Made by Bob Urso
Here are some of the miniatures I've made over the past several years.
 
Philadelphia
Derringer

This is the first miniature I made, a 1/3rd scale Philadelphia Derringer, 1-5/8" OAL. It's design was based on a Dixie Gun Works Kit I'd put together nearly thirty years ago. The only tools used were a hacksaw, a small drill press, a Dremel hand grinder, and hand files. 

I must have made every part of the lock at least five times, but the finished gun is totally functional. 

2mm Pinfire

After the Derringer I wanted to try something simpler and shootable. This gun is based on a traditional Austrian Pinfire, with the exception of the half sextagonal/half round barrel. By this time I'd added a Taig mini Lathe to my tool collection, which I used to turn the barrel. The hammer cavity was drilled out, and filed smooth using ground down needle files. 
Belgian Twist Barrel

The design of this twist barrel is based on a small Belgian derringer in my collection. It is 1/3rd scale and 1-3/4" OAL. The barrels were turned and bored separately. I then filed the flats and silver soldered them together. The barrel retaining bolt is loosened to load and rotate the barrels. The twist barrel in my for sale section is based on this gun.
E. Allen Bar Hammer 

This is a 1/3rd scale Ethan Allen, double action, barhammer, percussion pistol. The barrel screws off for loading. Except for the barrel which was turned on the lathe, all parts were hand formed using a hacksaw, files, Dremel hand grinder, and drill press. 

It is a to scale, totally functional, model of the original which is in my collection. 

Remington Rider
Parlor Pistol

This 1/3rd scale Remington Rider Parlor Pistol is the only gun I've made so far that has a cast frame. The frame is sterling silver, the breech plug, hammer and trigger hardened spring steel. It was cast in an edition of four guns. 
Tiny Pinfire

In experimenting with a design I could stamp out parts for, I tried to create the smallest possible working pinfire. This is the result. It's only 3/4" long. I like the profile, but I'm having trouble with the action. The spring is a bit too tiny to pop the cartridge.... But I haven't given up on the design. 
Remington Vestpocket

This is a 1/3rd scale, modified version of a Remington Vestpocket .22 cal derringer. It is gold plated, with Ivory grips.

It was a prototype to see if I could get the design to work as an underhammer, 2mm pinfire. It worked, but since a pinfire cartridge can ignite prior to the hammer completing it's strike, on a design such as this, where the hammer acts as the breech which holds the cartridge in place, the result is that the blowback throws the spent cartridge back out of the barrel. And so for now the design has been abandoned.


These guns are one of a kind, and are not for sale. To see the pinfires that I am making for sale click on the gun icon below.