Snake Slayer

Snake Slayer
The Snake Slayer pistol
Type	Derringer-type O/U pistol
Land of Origin	USA
Specifications
Length	5.5"
Barrel length	3.5"
Weight	22 oz
Cartridge	45LC / .410
Action	break action
Sights	blade front, fixed rear
Production History
Manufacturer	Bond Arms
Unit Cost	$US469
Variants	Snake Slayer IV

The Snake Slayer is a derringer-style, two-shot over/under pistol by Bond Arms, of Granbury, Texas.

Design

The Snake Slayer has 3" chambers, suitable for firing .45 Long Colt, .45 Schofield or .410 shotshells. The 3" .410's recoil is similar to shooting a .45ACP in a Commander sized 1911. Trigger pull is approximately 6.75 lbs., on average (there is some slight variation from pistol to pistol).

Other fefatures include:

• interchangeable barrels
• automatic extractor
• rebounding hammer (automatically rebounds to a blocked position off of the firing pins)
• retracting firing pins
• crossbolt safety
• trigger guard (somewhat uncommon in derringer-type designs)

Variants

The Snake Slayer IV is identical to the original except for a 4.5" barrel, an overall length of 6.25" and a weight of 23.5 ounces. MSRP for the Snake Slayer IV is $US499.00

Use

Barrel selection

The hammer alternates between the top and bottom firing pins each time the hammer is cocked. While there is no manually operated switch on the pistol which allows a user to select the top or the bottom chamber to fire, the user can pre-select the chamber they wish to fire by these steps:

1. Swing the barrel away from the frame to the unload position.
2. Unload the pistol.
3. Push the safety to the "on fire" position.
4. Depress the trigger and push the hammer forward onto the firing pins.
5. Look at the breech face where the firing pin protrudes and see which firing pin is visible. If the top firing pin is visible, the next time the hammer is cocked the bottom chamber will fire.

Competition shooters will often set the pistol to shoot the bottom chamber first so that the pistol recoils straight back with much less muzzle flip, allowing a faster recovery time for the second shot.

Changing barrels

Like most Bond Arms pistols, the Snake Slayer has interchangeable barrels. Changing barrels is accomplished through the following steps:

1. Push the locking lever handle down and swing the barrel away from the frame. Make sure the barrel is unloaded.
2. Take a standard 1/8" allen wrench and remove the barrel hinge screw.
3. With the screw removed, you can now remove the barrel from the frame.
4. Align the new barrel into the frame, insert the barrel hinge screw and tighten.