The DS-201 device has been around for about 7 years but just in the last year has it been easy to find in the U.S.

http://www.life-act.com/guardianangel.php


Inside the device.

http://i12.tinypic.com/6d0g5g1.jpg

Deeper inside the device.

From L to R

Tube for OC capsule and piston

rws blank cartridge and chamber

trigger and fireing pin assy & clip.




http://i9.tinypic.com/4py7m1w.jpg


Device works very well as far as function.

Device is designed & made very well

Aims semi-good and it really does spit the OC out well. It also has a great hydraulic needle effect when fired under 2 feet at target.

What I really find very Interesting about this device ... Is that it uses a "captive piston concept".

Same general design as other captive piston items like AAI QSPR tunnel rat rounds,Russian PSS pistol,etc....More on this later.

They are a odd device in that they are semi-based on early russian cyanide gas pen type guns that used the same general gunpowder/blank type charge and a piston device to force out and atomize a liquid under high pressure and velocity .

A device that used the same general delivery but loaded with cyanide instead of pepper gas was used by Bogdan Stashinsky in the 1950s to kill a few people and a dog.

Their are also other payloads that a person can Substitute for the liquid pepper and other mods that can be done to this device.

Just some food for thought.....:)

Looks like a pen-gun. :)

Does the primer look to be replaceable with a standard type? If so, reloading would be possible.

Also, at the end of the aluminum capsule, the two tabs that looks like a duck bill, is that normally like that, or is it only post-firing? I assume that's the nozzle, but is it normally open like that, with an internal diaphragm to hold in the contents, or what?

They also look ready-made for use as booby-trap devices. Just aim at the door or window, string the wire...:D

Looks like a pen-gun. :)

Does the primer look to be replaceable with a standard type? If so, reloading would be possible.

Also, at the end of the aluminum capsule, the two tabs that looks like a duck bill, is that normally like that, or is it only post-firing? I assume that's the nozzle, but is it normally open like that, with an internal diaphragm to hold in the contents, or what?

They also look ready-made for use as booby-trap devices. Just aim at the door or window, string the wire...:D

The round is a standard 32acp blank..easy to replace.Very reloadable. Primer is a standard magnum boxer style primer.

The round is sealed and the 4 tabs open up on fireing.

Their is a internal capsule with the 'liquid".

They could be adapted to a window or other zone trap..very easy.

The device really has a high potential as a modded device.The hard parts are all their.



Here is apic of the big brother another really cool captive piston device. The tabs can be seen clearly.This load has double the energy of the smaller version above.

http://aycu16.webshots.com/image/28055/2004092488848904785_fs.jpg

Do you think a non-fired capsule could be opened and re-sealed, while remaining functional?

I remember running across the patent ap for this one last year. The trigger mechanism has great potential. Substitute real CP cartridges for the spray ones. The patent for it is 6,951,070, if you are interested. Expect the ATF to try to rule this a firearm, since it uses a powder fired piston. This is what they did with the Taser. Now that I think of it, though, since it doesn't really fire a projectile they may not be able to. In that case, think I'll pick up a practice one to play with.

Do you think a non-fired capsule could be opened and re-sealed, while remaining functional?

Yes I do...I know the pepper gas ampule can be removed and replaced.

IMO...The real value is NOT to try and convert the device to a "zip gun" but to use the exisiting captive piston cartridge and replace the payload.

Oh, definitely! :)

I had made mention of converting these to lethal agents before, in the Water Cooler, but it's nice to see someone else recognize the potential for conversion. :D

Is the ampule glass or plastic? If glass, is there a screen in there to catch the fragments? What acts as a nozzle for the gas; the ruptured end of the aluminum capsule, or a nozzle in the 'gun'?

Oh, definitely! :)

I had made mention of converting these to lethal agents before, in the Water Cooler, but it's nice to see someone else recognize the potential for conversion. :D

Is the ampule glass or plastic? If glass, is there a screen in there to catch the fragments? What acts as a nozzle for the gas; the ruptured end of the aluminum capsule, or a nozzle in the 'gun'?

Unknown what the capsule made of..thats my next phase in this project.So far I have just test fired the device and taken it apart to learn what can be done with it.My next step is the pull apart a live one.

The capsule is right behind the "fingers/crimp" and then it goes through a end cap with 6 holes in it to spread the mix out...a simple mod would be a single "nozzle" that would really make a wicked hydraulic needle effect...oc under the skin... OUCH !


This device has a very high potential...research the russian cyanide gas guns of the 1950s or other captive piston devices .

Up the power in the blank and fill front chamber with BBs and ya got a cheap silent 2 shot mini shot gun.IMO-You really want to keep the piston concept intact, that really is the best part.

Have you fired one to see what the sound signature is? If it is a true CP then it must be very low. Done a bit of experimenting with these and they went off with only a click. Except when the piston blew out, then it made a loud BANG! Be careful reloading with BBs. You stand a good chance of ripping the shoulder off that seals the piston. Don't know if a decent velocity could be achieved. It will blow out the choked nozzle as well. Got to get me one.

The device that I saw several years back was a 4-shooter, but the ergonomics were crap.

The original manufacturer has since changed their website to show only the newer versions, available in the US, but the original demo videos haven't been changed.

http://www.piexon.ch/_down/demo_live_demo.zip

This one shows how quite the device is, and is (unintentionally) quite hilarious. :D

Assuming the sound hasn't been tampered with, it seems to be about the same as popping a large bubble-wrap bubble.

Also, it's not a true captive-piston device, as the piston, upon reaching the end of the cylinder, is deformed by internal ribs, which allows the propellant gas to vent out past the piston, reliving internal pressure that the cylinder can't support without rupturing if outside the gun.

Further media and MSDS's:
http://www.piexon.ch/cont_05.html

US Patent 6951070 - Defense device, preferably self-defense device and storage unit used therein

Hmmm... I have a few thoughts.

It seems to me that the design of the cartridge is paramount and the surrounding pistol or firing contraption that causes the cartridge to deliver the load is secondary, correct?

So how about using one of these as the delivery system then?

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f348/festergrump/VESTDE1.jpg

They are also readily available for parcel post right to your door (even as a felon in the USA, though maybe not in a place such as Cali or Jersey) and are meant to be reloaded several thousand times with BP, lead ball, and a properly fitting cap.

You'd only lack a follow up shot with this particular model, but there are other models available for about the same price (around $80 last I checked) which have two or more barrels, and even in .45 cal and larger if you'd prefer.

The simplest design of cartridges for it could be made from snug-fitting sections of aerial antennae, aluminum foil, superglue or solder, and some wire or string (for a loop to keep it in place), and a dab of hot glue for a plunger on the breech end if foil on both ends didn't provide a complete discharge of the load. (I'm making an assumption or two here based on the pictures of the DS-201's cartridges in Ann's post, not from actually having attempted anything like this... yet. However, it is sometimes practice for cowboy reenacters to shoot hotglue projectiles out of their sixguns, I'm told, so I think hot glue should work well as a plunger if necessary).

The one modification I can theorize that I'd make to the derringer itself, though, is to raise the sight post a little to make it so that a cartridge could be inserted snugly into the muzzle end and snapped in place by a loop fitted to the cartridge over it to ensure that the cartridge tube doesn't eject with it's contents upon firing. That wouldn't seriously or adversely affect the appearance of the derringer, though, which could be important.

Thought: If you were to need to ditch a cartridge or two in the bushes before getting searched by the piggies after someone got a faceful of something ultra-nasty, all they'd find is an unloaded BP derringer, not something obviously designed for delivering such a nasty, and it's much less obvious ditching something as small as a cartridge than a whole derringer (in this case) or a full sized weapon (in the case of the Kimber Life Act or other designs posted, even if it was possible to remove just the cartridges easily enough).

Thus, without the cartridges, it appears to be just a cute little old harmless toy-looking BP derringer (:D) you get caught with and not a "hightech, uber-assault, poison squirting black death weapon" (:rolleyes:) as would be thought of it by any liberal who caught a glimpse of the Jet Protector or Piexon model.

Even all that aside, I think the main issue here is reloadability even over how threatening looking it is, but that could even be a bonus, depending on how you look at it.


Just some additional food for thoughts... Am I way off base here or ???

I can't see how you could have a contained piston design in this BP gun, though, without having a "cartridge" that was a foot long?

Aside from that, it's a good idea, especially since the self-containment would leave no BP traces in the barrel, so it would appear to never have been fired (or at least not in the last week or so)

Derringers like the one shown usually only have 3" barrels.

Indeed, and the "Jet Protector" cartridge shown is over 5" long, so there would have to be something clever to come up with for piston retention, etc.

Seems a bit like you could modify a humane killer to do this?

It is fairly common knowledge that you can remove the captive bolt to free the "barrel" and then load up with a .25 round, rather than the .25 blanks that are supposed to be used. The main issue is finding a supply of .25" rimfire rounds!
However, if you made an adapter for it, such that the humane killer device still worked like a humane killer does, with the captive bolt, but used the impact force to throw a projectile with some force, then this might be a work-around for those of us (UK) who would face the same (5+ years) imprisonment for (simple possession of) a BP pistol as for a belt-fed heavy machinegun.

I'd think that throwing a bullet down a tube either pneumatically or mechanically in contact with the piston would leave the low sound signature intact, whilst throwing the bullet (which could probably be a simple lead ball of a significant mass) at enough speed to be useful. It's the accuracy that might be the hard part.

Here is the real deal a very silent captive piston cartridge fireing firearm...very rare item.The KGB used these a lot...they work and work well.

The lack of noise is unreal...You could ice a dude at a urnial with a head shot and not raise so much as a eyebrow from a person in the stalls...until the guy dropped and the red was flowing then ya might raise a few questions.

Their were a few versions of this gun they even had a couple of cig cases that fired the rounds.

All you hear is a tiny bit of spring and slide noise....Much lower noise level that a weapon with a can on the end.

I will get a few pics of a fired cartridge cutaway...so you can see how it works ..very simple and effective.

http://i22.tinypic.com/35mnxba.jpg