We’ve been covering the Palm Pistol since the asthma inhaler-a-like firearm hit the net in July 2010. To say that inventor Matthew Carmel was unhappy with TTAG readers’ lack of enthusiasm for the concept would be like saying I was disappointed Barbara Palvin failed to make the scene at the latest Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Since then (the Palm Pistol’s introduction) Carmel’s been struggling to get his baby off the ground. I received an email blast update today, posted after the jump. If persistence is the key to success, four years on, Carmel’s bound to prove the Armed Intelligentsia wrong. At least in theory . . .
Dear Potential Palm Pistol Customer:
Further progress has been made since our May 2014 update. The current part count, exclusive of optional accessories, stands at 69 custom machined parts; and stock pins, screws and springs. A total of 43 out of the 69 are on hand in finished production quantities. A finish coating design change was made. Now, only the barrel, frame and receiver will be Cerakoted in Shimmer Gold (H-153Q). The other externally visible metals parts will be nickel plated stainless. We have baselined the receiver, latch, frame, trigger bars and safety bars and are waiting on delivery of these parts. The longest lead time and outstanding parts remaining are those that will be plastic injection molded. These will be baselined shortly so that tooling production can be started.
We current are testing different barrel rifling twist rates at various lengths to determine the optimum combination for maximum muzzle velocity and minimized keyholing while keeping the barrel as short as possible. The ejector rod throw length was increased to make extraction of spent casings easier by allowing finger nail access behind the rim.
We have succeeded in sourcing all parts production with US domestic companies. Raw materials are either domestically produced or from a DFARS complaint country. Attorney review opined this meets the FTC “all or substantially all” definition of “Made in the US” claims.
We have updated the Palm Pistol (www.palmpistol.com) and Constitution Arms websites (www.constitutionarms.com). The latter includes a shop for T-shirts and hoodies with our logo. We also had a slight QC issue with one vendor who made the sear. Rather than scrap these, they were Sterling Silver plated and made into necklace pendants. These might make a nice holiday gift for that special someone : )
A Palm Pistol Facebook page has been created at www.facebook.com/palmpistol. A photo of some of the fabricated parts has been posted. Our plan is to provide future updates, perhaps more frequently as interesting news develops, via this method rather than sending out blast opt-in emails. Those who wish to continue receiving updates should visit the Facebook website and “like” us.
Have a happy holiday season.
Matt Carmel, President
Constitution Arms
[email protected]
When we asked for a model to review, we got the following email this afternoon from Matt Carmel:
I won’t have production units until next year. Since I want to avoid any controversy about testing non-production models and accusations of bait and switch, this will have to wait. Also, I am only producing 500 standard units and 20 special editions (gold plated, hand engraved, custom presentation box, etc.) so I am not going to have any extras. If the first run sells out, I will have a second larger production run.
The bondhus design is about 10x more revolutionary and practical for this application.
http://www.bondhusarms.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/IMG_5426sm.jpg
You would not give any compliments to that design if you saw how you have to get your hand into it.
Perhaps.
Sorry, that looks like an ill-conceived piece of junk also. Handguns are shaped the way they are for a reason. It is the most efficient and effective design. If someone wanted a “no brainer” design, the Double-Tap would be the ticket, except I’ve heard they have functional and quality issues.
Don’t confuse it with your inhaler.
You’ll only make that mistake once…
They are producing 500? Seems like 500 too many.
“We also had a slight QC issue with one vendor who made the sear. Rather than scrap these, they were Sterling Silver plated and made into necklace pendants. These might make a nice holiday gift for that special someone : )”
When life gives you lemons…. silver plate them and sell them as christmas gifts?
I commend the frugality, but not for $95.
Who is this for? It’s not particularly attractive as jewelry, and it’s also not readily identifiable as a gun thing.
Interesting, at least!
Very interesting, but still… Wouldn’t a .380 pocket pistol still be better?
I guess a test video with a production sample would help sell it.
The point of these is that a person with severe arthritis who would not be able to pull a DAO trigger could still fire one.
So, a single action handgun then?
I think I’ll pass and keep my Bond Arms Snake Slayer!
The original Protector Palm Pistol was invented in 1892. Variations on that theme have been made over the years. None of them have been successful, although they do (mostly) work as advertised.
Which is to say, they have an effective range of 6 feet or less. More like 3 if you plan on actually hitting something. Of course with that “barrel” length, the only thing traveling close to the speed of sound will be the muzzle blast. The projectile might crack 700 FPS. Downhill. With a stiff tailwind.
This thing needs to improve at least 2 standard deviations to achieve the rank of “practically useless”.
Agree. Any firearm that had to have its extractor rod redesigned to allow your fingernail to get access under the rim must have been pretty poorly designed in the first place. If the designer forgot that it has to be long enough to at least touch the empty case, I hate to think of what else he might have screwed up. How much you want to bet he just measured to the loaded case, thinking it would be plenty long enough, but forgot that the bullet will no longer be there after firing?
16V,
I was thinking the same thing about barrel length. They should provide at least a two inch barrel (beyond the length of the .38 Special cartridge).
Yup, no barrel length, no velocity. In this case there’s a bullet with maybe half an inch to gain some velocity. Needless to say, it won’t. Put it over the graph, I bet 500 FPS is what you get. Tops.
This is a contact firearm – if the barrel isn’t touching your intended target you might as well throw a beer bottle at them. It’ll be just as effective.
MEH…at least you probably wouldn’t get busted for it…I guess.
My thought exactly.
Throw it into a satchel of loose tools and it disappears…
Heh, the excuses begin for why they don’t want to send any out for review…
I find it a little difficult to support someone trying to start a business who can’t be bothered to proof-read their press release for grammatical errors.
+1
If someone is that careless with their words, I’d hate to see what they do with my money.
Waste of time. Pistol meets stun-gun meets Taser. Any one of the existing three will do a person better!
The .38 Spl is a snappy round in a lightweight pistol like this one. Maybe this little gun should be called the Rosy Palm Pistol.
[single shot pun not found]
After that first discharge, it’s nothing but hang-fires which increase in duration exponentially…
Make the bullets blue?
If your time between discharges exceeds 4 hours, seek professional assistance.
Well if he gives a production model to TTAG and it actually manages,to fill a niche in the self defense world…he would sell the rest in a day
He seems to not be competent in his product or has piss poor marketing knowledge.
I honestly want it to work, because the more working guns in civilian hands the better, no matter how niche the market is
GOLD PLATED!? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAH!!! How about chrome? I want a mirror-like finish! GANGSTA! About all these are good for! Preventing Keyholing? For what, those 50yd shots! Still not a great idea…
What is with the FDA disclaimer on their website?
I appreciate your guile and entrepreneurial spirit, and I think this gun fills a niche, but the niche it fills is willing to spend $150 max on a single shot “get off me” gun and they are right to feel that way.
I seriously doubt that’s your MSRP.
From their website:
“The zero bore axis eliminates muzzle rise during firing and directs recoil forces directly into the palm.”
And why would eliminating muzzle rise be a concern for a single-shot pistol?
Never seen the Youtube videos of people shooting a hand cannon and cracking their skull on the recoil?
It’s a .38 Special, not .454 Casull or .500 S&W.
Someone buying that will likely have a very weak grip.
This design goes back a very long time. At this point more than a hundred years http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protector_Palm_Pistol . Some of these “lemon squeezer” or Palm Pistols were even made to look like pocket watches. If memory serves the pistol used to assassinate McKinley was one of this type.
At bad breath distance it has its advantages. There is no barrel offering leverage for the bad guy to grab. The force is transferred in a straight line to your palm and forearm (a feature- not a bug). And while it might be awkward to jam a regular gun in an assailants belly with this type it would be natural. And at the end of the day it’s a gun. Having one is better than not having one. For a self defense gun it’s understandable. It’s certainly not a sporting gun and I have no idea how naturally firing one would feel. But perhaps it is being unduly criticized.
Okay, I just read the original post. Picatinny rail?
This has got to be a joke. Was this published in very early April?
Just get a cheap mosin cut it down make yourself an Obrez….
At least the fireball will light them up. LOL
I don’t see any practical use for it… It kinda reminds me of the FP-45Liberator that was passed out to resistance fighters during WW2..
At least those had an objective. The Liberator was supposed to give resistant fighters the ability to “liberate” a MP40 or K98 from a Nazi .
I think its interesting (ok, not really) that he’s cut his initial production run from 1,000 units to 520 units. Four years ago he claimed most of these were accounted for
You know, looking at this gun, I am reminded of a book titled “Firearm Curiosa”. They had some palm pistols in there, as I remember. Even multi-shot ones. They also had a couple that looked like cigarette cases, but I don’t think the ATF would like those.
The original posts are from 2010 – you mean to tell me that in almost 5 years, this product still hasn’t made it into production‽
The demand is that high for it.
As a gun dealer myself, I occasionally am faced with the very type of customer this pistol was intended for: elderly, arthritic, possibly missing a finger or two. My own mother, whose first two fingers are fused stiff or war vets who have lost a digit or three come to mind. What are the self-defense alternatives for these folks? “Sorry, you’re screwed”
That won’t cut it. As a practical handgun for a fit whole person, doubtless this would be a lousy choice, but we need to keep the target demographic in mind. These folks need a self-defense firearm as much as any of us, possibly more considering their “easy pickings” appearance. I hope only the best for this guy and his invention and when one is available for review, we all need to look at it and it’s capabilities through a very narrow lens of the specific individual it is meant for. As long as it goes “bang” reliably and won’t fall apart, I’ll cheerfully sell it to that rare, but still needing customer who has no other practical alternative.