Rifleman Q&A: Italian-Made EIG Derringer

** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
brownie.jpg

Q: I have my grandfather’s pistol that we think he picked up in the ‘50s when he was stationed in Europe. It appears similar to the Mossberg Brownie referenced in the April 2019 issue of American Rifleman.

We found it in his collection after he passed, so it is one of the pistols we do not know the history of other than it is supposedly referred to as a “melon baller.” My searches on the Internet leave me with more questions than answers. Other than resemblance to Mossberg’s Brownie, can you help source information about this four-shot pistol?
   

A: Your gun is commonly called the Italian Brownie by collectors, or, more formally, the EIG four-barrel derringer. This Italian-­made derringer is not an exact copy of the Mossberg Brownie, but it does not need a DNA test to determine the designer must have had a disassembled Mossberg Brownie on his drafting table.

Mossberg made 37,000 Brownies between 1919 and 1932. The “XXII” next to the Italian proofmarks on your pistol is a date code showing your gun was made in 1966. It was made by Fratelli Tanfoglio of Brescia, Italy, for the EIG company.

The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibited the importation of small pistols. Companies such as EIG evaded the intent of the Gun Control Act by importing all but the frame of the many models of small semi-automatic pistols they had been importing from Spain and Italy, and then having the frames made in U.S. factories.

If they imported all but the frame of the Brownie, there wouldn’t be much left—I suspect they didn’t bother and dropped that model. Yours is marked with Italian proofmarks of 1966, so it was a pre-GCA ‘68 import.

According to an April 30, 1969, article in the New York Times, EIG was owned by Saul Eig, and he had ordered enough parts to make hundreds of thousands of small semi-automatic pistols in a factory he was building in Florida.

Investigative reporters found one shipment from Tanfoglio, Brescia, Italy, contained enough parts to complete 10,000 semi-automatic pistols.

Latest

Heckler Koch P7 Ihtog 1
Heckler Koch P7 Ihtog 1

I Have This Old Gun: Heckler & Koch P7

In the mid-1970s, the German federal police sought a replacement for its existing World War II-era sidearms and put out stringent guidelines for what it wanted in a handgun. The result was the Heckler & Koch P7.

New For 2025: Smith & Wesson Shield X

Smith & Wesson's new Shield X micro-compact handgun combines elements from the company's M&P Shield Plus with some cues from its smaller Bodyguard 2.0 design.

Review: Tisas PX-5.7 FO

The idea that a faster-moving, lightweight projectile can do the same work as a heavier, slower-moving slug has been around for ages, and the math clearly supports it, even if some in the general public don’t.

NRA Awards Grand Scholarships To 2024 Y.E.S. Students

The Y.E.S. program—which launched in 1996—is held each summer in Washington, D.C., and brings together high-achieving high school students from across the country for a week of immersive learning focused on the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and American government.

Rifleman Q&A: Ford Parts For A Smith-Corona

"My wife and I were celebrating our first child when a gentleman came up to our yard as the party was underway and asked about an old wretched Ford pickup that I intended to restore."

Mossberg 990 Aftershock: Not Just An “Other” Firearm

Following on the success of its shotshell-chambered, pump-action Shockwave, with its 990 Aftershock, Mossberg brings to market a similar package with a semi-automatic action that offers even more speed and convenience.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.