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

Taurus Expedition Rifleman Review 1
Taurus Expedition Rifleman Review 1

Rifleman Review: Taurus Expedition

Taurus entered the bolt-action rifle market with its Expedition, a Remington 700-pattern design that's built to be versatile and affordable.

New For 2025: Charter Arms Pathfinder II

Charter Arms updated one of the oldest models in its lineup with the new Pathfinder II, which features a lightweight 7075 aluminum frame, making it more well-balanced and easier to carry.

Review: Kimber 2K11

The 2011-style pistol was designed to address the capacity limitations of the single-stack M1911 platform, and Kimber's approach to the concept is its 2K11, a competition-ready offering with several notable features.

Favorite Firearms: A High-Flying Hi-Standard “A-D”

Manufactured in New Haven, Conn., in late 1940, this Hi-Standard pistol was shipped as a Model “A,” but a heavier Model “D” barrel was installed later to replace the original, light barrel, leading one American Rifleman reader to call it a Model “A-D.”

Ruger Helps Families In Need Through The Kids & Clays Foundation

In the effort to help tens of thousands of critically ill children and their families across the nation through local Ronald McDonald Houses, Ruger is among some of the industry’s foremost Platinum-level sponsors of The Kids & Clays Foundation.

Unlocking The Future: Smith & Wesson's "No Lock" Revolvers

The future is shaping up to be a good one for fans of Smith & Wesson revolvers. The iconic American company had released 14 new models thus far in 2025 at the time this was written mid-year. And, with one exception, they have all shared a common feature—no internal lock.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.