By Michael A. Black
Ideal Conceal’s Cellphone gun is the same size as an iPhone.
I first saw Ideal Conceal’s cellphone gun at the 2018 SHOT Show in Las Vegas. The gun is the same size and shape as your standard smart phone, so it’s easily concealable, and can be deployed as a weapon in a matter of seconds. Since the company is located in Minneapolis and is within driving distance for me, I was able to set up a product testing session at the Osseo Gun Club in Osseo, MN.
The company’s CEO, Kirk Kjellberg, was already on the firing range putting rounds through the two-shot derringer. Also on hand was Ideal Conceal’s product design engineer, Troy Pongratz. Currently, the gun is available in the .380 caliber, but plans are in the works to introduce a 9mm model as well. The flat shape makes it easy to carry and there’s plenty of space on the front to add a laser sight to make target acquisition easier, and the nose-heavy design helps control the recoil.
To make the Cellphone gun operational merely pull down the handle.
Kjellberg, who has a concealed carry permit for his Colt Mustang, admits he got the idea for the cellphone gun after a somewhat unpleasant incident in which Kjellberg’s jacket got caught up in his holstered weapon and a young boy saw it and raised an alarm. Although the incident had no lasting adverse consequences, it started Kjellberg thinking about concealability and self-defense. It was then that he noticed that virtually everyone was carrying a visible cellphone. Thus the idea for the cellphone gun was born.
Once drawn from its holster, which looks like your typical leather smart phone holder, the gun can be made weapon-ready in seconds. All that is required is pulling down the handle portion, or grip, which rides along the base of the gun. This handle is long enough to provide a solid grip for someone with large hands, and the weapon won’t fire while the grip is folded up onto the frame so there’s no need for any external safety. To fold the grip back up onto the frame of the gun, you need to press a button to release the grip. Troy, the design engineer, mentioned that they plan to increase the size of these retracting buttons once the gun goes into production. This will make it easier to fold the grip back into place.
Lift the barrel to insert two rounds.
The cellphone gun is striker-fired and has a three-inch barrel. It holds two rounds, and is easy to fire. Its dimensions are 5 inches in length, by 3 inches in height, with a thickness of ¾ inch. Again, it’s the size of your typical smart phone, but it does weigh a bit more, checking in at 18 ounces. It has a burred extractor running along the sides of the barrel to facilitate removing the spent shell casings, and another burred release-slide on the topside to open and lift the barrels to load and reload. Kjellberg stated that he and his crew have put over 2,000 rounds through each of the two prototypes to test the design and have not experienced a single malfunction.
“We’re not setting an MSRP, but we are setting a MAP of $500.00,” he says. “Dealers will set their own prices.” They already have over 1,000 pre-orders and plan to ship then to dealerships across the country by this summer.
The author found the derringer effective at a distance of 10 to 12 yards.
After going through the basics of how the gun works, and doing a few dry-firings to gauge the trigger pull, which is 8 lbs., it was time to get started. We set the target at around 10 to 12 yards. Kjellberg mentioned that while a professional shooter had been able to fire the gun accuracy up to 25 yards, the weapon is after all a derringer and meant for close quarters rather than distance shooting.
Fully loaded, I stepped to the firing line and pulled down the grip. It felt comfortable in my hand and the trigger pull was a bit long, but smooth. The recoil was hardly noticeable. The target was a life-like, full color version of a hostile, armed male so the perforations weren’t immediately discernible, but I had no trouble placing the two rounds in the target’s center mass. I reloaded and took more careful aim at the target’s forehead. Each round found its mark. The top edge of the gun has a slight ridge running along both sides of the upper edge that can be lined up with a low profile sight on the front end to facilitate sighting in on your target. However, I used a “point-shoot” method, which I found equally effective.
The Cellphone gun is easily concealable and provides a quick, two-shot self-defense. It will be available this summer.
Certainly, the addition of a laser sight would greatly facilitate the shooter’s aim and allow for greater accuracy at varying distances. The thin handle felt entirely comfortable in my right (dominant) hand. When I fired off a few rounds left-handed, I could notice a bit of a difference in my grip, but this could be overcome with some practice. I then let my female companion fire off some rounds, which she accomplished with no difficulty whatsoever. The grip fit comfortably into her hand as well, which was substantially smaller than mine. Between the two of us, we fired off around forty rounds, improving our accuracy with each reloading.
The specially designed holster makes the Cellphone gun easily concealable.
Kjellberg readily admits that avid conceal carry people who want a high capacity of rounds are not his targeted buyers. Instead, the Ideal Conceal derringer “offers protection along with simplicity and stealth.” He often says he doesn’t care “what a person carries, as long as they carry something,” and feels that many people, especially the growing number of women firearm and concealed carry permit holders will find the cellphone gun a welcome addition to their arsenals.
For further information on Ideal Conceal and the Cellphone Derringer, go to IdealConceal.com.
