John Wilkes Booth's Deringer John Wilkes Booth's Deringer: View 1

The gun John Wilkes Booth used to change American history was a .44-caliber pistol made by Henry Deringer of Philadelphia. One shot was all that Booth had to kill President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington on April 14, 1865. The gun was favored for its small size. It could easily be concealed inside a pocket. It fired a single, round lead ball, weighing around .32 ounces, and was most accurate at close range.