I’m not a fan of gimmick pistols in general. My thinking is that you should put your hard earned money into a firearm that you can use in a variety of situations.
Having said that, however, there can be times when a specialty item can be useful. For example, maybe you want to keep your firearm concealed, but a regular concealed carry holster isn’t going to do the trick for some reason. Then, you may need to consider something like a palm pistol.
One example of this was the Wright Arms “Little All Right” Palm Pistol which is one of the tiniest pistols that I’ve seen. Interestingly, this particular pistol wasn’t the stereotypical single shot palm pistol but was designed for five shots. Logan Metesh provides details of this interesting little weapon:
Designed to fire five rounds of .22 Short ammo, the gun is easy to conceal. It weighs a whopping four ounces and is five inches in length when equipped with the standard 1 3/4-inch barrel. A longer, 2 3/8-inch barrel was also available, but is rarely seen.
Because of its diminutive size, the gun must be grasped by wrapping your hand around the entirety of the arm. This means that part(s) of your hand will be covering up the gap between the cylinder and the barrel.
This particular pistol may have been the ultimate in concealed carry firearms 140 years ago, and you can still find a Little All Right pistol if you’re willing to hunt through collectible firearms dealers.
But, to be fair, there may be a reason other than concealment to consider carrying a palm pistol: physical weakness or disability. In that case, if you want a firearm the best option may be a different palm pistol: the Constitution Arms Palm Pistol. To quote the Constitution Arms website:
The Palm Pistol® is an ergonomically innovative single shot self-defense firearm chambered in .38 special that may be held in either hand without regard to orientation of the stock. It is an adaptive aid intended for seniors, disabled or others with grip limitations due to hand strength, manual dexterity or phalangeal amputations. The zero bore axis eliminates muzzle rise during firing and directs recoil forces directly into the palm. It can be fired using the thumb or combinations of other fingers.
This particular firearm may be what you need for those who want protection but are physically unable to defend themselves otherwise. A .22LR version is being developed right now, but, as you know, if a person can aim decently well, a small caliber bullet will still do the job for self-defense.
Either way, if you choose one of these palm pistols or hunt around to find another model not mentioned here, remember that this is a specialized pistol for specialized situations, and you will still probably want to have a good everyday carry pistol as well.