North American Arms

[Scradoozy]

Had a plumber come to my house and as he was reaching up into the sealing noticed what appeared to be a knife case with an odd grip. Asked if that was a pistol on his hip and he showed me a small revolver from Norh American Arms. The case was indeed a for a folding tool/knife and he said the pistol fit perfectly.

I have seen the NAA revolvers in various gun shops and always looked at them as somewhat of a novelty, but this episode got me thinking of the old axiom that the best pistol is the one you have with you. Would have to be better than a 9mm or .45 left at home or in the car.

I realize a 22 is far from an ideal personal defense caliber, but who wants to volunteer to get shot by one from 3 feet away to test? Wouldn't be my favorite day.

Got me thinking somewhat seriously about one of these.

Anyone have much experience with these? Reliable? General comments?

[Monkeyman2500]

I been eyeing these for a while. Haven't held one but looked bigger than I thought they would be at the LGS.

[EMB145]

I have one with the changeable cylinder. Shoots both long rifle or magnum. Great little gun and the thing I love is the fact you can rest the hammer between chambers. No chance of it going off without cocking the hammer and squeezing the trigger. Its a close up get off me gun, but 5 rounds of single action 22 mag is better than an empty pocket.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Those little 22lr's loaded with the 60 grain Aguila SSS rounds are nothing to laugh at. They get 8"-10" of penetration and turn sideways on the way. This leaves a .60" permenent wound channel which is wider than most defensive calibers. It would have the hydrostatic shock some calibers do but it definitely has the permanent wound channel.

 

I have a 22 as my "last resort" pistol and it is loaded with the SSS round. It also makes the gun more reliable with the shorter cases. I have had some finicky 22's in the past and they ALL ran the SSS just fine.

[UncleJak]

My grandfather carried one of them for years. It was his last ditch effort gun. And as Dolomite said, it will do some damage.
Thinking about it makes me want one too.

sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[Scradoozy]

Wow! Lots of quick positive comments! I gues I'm not to crazy for thinking seriously about one of these...

[Patton]

I love mine, it is honestly a well tuned piece of art.

It is every bit ascaccurate as most pistols, I shoot milk jugs at 20 yards. I had the 22lr and sold it to buy the mag/lr conversion. I have the 1 1/8" barrel but wished I had the 1 5/8" model. Edited August 31, 2013 by Patton

[safeandsecure]

Had one of the NAA 22 LRs -- sold it to fund the two-cylinder version.  Carry mine with the 22 Mag cylinder, and 2nd and 4th round are rat shot.  Figure it would work for a no-legged snake, and with it being the 2nd and 4th round, if applied to the face, would probably (at the least) discourage a 2-legged snake. I haven't tried it but my guess is that a 22 mag round in the eyes would at least allow me to escape a bad situation.

 

But I'm no good past about 7 feet with it.  I also added the rubber overmolded grips.  Still hides in a jeans pocket, a dress shirt pocket, a sport coat or suit pocket ... ... well, you get the picture.  I also consider it my "last resort" -- -- well, except for my Kershaw.  And I'd have to be closer than 7 feet to use that ...

 

It ain't exactly what I'd rather have for a gun fight, but it's a heckuva sight better than throwing rocks (or using that Kershaw).  AND, it goes "BANG" every time the trigger is pulled.  Makes an unbelievable racket, too, for a 22 mag.  Guess it's that short barrel.

 

But I would have been just as happy with the 22 mag version without the 22LR cylinder.

 

Guess I could've just said I like mine.   :up:

[Mykltn]

I carry a NAA .22mag in an uncle Mike's holster next to my wallet and have a .22lr in a belt buckle. Great guns.

[Wiljo05]

I have a good buddy that never leaves home without it. Accuracy ehh, but noise factor when the 22 mag goes off rivals big guns!

[enfield]

I've carried one on occasion for over 10 years.

[spikehunter]

Love mine 22 lr. For me the 22 mag was just as big in your pocket as a kel tec 380. I forget the 22 is even there. In many cases its either that or nothing for me and I would much rather have that. It's also something I can take running with me. I don't appreciate viscous unchained dogs that come after runners or cyclist. Like others have said hitting your target takes practice and I would argue that in a panic situation anything outside of 5 feet is luck.

[Keyless]

I had the magnum but let my son have it because I wanted the one with both cylinders. With his work , he needed it more than I do. I wanted the new sidewinder , swing out cylinder model they now have , until I saw the price. Not sure it is worth that much more to me. Great little ( true ) pocket gun . Just watch about getting your finger out of the way at the end of the cylinder .

[Will Carry]

I want one of these revolvers! They are of great quality and NAA is selling them as fast as they can make them. Yet every time I see one at a gun shop (which is rare now days) I think about what would happen if I ever got into a gun fight with one....and I walked away from the counter. Now that I have over a dozen concealed carry guns of all types, I think it's time to get one. For a back up weapon or deep concealment weapon. Although I would hate to have to use it.

[tnhawk]

I've been looking at the NAA pistols for awhile.  Those who have them have made good comments about them.  It took me a long time to decide to get an LCP, but now it gets carried everyday.

[East_TN_Patriot]

Plenty of folks are killed every year with a .22 pistol and those who think otherwise are definitely misinformed on the lethal potential of that round even out of a small NAA revolver.  The killing of South Carolina Trooper Mark Coates is a very unfortunate case in point.  Trooper Coats shot his assailant 5 of 6 times with his .357mag duty revolver at a distance of about 10- 15 feet.  The assailant returned fire with a .22 caliber NAA mini revolver using his off hand and struck Trooper Coats with the one round he fired.  The .22 bullet entered Trooper Coates' body around his armpit above his body armor, began to tumble, and severed his aorta.  Trooper Coats was immediately incapacitated and died within a couple of minutes.  The assailant is currently serving a life term in prison.  

Edited August 31, 2013 by East_TN_Patriot

[Moped]

I've wanted one of these for years now, but when I have the money, I can never find one.  Guess one of these days I will have to trade something for one of them, when they come up here!

[eRay]

I carried one for 20 years. The cylinder finally locked up on it. I returned it to North American for repairs and they sent me a new gun at no charge. Great little guns and unparalled customer servive.

[Patton]

I have commented once, I had the 22lr and it was too small. I once or twice thought I had lost it because it disappears so much. I have a magnum version, a keltec p32, and a LCP. The magnum is still smaller, lighter, and more easily hidden. I have read the Trooper Coots story before and the only homicide I have ever went to as a cop was from one shot with a 22lr. I like the smoothness of the hammer and trigger of NAA revolvers.

[R1100R]

I have one of the 22LR/22 MAG models I carry in a custom made wallet for it in my front pocket. I used the .22 MAG with the critical defense ammo

that's made for it.

[Tennjed]

I have a 22lr only and it is such a well built gun. I have my eye on a 22mag sidewinder with the swing out cylinder. Can't find one yet. I would have no problem dropping 5rds of 22 mag in my pocket.

Again NAAs are really really we made guns

[Tennjed]

Double post Edited September 1, 2013 by Tennjed

[tnhawk]

While I was at a local gun store today, I checked to see which models by NAA were in stock.  After handling one, the workmanship of NAA convinced me to try one.  I decided to get the model with the 22 mag conversion cylinder.

[tartanphantom]

I've carried the NAA 2" barrel WMR Black Widow as my last resort BUG for quite a while. It also goes places that my regular sidearm won't/can't go.

I may occasionally leave my primary at home, but "Charlotte" is always tucked away somewhere on my person every day of the week.

 

With these short-barrel NAAs, it's important to carry high-performance ammo. Plain old Winchester Dynapoint ain't really gonna cut it, as expansion will be pretty minimal if any at all. There have been several recent tests of Defense-designed .22WMR, many of which have been designed specifically for these short-barrel revolvers. I carry the Hornady Critical Defense 45gr FTX rounds, which have had some of the best expansion and muzzle energy results in these little guns. Keep in mind that the smaller 1&1/8" barrels have some pretty evident "bullet tumbling" issues regardless of the load used. The 1&5/8" and 2" barrels have significantly better ballistic performance.

 

As far as quality holsters go, it's a bit of a challenge to find one that's a good fit. However, There's a fellow in Montana who sells extremely well made hand-crafted leather holsters of all types for NAA revolvers. He mainly sells on Ebay. I futzed with a few nylon and a generic leather holster for my Black Widow, but I got frustrated with the crappy construction and poor fit. I finally bit the bullet and bought one of these custom leather jobs, and I've never regretted it. I have no relationship whatsoever with the seller, but if you're looking for a GOOD QUALITY model-specific leather holster for an NAA revolver, just look up the Ebay seller "colt45saa-us".

Edited September 1, 2013 by tartanphantom

[Monkeyman2500]

How do those fire? Are the single action?Do you cock it each time?