A North American Arms .22LR Mini Revolver with a five-shot capacity and a money clip with a $20 on top.

I’ll just let you guys loose on this one. Thoughts?

 

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109 COMMENTS

      • Maybe he works in a GFZ? Getting caught could possible get him loss of job and arrested?

        I’ve always wanted one of those little revolvers. Not as a primary carry but just for a range toy.

        • I can’t even hit paper at 7 yards half the time, which makes it a less fun range toy. The sights are terrible and the inherent accuracy just isn’t there. Then I see Hickock45 ring the gong with it and have to re evaluate some things, none of them in my favor

        • The problem is the grip, or lack of one. I got the foldable one for mine, and that darn thing is pretty darned accurate! Lucky to hit the ground with the tiny teardrop grips it comes with. Now if I could just afford the breakup, so it could be reloaded…{!-{>

        • I test drove a buddies wasp and it was a little too small, but the bead sight was easy to pick up and the gun itself was accurate. The blade sights seem less useful.

          The black widow is very shootable. Just slightly larger, but a completely different shooting experience.

        • Perhaps in this case, the pen is mightier than the mouse gun.

          Or maybe good thing the guy brings a knife (as well) to a gun fight.

    • “Shoot me in the foot with a .500 Magnum, I’ll live…
      Shoot me with a .22 in the temple and it’s game over”
      As a backup to a G-32 stuffed with Kevin Underwood 125gr Gold Dots puking out at 1500+ FPS, I have a NAA 22 in Magnum flavor… 40 grainers blasting a 900+ FPS cacophony. To quote the late Ron Woods, “You get to rollin’ around with somebody, you stick it in their ear and pull the trigger… if it don’t kill em, it’ll make em deaf!”

    • Yes thank you! This is an actual carry. Probably 95% of these are hipsters showing off their gear and trying to fit as much of it as possible into the photo.

  5. Wouldn’t be my first choice but better than nothing when your butt is on the line. Or unless you needed deep conceal ability but I think I could come up with something better still. In the end, to each their own.

    • I EDC the Zebra F-701 and $30 folders because I have lost both in the past. I could not justify owning a $238 Microtech.

    • I agree with you on both. In my older age, the Shield is my EDC. However, I do have a NAA in a push button belt buckle which I’ve had for decades. No, I don’t carry it now a days, but was a cool novelty back in the days. Use to carry just the NAA while out for my daily run. Wasn’t much, but easier to carry than my Walther TPH which was never more than a backup. Well made, but really only a 4 shooter as the hammer had to rest on an empty chamber.

      • All new NAA revolvers have notches in the cylinder between the chambers for the hammer to rest. This allows you to safely carry 5 rounds. If your NAA pistol doesn’t have the safety cylinder, you can send it to NAA and they will retrofit it.

        • Cool, maybe I’ll just keep this one put away and buy a new one, just as a novelty of course. Thanks for the heads up.

  10. I’ve been thinking about getting one but with 22mag or 17 cal… I know for a fact a 22mag will do a lot of damage at close range…

  11. I have the same NAA. Great little gun. It’s my pajama carry/5th pocket/go to the mailbox gun. That guns also referred to as “nasal spray from hell”. How can you not love it!?

  12. Though they are extremely well made guns, a person who carries a mini revolver is the definition of “optimist.”

    When I owned one I didn’t find it appreciably easier to conceal than my LCP II, with a lot less practical value.

    Very fun to shoot, though.

    • On the one hand, you have an exposed trigger and .22 LR, the other .380, in hollow point, which actually cycled about half the time in my 9mm G17. As a backup, my LCP II goes into a pocket holster thence into my pocket. Always. How the heck do you keep from accidentally firing that .22 mini revolver, when putting it in your pocket, or rooting around there for your keys?

      • How the heck do you keep from accidentally firing that .22 mini revolver, when putting it in your pocket, or rooting around there for your keys?”

        Simple, don’t cock it. I can safely say it’s my most carried gun (though usually not the only gun on me.) Never bothered with a holster for it but it usually rides on a belt buckle or it gets it’s own pocket. 5ish years since I picked it up on a lark and it’s survived everything from the washing machine to unexpected swims. Plus you can’t beat the laugh factor when you pull what looks like a toy gun off your belt buckle and let a few loose. People always ask if it’s real and my favorite answer is “I hope so, I stuffed real bullets in it.”

      • First off, don’t put a pocket firearm in with keys or any other items. Dedicate a pocket to the pistol. While some carry the pistol loose in the pocket, I recommend a pocket holster. It covers the trigger to make it safer, keeps lint out of the pistol, and (properly designed) holds the pistol in the correct position for a draw.

  13. A mini revolver is not the best choice for self defense. It is better than a knife. 22 Magnum at close range will do the job. 5 bullets anywhere into the body will leave any mugger having a bad day.

    • I knife is harder and more dangerous to pull out of someone’s hand; other than that it’s a pretty poor defensive weapon. Slightly less so if you’re good. Almost no one is, and those that are know what a bad idea it is to try and use a knife defensively when you have any other option including running.

    • I can’t hit anything at 25 yards with a knife. I can ring 8” steel plates 4 out of 5 shots with my black widow. My knife is better at opening boxes though, so I carry it as well. 😉

    • “That depends.” Damn Skippy. In old time Memphis, TN you could carry a Colt’s revolver, but not a Bowie knife. The knife wounds were much more severe. I have seen two men disembowled. More than a few murdered with knives. Personally, I fear a knife more than a handgun. Rifle is a different animal.

  15. It might be better than a sharp stick. Depending on how long the stick is. Overall I think think they are silly. Shot them. Almost less than useless.

  18. When your gun is larger than your knife you might spend a lot of time in a non-permissive environment.

    When your gun and your vape box are both smaller than your knife I start to think you might be doing this wrong.

      • the edit button is back, Strych.

        click the ‘remember me’ box below the comment box…

        • That doesn’t work for me. The way I’m running things my browser addons actively block that feature and I can’t disable blocking that feature without disabling a bunch of other features that I like.

        • It’s an html command you can add to your text by typing things around the word. Use the carrots which are on your , and . keys around the command, in this case, “strike” to start the line and “/strike” to stop it.

          Instead of “strike” you can use “i” for italics, “b” for bold etc.

          https://www.w3schools.com/html/html_formatting.asp

  19. When you start shootin they start running. Doesn’t matter what it is. Just better hope they don’t have a gun with them.

  21. He will probably never have to draw a gun against an aggressor. If he does, and has to shoot it, a .22 magnum at close range has the potential to kill quickly if you hit someone in the head… not so great of a chance with body shots. But you know what? That’s true of most calibers.

    Me, I’ll take a .380 at smallest because I can stick that sucker in a bathing suit if I have to but maybe this guy wears a speedo so he needs something a little MORE concealable.

    • I’m not sure the 22mag out of that barrel will punch through a noggin.

      Maybe through the eye….Mr.Bond

      • It should still have plenty of zip to punch through a skull, the 22 lr version will penetrate pork ribs reliably.

        • But the skull is different.

          I have had mini mags from a Smith kit gun (4inch) fail to penetrate a possums skull.

          If it hits a rounded, hardened portion it will slide along under the skin.

          I would rather count on something with a little more momentum…..like a 38 wadcutter.

          YMMV

        • Interesting results with Gold Dots.

          For the record though…he was shooting a Black Widow with a 2 inch barrel.

          7/8 inch more than the pocket dump.

          Still.. a Smith 351 with 7 Gold Dots.would be a light package for carry.

        • You are correct that the Black Widow was used in the video. That’s why I provided Labradar data for the Speer Gold Dot – Short Barrel 22 Mag rounds out of the NAA Pug (1-inch barrel). In this small of pistol, ammo selection is critical. Hornady Critical Defense 45 gr. FTX is another 22 WMR round that is recommended for the NAA pistols.

  22. Perhaps this will place the choice of such a firearm in perspective:

    In the latter years of the 20th century, that great proponent of the .45acp, Jeff Cooper, had occasion to interview Hans-Ulrich Rudel. Rudel was the most highly decorated German flyer of WWII, credited with “killing” over 500 Soviet tanks with the Stuka dive bomber fitted with twin 37mm cannon.

    Cooper naturally asked Rudel what sidearm he prefered to carry when flying missions against Soviet armor. The German Flying Ace’s choice, a 6.35 mm pistol! When asked why he preferred such a feeble handgun, Rudel replied, “Because I have never been a pessimist.”

    http://weaponsman.com/?p=31823

    • “Carry a 25 if it makes you feel good, but do not ever load it. If you load it you may shoot it. If you shoot it you may hit somebody, and if you hit somebody – and he finds out about it – he may be very angry with you.”

      Always loved that quote!

      • actually saw that happen once…slug stuck in a guy’s shoulder blade…after he realized what happened he turned around and beat the crap out of the guy who shot him….

  23. This is actually going better than I thought it might.

    As a defense weapon, I would not be well armed with a knife. There is a difference between being an antagonist and a defender.

    I have carried a NAA in .22LR since the 1960s as a backup. I have been very happy with it.

    Now, the hard part. I learn a long time ago that listening to speculation is one thing, and learning from people that have actually been there and done that is another, and that is especially true when it comes to firearms use. Do I carry a .45ACP? Yes, so it goes without saying I believe that .45s are a better choice than 9mm for me, but not necessarily for others. It is also important to note that most civilians are only going to need a “get off of me gun” rather than an “enforcement gun”. There is a serious difference of purpose that often goes unacknowledged by far too many trainers of civilian carriers. That means that .380s and .22s are well worth consideration, especially as a means of assuring consistent carry.

    • +1 Self defense is VERY different than what might be needed for law enforcement or military. When cc “experts” start talking about self defense like a military engagement, or the “need” for dozens of rounds, I tune out.

      • Same here. Military defense training is a little different than a shopping mall situation. Unless the ‘experts’ train with the kids, wearing sandals and carrying shopping bags.

    • Bingo.
      Line all the posters up for a one by one guided trip to the bathroom in a crack head robbery and every one of them will accept the NAA .22mag you slip into their hand.

  24. The mini revolvers are fun to shoot……plinking at the range.

    While it is a gun, I can’t manipulate it very fast at leisure so I imagine I would “shoot your eye out, kid” in a DGU.

    So…. not for me.

    Pay your money and take your chance.

      • Same here.

        My comment was regarding these keyboard commandos telling others what and how to carry. Sounds a lot like the other side telling people they can’t carry at all.

    • My thoughts exactly. Plus with a hammer less j frame it will fit in a jacket pocket and worst case scenario you just shoot through the jacket until the threat is stopped or the gun is empty.

    • Yes, in a revolver nothing smaller than a .38 Special. Mine is an older Charter Arms Off Duty, pre “+P” era.

  29. I am a bit embarrassed to admit carrying an LCP at times, no way am I going to fess up to carrying a cap gun. I can even respect a 22 for certain people with hand strength issues, but these are toys or novelties😊

  30. All sorts of little itty bitty hide out guns could be reasonable as a secondary gun. Carrying one in .22LR as your only piece would either be a really strange choice or one forced by peculiar circumstance.

    So I’d say that gun needs explaining from the owner.

    After which all sorts of snark would surely follow.

    • Police: Are you okay? What happened here?

      Survivor: I’m fine. He was in the process of raping me so I shot him in the eye with a CCI Velocitor.

      Police: Bullshit. A Velociraptor is a dinosaur and a man is fucking dead.

      Survivor: No, but they say revolvers are dinosaurs.

      Police: What? Where is the damn gun?

      Survivor: It’s right here.

      Police: Where? That’s a keychain.

      Survivor: Yeah, its bunch of keys, a troll doll, and a bunch of remotes chained to the butt of my little gun.

      Police: Bullshit. That’s a toy.

      Survivor: That’s what he thought.

        • Don’t make me laugh at breakfast! Hot coffee snot is no fun. Grip issue above; I hate the wood grips, cute but hard to shoot. Got the larger rubber grips. I have the .22 WMG/.22lr with 1″ plus a bit version. 4-5 inch at 10 feet. Small size? I wear 2x gloves. This little puppy hides in my hand. A dress-up leather vest pocket just fine, try that with a .45. Comment ref training for a police/military EOTWAWKI is right on. I don’t go to or associate with gang bangers. If I did my SSP226 in a shoulder holster is just fine. Why do I care comment? Same here. I use .22WMG Critical Defense. Still, only a belly gun, or very deep carry.

  31. I’ll take the contrarian position.

    The last thing a carjacker or rapist expects is the dull yellow blast of a CCI Stinger 6 inches in front of his right eye a millisecond before his life ends.

    It’s a one shot fight ender in the hands of a professional, but that’s just it, you have to be cool and professional about it.

    A 317 Airlite does the same thing but it’s less concealable.

    • Cool and professional?

      With a mouse gun, I’m in the “consider all your capacity to be one shot”.

      So I would give an attacker my best Ed McGivern with 317.

      I guess he would still only see one flash though.

  32. On one hand I wouldn’t want to have to trust me life to any rimfire firearm. On the other hand the NAA mini-revolver is better then nothing, and in fact are quite well made from what little I have seen of them in person.

    • Rimfire ammunition is a lot more reliable than it used to be. I’ve not had a single failure to fire out of the NAA pistols (Pug and a BugOut II) when using quality ammo. If you do have a FTF, revolvers are easy to move to the next round as they don’t require clearing the chamber.

      One of the things that makes the NAA pistols so appealing is that they are so small and light, people are more likely to carry them all of the time. I know several individuals with concealed carry permits that will only carry larger caliber firearms. But when I ask where their pistol is, it’s often left in the car, truck, or at home.

      I personally daily carry a Sig P365 and the Pug as a backup. I started carrying a backup when owners started reporting broken firing pins with the P365. Now it’s more of a habit. When I’m home and just wearing shorts (no belt)/t-shirt, I carry just the BugOut II.

  33. Some of the comments remind me of something I read involving battle plans and first contact with an enemy. I admit to frequently carrying mouse guns, including the occasional NAA 22 magnum (If a 380 or 32 is a “mouse gun”, what is a 25 or 22?). I recognize their serious limitations, but for me, sometimes it’s a mouse or nothing. I certainly can’t speak for would be muggers, but I know that I don’t want any extra holes in my body, especially my face, privates, etc. Ultimately, you make your choice based on perceptions of risk, need, convenience, etc. Now, if I could just get my wife to carry something, anything…!

    • (If a 380 or 32 is a “mouse gun”, what is a 25 or 22?)

      Right after Men in Black came out, the kids took to calling my NAA .22 Magnum “The Noisy Cricket.”

  34. I have carried an NAA .22 RF with the folding grip in situations where I could carry nothing else – for example in scrubs. The folding grip also changes the outline in your pocket making it look more like a cigarette lighter than a gun. I think the best results could be obtained with a contact shot, injecting burning powder particles and hot gas along with the projectile. This would be a one shot stop if administered to the head.

  35. For those of you who don’t live in the Deep South, an NAA makes perfect sense as a carry firearm when it’s sunny, no wind, 90+ degrees with 80+ % humidity and you’re wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Even an LCP (I have one) is too bulky.
    I hear it gets hot in NYC…

  37. I know you would not look cool jumping thru the air whilst firing it nor shooting down an active shooter in your mall in the “Ralphie” fantasy saving the big hootered blonde from emanate death just in the nick of time with your ultra magnum 33 shot chain gun in 458 socom with a hip shot. These “Die Hard” fantasies have to stop. I live in reality, not lala land. Shur if the shit hits the fan I’ll wish I had my RI .45 (it’s in the truck, dammit) but you can’t carry a brick on your hip everyday, everywhere it’s just not realistic. I’ve been carrying CC for about 20 years and I’ve found that the lightest, smallest weapon actually gets carried EVERYDAY. P3AT everyday. sometimes davis 32 derringer sometimes NAA .22 mag. sometimes poly judge with buckshot. Depends on where I’m going or what I’m doing. But EVERYDAY I’m carrying and that’s the important thing.

    • I would bet many of the fantasies being posted here would go away if the poster actually was involved in a serious social situation. Almost everyone I know that has been shot in situations like this and/or has shot someone would agree.

      Shoot someone and then learn to live with the nightmares and guilt;
      Shoot someone and get arrested and go through a jail visit and an expensive trial;
      Shoot someone and find yourself being sued by the individual or his family;
      Shoot someone and experience embarrassing publicity and an inability to make a living.

      Any or all of those things will change attitudes and lives forever.

      Me? I have plenty of military and law enforcement training. I carry an “enforcement weapon”. I’m going to hide and call 911 if I can. Other than active duty LEOs (which I am not at age 70) I think anyone that would get involved in a shooting situation (that does not involve a direct threat to self or others you care strongly about*) willingly is inexperienced and naive.

      Don’t get me wrong, there are times when failing to respond is not an option one can live with. But I have no impulse to play hero either. The cost is sometimes just too high.

      That means that small guns in lesser calibers often are the best choice for most people. They are more likely to need a close range weapon unless they have a hero complex. The close range mouse gun is enough to persuade aggressors to stop or run which is all the gun handler should want anyway.

      For those of you who think a .22 or a .25 is insufficient for this job, ask yourself this question: Would I indemnify a shooter against criminal or civil action and then let him/her shoot me at 3 feet or less with a .22 or .25 for $10,000.00 if I survived?

      * Willing to go bankrupt and to prison for constitutes carrying strongly for.

  38. The rosewood hand grips NAA sells for the little 22’s gives you a two finger grip instead of a one finger and is much easier to shoot. These little guns are quite water resistant. You could take them on a inner tube float in a swimsuit pocket and not worry about them being damaged.

  39. Had one. Shot it a few times at the range. Failed to fire enough times on CCI Stingers, that I was uncomfortable with it, at best. Did not feel at all reliable. Good for very close range, and better than nothing — if it fires. A Stinger has some sting to it. I sold it awhile back.

    My concern with the .22’s for carry is the FTF’s. I have a Walther PPQ .22, which is very reliable. But it’s full-size. I carry full-size, a Glock 21 or 22. No point in carrying a .22.

  40. Always struck me as more of a last ditch defensive ambush-oriented or better than nothing kit gun. I think its cute, and this thread has me looking at their website.

  41. Any gun is better than no gun. Especially if you have to work in a GFZ. But if you train with it then the gun you have will do its job.

    And its job is to stop an attack. Killing the thug is not needed to stop an attack. But it is preferred. Save the tax payer!!!

    BTW
    Why would you only fire one round from your 15 round capacity firearm if you’re attacked? If I put five 22 caliber holes into an attacker, I bet he will stop attacking me.

    I pocket carry a Beretta 21a because I work in a GFZ. It has 8 bullets.

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