I am a huge fan of the pocketable little revolvers made by North American Arms. They’re fun to shoot, very well made and can be carried by virtually anyone. At SHOT Show this year NAA teased us with a new all-black mini revolver. Now NAA has officially announced their new Mini-Shadow is available exclusively through Davidson’s.
The Mini-Shadow is chambered in .22LR, .22Mag or with a convertible cylinder so you can swap between the two.
The matte-black finish is created by a physical vapor deposition process creating a titanium-based coating. The resulting finish is corrosion-resistant, has high temperature and impact strength, is abrasion resistant and durable enough that a topcoat isn’t needed.
I can’t wait to get my hands one one of these. With a price of $280-$320, they should prove popular. Click here for the .22LR model, here for the .22Mag or here for the convertible version.
Once NAA produced the dovetailed sights on the Pug, Black Widow and Mini-Master, I’m stumped as to why they still offer models with that worthless little bead and notch. The Sidewinder and Ranger are really cool, but I’d rather deal with a field-strip reloading process and have some sights I can actually use.
I suppose because most owners are under no illusions about the distances they anticipate shooting it from. 😁
I still want one on a keychain… if I follow though with that mad idea one day, I’ll just stick with brushed stainless and rosewood.
🤠
Agreed that they’re no proper handgun, but the real sights and decent grip of the Black Widow and Mini-Master turn them into decently shootable pieces. With a Pug or smaller I struggle to hit an 8” plate past 7yds, but with the Black Widow it’s an easy 12yd shot in rapid fire. For a negligible increase in profile/weight/even cost, you get a huge boost in “shootability”. I’ve popped several snakes well outside their striking distance, and I’m no great shot. I don’t think I could have done that with the smaller NAA sights.
Unless I leave the property and/or have a reason to grab something larger, a Black Widow with GoldDots is always in my pocket. I’ve sweat buckets into it over the years, oiled it maybe 6-7 times, and it’s still rust free. I generally just use an air hose to clean the grass, pocket lint, and sweat beads out.
I see these revolvers as strictly a novelty item. The LCP/P3AT/TCP class is the smallest group of practical firearms. My LCP is in my pocket, as I type this from home on a lazy Saturday morning. Frankly, the micro .380s barely count as guns. Still, they are light years ahead of these mini .22 revolvers.
For defensive carry, I agree. I dont carry an NAA revolver as a primary defensive arm, though it often sits in my pocket as a backup to a larger handgun on my hip. That could be anything from a J-Frame up through a Glock 20. But as a working tool when out in the yard, the same as a pocketknife or flashlight, it’s perfect. It’s dispatched a handful of snakes and small critters, and with far less noise or drama than a small 380 or 9mm. Unless I’m using the mower or chainsaw, I’m probably not wearing ear pro. Using a 380 pocket pistol would rattle the ears and doesn’t accomplish anything on a rattlesnake that an NAA revolver can’t.
ivory grips are a nice addition to these little gems…
I’m fine with the half moon blade front sight, it’s the nub they put on the Sidewinder and Ranger models that I can’t stand. The sights on the Pug/Widow/Minimaster are really good sights, but for deep concealment they are not the best.
Damn, that’s ominous looking.
I like it.
Yeah. Elsewhere in this blog there is an evaluation of Buffalo Bore’s load for the .380 ACP. The comments are hilarious. Everyone says bad things about the .380. How many of them also like these little .22 revolvers?
But not one of them will stand on the wrong end of a 380…
I took a newbie shooter friend to the range and let him shoot my NAA .22 LR—the one with the 1 5/8″ barrel. Of course he couldn’t hit anything. His response was, “That’s a stupid gun. Why do you have it?” Yet when I asked him to stand 3 yards away and let me shoot him, he refused.
Any gun is better than no gun.
I’ll take you up on it on one condition: While you’re shooting me with it, I’ll sprint toward you and stab you in the neck over and over again.
I’m not saying there isn’t some basic logic behind the old “you don’t wanna get shot with it” card, but you guys really need to stop acting like it’s some kind of unassailable argument.
Is Iron Cat Beast known to be Ironic?
“Is Iron Cat Beast known to be Ironic?”
He is, at best.
I wish that NAA would come out with velo-dog/CA 2000-style DA mini, but it’s probably not a profitable idea compared to the multitude of variations on their SA frames.
I need a NAA in my life. I think I’d stick with the stainless
Cool.
price has risen considerably since the last ones I bought, though….
I’m trying to remember what I paid for mine in 1998, I *think* it was 180 bucks?
That was for the convertible cylinder version.
I’m liking this one a lot. STB 410 tested some derringer .22lr ammo, and it performed better than 22 mag from that one-inch barrel.
The convertible cylinder model won’t fit in the NAA belt buckle, and I want that if we get OC here in Florida.
I want to pick up the dog-tag neck chain Kydex draw holster I’ve seen for it. Just reach up under your shirt…
The only problem I have with the belt buckle is that it takes two hands to draw the weapon.
That and there isn’t a version for all of the variants.
This is probably an unpopular opinion but I think these mini revolvers are one of the few guns that don’t “beat a sharp stick.” Fighting with fists and sharp sticks or trying to run away seem like a better option than trying a quick draw. The grips are too small to get a good quick grip. It’s an awkward single action. It is a .22 with less than a 2 inch barrel. Even as a BUG I have doubts about it being effective.
Considering my everyday loadout includes not just my gun, but also a Cold Steel Irish walking stick, a heavily-laden DeSantis City Slicker and a Gerber Fairbairn Combat Folder- I’d say I’ve got the “sharp stick” beat. It’s always nice to have options and even a minirevolver or derringer that can hit an assailant beyond the reach of my cane would be welcome in my pocket.
But let’s get real: people love NAA revolvers because they are so damn COOL – not because their lives depend on them. That they just *might* save your bacon if you have it and no other options is a plus.
🤠
“…but I think these mini revolvers are one of the few guns that don’t “beat a sharp stick.””
I disagree.
The little NAA minis have two things in abundance, a big fireball, and they are *LOUD*. They sound far louder than their tiny size. That’s a psychological deterrent right there for the attacker to back off…
Tell that to trooper Mark Coates.
I have orthopedic issues. It hurts to carry my LCP. The standard mini-mag is my EDC. I live in rural Wyoming .No MS 13 and other unwelcome “people”. My big issue is going to the “big” towns. (Salt Lake) Then I carry my LC9 w/spare mag. But it hurts my back after about an hour of walking around. Any gun is better than no gun. A .22 WMR from Honady critical defense x 4 and one round of bird shot up first. Very discouraging.
.22 bird shot? Seriously? Even birds aren’t intimidated by that.
Rat shot…
Sure. Bird shot in .22 mag… stand at “bad breath” distance and let me pepper your face w/bird shot, no takers? thought not . Bunch of judgmental ….s. When is the last time YOU had to stand down anyone? Look down the barrel of any fire arm. At 3′ it looks like the Holland tunnel. Bunch of wanna be spec ops.
I have ordinary corrugated cardboard boxes that haven’t been penetrated by .22 ratshot. It won’t penetrate a layer of muscle or fat, so it isn’t getting to vital organs. You might damage eyes with it, but otherwise it’s just going to sting. Maybe a contact shot to the temple would be disabling. You can do the wound ballistics testing on your own to prove it. Don’t even need a real range. I’d rather have the 5th shot of .22 WMR. I don’t see the point of rat shot unless you really want a non-lethal first shot. Ratshot doesn’t pattern wide enough at “bad breath range” to appreciably increase your chance of hitting, and if it did, the couple of small pellets is unlikely to be damaging. Pepper spray would be more disabling and not count as lethal force or be subject to firearms laws.
If someone is willing to take a round of ratshot from you, what do they get in return? I’d let you keep your life since it won’t do me any good, and I don’t need a murder wrap. How about all your worldly possessions and any future earnings, income, gifts, and donations?
I’d rather go up against a man with a gun full of .22 rat shot than a man with a knife, that’s for sure. For most rounds it’s hyperbole, but .22 shot is, literally, likely to just piss someone off.
My minimaster 22mag is my EDC at home. It’s loud! Scares off roaming dogs, quickly dispatches vermin. I have the rosewood oversize grips and have never needed all 5 shots to take out even a belligerent coon.
How do you carry it? I sold mine when I found myself carrying the Black Widow in a pocket holster far more often. The Mini Master’s 4” barrel seemed to require a belt holster or something less convenient.
I carry it in a belt holster. If I leave my hobby farm, I put a little 1 5/8 NAA in my pocket and waist ban conceal my sig.
I was doing the same. The Mini Master is one of the most pleasant guns I’ve ever shot, especially with the 22LR cylinder and subsonics. I wish it would have fit in a pocket…
if you have to ask you may not ~get it~, at first. straight fiddly, dirty fun.
the version for shorts loaded with calibris is probably comparable to the bug-a-salt toy in velocity, but i still want one. i’m so sick of these gnats.
“…but i still want one. i’m so sick of these gnats.”
There’s a .22lr reloading system out there that re-charges the primers.
I may have to whip up a rock salt in wax bullet and send a few your way for ‘gnat removal’ uses…
chiggers.
Very cool. I prefer the standard stainless though. I do plan on adding anothe NAA in the future to the 1 1/8” .22lr I currently have.
To those who don’t know, there are loads that can surpass 12” of ballistic gel. Obviously not a primary carry, although this gun made pajama carry possible for me.
NAA revolvers represent the reductio ad absurdum of the “[insert pistol of your choice] is to big to carry” argument.
A 39oz 1911 is to big carry so I carry a 26 oz Glock 17.
A 26 oz Glock 17 is to big to carry so I carry a 23.5 oz Glock 19.
A 23.5 oz Glock 19 is too big to carry so I carry a 21.7 oz Glock 26.
A 21.7oz Glock 26 is too big to carry so I carry a 14.3 oz Airweight.
An 14.3 oz Airwright is to big to carry so I carry a 10oz TCP
A 10 oz TCP is too big to carry so I carry a 4.6 oz NAA mini revolver.
If you don’t carry a gun, wallet, keys or a cellphone you will take a load off your feet.
And yes, I know these gun are a cool novelty item that have some tiny utility in an already tiny probability of you actually having a DGU.
My Mini-Shadow arrives tomorrow, just had to. Already have the .22WMR 1 1/8″ stainless version. Truly goes where nothing else will, like in my scrubs at the hospital.
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