Many of you were intrigued by Jeremy’s recent review of the NAA .22LR mini revolver and wondered how effective it would be in a self-defense situation. Well, ask and ye shall receive. ShootingTheBull410 had previously tested North American Arms’ slightly larger Black Widow .22 Magnum mini with Scorpion rifle ammo because, hey, it was in stock and nothing else really was. The results were decidedly meh. Fortunately, one of his viewers came through with some Gold Dots made specifically for short-barreled pistols, so he’s back with a new test — and the results are vastly better. Pop some of Redenbacher’s finest, settle in and press play.

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24 COMMENTS

    • He is beginning to work towards nutnfancy levels of fluff at this point, isn’t he?

      Here’s the bullet, here’s the gun, here’s the block, here’s the shots, here’s the results. Five minutes max.

      However, unlike nutnfancy, this guy actually gives us useful info, so if I have to take it or leave it, I’ll take it.

    • Sorry ’bout the taking-too-long-to-get-to-the-point… I actually made a couple of videos where I skipped a lot of the opening stuff, and found that people asked a lot more questions and didn’t “get it” as much, and some people even asked me to put in the parameters and reasoning each and every time.

      I’m getting tired of repeating all that stuff too though. 🙂 I think I’ll just do an overall “this is what we’re looking for” video, and then leave links in the vid for those who want to jump to it, and the rest of us who already know that stuff can get on with the meat of the vid… that way they’ll be shorter, faster, less rendering and upload time, everyone wins…

      • I was just about to message you through YouTube to suggest doing that exact same thing. Alternatively, you could add an annotation that links to the shooting and another for the results.

      • Actually, I found the information before the test extremely helpful at understanding the nature and standards of the test. Information/knowledge is power. And the more informed you are about your understanding of any weapon you are going to be trusting you LIFE to is all right by me.

  2. Robb, I say this as a fan of STB’s work and with nothing but respect for his thoroughness and commitment to producing genuine, meaningful results: the man looooves the way he do talk.

    • Yeah, count me in for the backlash to the backlash. All you guys who want the bottom line in 60 seconds or less, just skip to the end of his videos if you must, or wait for the final wrap-up video of the 9mm ammo quest. I enjoy and benefit from the context and details of the test. Keep up the great work, ShootingTheBull410. I’m a much more informed purchaser of defensive handgun ammunition thanks to you. Great, hard-to-come by real data presented in an easy to understand way. If only there was an Ammo Quest for every cartridge at every range!

  5. Regarding the denim – I think the amount of clothing actually does scale with the caliber of the round. The NAA mini-revolvers are useful because they can be concealed even when wearing very light clothing – and I’m assuming that the shooter will be wearing approximately the same amount of clothing as the attacker. In warmer weather, the chances of somebody wearing heavy denim clothing to plug up the cavity is much lower than, say, Minneapolis in January. If you’re going to be wearing layers, there’s no reason no to carry, say, a Glock 26; but if it’s shorts & T-Shirt weather, the mini-revolver might be your only option.

    So while the failure to expand in the denim test is not good in and of itself, it’s also not necessarily the kind of deal-breaker it would be with a 9mm (which should be expected to perform in all conditions).

    • Also regarding the denim plugging the hollow point; You can plug it with a steel ball bearing, used to be called “anti barrier” ammo or something. Not what I would call armor piercing but gives a better punch. I think cops used them before.

    • Dimension wise, the NAA black widow 22mag is actually larger than the s&w bodyguard 380.

      naa black widow – 0.8125″ W x 3.375″ H x 5.875″ L
      bodyguard 380 – 0.75″ W x 4.1″ H x 5.25″ L

      • Nope, it’s not. The NAA is under 9oz, while the Smith is 12. And the NAA is largely steel, with the smith having quite a bit of much less dense polymer. Enclosed airspace in either, aside from the barrel, is at least as large in the magwell of the Smith, as in the additional 4 22cal holes of the NAA.

        The smallest rigid, right angled box the NAA can fit into, may well be larger than ditto for the Smith, but unless you carry your pocket gun around in a box (Or perhaps is SpongeBob), the NAA is for all practical purposes meaningfully smaller.

  6. Independent George; excellent observation re the denim issue. Right tool for the right job etc.

    • I do not think that word means what you think it means.

      (ps: howsabout testing Gold Dot or other short-barrel-optimized .22 magnum in the PMR?)

  8. Thanks for another video STB410. Can’t wait for the 40 S&W Series. If you read this, will you use the NAA with some Pdx1 .22 mag if you are able to obtain it?

    • Would love to test the PDX1. Just haven’t found any. Next test from this pistol is Critical Defense, so at least you’ll get to see how Gold Dots do vs. Critical Defense, but yes, I’d really like to get ahold of PDX1 as well.

  9. This is the first STB410 video I have watched (I’m a card carrying member of the church of TNOutdoors9) and may I offer some critiques?

    Flashy backgrounds and busy backgrounds tend to distract from the meat of the issue or the content. Look at an apple WWDC for thoughts. Notice how “boring” everything looks? That’s because they way you to pay attention to it.

    Solution: the PP work you put in as banners on the bottom? Put that on your green screen in a short list format. Make a simple background and put it on that. More work but better content quality.

    Otherwise great stuff!!! The round did well.

  10. What bout the Hornady .22 WMR 45 gr. FTX Critical Defense out of a Black Widow?

    I’d be very interested in seeing those results as compared to the Gold Dot.

    • As mentioned in a prior comment, I’ve already tested Critical Defense from this same Black Widow, so you’ll be able to see how they directly compare. That video will likely be released this week.

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