ShootingTheBull410’s been testing defensive ammo from pocket pistols, and they don’t come any more pocket-able than the mini-revolvers from North American Arms. In this video, he tests an NAA Black Widow revolver in .22 Magnum by using Scorpion hollowpoint ammunition (generously supplied by www.AmmoToGo.com). Scorpion? Well, to be honest, they were totally sold out of the personal protection ammo made specifically for these little pistols (Critical Defense and Gold Dots) so Scorpion it was. The way .22 ammo is these days, you can’t beat “in stock.”

25 COMMENTS

  1. I have a 1 5/8″ NAA mini in 22mag with a holster grip and it goes everywhere with me. CCI maximag tmj’s are my round of choice for them as penetration is the key with small bullets. I don’t know about one shot stops, but I sure wouldn’t want to get shot with one.

    • In tightly controlled agricultural situations. I want to see you put down the steer with .22LR when it’s charging at you high on cocaine, meth, or some other chemical cocktail.

      • I think I would like to see a 1200 lb steer high on cocaine and a few rodeo clowns. That would be some quality entertainment.

      • I’m not saying it’s MY choice of defensive firearm, but at arms length distance it not in feasible to make a headshot with a NAA mini and in such instance a well placed .22 WMR will get it done and is a lot better than nothing.

  2. I saw that gun for the first time this week. You have to see that gun in person to appreciate how small it is. Conceal it right in the palm of your hand, like a magic trick. Carry two or three, in your swimsuit. I am frankly skeptical it’ll stop anything bigger than a raccoon, so I look forward to these tests.

  3. I own a NAA Black Widow and it is great fun to shoot. I keep it in my pocket when I am in and around my house. Loaded with Winchester PDX .22 magnums, it will get me to something larger if necessary.

  4. When you get this small I consider the .45ACP ballistic knife over a lot of .22 offerings. Though I’m sure this all works.

  5. problem is, if they’d expanded, its likely they wouldn’t have penetrated as deep, so pick your poison, for me, I’ll take penetration when using these little calibers.

  6. 18 inches of penetration. Line em up right and you can get 2 tweakers with one bullet. That’s economy.

  7. I have an NAA mini revolver in 22 mag, and wouldn’t give it up for anything. Great little gun.

  8. Hey, Shooting the Bull–
    I really like your articles and videos. What is the industry protocol on multiple shots into the same block of gel? I’ve noticed you will often put 5-7 shots into the same block, I presume to save time and money. But do you think that, say, the first 3 shots “soften up” the gel and make subsequent shots perform differently than they would in unshot gel? I noticed later shots in this video went way further than the first 2, for example. Or perhaps in other situations with larger calibers maybe the gel gets damaged and subsequent shots are disturbed.

    I’m not complaining by any means. I’m legitimately curious about the science of this.

    • If there was an issue with the shot placement you wouldn’t have such consistent penetration results on the multiple tests.

      • My question is not about shot placement per se, but if shooting a block of gel degrades it. When the FBI (or some other testing body) is going to do 100 shots to test penetration, do they use 100 blocks of gel? 50? 10? At what point, if any, is the block considered sufficiently degraded and no longer an accurate test?

  9. Didn’t anybody else notice that a large number of the bullets were backwards in the gel? Looks like there is some tumbling going on.

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