Is this cool or what?
December 25th, 2006 by Syd
My kids got me a gun for Christmas… makes those long nights of walking the floors trying to get them back to sleep and changing poopy diapers almost worth it.
It’s an NAA 22LR. This picture makes it look bigger than it is. It’s actually 4″ long, stem to stern. Before you launch into the tactical sermon, I don’t think this one is in any danger of becoming a primary anytime soon, but it’s just so cute. It is made with very high production values. It’s almost like a piece of jewelry. I have been fascinated with these miniature revolvers for a long time, and my eldest had psyched that I was too tactically doctrinaire to ever buy one for myself, so he and my other son split the cost and bought it. (My eldest is 21 and has his CCW license.)
It is inevitable that the discussion arises about whether these mini revolvers are just too small, and the 22 LR load too light to be an effective self defense piece. Here’s how you have to think about them, in my opinion: yes, they’re really too small for a gunfight — ’tis true. .38 Special or bigger is really what you want. However, something is better than nothing, and I have yet to run into someone who really wants to be shot with anything. A little gun like this can be concealed in ways that few others can. For example, you don’t need a leg holster with one of these; you can just put it in the top of a tube sock and it will stay put. Many folks work in situations in which their mode of dress is prescribed by their employment, and it may not leave many options for concealing a handgun. (Think Hooters’ girls.) Folks facing this kind of uniform issue could still carry one of these and have a last ditch option for warding off an attack. Other folks who consider extremely deep concealment of parmount importance could find the mini revolver attractive.
If you told me I was going to a gunfight, this would not be the first or even the second gun I would grab. These are not combat firearms. Instead, they belong to that class of “appear out of nowhere and change the dynamics of the situation” guns.
The ballistics arguments about guns like this are really pointless. Out of this gun, the best .22 LR runs at about 830 fps. That’s nothing to sneeze at for such a tiny gun, but it’s no proton torpedo. A gun like this is only going to be effective at close range, and if vital zones are struck. That is not to say they aren’t dangerous and potentially lethal. They are. They aren’t toys. Were I to find myself defending myself with one, it would be because a couple of other guns have already run dry and the situation is quite desperate.
But they’re just so cute…
You don’t have to justify every gun with it’s tactical usefulness. Some guns are just fun to shoot.
I have one of these. It’s a lot of fun.
You are right, of course, but that’s just the track my mind runs in. I guess I have read quite a few withering critiques of these from the gun shop commandos, and felt a need to put in my $.02.
Nice son’s you got there. I have gotten my father a shotgun once before. It was a 16 gauge for hunting. But as far as a deep carry yes something is better than nothing. That neat little NAA is just about is small as you can get too.
From a tactical standpoint, I can’t imagine a situation where I could have one of these, where I couldn’t have my P3AT.
Still, I’d like to have one, just from a ‘fun’ standpoint.
And, if my children ever decide to buy me a firearm, I’ll be just about the happiest guy breathing, regardless of what firearm they choose! Congrats!
Thank you. That’s what made it so neat, that they got it all organized and made a choice that was clearly outside my regular thought tracks, and it was a delight.
I have one and it is chambered for a 22mag, I agree that it is not the gun I would prefare in a gun fight, however this one can be concelled in a one peace bathing suite, or if you like no suite at all. LOL.
I have one of these in 22 mag. I bought one of the leather pocket holsters and filed down the outside (exposed) side of the grip to eliminate the bulge, or outline on my jean pocket.
These are very neat little weapons and are perfect for close range protection from attacks into you car window, or from someone getting into your face just before they try to knock your head off. I suspect even a large man will loose his energy after two quick rounds from the NAA in his sternum.
My NAA is deadly accurate to about 5-7 yards. The 22 lr probably does 5 yards better.
It was a thoughtful gift to you.
Looks nice, and kids who understand and care are even nicer. But small guns like these also come in doubles in .45Colt/.410 and .38/357 so if anybody wants another option to suggest to their kids, well….
A gun is a “tool.” A guy can never have too many tools! Or, as I tell my wife, pay for the tools, or pay for the shrink.:)
Syd,
You’ll recall a Louisvillian became KY’s third licensed “concelaed carry user” when he shot a bank robber on Preston Street in Louisville with a NAA .22 mag. Stopped the longest string of armed bank robberies in KY since the James gang was in business. Single shot, 15 feet, hit the perp in the throat. Perp and buddies fled the scene but got caught by KSP on I-64 near F-Fort after witnesses got a solid car description and tag number.
I carry a NAA .22 Mini just like yours religiously, have for years, and practice with it regularly. Pretty darned good out to 20 feet or so once you get used to the sights. I carry Stingers in mine just because they group well in it and hit where I want in the quick-point-and-shoot category.
I figure it would take maybe one surprise hit in the boiler room followed by the other four in the face if possible.
I am often in a situation in my profession where I simply cannot carry anything bigger or more recognizable. Hard situation to explain but it’s real. Understand I can afford and carry any darned handgun I want. Usually. In some business situations I cannot, and the NAA Mini goes with me, descretely, in a pocket. I’ll never be without it and a good folder.
Always secondary to a Lightweight Commander, a Model 60 .38, or a 3″ .357. But always there.
Good kids ya got there. but I ‘d expect that given the Dad they have.
Happy New Year.
Craig P.
It may not be anyones first choice.But it will work. How do I know? A best friend was killed instantly by one.
I carried one in .22mag as a 2nd backup for years as a LEO. Very accurate to 7 yards.
Dang good call by the young folks there Syd and a nice Christmas present you have.
Indeed, the NAA is better than nothing and that is why I like mine around also. Lifetime warranty with that little machine, what else could one ask for, except a good folder to go along with it and I bet that you already have one of those dandies handy!
Glad you came around after being nudged by one of the siblings.
Bill G.
Hi Syd,
Those are some fine sons you’ve got there. I owned one in 22LR (1 1/8″bbl) and my brother saw it and kept it.
Then I went out and bought one in 22mag (1 1/8″). This time my father saw it and wouldn’t give it back.
I went back out and bought another in 22mag but with the longer barrel (1 5/8″). I have the Thad Rybka pocket holster that hols extra rounds.
I was in a wedding last year and this little baby sat in my tuxedo shirt pocket sans holster. No one was any the wiser. Like you said, these things are like jewelry that shoot.
They are precision made and I couldn’t find a blemish on any of the ones I bought over the years.
I’ll never get rid of this one. It fills a niche that most other guns don’t come close to. You could stick it in a hat if you want to.
These little gems can be hidden anywhere. When you find yourself in trouble, you’ll want the suprise move. Pulling this out when no one expects it would be like drawing that inside straight when the hands was all but lost.
Happy New Year!
Way to Go, Syd.
I turned the situation around.
I offered my 2 gransons the chance to take a pistol safety course.
Which I had arranged with my dealer/range operator and cleared with their mothers. Also, both mothers were in accord of a Christmas present to be held for the grandsons 21st Birthday. One was 16 in Dec and the other will be 16 in Jan. Gift unknown to boys. Also, contingent to attending the class. One grandson continued to want to go to a basketball game and his mother continued to talk him out of the notion.
After the class, grandsons, mothers and I assembled at my house where the boys observed several automatics and pistols on my work bench. I told the boys that they could look and touch if they desired.
What they didn’t know was if they grabbed and looked without checking with me, or checking for empty, they were out of the running.
Both boys came through with flying colors. 3 revolvers and 8 autos got a good going over. Then you should have seen their eyes when told they could each choose 1 to be their mothers until the 21 bd.
One choose a Sigma .40 and the other a Para-Ord .45.
Didn’t mean to make this an epistle, but grandpops get that way.
Happy New Year,
Charley
Nice and dependable. Back here in the Philippines where such a miniature gun is made as a cottage industry in Cebu, it can be seen chambered with .22 LR, .22 Mag and .38 Spl. I witnessed a fatal shooting in Manila where a .22 LR round was used and fired only once. Such handgun is not, never, to be considered as a toy! it is as lethal as any pistol in the market. I’ve heard, the poor guy died not because of the bullet punch he received but rather due to the blood loss in the operating room during surgery. The poor guy went to the hospital several hours after the shooting because he thought that the wound was minor and was not causing him much pain. Incidentally, the guy was a local bully. The shooter was never apprehended but it served him good.
Be sure the hammer does not rest on a RF round.
As you said, any gun can kill. And I know of no person who would agree to get shot by a .22, even in the leg. I was 18 years old when Robert Kennedy was killed. Wasn’t he shot with a .22 pistol? If so, that proves the point. Keep up the good work, I like your emails and I’ve learned a lot from them.
Syd, nice little peice ,handy ,reliable and could save your life if in danger.
Arn’t kids great. my kids buy me ammo and wrap it up MOM HELPS.
have a great new year.
cya Joe