Is it safe to pocket carry a NAA .22 mini revolver?

Desantis makes a pocket holster with an elastic loop to secure the hammer. This also allows you to carry an extra reload of ammo.

Resting the hammer on an empty chamber gives you nothing over using the safety notches, since the second that the hammer was snagged and cocked (which would be a very rare event, see below) would rotate the cylinder to the next chamber.

However, I have carried the .22 magnum original version many times in the past without any holster, and never had any problem.

If you carry with the hammer down In the notch on the cylinder, you can carry fully loaded safely.

I have several of these. I OC a .22LR model in the old style folding holster every day on my belt.

On occasion I'll carry a .22mag version in a leather pocket holster.

These holsters are inexpensive, keep dirt and debris out of the firearm, and make withdrawing it from your pocket easier, faster and safer. Heck, they're so simple you could probably make one.

I always carry with all cylinders loaded, and the hammer in the safety notch.

I've been carrying mine in a folding holster grip for about 30 years and still have my boys to show for it.

This was my preferred holster for carrying the NAA. Sold the gun for bills but still have the holster. It comes up just high enough to protect most of the hammer. Nothing ever snagged the hammer back on mine while it was riding in my pocket.

http://northamericanarms.com/accessories/m-accessories/m-holsters/hptd-m.html

Although stranger things have happened, I wouldn't be worried about the perfect storm with a revolver.

I once dropped an old Ruger SBH 44 mag. when I was a youngster, it landed on the hammer and discharged. it was close, real close as a matter of fact. My BIL also dropped one many years while we were rabbit hunting, an old Ruger 22 mag. convertible, which also landed on the hammer and discharged, also a very close call.

But if we are referring to a modern design, again, I wouldn't be at all concerned about pocket carrying with all the cylinders loaded, IMO.

GS

Years ago when I worked as a HVAC installer I carried a 22 mag
1 5/8" NAA. One day I went home and emptied my pockets to find my little mini-revolver cocked. Now I had been crawling around in a tight crawl space under a house all day so it's no telling when/how it happened but the fact that it happened without me knowing it surprised me a lot.

That said the only way an empty chamber would help is if you left the hammer down on the notch in front of that cylinder, which would mean you'd have to cock, pull the trigger, then cock again to even get to a live round. That obviously isn't the preferred thing to have to do in any self defense situation.

IMO, they're perfectly safe for EDC so long as the hammer is on the notch, and you not belly crawling for 10 hours a day.

So in a tight fitting jeans pocket with nothing else inside, carrying it loaded should be okay right? I mean nothing is 100% safe but we're talking what...I could probably carry it every day for 30 years and the hammer would never accidentally get cocked?

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A flat gun beats a round gun for carry in tight fitting jeans.

A Seecamp LWS in a Galco leather pocket holster is ideal for carry in the front pocket of jeans. The holster is made with rough side of leather out so it says put in the pocket, the smooth leather on the inside allows for a easy draw and the holster covers the trigger guard so there is no chance of a A.D.

The gun itself is hammerless so there is nothing to snag and with 32 ACP offers a reasonably practical powerful combination.

Some years ago a Deputy visiting one of the Orlando theme parks claimed that an NAA went off unexpectedly while either in his pocket or a holster or both.

When I reported this the NAA lady sent me an e-mail right away explaining the impossibility of this and wanting to know where I got the story.

I never found out what the cause was, but suspect he was hammer down on a live round.....or like our crawlspace crawler above managed to some how cock the thing on a ride or some such.

Of course there is always the possibility that he was just playing with the darned thing and messed up and had to say something...........

During the brief time I carried one I used the Remington NMA style safety notch and having had guns "cock themselves" by bumping up against things in the past checked it on occasion.

Personally here in Florida (and after yesterdays experience of being about 20 yards from a struck power pole) I worry a lot more about lightening.

-kBob

I built this prototype pocket holster for my NAA mini mag out of a piece of scrap leather. I made it rough out so that it would stay put in the pocket when drawing. The smooth leather inside prevents lint from accumulating and also helps with a smooth draw.. It covers the spur and has a covered pocket for the .22LR cylinder as a backup. It works real well, and draws easily with 2 fingers. It is nearly invisible in my jeans (I don't wear tight jeans any more). I keep telling myself it's time to build a more sophisticated version, but I haven't located that 'roundtooit' yet. It took about an hour and a half to cut out and stitch once I had the pattern worked out on manila folder paper.

I carry this piece fully loaded, with the hammer in a safety notch. Please note that the safety notch is the recommended method of carry as designed by the manufacturer. It is a system that has been in use since Remington used it in the 1850s. It must work well to last that long.

dodging230grainers said:

Hi guys, I'm looking to buy a NAA .22 magnum sidewinder [with swing out cylinder] revolver for daily pocket carry. Is it safe to carry the gun all chambers loaded? I know most literature says yes, but I still wonder. I guess I should just keep that pocket empty so that nothing can snag on the hammer and cock it back?

Even if the chance of it discharging in my pocket is only .000001% with all chambers loaded and the hammer resting on the groove between chambers wouldn't that chance be the same as if I rested the hammer on a totally empty chamber [loading only 4/5 chambers], since if the hammer snags and cocks it will cock the hammer onto the next loaded chamber? Thanks!

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I carried a NAA Mini .22 Magnum in my pocket without a holster for several years back in the late '80s. Just with 4 rounds loaded and the hammer on an empty chamber. Nothing else in the pocket, of course.

That mighty mite was retired in favor of larger caliber pocket pistols, with the latest being a Kahr CT380 in a Remora. It's quite a bit bigger than the old Mini.

Just for grins, and the fact that NAA makes a neat quality product, I recently bought a Sidewinder from Bud's. Cool little peashooter, but the cylinder is kind of stiff to pop out, and the short ejector rod only shoves the empty cases out about 1/3 or 1/2 of the way. Still, it is a HUGE improvement over the older models. Enjoy yours - I really like mine:

While not a perfect fit at least on the closure flap wrapping around at an angle, the Leatherman Rebar nylon sheath works for my purposes on my .22mag, 1-1/8". A pretty tight, snug package actually.

I have carried my Black Widow every day for 3 years in pocket holster by Concealed Holster Solutions using the NAA safety notch. I have on a fair number of occasions used the 22mag to dispense garden rodents. I feel safe with this arrangement but if you want to have 4 shots available then carry with the hammer down on an empty chamber. Before I got my holster I carried loose in my front pocket but did not like the lint and stuff getting on the mini and the holster protects the hammer.

A flat gun beats a round gun for carry in tight fitting jeans.

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If your jeans are so tight as to show a bulge from a mini revolver, you'd be a hit at the discotheque.

I know this a somewhat old post but I wanted to throw my experience in here.

I've carried a NAA mini in my front right pocket almost daily for 10 years or so. Sometimes with a holster and sometimes without. I've always carried it with the hammer in the safety notch.

I can count two instances where I had an issue. The first time, I had been carrying it with no holster and I happened to take a close look and saw that somehow the hammer had moved out of the notch. This was probably due to me being in some sort of position during the day and somehow or the other I pushed the hammer back slightly. Since then (this happened maybe 6 or 7 years ago), I will check the hammer daily to make sure she is staying put.

The second time is the real reason I wanted to write this post. I had purchased a slick little holster for this revolved that held five extra rounds in a small pouch. This was a name brand holster by a very well respected maker. Well, in playing with this holster after I received it I noticed a HUGE issue. When the revolver was inserted tightly into the holster, a small shoulder of leather was actually pull the hammer back ever so slightly. Now, it wasn't taking it out of the notch, but it was at least half way back and my fear was that throughout a normal day this would increase the risk the hammer slipping out of the notch. To me, this holster created an unsafe position on a normally safe gun.

Needless to say, I returned that holster ASAP and switched back to no holster carry or a couple of the other holsters I have that don't go anywhere near the hammer. Before anyone asks, I DID have the correct holster size. So PLEASE be sure that your holster for your NAA isn't applying any pressure to the hammer.

So, those are the only two circumstances I've had with this and neither one was enough to get me upset. I think the NAA is a great little backup gun to have on ones person and most certainly better than no gun at all....but that argument is for any of the other hundreds of posts regarding these.

B.

I made my own holsters, they work fine with my black widow

Don't forget you need a pretty stiff whack to set off a rimfire round, hence why they usually have very stiff hammer springs.

It's VERY discrete, far more so than any "flat gun".

My NAA .22LR is of the original design without the intermediate notches. It is not safe to carry fully loaded.

When I noticed this I contacted them and they said they would update it to the more modern safe version for $25.

Not bad.

See Guns Magazine article, "Seriously? Yes!" by Will Dabbs. February 2016, pp. 26-29.

If you are absolutely certain it is safe to pocket carry in the 'safety' notch then read no further. Facts aside, one will dismiss this with a condescending wave of the hand merely because he has yet to suffer injury. I knew a man who carried a Baby Browning chambered and ready to go at the touch of the trigger - in his pocket! Older than me, he was certain it was safe - after all, he had carried for years and not shot himself. Oh well, it's his gonads. i submit that NAA mini pocket carry in the notch is as dangerous as the chambered Browning. You will be convinced if you try this yourself, but I already know most will laugh and dismiss it. Put your mini hammer in the safety notch. Now pull it back ever so slightly - a mere touch will do - and the cylinder bolt will lift to allow the cylinder to turn in either direction and rest hammer down on a live cartridge. On our 4 minis it moves .018/inch to release the cylinder. A brush of the hammer and a slight shift in the pocket and you are down on a live cartridge. This explains the condition found by previous posters. It's not a freak occurrence but a real possibility. It doesn't take much of a tap to detonate a round which is then pointing at your femoral artery. Hammer down on empty chamber and it takes a great deal of movement to release the cylinder. The safe alternative is a mini holster or possibly the original folding holster - not the skinny new version. I've shared this before and have been slammed therefore this will be my only post on this matter. It's your life, but remember naked carry the mini and you are eighteen thousandths of an inch from eternity.

If you are absolutely certain it is safe to pocket carry in the 'safety' notch then read no further. Facts aside, one will dismiss this with a condescending wave of the hand merely because he has yet to suffer injury. I knew a man who carried a Baby Browning chambered and ready to go at the touch of the trigger - in his pocket! Older than me, he was certain it was safe - after all, he had carried for years and not shot himself. Oh well, it's his gonads. i submit that NAA mini pocket carry in the notch is as dangerous as the chambered Browning. You will be convinced if you try this yourself, but I already know most will laugh and dismiss it. Put your mini hammer in the safety notch. Now pull it back ever so slightly - a mere touch will do - and the cylinder bolt will lift to allow the cylinder to turn in either direction and rest hammer down on a live cartridge. On our 4 minis it moves .018/inch to release the cylinder. A brush of the hammer and a slight shift in the pocket and you are down on a live cartridge. This explains the condition found by previous posters. It's not a freak occurrence but a real possibility. It doesn't take much of a tap to detonate a round which is then pointing at your femoral artery. Hammer down on empty chamber and it takes a great deal of movement to release the cylinder. The safe alternative is a mini holster or possibly the original folding holster - not the skinny new version. I've shared this before and have been slammed therefore this will be my only post on this matter. It's your life, but remember naked carry the mini and you are eighteen thousandths of an inch from eternity.

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Well, I feel that way about Glocks.