Durability of NAA mini-revolvers: Ever wear one out?

This has been a valuable session -- any desire I had for one of those little wonders has totally vanished.

Vern, I am sorry for your disappointment. My Black Widow has been a pleasure.

farm23 said:

Vern, I am sorry for your disappointment. My Black Widow has been a pleasure.

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I'm not disappointed at all -- because I didn't buy one.

I really hated to make my report. I liked the little gun quite a bit. The folks a NAA were really good too. They are made like a swiss watch, just too tiny on the inside imho.
If you are having success with yours, more power to ya.

If I turned away any gun of any make about which I'd heard negative reports, my house would be a GFZ.

I've been carrying a NAA .22 short, made in California pistol for about 45 yrs. I've fired over 2000rounds over the year with no problems. I bought and tried a NAA .22 Mag and the fire ball from 1 cylinder full of magnums and I sold it the next day.
The only problem, other than a cracked grip was pocket lint from carrying in the pocket. A Q-tip thru all the cylinders worked every time.

MedWheeler said:

If I turned away any gun of any make about which I'd heard negative reports, my house would be a GFZ.

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There are negative reports and then there are other negative reports. In this case, in single thread we've had several people report less than satisfactory performance.

Vern Humphrey said:

There are negative reports and then there are other negative reports. In this case, in single thread we've had several people report less than satisfactory performance.

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....in a thread specifically asking about problems.

I’m thinking the vast majority of owners are happy with them and, never wear them out.

4 of the stories in this thread start with “i disassembled it and....”

One blew up.

One hammer problem “entirely” the owners fault.

One broken pocket clip.

2 broken mainsprings.

I replaced one main spring on one NAA gun in over 35 years. (I’ve owned 4 of them).

On a gun forum, they are likely dry fired way more than usual, shot more than usual and tinkered with a lot more.

Just being fair.

Okay. But they've pretty well convinced me not to buy one.

I've had a .22 mag Wasp for a few months now. I really like it. I want to pick up a 4" barrel Black Widow for ultra light carry stomping in the woods.

I've had nothing but great luck with mine. I have close to 200 rounds through it. The finish is a bit scuffed from pocket carry but it's been as reliable as any other gun I have had.

I usually carry mine to church. I just had it stuffed in my coat's breast pocket at a wedding this weekend.

Once the summer gets here, my work attire makes carrying an LCP even a bit challenging. The little Wasp slips into my pocket and is almost forgotten.

The OP might have been dissuaded from buying one, but I have decided it might fit my needs nicely.
I think I’m going with the Pug. That 1” barrel should contribute to a spectacular fireball.
And I like to support local businesses and I call Utah home.

Cooldill said:

Never heard of it happening. The guns just work, really the quality is outstanding.

I will say one thing though, in the manual it says not to take out the screws. It's in there for a reason.

Mine is still in a plastic bag in about twenty pieces and once they get like that they're extremely hard to put back together without the special jigs at the factory. I'll have to send mine back.

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You can get them back together, but it's a huge PITA. Fastest I've ever done it was probably one hour and every time I did it, the hand spring came loose after shooting and the cylinder wouldn't index.

Well I've got the Companion, the 22 B/P and have had it for yrs, it's the mag version, even so it's not as powerful as a regular 22Lr, have had no problems with it and have put many rounds through it. I did get an after market conversion cylinder and button firing pins for it and have been enjoying shooting regular 22Lr out of it since, still with no problem except occasional light strikes, but that's the conversion problem, not the NAA.

I shot the rangemasters chronograph with mine.

Iron Sight said:

I shot the rangemasters chronograph with mine.

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Lol. I'm glad I'm not that rangemaster.

Walkalong said:

They do roar & spit, no doubt about it. Gloves are a good idea for recreational shooting.

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Gold Dot short barrel 22 mag also help, that’s all I shoot in mine.
A little hard to find sometimes, and a little pricey but definitely worth it.
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And for what it’s worth I love mine, it’s just fun to shoot and I would (and have) recommend them anyone.

I have one.....in my night stand.....in a plastic freezer bag......in parts.

The original price was great. One day volunteering at the public range a guy having trouble with it just gave it to me.

I noticed right away the side plate was not on correctly and took it home to take apart. Did so carefully and used a headless nail driven in my work table as a guide pin when replacing everything. Worked fine for about a year and got carried.

Noticed pocket lint in the slot the hand works through and pulled the side plate again......and this time things simply evaporated as best as I can tell.

Was at a national show at one point and stopped at the NAA booth. Talked to a tech there a bit and he asked if I had lost parts when I had it apart. He sort of laughed, reached under the display and handed me a little plastic bag with two different types of springs and a little bitty pin in it. He suggested that using the guide pin nail was all that saved me in my first and successful attempt at surgery on the little thing.

As the gun was in the back of a safe at that point I set the bag down somewhere on my return home. Appearently the car key gnomes got the bag of parts and so the pistol, which I had gotten out to fix, now resides in that plastic freezer bag.

Meanwhile I was "in Town" today and stopped at a down town shop for a look see in hopes of espying a Ruger PCC9 (nope) and there was a guy checking the NAAs out. Turns out he already had two and was looking at some of the newer options. Two more older guys, we were all "over 50", walked in and both claimed to have and regularly carry them. Interesting that four guys that run into one another in a shop over a five minute period all have or have had NAAs as carry guns and had good things to say about them.

I looked at the swing out and it was neat......but not worth $399 to me.

Low and behold they had the top break as well.....talk about your gun made by a watch maker! Again really neat but not $499 worth of neatness to me.

They are on the list of "Publisher's Clearing House guns" if my wife ever wins the big one.

Hmm I wonder if that small plastic bag with the three parts might be in the flat files filling cabinet in the shop?

-kBob

What I’ve learned from this thread.....Before anyone takes that side
screw out they should call NAA and use their lifetime warranty.

Mine has been fine for 15 years.

Lots of people have great luck with them. They are not meant as target guns or for recreation. If you're looking for a gun to put thousands of rounds through this is not it, you will not have much fun doing it. I don't really see the point in wanting/needing this gun to withstand so much firing but that's up to you. They are a last ditch defensive gun that is simply the easiest to carry and lightest real firearms made anywhere in the world today that offers more than two shots. Tons of guys (and girls) carry them successfully.

DeepSouth said:

What I’ve learned from this thread.....Before anyone takes that side
screw out they should call NAA and use their lifetime warranty.

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I had to send my NAA in last year and so far as I know, there is a limit on the warranty. I've never heard the words "lifetime warranty" and NAA in the same sentence before.

TTv2 said:

I had to send my NAA in last year and so far as I know, there is a limit on the warranty. I've never heard the words "lifetime warranty" and NAA in the same sentence before.

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From their website.

North American Arms produces firearms of the highest quality and backs them up with a no-hassle Lifetime Warranty. If you have questions or a problem with your NAA firearm, please contact us. Please read the Shipping Information Section below before sending your firearm into NAA.

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https://northamericanarms.com/customer-service/



My only experience with them is when I screwed up my hammer. I told them it was solely my fault, not the fault of the product. The gun looked new when I got it back, they charged me for shipping and that was it. This was 5-ish years ago.

Picked up a 22Mag. short-barrel version with the "clip grip" some time ago, primarily because it seemed to be built like fine jewelry and I'm a sucker for neat mechanical things. IT IS a simple but very well built firearm that is fun to shoot at the range. Reloading is slow of course, since the cylinder must be removed and empties punched out one at a time. That being said, mine is easily capable of MOM accuracy out to 10yds and I carry it daily. No way would I want to be on the receiving end of it. Just about disappears in my pocket or waistband and makes a great BUG to my 640