NAA Ranger II upscaling

I hear ya. I think there are some engineering challenges to overcome with a top break revolver and high pressure cartridges.

I really want a larger framed NAA Double Action revolver. Maybe the size of a SW J frame with various barrel lengths. Maybe even a full size single action as you say.

I always felt that with their metallurgy, they could pull off a top break single action in either 32 mag or 32 long if too much pressure. A five shot would be enough. Would be nice bug that would be smaller than a j-frame. Somewhat reminiscent of the old Remington spur trigger vest pocket revolvers.

I feel that NAA could easily pull this off. It's already their niche with small single actions.

Wasn't there a Russian revolver that was a top break 357 a decade back or so? I remember being terribly excited about it when I found it in a video game. If someone came out with a top break double action I'd buy one. That goes double if it is something I could compete with because why not.

There was a 32 mag prototype that didn't work out. It was an ugly gun. You can find it's picture if you search. I think it is the NAA forums if someone wants to look. IMHO, making the guns larger negate the purpose of the gun. Yes, there are some niche cute and large ones, but why? They serve as a bug primarily or a NPE gun.

Found the revolver I was thinking of. A REX.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP-412_REX

Mr. Mosin said:

What would the possibility be of NAA scaling their little revolvers (my interest is the Ranger 2) up to the scale of something like the Remington 1863 Pocket, or the old IJ and S&W 'pocket' top breaks ? The quality is there, the metallurgy is there... but is the market there ? Add more rounds, a few additional chamberings; and they would easily corner the market.

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For several years I went back and forth between wanting a NAA Earl, a NAA Mini Master, or a Pietta made Rem 1863 Pocket.

If you can live without the top break loading/unloading, the Ruger Bearcat Shopkeeper happened to be the answer for me. It's barely larger than an 1863 Pocket, with the Shopkeeper being only 1/4" longer in length.

Mr. Mosin said:

Me personally, I wouldn't mind it staying in .22 Magnum if necessary, I just want something more akin to the guns of old. Something the size of the J frame, with a 3" barrel. Their Ranger 2, Sidewinder, and (whatever their normal production name is) could all be easily applied (I would think) to a slightly larger gun. Get rid of that blasted birds head grip and put something similar to the S&W round butt on em. I'd gladly pay $600 or so for an all SS J-frame sized .22 Mag w/ a 3" barrel that exhibits NAA's quality.

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Some places will convert a Bearcat to .22 Magnum if that's your preference. http://www.clementscustomguns.com/bearcat.html

If money isn't an issue, it would appear a Bearcat can be turned into a .327 Federal Magnum shooter. https://www.gunblast.com/Harton-327Bearcat.htm

Both the stainless 3" Shopkeeper* and blued 3.5" Shopkeeper are currently available through your local FFL that sells for Lipsey's or Gearfire. Yep, those sub 4" barrel Bearcats have birdshead grips, but they are much larger than an NAA birdshead grip.

View attachment 880993

*Gearfire sold out as of Dec. 31, 2019. Hope some of you THRers got one.

GEM said:

There was a 32 mag prototype that didn't work out. It was an ugly gun. You can find it's picture if you search. I think it is the NAA forums if someone wants to look. IMHO, making the guns larger negate the purpose of the gun. Yes, there are some niche cute and large ones, but why? They serve as a bug primarily or a NPE gun.

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https://naaminis.com/smf/index.php?topic=2715.0

It sure is ugly, but I'm thinking they could refine the looks if they got it working right.

Eventually, if you change enough you'll stray too far and end up with a dud. NAA fills a niche. Fantastic fit and finish on a single action rim fire that is slow to load but as reliable as a rim fire can be made.

I've often thought about getting a 4" mini master as a light hiking gun for the cabin. Nothing down there worse than a stray dog, and a slow reload doesn't bother me. However, with the 2" barrel on my Black Widow, I have become just a good (ie still poor) of a shot as with any j frame size .22 magnum. Pie pan at 10 yards, but the NAA obviously is designed for closer work.

I'm not saying they couldn't scale one up, but the tooling cost would be astronomical and well outside of their market. I didnt buy a sidewinder or ranger because I dont want to pay $400+ for a single action rim fire. The only thing these models did was increase the reload speed. My philosophy of use for the Black Widow is a gun that I always have one me, no matter what. Its is generally a back up as a New York reload to my carry gun. A lot of the time it is the only gun I have on me because I dont want to dress around/bother with anything else. I never carry a reload for it. Too slow. I get 5 shots, and I'm ok with that.

I carry and trust my life to a little NAA revolver more than any other gun I have simply because I always carry it. I'm a fan. I own 3 of them. However, anything outside of their well trodden niche just isn't anything I am interested in, personally. I think most of their market feels the same way. I'm pretty sure their number one selling model is the sub 2" barrel .22lr mini. That's too much of a trade off for me. The sweet spot for me is the BW. I even put laminate birdhead grips on mine to make it more pocket friendly.

Mr. Mosin said:

8 shots in a J-framed gun, or 10 in a slightly larger gun. Me personally, I wouldn't wanna be downrange of that.

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Just more thinkin' out loud here.

8 shots in a J-Frame sized cylinder, 9 or 10 shots in a Ruger Single Six sized cylinder. Or 9 shots in an old H&R 999 cylinder. I know a Bearcat cylinder could be custom created to hold 7 shots, which would be interesting but I've never seen one.

So, if NAA or another maker took the H&R 999 design and bobbed the barrel to 3" and bobbed the grip to be like a round butt J-Frame . . .

Someone might just have to find a good working, but externally worn 999 to try this out. Sadly, the 999 cylinder is too short for .22 WMR ammo, though.

Mr. Mosin said:

All good ideas, and musing this over, I found that .327 Fed Mag Bearcat conversion. Dumb question, but is that Bearcat frame strong enough to tolerate extended .327 Federal ? I love the looks of it. First thing I saw it, I thought "Ruger's made a copy of a 1863 Remington Pocket !!!". Then I realized it was a (probably expensive) conversion.

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Yeah, the Bearcat in .327 is an expensive custom conversion. Who knows how long it would hold up to those loads?

Honestly, if I were thinking of a single action .327, I'd seriously consider the slightly larger Ruger Single Seven that looks like an upsized Bearcat Shopkeeper. The Single Seven is built on the Single Six frame.



https://ruger.com/products/newModelSingleSixSingleSeven/specSheets/8163.html

Looks like a few are left for sale through Lipseys or Gearfire FFLs.
https://shop.defenseandarms.com/han...even-327fed-3-34-fs-8163-7-shotbirdshead-grip
https://www.lipseys.com/itemdetail?itemno=RUKSSMBH-3-327

Photos in this thread of the two Rugers mentioned above. Not my guns.

http://singleactions.proboards.com/thread/20936/ruger-single-birdshead-shooting-update

http://singleactions.proboards.com/thread/20936/ruger-single-birdshead-shooting-update?page=2