NAA .22 Magnum WASP

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Brubz

Brubz

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A LGS has a NAA .22 Mag/.22LR Convertable WASP 1 5/8 BBL Stainless with rubber grips.
The price is in my Gun Budget. What do you Revolver guys think about NAA guns?
I will say it's a nice looking piece. but just like the woman you met at closing time looks aren't everything. some advise from you hardcore revolver guys would be appreciated .:thumbup:
 
NAA are great little revolvers for deep carry, Backup (or backup to your backup) gun, and running gun if you live an active lifestyle. Many people who have talked about them on here say the grip is too small and prefer the rubber overmold or the folding grip to get a better hold. I did just fine holding on to the hard stock grips. Because of the short barrel they are going to be inaccurate so you won't be shooting 100 yard silhouette with them. I carried mine with CCI Maxi-Mag hollow points. Probably the best punch out of 22mag you can get, and were fairly accurate in my firearm.

Things most people don't like about them. You do have to put your finger very close to the muzzle in order to load and unload. That makes a lot of people uncomfortable. And it is a single action trigger with a notched safety cylinder. So it depends on where that design falls on your "safe enough to carry" criteria.
 
I had one that I really liked a lot.
It was the magnum only
I went ahead and bought the rubber
grips on advice from folks that said
"It'll jump out of your hand. . !"
Waste of money. The factory grip
panels were just fine.
It was stolen some time back and
never recovered.
Like was said, they're a get-somebody-
off-the-top-of-me gun, not a target
pistol. I did kill a couple of rabid skunks
and a big snapping turtle with mine.
It's also a good using-the-ATM gun.
That's all I have to say about that
 
herrwalther said:
NAA are great little revolvers for deep carry, Backup (or backup to your backup) gun, and running gun if you live an active lifestyle. Many people who have talked about them on here say the grip is too small and prefer the rubber overmold or the folding grip to get a better hold. I did just fine holding on to the hard stock grips. Because of the short barrel they are going to be inaccurate so you won't be shooting 100 yard silhouette with them. I carried mine with CCI Maxi-Mag hollow points. Probably the best punch out of 22mag you can get, and were fairly accurate in my firearm.

Things most people don't like about them. You do have to put your finger very close to the muzzle in order to load and unload. That makes a lot of people uncomfortable. And it is a single action trigger with a notched safety cylinder. So it depends on where that design falls on your "safe enough to carry" criteria.
Click to expand...
This one I'm looking at has the slightly longer 1 and 5/8 inch barrel that could help
 
Pistolay said:
I had a Black Widow convertible, and it was a sweet and accurate (out to 10 yards) gun. The only reason I no longer own it is because of the difficulty of reloading it. In a real world defensive situation, it is essentially a 5 shot derringer.
Click to expand...
That's okay there's something to be said for 5 shot derringers
 
I have and carry in a neck kydex sheath the model you are looking at. It works fine and I feel safe enough hammer down on the between chamber notches. I would rather have the more expensive top break or swing out cylinder model. I have had it three years no problems.
 
Mine was a nice piece of kit and I look forward to owning one again someday. I like The Earl.
 
Brubz said:
A LGS has a NAA .22 Mag/.22LR Convertable WASP 1 5/8 BBL Stainless with rubber grips.
The price is in my Gun Budget. What do you Revolver guys think about NAA guns?
I will say it's a nice looking piece. but just like the woman you met at closing time looks aren't everything. some advise from you hardcore revolver guys would be appreciated .:thumbup:
Click to expand...

If you wonder about ballistic info, NAA has links to the ballistics of most guns they make at the bottom of the webpage of each model.

.22 mag
https://northamericanarms.com/ballistics/ball-22m/

.22 LR
https://northamericanarms.com/ballistics/ball-22llr/

My only experience is firing my ol' shootin' buddy's .22 mag with the same barrel length you are looking at. I could shoot it okay, but using only one hand was the way to go. Trying to get a second hand on that gun just didn't work for me.

There are some single action guns that I can thumb the hammer and fire the trigger reliably and quickly. Unfortunately, I wasn't as successful with the NAA in that regard compared to a larger SA revolver like a Ruger Bearcat or Single Six.

Bottom line for me is that a small NAA mini revolver in .22 magnum makes for a fun "flash bang" gun at the shooting range.
 
chicharrones said:
If you wonder about ballistic info, NAA has links to the ballistics of most guns they make at the bottom of the webpage of each model.

.22 mag
https://northamericanarms.com/ballistics/ball-22m/

.22 LR
https://northamericanarms.com/ballistics/ball-22llr/

My only experience is firing my ol' shootin' buddy's .22 mag with the same barrel length you are looking at. I could shoot it okay, but using only one hand was the way to go. Trying to get a second hand on that gun just didn't work for me.

There are some single action guns that I can thumb the hammer and fire the trigger reliably and quickly. Unfortunately, I wasn't as successful with the NAA in that regard compared to a larger SA revolver like a Ruger Bearcat or Single Six.

Bottom line for me is that a small NAA mini revolver in .22 magnum makes for a fun "flash bang" gun at the shooting range.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info!:cool:
 
I am a big fan of NAA products.

I got my first Mini in 1999 with a 1 5/8" .22 Mag standard model. It has the most "duty hours" of any of my CCW guns since then. I have also added a 1 1/8" .22 LR and 1 1/8" .22 Short to the stable. The smaller guns actually fit in a watch pocket.

From my chronograph sessions, the 1 5/8" .22 Mag generates about 90 fpe with most loads. I like the wooden boot grips for shootability.
 
Here are some more ballistic stats to add to the ones Chicharrones posted. :) These are from the NRA:

NRA 204222magterminalperformance.png

Re: NAA grips... I liked the grip on the Black Widow just fine, but I wanted to lower the profile slightly (make it thinner). So I went with this Revision CV grip (by C. Vang). I noticed that CV grips seemed to be the "go to" alternative for NAA Mini fans on their user forum.

Black Widow De Santis crop rsz.jpg

I added the texturing with some TractionGrip fragments I had left over from another firearm. Since then, CVang has updated his product line to include some ridged texturing for better traction.

If you wind up getting the Wasp, know that there is a staggering array of available grip alternatives for these pieces. But you might be just fine with the one it has, also. :)

.
 
I found my old data in another post...

1999 production NAA Mini in .22 Mag with the 1 5/8" barrel:

A. CCI 30 gr. TNT JHP- 1151 fps (88 fpe)
B. CCI 30 gr. +V JHP- 1183 fps (92 fpe)
C. CCI 40 gr. JHP- 1015 fps (91 fpe)
D. REM 40 gr. PSP- 1016 fps (92 fpe)
E. CCI 50 gr. Gold Dot- 883 fps (87 fpe) [Discontinued]
F. Federal 50 gr. JHP- 897 fps (89 fpe)
 
Here ya go watch these and you will forget all about it! (nothing against NAA they make some good things)



 
Rule3 said:
Here ya go watch these and you will forget all about it! (nothing against NAA they make some good things)



Click to expand...

Thanks Rule3 but I don't have the problem that Hickok45 has I've got Trump hands plus as you'll see in my new thread "buying a gun just for fun" I don't expect to be spending hours on the range with this. This is purely just something to show off for my gun friends I like the look I like the styling I like the engineering no I'm not going to use this for personal defense or working on my shooting techniques at the range
 
.455_Hunter said:
The NAA is one of them most size efficient platforms in existence. I am not sure why people would condemn it for discrete or BUG carry. Not everybody feels the need for a 15+ round 9mm with extra mags on a daily basis.
Click to expand...

I'm not condemning it either, I just can't shoot it well in a hurry. Especially compared to a .32 pocket auto.
 
I used to scoff at them for a long time and never really saw the point to them. Then I got my first a few years back as part of a trade deal and now I have three of them. :)

They really are very well made little guns, and just for that, its worth having one. Kind of a novelty, but also more than viable, as long as you understand what they are, and put a little time in to make them work.

I was always expecting them to be a "point blank" sort of thing, but once I started shooting them and figured things out, they are a bit more than that. Fast, accurate head shots at 5-7 yards is not a problem at all.

My first was a PUG, and it came with the rubber overmolded grip, which I think is the best choice for them. The grip fits perfectly in your palm, feels the most natural, and there is no movement. I put one on the two that didn't come with one.

The PUG has "big dot" sights on it, which work pretty well, as you have something to align. The others have a simple front blade.

For me, that blade is simply for horizontal alignment and you cant align it with anything to have vertical alignment. My "sight picture" with those, is to sight down the top strap and place the front sight on what I want to shoot. That seems to work great.

These were shot one handed (as they were meant to be shot ;)) at 5 yards or so, and shot about as quick as I could thumb and shoot.

enhance.jpg
enhance.jpg

One thing I did come across recently ammo wise was, you may want to watch or stay away from Remington 22mag's. I got a box of them with one of the guns and was burning them up as practice ammo. This is what I ran into...

enhance.jpg

I was getting more keyholes than round holes too. When I miked the bullets at the case mouth later, I found that they were 0.21-0.220. The others I checked, Gold Dots and CCI's were all 0.223-0.225.

Never had keyholes with anything else.


Oh, and if you were a product of the 50's, you know what "Greenie stick'em caps" were, this is about as close as you can get to being the coolest kid in the 59th grade! :p

enhance.jpg
 
AK103K said:
I used to scoff at them for a long time and never really saw the point to them. Then I got my first a few years back as part of a trade deal and now I have three of them. :)

They really are very well made little guns, and just for that, its worth having one. Kind of a novelty, but also more than viable, as long as you understand what they are, and put a little time in to make them work.

I was always expecting them to be a "point blank" sort of thing, but once I started shooting them and figured things out, they are a bit more than that. Fast, accurate head shots at 5-7 yards is not a problem at all.

My first was a PUG, and it came with the rubber overmolded grip, which I think is the best choice for them. The grip fits perfectly in your palm, feels the most natural, and there is no movement. I put one on the two that didn't come with one.

The PUG has "big dot" sights on it, which work pretty well, as you have something to align. The others have a simple front blade.

For me, that blade is simply for horizontal alignment and you cant align it with anything to have vertical alignment. My "sight picture" with those, is to sight down the top strap and place the front sight on what I want to shoot. That seems to work great.

These were shot one handed (as they were meant to be shot ;)) at 5 yards or so, and shot about as quick as I could thumb and shoot.

View attachment 984373
View attachment 984374

One thing I did come across recently ammo wise was, you may want to watch or stay away from Remington 22mag's. I got a box of them with one of the guns and was burning them up as practice ammo. This is what I ran into...

View attachment 984375

I was getting more keyholes than round holes too. When I miked the bullets at the case mouth later, I found that they were 0.21-0.220. The others I checked, Gold Dots and CCI's were all 0.223-0.225.

Never had keyholes with anything else.


Oh, and if you were a product of the 50's, you know what "Greenie stick'em caps" were, this is about as close as you can get to being the coolest kid in the 59th grade! :p

View attachment 984376
Click to expand...

Interesting point about the keyholing, AK103K.

In my Black Widow, I was shooting exclusively CCI Maxi Mags (both solids and HPs... They're what I had). As you say, decent accuracy at reasonable ranges (of course, I've heard of people who can pop balloons with one at 25-30 yards... Never tried that myself!) :D

Anyway -- I switched to Winchester Dynapoint 45 grain rounds (figuring to add a marginal 5 grains of additional "oomph," plus as the Dynapoints are loaded to lower pressure, thought I'd spare myself a bit of muzzle blast).

Well, those Dynapoints keyholed like crazy... Virtually every round. They were still going to POI at the nominal 5 yards I was shooting, but seeing those ragged tears disturbed me.

I switched back to the CCI rounds, and went back to perfectly clean holes.

Now, I understand that NAA customer service will actually work on a piece if a customer sends it back to try and correct keyholing issues. But as with all rimfire firearms (and those with barrels as short as the NAA in particular), I figured ammo specificity was just "cooked into" the platform. As I had the biggest stockpile of CCI rounds, I was content that they were the ones flying true. :)

Just another minor tidbit... I have both WMR and LR cylinders for the Black Widow. I find the WMR cylinder shoots a bit more accurately.

I have the 3" Earl with two cylinders also -- and that gun is just the opposite... Shoots the LR more accurately. :scrutiny:

.
 
AK103K said:
One thing I did come across recently ammo wise was, you may want to watch or stay away from Remington 22mag's. I got a box of them with one of the guns and was burning them up as practice ammo. This is what I ran into...

View attachment 984375

I was getting more keyholes than round holes too. When I miked the bullets at the case mouth later, I found that they were 0.21-0.220. The others I checked, Gold Dots and CCI's were all 0.223-0.225.
Click to expand...

Interesting. That exact ammo is one of the most accurate .22 WMR cartridges fired out of my 16.25" barreled rifle. I've got a small pile of it.
 
I've got a Black Widow. I like it. As others have said be sure to get to know it's limitations. Mine is accurate "enough". I can make headshots out to 10 yards without too much difficulty. I have noticed it tends to shoot better with some brands of ammunition than others.

For a good time, check out the NAA website and lurk around the forum a little.
 
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