NAA 22 revolver

[Lost Californian]

I took my girlfriend with me to the gunstore as we are looking for a new carry gun for her. She has a difficult time with 380 and 38's and feels far more comfortable with a 22. (Ik its not a manstopper but a 22 she is comfortable with is better than nothing.)

Anyway she was gravitating towards the selection of NAA revolvers such as the 22LR and the 22mag. I have never shot one and my only real concern is the reliablity because I dont own one and dont know any one that does. Any input would be appreciated.

She was also looking at the bersa 22 and the walther 22 but hasnt made up her mind yet.

She has an arthritic type condition in her wrists that make her more recoil sensitive. She can shoot a 22 just fine. She shot my 38 special revolver and LCP and hated the LCP and strongly disliked the 38.I will have to find a bobcat or something with a metal frame in a 25 or 32 such as the bobcat that she can coonfinger and see if she likes.

I know you did not ask this, I am still throwing it out there for you consideration. A .32 caliber handgun is an often overlooked choice when it comes to a carry gun. My wife is similar to your girlfriend, recoil sensitive, likes the .22lr, so I bought her a .327Fed Mag revolver that is loaded with .32 S&W for practice, and carried with .32 H&R mags. (Even I don't care for the recoil or noise of the .327 Fed Mag from a 2" barrel).

The .32 caliber gives the choice of .32S&W, .32S&W Long, .32H&R Mag, and the .327 Fed Mag. Each loading is progressively hotter. Charter Arms makes a .32 revolver, so does Taurus.

The .32acp is also another nice round. I had a Beretta Tomcat, and for a small pistol it is rather chunky and heavy. I thought the recoil was a little more stout than it should be for a pistol that weighs in at 14.5 ounces. I would suggest a slightly larger pistol than the Tomcat, there is the FEG AP, or the FN Browning, both of which are Walther PP/PPK clones; the CZ 70 or 83, which are more full sized pistols; and the micro pistols from Taurus (TCP732), KelTec (P32), and North American Arms (Guardian .32acp, very similar to the Tomcat). You could also get lost in the guns made in the early 1900s, there is a bunch of them in .32acp.

I still prefer the revolvers to the pistols.

 

[ghitch75]

great gun!!!....if you practice there very accurate....i carry a mag everywhere i can.....

 

[chibicascade]

I would say go with something like an LCR in .22
You are going to get more shots than an NAA, and a double action trigger

 

[n9znd]

I carried one for 3 years. Loved it and felt comfortable with it. I do not think it is a super great choice but you could do worse. I think with any BU gun you need to know it's limitations and where and when it could be used. As far as Accuracy goes, Don't let anyone say that "you can't hit anything from 5 feet away" because that is very far from the truth. If a NAA is that bad it has a problem. I have seen Crown problems and a gun was very. My last was like that. I redone the crown and it shot alot better. I have had the foldup grip on a few of my Mini's and it does help. The grip is everything in shooting these gun well.
The Black Widow is the easiest and funnest to shoot. Jim

 

[Enthusiast]

The Beretta Bobcat might be a good choice for her. The flip up barrel is a plus for people that have difficulty racking the slide. I recommend using good ammo for it to be reliable.

 

[thabombsquad]

Ive been thinking of getting one of these for my wife. She has a real nice Ruger LCR .22 but it spends more time on her nightstand than being carried. Shes claims it is to big for her purse. I think the Naa .22 mag would fit the bill nicely. While not a killer round, it will certainly get a bad guy off you if you place your 5 shots in the chest! Now I just got to find one!

 

[Greengunner]

The Bersa 32 auto my wife carries is exceptionally accurate and has functioned flawlessly.

 

[Littlejoe]

I havent heard about this, do you have a link?

I can't find where I read this.It was a couple years back. I read that the Hornady bullet can expand to the size of a .380. Not sure what It said about the speed of the bullet. I like the 22mag round in a rifle. I really like my 22mag Pug. Like I said, It is mostly a back pocket gun to my 9mm or .45's. There is better choices for a primary carry gun.. If you want something you can carry anywhere then the little NAA is great. I even carry mine at the beach in the pocket of my swim trunks when on Vacation...

 

[lucky4034]

My fiance and mom both have limited experience with guns and right now are both feel most comfortable with .22's

With that said, they shoot my ruger 22/45 very well. I personally would rather they have something can shoot comfortably now and when they get more comfortable, try to move them up in caliber.

I love my 22/45 for target shooting and have had the pleasure of shooting other semi-auto .22's, but I've seen enough FTF's to not want to trust a semi-auto 22 with the life of my 2 leading ladies.

I think a revolver is the best route for a lady set on a 22. If a round fails to go bang, they can keep pulling and rotate to the next one. For that reason I think a pair of .22 Magnum LCR's are on my purchase list.

 

[GunSlinger]

One other compact to consider if you don't object to a used gun is the Colt Model N 1908 in .25 ACP. It's very concealable, fits the hand very well, and the .25 ACP is a much more viable defensive round then the .22 LR. Very little felt recoil, easy to strip and clean, ammo is available (unlike.22) and a great John Moses Browning design.

Beech Grove Firearms had two in stock when I was last there (about two weeks ago) selling from around 250.00 to 300.00. The 1908 is pretty accurate out to 50 feet so a man sized target at 10 foot would be no problem. Great little vest, pocket, purse gun.

 

[Robjps]

I would suggest trying to find a heavier steel frame .380 something like the PPK Colt mustang etc...

The weight would make the cartridge comparable(recoil/snappy) to the 22 revolvers you are considering while being a larger and centerfire round.

 

[jamstutz]

I've got a NAA Pug that I carry every day as a back up to my Glock. Having said that I would never recommend it for anyone with limited dexterity or hand strength. The reason is that the only way to carry the NAA revolver safely is to position the firing pin in the safety notch between cartridges. To do this you have to cock the handgun and pull the trigger while gently lowering the hammer and turning the cylinder so the pin is positioned correctly. One slip and you blow off a finger or worse.

If you want to stick to a semi-auto in .22 LR, go with a Beretta or Taurus with a tip-up barrel. It's much safer for her. If she is open to the idea of a DA revolver, check out the Ruger LCR or the S&W Model 351C in .22 WMR.

 

[MikeDVB]

This is for a carry gun. She has a 22 mk II that she shoots like a champ, she just has a hard time with the full size calibers

Just curious - but is she having issues with *every* firearm, or just small firearms?

My wife has no issues shooting my 1911, her XDm-9 3.8, or our XDm-45 4.5 and she's not exactly what I would define as 'strong'.

The smaller the gun, the harder it is going to be to handle which is opposite what most seem to think.

Just curious is all.

 

[rooster]

Just curious - but is she having issues with *every* firearm, or just small firearms?

My wife has no issues shooting my 1911, her XDm-9 3.8, or our XDm-45 4.5 and she's not exactly what I would define as 'strong'.

The smaller the gun, the harder it is going to be to handle which is opposite what most seem to think.

Just curious is all.

All she has shot so far is a mk II, A j frame sized tuarus in 38, an LCP and my glock 22. I dont exactly have a lot of firearms that I own for her to try so I think in the next week or so we will head over to Pops so she can rent some different ones to try out.

 

[MikeDVB]

All she has shot so far is a mk II, A j frame sized tuarus in 38, an LCP and my glock 22. I dont exactly have a lot of firearms that I own for her to try so I think in the next week or so we will head over to Pops so she can rent some different ones to try out.

I can't stand Pop's but they do have one of the better selections of rentals.

 

[seldon14]

I second the .327 suggestion. .327 is pretty stout, but shooting .32 mag is probably easier on the hand than .38s. .32 longs are absolute ***** cats, shoots near as soft as 22 imo. I can't imagine how light .32 shots are. It's a very versatile cambering. Take a look at the Ruger SP101. It's a bit heftier than other similar sized revolvers, but not to heavy to carry.

 

[tdmman]

I'd steer her away from the mini-revolver and go with a Kel-tec or Beretta Tomcat.