They are perfect for snake shot since you don't have to worry about ejection.
If I were to have a desire for another NAA I would opt for teh ranger which is I believe the swing out carriage flavor.
They also used to make a break top - maybe they still do.

 

I bought the 22 mag sidewinder with the one and a half inch barrel about two weeks ago. It was utterly miserable to shoot with the standard grips, then I put the retractable holster grip on it and made a huge difference. I would prefer the brake top, but they're quite a bit more money as well. Realistically speaking, you're not gonna be reloading it much for what you'll be using it for so as nice as the brake top is I don't know if I would consider it worth the money.

 

I went with the stainless 2” Black widow w/ adjustable Marbles sights and both a .22lr and .22wmr cylinder. Testing ahead in the coming weeks!

 

I can recommend the Venom laser. It works well and replaces the cylinder pin

 

Some interesting facts…

Paul Harrell owned two NAA revolvers. You can see them in several videos.

Speer 45 gr Gold Dot ammo ($23 box) gets around 1120 fps from the 2” Black Widow

 

I have a Sidewinder with interchangeable cylinders, 22lr/22mag. The Ranger, as mentioned above, is the second generation top break. The lever to open it is precariously positioned right beside the hammer. That could be a problem in a tense situation. You could actually open the thing instead of cocking it. The first generation opened like a Schofield revolver and commands crazy money. The Sidewinder has a spring loaded ejector rod where the older models required unscrewing the rod. I haven't really been keeping up with them, but I know they have come out with quite a few new models. I carry mine mainly in hot weather when I wear lighter clothes, loaded with Hornady 45 grain Critical Defense 22 mag.

 

@.DIRTY-.THIRTY - Nice rig! ! !

My son had one and it was a lot of fun to shoot. Always wanted to get another one. . .
Have an acquaintance who has a brand new black powder version - complete kit - and he has been trying to sell it to me for a couple of years. . . might need to take him up on it. . .

 

I've owned 2 of the NAA mini revolvers in 22 LR. They both were solid little guns.

Both of them had problems with breaking the mainspring, but I shot them extensively, each seeing over 500 rounds in the time I had them. I'd go to the range and shoot 5-10 cylinder fulls through them. NAA was good about sending the replacement spring and offered me instructions to replace it, which is done without disassembling the gun.

I've shot a handful of their models, as a friend had a collection of them. I found the magnum version to be a bit much, the 22 Short vers was the best balanced in my estimation.

 

Update**
I tried the NAA Black Widow today. I used the .22wmr cylinder. I was surprised at the lack of any markings on the 2 cylinders. I would expect .22lr on one and .22wmr on the other. Bizarre.

I shot 7 yards. The trigger is horrendous. I haven’t checked it yet with trigger gauge but it must be 12-15 lb.

Ammo used is Hornady 45 gr .22 wmr which this gun is said to get 1150fps from its 2” barrel.

First 5 rounds went dead on center of target in a 3” group. Dang! I smiled!!

2nd group went 4.5” and higher

In all I fired 7 cylinders today with the average group about 4” give or take.

My last cylinder I took a rest, two hand hold (which got best groups) and finished with a 3” or just under group. Single hand shooting group size was 4-5inch and higher, due to hard trigger?

I am very satisfied with shooting so far. I plan to order Speer Gold Dots 45 gr.

I have a kydex neck holster being made this week for it.

Snake shot tests coming up…

@BubbaJon how did your experience compare?

 

Update**
I tried the NAA Black Widow today. I used the .22wmr cylinder. I was surprised at the lack of any markings on the 2 cylinders. I would expect .22lr on one and .22wmr on the other. Bizarre.

I shot 7 yards. The trigger is horrendous. I haven’t checked it yet with trigger gauge but it must be 12-15 lb.

Ammo used is Hornady 45 gr .22 wmr which this gun is said to get 1150fps from its 2” barrel.

First 5 rounds went dead on center of target in a 3” group. Dang! I smiled!!

2nd group went 4.5” and higher

In all I fired 7 cylinders today with the average group about 4” give or take.

My last cylinder I took a rest, two hand hold (which got best groups) and finished with a 3” or just under group. Single hand shooting group size was 4-5inch and higher, due to hard trigger?

I am very satisfied with shooting so far. I plan to order Speer Gold Dots 45 gr.

I have a kydex neck holster being made this week for it.

Snake shot tests coming up…

View attachment 983176
View attachment 983177



@BubbaJon how did your experience compare?

First off those sights are way bigger than the ones on mine. Should be light years better on aim.
Trigger will get better. I used old spent casings and dry fired a lot. It helped.
Same with pulling the hammer back. Stiff li'l rascal.
One cylinder should have an L stamped on the end - that's the long rifle.
I think the best I ever got at 7 yds was about 6" and that was with the laser.
One of the reasons I wasn't that impressed with it.
Snakeshot works a treat. I used the CCI ammo.
For "SD" I used the gold dot ammo.

 

I shot this big copper head at 5-6 feet away. Yes, that’s part of the blue capsule you see embedded into the cardboard.

I didn’t wanna get too close to this big kober so I shot him around 8’.

 

Were those LR or WMR?
My WMR had a better pattern at 8 feet.

 

These were the wmr

 

I have the pug model with 22lr and magnum cylinders, great little carry gun ….I might be able to hit something with in 10 yards !

 

A friend of mine and his wife were out walking their dogs , and got attacked by two pit bulls.
He had one of these pistols in his pocket.
He killed both pit bulls.
The police marked it down as a good shoot.
So they do come in handy once in awhile.

 

I didn’t measure my groups from 2 days ago shooting the 45 gr Critical Defense. I did measure them today. I had 3 five shot groups that were 2 5/8”. I before stated an average of 4”. This was incorrect. The average group size was approx 3”.

I am about to try out the .22lr cylinder and I will shoot the wmr at a longer distance. Stay tuned

 

I had this guy coming at me. Distance was 15 yards. I fired all 5 rounds as fast as I could. 😂

Shot groups on paper as well. Getting 6-8” groups at 15 yards and key holing. Pumpkin zombie was annihilated!

 

My trigger weight scale only goes to 12lb. I cannot get a reading. I’d guess 15. Some great sights on this mini revolver. The grip size even with my xl hands is great. Trigger pull is killing what it could do.

 

I'm curious if the trigger has lightened up at all after you've shot it some. My Sidewinder trigger feels like it's around 7 lb. My reason for that guestimate is that I can press it with my left index finger, which is my weakest finger. With that finger I can't press anything above 8 lb and at that weight only once, and a 7 lb trigger with that finger about 6 times.

 

And how fast was that?

 

Where I live in South Mountains of McDowell County NC I carry any one of 3 NAA mini Revolvers in a pocket every day during 6 months of warmer seasons.
It has accounted for dozens of nasty copperheads and one 50” Timber Rattlesnake in last 10 years. The latter weighed about 7 or 8 pounds and was noted when it and my 75 pound hound were striking at each other with only a welded mesh fence in between. Only thing saving the dog was the rattlers head being 2 3/4” wide and fence mesh 2” wide.

my best patterns with CCI or old fashioned crimped rat shot shells is 3 or 4 feet from snakes head and neck. The tiny #12 pellets will paralyze a nasty serpent.

 

I have a NAA Mini in .22 LR that i've had since 2001. I carry it often since it fits in a shirt pocket. I live on Lake Eufaula in Alabama, and it has accounted for several snakes, including both timber rattlers and Diamondbacks as well as copperheads. I carry it (and have had to use it) when tending to my havahart traps. We have a condo in Panama City, and i carry it when we walk our dogs. The trigger on mine is just under 5 pounds, measured with my RCBS trigger scale. It has been an incredibly good and useful addition to my collection.

 

Wow! 5 lbs. That is amazing. You would shake your head in disbelief if you tried this current model I bought.

 

I'm sure. I had a magnum model that had an 8 pound trigger. But i have been very happy with mine, and it has come in very useful at times due to its small size. Get a pissed off racoon, cat, or possum in your trap and you will need some help. This is it.

 

While I traded my NAA for the Ruger LCP MAX, I stiil have my Freedom Arms 22 LR pistola that's teh grandpappy to the NAA 22 firearms.
I just the other day had a coppehead playing "try to bite the dog nose" with my feisty female pittie mix.
Good thing it was on the other side of the privacy fence or she'd likely have gotten nailed.
For about a week after that she kept going back to that spot hoping for a rematch.
If the guy behind me wasn't such a jerk I'd have shot it with my snakeshot but not gonna risk that kind of run-in with him.

 

I finally got the Ranger II !!

 

I have the 22 MAG with one of these grips on it. Carry it all the time clipped to my jeans watch pocket.

https://www.northamericanarms.com/shop/ghg-m/

 

Most that have them seem to love them, so I'll probably be getting one in the near future to try out.

 

I tried maybe 80 rds of this through the long rifle cylinder. I had 3 bad cartridges that would not shoot. At 20 yards an 8” plate is hit 80% of the time. Offhanded I may hit it 15-20%. My trigger is still a monster. I still haven’t bought the snap caps but will try to tomorrow. I can’t remember if I have shown the neck holster. Anybody that follows my knife stories should know I fancy the neck knife and have near a dozen. The neck NAA holster was a natural for me.

 

I tried maybe 80 rds of this through the long rifle cylinder. I had 3 bad cartridges that would not shoot. At 20 yards an 8” plate is hit 80% of the time. Offhanded I may hit it 15-20%. My trigger is still a monster. I still haven’t bought the snap caps but will try to tomorrow. I can’t remember if I have shown the neck holster. Anybody that follows my knife stories should know I fancy the neck knife and have near a dozen. The neck NAA holster was a natural for me.

I've had good luck with Aguila 22 ammo. The smell is different than some, but they usually shoot well. Hitting that much on an 8" plate at 20 yards is some good shooting with that! With the trigger being so heavy I know I wouldn't be able to do it. Not sure about a neck holster for me, though. I have a couple of small neck knives but don't wear them much. I know others, like you, that love 'em.

 

Best give yours a try Mike. Yours might surprise you how good it groups. I shot 25 rounds at 20 yards off a rest (piece of 2x4). I had 4 failure to fire out of the 29 rounds of Aguila. By the 15th round the tip of my finger was aching from pulling in that tiny trigger at so much weight. I went to Cabelas and bought 6 .22lr dummy rounds (for a dummy like me) they say right on them not snap caps but I didn’t bother reading that day. They’re goin back. I’ll try some cci at 20 soon. I can’t handle the failure to shoot.

My shooting rest

 

Best give yours a try Mike. Yours might surprise you how good it groups. I shot 25 rounds at 20 yards off a rest (piece of 2x4). I had 4 failure to fire out of the 29 rounds of Aguila. By the 15th round the tip of my finger was aching from pulling in that tiny trigger at so much weight. I went to Cabelas and bought 6 .22lr dummy rounds (for a dummy like me) they say right on them not snap caps but I didn’t bother reading that day. They’re goin back. I’ll try some cci at 20 soon. I can’t handle the failure to shoot.

My shooting rest View attachment 998695 View attachment 998696 View attachment 998697

I'll say it again, there is no way I could be that accurate at 20 yards with these tiny things. Great shooting! I'll take some Aguila to the range next time and try them out. With the failure to fire rate you had, they probably won't be something I carry, even though they may be accurate. I noticed that there were no key holes in your cardboard. That's very interesting because everything I've put through mine have had some key holes. My last range trip I shot 50 rounds of Mini Mags with zero failures so that's what I'm going with for now. Still haven't tried the Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel 22 mag but I'm hoping for good results.

 

I seen this post over on another forum. I’m gonna try find some of those tomorrow