North American Arms Mini Revolver 22 LR 1.12 in. 5-Shot – Superb Pocket Backup

Description

The North American Arms Mini Revolver weighs four and a quarter ounces and disappears into a watch pocket. It has been made in Provo, Utah for decades, largely unchanged, because nothing else does quite the same job.

This is a deliberately minimal gun: five rounds of 22 Long Rifle, a 1.12-inch stainless barrel, a rosewood birdshead grip and an exposed hammer. There is no trigger guard, no safety lever and no double-action pull. The North American Arms Mini Revolver is a last-resort, deep-concealment piece and it makes no pretence of being anything else.

How to carry one safely

• The North American Arms Mini Revolver is single action: the hammer must be thumbed back before the trigger will do anything.
• The cylinder has half-notches machined between the chambers. The hammer rests in one of those notches, not on a primer, and that is what makes it safe to carry with all five loaded.
• Load the fifth round, rotate the cylinder so the hammer drops into the notch between chambers, and check it seats before pocketing the gun.
• Never let the hammer rest directly on a loaded chamber. The notch exists precisely because a 4.25-ounce revolver with no transfer bar needs it.
• Loading and unloading means pulling the cylinder pin and removing the cylinder, which is slower than any other revolver you will own.

What it is actually good at

• Pocket, boot, waistband, glovebox, tackle box: it goes places a proper carry gun cannot.
• Stainless steel throughout, so a summer of sweat will not ruin it.
• Five rounds is five more than you have if the real gun is at home in a safe.
• The 1.12-inch barrel means 22 LR leaves it well below its rated velocity, so treat any published ballistics figure as optimistic.
• 8 lands and grooves with a 1:12 right-hand twist, which is proper rifling rather than a token effort.

North American Arms Mini Revolver specifications

• Caliber: 22 Long Rifle
• Capacity: 5-shot cylinder
• Barrel length: 1.12 in
• Weight: 4.25 oz
• Rifling: 8 lands and grooves, 1:12 right-hand twist
• Frame and barrel: stainless steel
• Grips: rosewood birdshead
• Sights: fixed
• Action: single action, exposed hammer
• Manufacturer part number: NAA22LR
• UPC: 744253000034

22 Long Rifle is a standardized cartridge with dimensions and pressure limits published by SAAMI, but a barrel this short changes the arithmetic. A load advertised at 1,200 feet per second from a rifle may leave the North American Arms Mini Revolver at closer to 700. Standard velocity ammunition often performs no worse than high velocity here, because there is no barrel left for the extra powder to work in.

Shoot a variety and see what ignites reliably, which matters more than velocity in a rimfire. Winchester Wildcat 40 gr in the 1,500-round jug is the cheap way to do that, and Armscor 36 gr high-velocity hollow point is the other end of the shelf.

If you want the same idea in a more capable caliber, the 22 Magnum Mini and the Bootlegger in 22 Magnum gain a useful amount from the larger case even at this barrel length. The NAA Sentinel is the bigger, more shootable option, and a boot grip makes the standard gun considerably easier to hold.

Why the North American Arms Mini Revolver earns its place

• Four and a quarter ounces, which means it actually gets carried.
• Stainless construction that shrugs off pocket lint and perspiration.
• Mechanically simple enough that there is almost nothing to go wrong.
• Made in Utah, and the same design has been in production long enough to prove itself.
• A real answer to the question of what you carry when you cannot carry anything.

Be completely honest with yourself about the limitations. The North American Arms Mini Revolver has a sight radius of about an inch, a grip you hold with two fingers, and a reload that takes the better part of a minute. Twenty-five yards is a fantasy; seven feet is the design brief. Anyone who tells you it is a substitute for a proper carry pistol is selling something.

What it is, is the gun for the situation where the alternative is nothing at all: a suit pocket, a jogging shorts waistband, a workplace where a real holster is impossible. Bought with that understood, it is one of the most useful little objects in the catalogue. Bought as a primary defensive gun, it will disappoint you badly.

In stock now at MAG5 Firearms in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Transfers to your FFL, and we answer the phone.