Sidearms & Scatterguns North American Arms Mini Revolvers

[Smith97z71]

North American Arms .22 MAGNUM, 1 5/8" BARREL WITH HOLSTER GRIP AND CONVERSION CYLINDER

Anybody have one or any experience? Friend of mine is a statey and he carries one for a backup. My job requires me to work on ATM's and many of them are outside machines. These outside machines are fully exposed and if I have to open the safe up it completely exposes the money and dispensing units. Anyway the job does not allow me to carry while working which is often an uncomfortable feeling. Was thinking about getting one of the above mentioned guns for when Im called out late at night on a machine by myself. My CCW instructor had one and to be honest nobody in our class knew he had it until he willingly exposed it. I thought it was a pocket knife until then. Would make me feel a bit more comfortable and probably my wife as well.

 

[Diesile]

I've had one for years. When larger carry is not practical I use it.

 

[RollingThunder51]

Serious topic this, as serious as it gets. The truth of it is that your job is a higher risk proposition than a majority of folks that carry.
The issue I have is that you must understand that that pistol has a number of very real limitations and only one great strength.
The great strength is concealability, the great weaknesses include clumsy handling, clumsy cocking, clumsy trigger, clumsy sites, clumsy action, deadly slow reload.
The pistol only does one thing remarkably well, disappear. It is a last ditch pistol, a proverbial tape gun, a testament to failure in everything else .
Add to that a swing holster grip and you have made things even worse.
You have selected the right round in that pistol, the 22mag is a powerful last ditch tiny hide out round. In that barrel it blinds at night and barks 24/7.
If you can put something in your pocket, get a J frame in a moderate, hand reloaded caliber with a great bullet and you are much better off.
In my opinion if its coming out of any pocket, you can do much, much better, If it coming out of the waist, you can do much better, almost anywhere, you can do better.
Almost..and that is the strength of this pistol.
If you cannot fill you pocket, cannot have a holster, then the NAMR can shine and that is where we see them.
I carried mine for many years, I am glad I no longer have to.
It was accessed through one open dress shirt button and stayed behind a tie. Yep, hung around the neck, above the tee shirt.
I do not even know if the holster (all cylinders loaded and held between chambers, perfectly) is still available. Thinner grip panels are used, but they came off a long time ago.



In short, this is not what you need.

 

[Smith97z71]

Serious topic this, as serious as it gets. The truth of it is that your job is a higher risk proposition than a majority of folks that carry.
The issue I have is that you must understand that that pistol has a number of very real limitations and only one great strength.
The great strength is concealability, the great weaknesses include clumsy handling, clumsy cocking, clumsy trigger, clumsy sites, clumsy action, deadly slow reload.
The pistol only does one thing remarkably well, disappear. It is a last ditch pistol, a proverbial tape gun, a testament to failure in everything else .
Add to that a swing holster grip and you have made things even worse.
You have selected the right round in that pistol, the 22mag is a powerful last ditch tiny hide out round. In that barrel it blinds at night and barks 24/7.
If you can put something in your pocket, get a J frame in a moderate, hand reloaded caliber with a great bullet and you are much better off.
In my opinion if its coming out of any pocket, you can do much, much better, If it coming out of the waist, you can do much better, almost anywhere, you can do better.
Almost..and that is the strength of this pistol.
If you cannot fill you pocket, cannot have a holster, then the NAMR can shine and that is where we see them.
I carried mine for many years, I am glad I no longer have to.
It was accessed through one open dress shirt button and stayed behind a tie. Yep, hung around the neck, above the tee shirt.
I do not even know if the holster (all cylinders loaded and held between chambers, perfectly) is still available. Thinner grip panels are used, but they came off a long time ago.



In short, this is not what you need.

Appreciate the feedback, If it can be stowed in a pocket then I could probably get away with it. If its during the day when another person is working we will often meet at the atm. One person will service while the other watches but often times I get called out at 10 at night when on call. I may or may not have carried my XD SC .40 in my coat pocket but when its the summer time and 75 at night the coat option is out. The issue I have is when I work an 8-5 I don't dare carry. if i have a chance to come home before being called out again i may or may not bring along the previous XD as the locations are now closed and employees have left. Something small that could be stashed in a coat pocket or pants pocket (preferable) would most likely work but My XD is a little big for that and having a holster while manipulating large parts doesn't work.

What J frames would you consider? Being in my situation if anything ever did happen it would be up close and not more than a few paces I would guess. Part of the concern for me is that a while back a co-worker and I were working on an ATM that was only about 25 yards from a gang shooting that happened around 30 minutes after we left the machine. Could you imagine what may have happened if we had the thing open still when this went down? n

 

[WileyG]

S&W 642 Airweight in 38+P when it's even remotely possible to carry in pants pocket or coat pocket. Load it with Buffalo Bore 158gr HP standard velocity. I have a NAA .22Mag and as stated above it is the last, last ditch go to piece but deadly.