Salty's Gun Review: North American Arms .22 Magnum Convertible w/Holster Grip

Welcome to another edition of Salty’s Gun Review. The views expressed are my own, and I will pull no punches… these are guns I own and shoot, and I will address them from a “prepping/survival perspective”.

I am reviewing one of my favorite guns, and one I shoot just about every time I go to the range, a North American Arms .22 magnum 1 5/8″ barrel with a .22LR conversion cylinder & holster grip. This is one of my “I carry a gun everywhere I go” concealed carry guns, although I don’t consider it my primary CC weapon.

NNA .22MAG revovler

The specs:

Suggested Retail Price: $284
Street Price (my local gun shop): $245

Caliber: .22 & .22 Magnum
Capacity: 5
Barrel Length: 1 5/8″
Overall Length: 5 1/4″
Overall Height: 2 7/8″
Width: 7/8″
Weight Unloaded: 6.2 oz

Philosophy Of Use:

First, let me talk about the whole .22 rimfire as a personal defense weapon thing. Like pretty much everybody I know, I do not think that the .22 rimfire (anything from shorts to magnums) is the “ideal” self-defense round, far from it. All rimfire rounds are less reliable than center fire, and obviously a 36, 40 or 45 grain traveling out of a 1 5/8 inch barrel is going to have an exceedingly light impact in pounds of force. I get that.

Here’s why I carry this gun everywhere, though… it is EXCEPTIONALLY safe to carry and it fits in my pocket… no matter WHAT I am wearing.

There is one kind of self-defense gun that is entirely ineffective… the gun you are not carrying with you. It’s useless if you need it, because it’s sitting in your car or at home in your safe. This gun is small enough and safe enough to carry when I am wearing light gym shorts and a t-shirt. It’s imprint doesn’t look like a gun, the imprint looks like car keys with a big keychain.

I have other carry guns, one of my “main” guns is a Ruger LCR .357 and my other “main” carry gun is a Glock 26. Both guns are great, reliable, and I love them… but they are also hard to conceal due to my lifestyle (I am OFTEN in shorts and a T). No matter what, the NAA just fits, so even if I am at the gym or coaching or whatever, I am able to carry.

The gun you carry is infinitely more effective than the gun you left in the car, even if the gun you have is a lowly .22 belly gun.

Design:

The gun is designed so that the hammer sits in a slot located between the rounds, which means that (unlike other derringers) you don’t need to have it sit on an empty chamber to protect it from discharge if it is dropped. The gun is entirely single action.

For carry, the revolver folds up into the “case” on the handle by depressing two buttons, one on each side of the grip. This can be a bit tricky, they are stiff, but once you get the hang of it, the function works well. When the gun is folded, the trigger mechanism is completely encased, adding yet another layer of safety to the design.

The version I own and recommend is the convertible, so that you can practice/train with inexpensive .22LR and carry .22 WMR for defensive purposes. The gun shoots nearly identically with both rounds, the only difference felt is a bit more recoil with the hotter round. This gun will shoot any rotgut bulk ammo you can lay your hands on, including the cheapest crap out there (Winchester white box).

Build quality:

Excellent. Made in the USA. Easy to strip and maintain, resists sweat corrosion nicely.

Shooting:

I own two of these little guys, they both shoot the same. To fire the guns, lay the top of the barrel on the horizontal aiming line of your target. Line the front sight down the center line of your target. Pull back the hammer, squeeze the trigger, gun goes bang and hits center-mass (if you are in range). Recoil is quite manageable, the gun is easy to grip. After extended firing, the sharp edges of the grip can get irritating to people with softer hands.

Accuracy:

These little guys are far more accurate than you might imagine. From the look of them, they are “belly guns”, to be shot while “in contact range” of the target… in actuality, they are quite accurate at 10 yards. We have one of those “self-healing balls” that we like to shoot at, and we can both generally hit the 6 inch ball 5 times out of 5 at 7 yards/meters with these guns. Once you get past 10 yards/meters, there’s quite a bit of variance as the energy of the bullet drops quickly. At 25 yards, the shots generally are all within the 7 ring (major damage/torso). This is certainly not a target gun.

Impact:

You can go online and see all kinds of ballistics tests, and they show that these little guns certainly are not .45ACP type impact making firearms… but I sure as heck would not want to be shot by one of them.

Verdict:

I own two of them, and carry one every day either as my primary carry if I am in shorts and a T, or as a backup to my primary carry if I am wearing normal clothing. I highly recommend them.