Why the Tob Break should be a success

[45flint]

I really think that NAA has been setting their marketing sights on me every since the Earl. I am the proto-type of the customer they want. So here is why they are in a unique position to capture me and all the ones like me.  I have not had my concealed carry permit that long. If I carry a gun every day I want it to be a piece of jewelry like my watch. I want there to be no chance of anyone noticing. I don't want it to bother me during the day and I want it not to be complicated if I need it.  

   

   The Break-top is like a beautiful piece of jewelry no way else to describe it. Few guns achieve this. Compare that to everything that is plastic composite, the new trend.

   

   Been wearing it in my pocket holster all week, I don't feel it and noone can see it.

   

   Very uncomplicated to use,  

   

   Compare the BT to the new Smith and Wesson composite duo they just brought out.  It is close to the same price.  No comparison as to what I want in a gun.  My fear is that they continue to bring out something else that I just must have. Bottom line in truth, there is no other carry gun that hits me like this one. The good news for NAA is there are a lot of me's out there if they can just get this gun in their hands. Noone has mentioned price once they got it in their hands.  I will pay for something this well made.  Good luck.

   Steve

[redhawk4]

If NAA had S&W's marketing budget just imagine what your serial # would be then? There are lots of me and you's out there, getting the message to them is different. How many ads have you seen for the new S&W products compared to what you'll see for the BT.

   

   I think if they can maintain the quality for production there will be sufficient market for it to succeed. There are always people who enjoy fine things - why are Rolex watches still selling when a Timex tells the time just the same.  

   

   I agree regarding the satisfaction of something well made from metal. The "plastic pigs" may be excellent guns but you are not going to get one out late at night just to look at it and handle it.

   

   I'll carry a few extra ounces any time to have that satisfying feeling of wood, metal and leather vs plastic, because if needed they'll still get the job done, they aren't all show and no go. It's like having a wife who can cook, clean, sew and take care of you and the kids - why have a dowdy one when you can have a looker as well . . . I count my blessings every day that I have both beautiful functional guns and a wife to match

[mec]

When the well constructed "leak" about this break top came out, I went out and bought a 22m with the same barrel length. Ive been carrying it as something of a back up to my custom 1911s ever since. The main thing I notice, is it has the same quality of fit and finish (its just as pretty) as the tool room break top even though it is a production model made with investment castings.  

   I have every confidence that the bt can  transition to full production with no loss in function  or aesthetics.  

   I am seeing quite a bit of enthusiasm among professional gun wallahs who carry cutting edge technology on a daily basis. At least one prominent Gun Mag editor wants one.

   Cool is Cool no matter what "tactical" nitch you place it in.

[45flint]

Mec,  I think your "cool is cool" sums up may entire paragraph.  Redhawk, I kind of like my wife too maybe that is part of the marketing profile.

[lohman446]

I am a fan of the mini.  That being said I find it unlikely that the gun writers will get over the "its not at least a 380" nonsense or the SA reality.

[cedarview kid]

Self defense with a single action. Hmm. I can understand that being an issue--all the better reason to practice with your weapon of choice. Just make sure you can get that hammer cocked fast when you're not able to think abouit it.

   

   But don't cocked-and-locked carriers have to worry about the same sort of thing? Release the safety, pull the trigger. It's all about being familiar with your weapon.

   

   As for the .380 argument--there are some people whose mind you will never change. I was a Mormon missionary in Massachusetts for a couple of years and one of the things I heard often was, "I was born a Catholic and I'll die a Catholic."

   

   Why do I mention that? Because "caliber religion" is the same sort of thing. Some people believe that there are plinking calibers and "serious" calibers and .22, even Magnum, only belongs to one of those categories--and there's nothing you can ever do to change their mind. Some people would even take their last breath claiming such, even if they were dying from a .22 Magnum shot.

   

   So, I understand your points, and I'm sure most of us here do. I share your frustration that some people just don't get it.

   

   That's okay, though, as long as WE get it.

[wyn]

I posted before I emailed Jim Scouten of the Outdoor's channel "Shooting USA", to ask if they would do a segment on NAA. He emailed me back basically saying NO and stating you won't find any firearms instructor who would advocate the .22 as a self defense round.

   

   I believe getting shot with the .22 is gonna hurt and it will probably bledd profusely. I believe there is alot of shock and awe if the .22 were to be used. I don't think anyone is going to think "geez, I've only been shot by a .22".

[cedarview kid]

Wyn, he sounds l like one of those common caliberists that I was talking about. Some say there are a lot of good self-defense rounds out there, but they all start with a 4. I ain't one of those.

[ephraim]

It seems more natural for me to ear back a hammer than to rachet a slide for the first shot. There is no doubt however ,that after the slide is back, the auto is the most effective weapon. It has to do with what you are most comfortable with. Also, there is no denying the nostalgic factor.

   E!

[zippovarga]

Hey Dar, I would have thought they would be substantially wider too.

[45flint]

Again why I think I am typical of a customer NAA wants to market to, I am not going to carry a larger pistol every day, it just is not going to happen.  I do put on my watch every day and the TB is similar and fun.  Its much better than the nothing I would have if I relied on myself utilizing my larger caliber guns.  If I know when I wake up I am traveling to where there is a greater chance of danger, I am going to carry my .38. with its laser sight.  Again, I think their are a lot of "me's" out there for NAA to market to.

[lohman446]

Oh, I don't disagree there is a great market and agree with the sentiment that they make reasonable defensive guns.  I just don't think you will see it in the gun media anytime soon.  I am going to pick up my first mini (likely today) after a lot of reading into them.  If the break top had not been such a custom piece, to the point it could have been in the sub $400 range with dual cylinders, I would have undoubtedly chosen it.  For someone like me, who will primarily use it as an "always there" gun the price difference was not worth it at the current price point, and one of my criteria was having the 22LR cylinder.  It was to the point I was going to buy the 22LR version, it was mostly these boards that has me looking for the dual cylinder version.

[pocketrocket47]

Flint, I totally agree with you. I am in my  60's and do not want to carry a bulging .45 or 9mm unless its absolutely necessary. Up until I got into NAA pistols I carried a .38 and during summer months a small .380. I am a fan of all type of revolvers. I just love the NAA pistols and believe they will do the job they are intended to do. I do not expect to be involved in an "OK Corral" type shootout and feel totally safe carrying a small revolver like the Pug or Mini as my EDC. My 9mm is my house gun.

[redhawk4]

The Gun Media ebb and flow with the advertisers products. They always used to run down 9mm and only 45 ACP could do anything, now all of a sudden because lots of people are making 380's that seems to be OK with them, when it has nothing like the power of the "inadequate" 9mm.

   

   Bottom line is any gun is better than no gun, there is also no ideal gun or one that will work for every possible SD scenario that could occur, not even a machine gun might be adequate in some circumstances.

   

   You pay your money and take your choice. I don't think 22 mag from any barrel length would be my first choice and in most situations it isn't going to be, it will be a BUG, but at the same time many attacks, especially when the attacker doesn't have a gun, will end the second a mini appears. A loaded mini is much more effective than an unloaded gun, yet these have been used by some to scare of attackers who wisely don't hang around to see if it's loaded or not.  

   

   In the majority of situations, the sudden appearence of a gun = brown pants for the majority of people looking at the business end.

[mec]

" I just don't think you will see it in the gun media anytime soon"

   

   the photographs and data gathering are already complete for a GUNs Magazine article.  The editor has expressed some excitement about the bt. The lead time is fairly long so theirs no prediction WHEN it will come out.  On the same note, a couple of months ago one of the GUNS writers wrote a short but positive piece on the .22M

   

   Very small handguns have been a staple since the dawn of the cartridge era and before. The vast majority of people make up their own minds about what will suit them for personal protection. Most never encounter the blowhards who claim the smaller guns are ineffective. In fact, if you present a list of current gun gurus to a fairly enthusiast group of shooters (which I did), almost all will identify John M. Browning but less than half will recognize the names of several current, self-proclaimed cutting edge writers, competitors and "innovators."

[cedarview kid]

Well, I'm SO glad the break tops are now out. It's so liberating. Now that I've paid for both of mine, I can eyeball other guns again. It's frustrating knowing you can't buy anything else because you're saving for the (expensive) break  tops. Not that I regret them at all--I'm very pleased with them. But now I can consider other .22's again that I see in the classifieds. LOL.

[hog_rider]

Advertising driven bias toward the bigger calibers, it's what sells ad space..........with the ever rising price of ammo, I expect to see many more manufacturers jumping on .22 weapon builds.

   

   See if the bias doesn't change then. Many of the "big-bore advocates" only know what they read in the gun mags...........

   

   I can recall when ganbling was a sin....... that changed!

[redhawk4]

The thing on calibers that I always come back to is, how if what we are told now is true, did anyone manage to defend themselves at the turn of the century with the weapons and calibers used then?

   

   If they were as ineffective as modern conventional wisdom would have us believe, then why did people use them and not go to bigger more powerful cartridges? It doesn't add up somehow.

[heyjoe]

its not like people are tougher to kill today than in days of yore. they had much harder lives and were on a whole more rugged             individuals. there are exceptions of course, like me and you. well maybe a couple of others here too.  

   to do just about anything involved much more manual labor than it does today.

    an interesting developement in guns to me has been the simultaneous increase in caliber size in increasinging smaller and lighter guns. there is a point of diminishing returns. how many people who buy 10 0unce .357 j frames are really effective with them, can really shoot them accurately? you read over and over again of people buying a light .357 then only shooting a few rounds before loading them with .38 or selling them

[mayvik]

I carry my BT as a back up to a 6 foot claymore, so I think I'm probably OK even with a puny .22 magnum.

[chopprs]

Please define......you carry a "Claymore Mine" as a self defense weapon??

[mayvik]

What, you don't?  Just make sure it has at least a 6 foot cord!

   

   

   I was thinking more "Braveheart" and less "Platoon", but I imagine both would be effective if properly deployed :p