A friend has one, it's quite reliable. His is the older model. Great fun gun if you don't mind the long trigger.

I don't see it as a defensive piece because .22 means higher dud potential, and with a tip-up you can't easily move to the next round - usually no extractor, and the slides are small and tough to pull back.

But heck, a 22 is always fun!

I saw a thing about converting a 380 Browning 1910 to use 32NAA. Sounded like a great idea, unless you can't find the ammo.

I once saw a guy selling a $10,000 dog. In the end it worked out fine - he was able to trade it for two $5,000 cats.

Been interesting watching "The Crown" series, and thinking about what being married to an actual Queen would be like. Complicates matters considerably!  =:O

Prity!

Did the sweat guard get mauled by something? I know 1911's are prone to having buggered up grip screws and that can really tear up a holster.

miker

FWIW, my mini was fairly new, not worn in any way. I'm reasonably mechanical (can split motorcycle engine cases and reassemble gearbox, etc) and I know I wasn't forcing anything or using undue effort. This worked really well on mine and I'm surprised that others are having trouble. Obviously there's a wildcard in here somewhere.

miker

The video is the way I always loaded mine too. I hated having to move the hammer around with loaded rounds in there. Much safer doing it like the video.

Just think of what you're doing... you need to "roll" the cylinder in so that the tip of the hammer goes right into one of the safety notches as the cylinder enters the frame. Roughly center the cylinder and put the center pin in.

After doing it a few times it seems dead easy. I always rolled the cylinder in from the right.

FWIW, early on I had a few weird lock-ups with my 22LR mini, where the hammer wouldn't cock and the cylinder wouldn't turn, literally jammed up. Once I started loading this way I never had another problem. I think moving the hammer and holding the trigger while rotating the cylinder was sometimes putting it into an "undocumented" state.

miker

I've become leery of the flip-up barrel guns because, with no extractor, a super-hefty recoil spring, and a slide too small to grip well, if you have a dud round it's going to take a lot of fooling to get back into action.

More and more I likes wheelguns...

miker

Someday you may be selling one of them, and a "complete package" is always easier to sell - more interesting for the new owner.

Plus, ya got two hands... why wouldn't you be blazing away with .22 from both?

I find my 22LR mini difficult to shoot because of the small handle. My recc would be 1-1/8 magnum frame, get both cylinders just because - you can shoot common 22lr, and still have the option for mag.

I don't see any problem with the stock grips, but if you want bigger/stickier the Pug style rubber is fine.

miker

SteveZ - FMJ Fiocchi here, because it worked the best in everything. Tried Fiocchi, Herters, Aguila, Magtech, Federal, and Sell/Bell.

miker

If you look at it from the side with a light behind it and pull the trigger thru you should be able to see if the firing pin appears and retracts. If the pin is always visible and doesn't retract, I would guess that is less drop-safe than a retracting design.

miker

I recently acquired some old 22 ammo (50's and 60's) from a friend who was cleaning out his mother's house... Mohawk, Federal, Remington, and Winchester. All of it worked just fine.

miker

NAA is one of the few that perhaps would work two-to-a-pocket... Rick? Custom holster to hold two Pugi, maybe one higher than the other for grip clearance?

Forget neck, I'd suggest ankle or inside boot as better. I had a sideways ("driving") holster I kind of liked, tho, the combo of that with pocket might be workable.

miker

Ok, y'all got me intrigued by tactical pens now...

For years I've had a 6" length of 3/4" hardwood dowel that I've occasionally carried - I think there's probably some official name for it if it was an actual kung-fu thing. Got my brass-knucks desktop paperweight too... and a roll of nickels!

miker

I'm impeachable, maybe...

But yeah, just something I read online, guy seemed reasonably legit. It reinforced how I already felt about cocked strikers... now if a BB had a real solid firing pin safety, maybe I'd be ok with that.

Here's a BB AD story, guy shoots self in hand. Read down for the comment on the long firing pin nose - I had forgotten about that, worth considering.

https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/dsm-gun-show-dealer-shoots-himself-in-hand.698900/

miker the impeckable

I've heard of a BB going off in a pocket by accident. No one hurt tho, as it was in his coat pocket hanging in the front closet! =:O

I'd hate to have to carry either - the LR mini is too small for me to shoot well and the single-action is cumbersome; the BB I wouldn't feel safe carrying with the chamber loaded and that striker sitting cocked.

NAA magnum size would be somewhat better. Jetfire in condition 2 is a *much* better option than the BB.

miker

Still kicking myself for not grabbing a used Pug I saw at a LGS a few years back.  22LR only, non-fluted cylinder.

miker

<<How many failure to fires have you had out of quality 22 (LR or Mag) ammo from a NAA pistol?>>

Overall (all 22LR handguns) I've had 5/1093 (about .46%) from CCI, and 4/495 (about .81%) from Federal bulk.

Specifically from the NAA 22LR (mostly CCI) I've had 3/652 (about .46%).

These were rounds that took a second or third strike to fire. I've never had a total dud 22LR, but did have a 25ACP.

miker

When I tried the mini with the 5x5 drill a few times (5" circle, 5 yards, 5 rounds, in 5 seconds) that led to me writing it off as a defensive gun. Picture yourself being tackled and trying to fire single-action while wrestling around!

OTOH, it is something to pull in a situation where the mere presence of a gun is adequate deterrence.

Just my opinion, everyone does it different and what works for you works for you.

miker

I wanted one when they came out - seemed to fit the same niche as the Guardian and Seecamp.

But when I held one in a gun shop, I found that the shape around the trigger was such that sometimes I couldn't get it to fire no matter how hard I pressed - my finger was hitting on the frame on each side of the trigger and preventing me from pushing it all the way back. It was apparent that it worked fine - as long as I held my finger exactly a certain way.

Not workable for a defense gun for me so I moved on.

miker

Then there's them big honkers that shoot .410, 45 Long Colt, 45 ACP, 45 Auto-Rim, and I think one more.

I'm in one of those stages where you try to get rid of a few and also cut down on how many calibers.

miker

Tip for picture-hunting... use Google but direct it to just this site:

google "holster site:naaminis.com"

and then click on "images" to get a big matrix of all the pictures. You would still have to click on and save the ones you like individually.

miker

That standard cant would be great in a "suspenders" model...

miker

I had a new box of Magtech 25acp with 3 duds in it.  That's probably my worst.

miker

Re: Reagan, go read up on when Teddy Roosevelt was shot. He actually got up and made a speech berating the would-be assassin before he let them take him to the hospital!

miker

That's pretty much it - lotsa $ usually, but then it's not easy to do.

Here's one credited to Byron Burges.

miker

Should note that this unfortunately isn't mine! I just found the pics online and would have had Mike do one for me, but he had already passed by that time. Here's the other two pix of the same one. I love the deepness of the relief.

miker

Outstanding work, guys!
miker

Bill, thank you so much for spending the time to do this!

miker

Made mine more of a ramp.

A lovely detail of work by now-gone Mike Puleo.

Very interesting article! Thanks.

billmeek, how about the CCI MiniMag 40gr? Decent cartridge, widely available, probably a good 'standard' to test with.

Thanks to all those quoting actual numbers, great info! Perhaps not a huge difference, but interesting to know nevertheless.

miker

Ran onto this - a 9mm influenced by the Liberator. For some reason it's called a Deer Gun. Wouldn't be legal for deer in my state!

Details on Wikipedia...

miker