Mini-revolver
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North American Arms is a United States company, headquartered in
Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...
, that manufactures
pocket pistol In American English, a pocket pistol is any small, pocket-sized semi-automatic pistol (or less commonly referencing either derringers, or revolvers), and is suitable for concealed carry (USA), concealed carry in a pocket or a similar small space ...
s and mini-
revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...
s, also called mouse guns. The company was originally named ''Rocky Mountain Arms'' when it was founded in 1972. In 1974 it was bought by new owners who renamed the company ''North American Manufacturing'' (NAM) and then ''North American Arms'' (NAA).


Mini-revolvers


Bicycle guns

Hopkins and Allen produced a "7-shot .22 solid frame double action revolver, made between 1875 and 1907, known as the XL No. 3 Double Action small frame. The .32 Smith & Wesson Safety Hammerless of 1888 to 1892 with the 2 inch barrel became known as a 'Bicycle' gun at some point, and the First Model Ladysmith (the 1902 M Frame Model .22 Hand Ejector), was often referred to as a 'Bicycle' gun. Iver Johnson made a similar gun--the Model 1900 Double Action small frame, a 7-shot .22, which appeared in 1900 and remained in production for 41 years."''Mini Revolvers''
/ref>


NAA

The mini-revolvers produced by the company are five-shot,
single-action revolvers A trigger is a mechanism (engineering), mechanism that Actuator, actuates the function of a ranged weapon such as a firearm, airgun, crossbow, or speargun. The word may also be used to describe a switch that initiates the operation of other n ...
, which have a spur
trigger Trigger may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Trigger (''Only Fools and Horses''), in the TV sitcom * Trigger Argee, in science fiction short stories by James H. Schmitz * Devil Trigger, a transformation ability of ...
design. They are reminiscent of late 19th-century pocket revolvers, the main differences being their size and also that NAA's mini-revolvers are made completely of
stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...
. The design of the mini-revolvers was developed by
Freedom Arms Freedom Arms is a Freedom, Idaho and Wyoming, Freedom, Wyoming–based gun manufacturer , firearm manufacturing company, known for producing powerful single-action revolvers. The company was founded in 1978 by Wayne Baker and Dick Casull to pr ...
, which stopped selling these mini-revolvers in 1990 and then sold the design to North American Arms. In 1978,
Dick Casull Richard J. Casull () (February 15, 1931 – May 6, 2018) was an American gunsmith and wildcat cartridge developer whose experiments with .45 Colt ammunition in the 1950s led to the creation of the .454 Casull cartridge. Casull, whose passion was ...
became a partner of Wayne Baker in the Freedom, Wyoming-based
Freedom Arms Freedom Arms is a Freedom, Idaho and Wyoming, Freedom, Wyoming–based gun manufacturer , firearm manufacturing company, known for producing powerful single-action revolvers. The company was founded in 1978 by Wayne Baker and Dick Casull to pr ...
firearms manufacturing business to produce a 5-shot mini revolver in .22 LR known as "The Patriot", later offered in .22 Short and .22 WMR, also a mini
double action Double action (or double-action) refers to one of two systems in firearms where the trigger both cocks and releases the hammer. *Double-action only (DAO) firearms trigger: The trigger both cocks and releases the hammer. There is no single-action ...
revolver, the Casull CA-2000 Mini.
R.I.P. Dick Casull
'
A 4-shot mini revolver was also produced by Freedom Arms. The production of mini-revolvers by Freedom Arms ceased in 1990. Casull was granted U.S. Patent 4385463 in 1983 for a floating firing pin for mini revolvers and U.S. Patent 4450992 in 1984 for a belt buckle holster that would hold a mini revolver. The mini-revolver design was sold to North American Arms. The company manufactures revolvers in the following calibers: * .22 Short * .22 Long Rifle * .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire * .22
Black powder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, charcoal (which is mostly carbon), and potassium nitrate, potassium ni ...
cap and ball The cylinder must be removed from the frame to load or unload all NAA mini-revolvers, with the exception of two models, the "Sidewinder" (swing-out cylinder) and "Ranger II" (break-open cylinder). Image:NAA22S.jpg, North American Arms model NAA22S mini-revolver, chambered in .22 Short Image:Naamini22.jpg, NAA mini revolver in .22 LR. It can fold into its own grip for safe belt clip carry. File:22m.jpg, The .22 M- A .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire revolver equipped with "Boot Grips" Image:NAA22magBlack-Widow-Cylinder-Safety-Position.jpg, This picture illustrates the NAA .22 Magnum Black Widow revolver cylinder in the safety position. File:NAA22mag-BlackWidow.jpg, North American Arms Black Widow model NAA-BW-M chambered for .22 Magnum File:Naabt.jpg, The top break "Ranger" came from a limited tool room run.


Semi-automatics

In 1997 NAA branched out into semiautomatic concealed carry pistols known as the ''Guardian'' models to compete with Seecamp. Semi-automatic Guardian pistols are made by North American Arms in the following calibers: * .25 NAA * .32 ACP * .32 NAA * .380 ACP The .25 NAA cartridge was developed by North American Arms based upon a wildcat bottleneck cartridge using .32 ACP brass necked down to grip a .25 caliber bullet, with the goal of increasing penetration beyond what either a .25 ACP or .32 ACP could do. Likewise, the .32 NAA was developed by North American Arms to increase the penetration of a .32 caliber bullet relative to a .380 ACP cartridge.


References


External links


North American Arms
* Belt buckle-mini-revolver combination patent {{Provo, Utah .22 LR revolvers 1971 establishments in Utah Companies based in Provo, Utah Firearm manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Utah Derringers