North American Arms
File:North-American-Arms-Logo.png | |
Pocket Pistols and revolvers | |
Industry | Firearms |
Fate | Active |
Predecessor | Rocky Mountain Arms |
Founded | 1972 |
Headquarters | Provo, Utah, United States |
Products | Pocket pistols |
Owner | Sandy Chisholm |
Website | North American Arms |
North American Arms is a United States company, headquartered in Provo, Utah, that manufactures pocket pistols and mini-revolvers.[1] 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 Arms.[2]
Mini-revolvers
The mini-revolvers produced by the company are five-shot, single action revolvers, which have a spur trigger 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.[1] The design of the mini-revolvers was developed by Freedom Arms, which stopped selling these mini-revolvers in 1990 and then sold the design to North American Arms. Since then, North American Arms has further evolved the design, switching to a safety cylinder design, featuring notches machined halfway between the chambers. As a result, the revolver may be safely carried with all five chambers loaded by resting the hammer in a safety notch. Older NAA mini-revolvers can be retrofitted with this safety cylinder design upgrade at no cost to the owner simply by returning an older design NAA mini-revolver to North American Arms for an upgrade.
The company manufactures revolvers in the following calibers:
The cylinder must be removed from the frame to load and unload, with the exception of the .22 Magnum "Sidewinder" models; these revolvers have a swing-out cylinder.
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Naabt.jpg
The top break "Ranger" came from a limited tool room run.
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22m.jpg
The .22 M- A .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire revolver equipped with "Boot Grips"
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Naamini22.jpg
NAA mini revolver in .22 LR. It can fold into its own grip for safe belt clip carry.
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NAA22magBlack-Widow-Cylinder-Safety-Position.jpg
This picture illustrates the NAA 22 magnum Black Widow revolver cylinder in the safety position.
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NAA22mag-BlackWidow.jpg
North American Arms Black Widow model NAA-BW-M chambered for 22 magnum
Semi-automatics
In 1997 NAA branched out into semiautomatic concealed carry pistols known as the Guardian models to compete with Seecamp.[4] Semi-automatic Guardian pistols are made by North American Arms in the following calibers:
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.[5] 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.[6]
References
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External links
U.S. Patent 4,450,992 Belt buckle-mini-revolver combination patent