- Location
- British Canuckistan
I forgot about the Mini-Master and the Earl and I'm curious to know if anyone here's shot them and what they think?
who's shot North American Arms - what are they like?
- Thread starter Mr. Friendly
- Start date
I bought a mini-master back when Kodiak brought the first batch into Canada. It was a total novelty gun but I really, really liked shooting it. The ability to switch between .22LR and .22WMR made it even more fun. Loading the gun and clearing the empty brass was a bit of a minor pain in the ass, but even that was not really that bad. I sold it with the intention of buying an Earl but then got distracted by other projects.
I see that Wanstalls has some in again. I may have to revisit the Earl.... a whole lotta fun in a small package.
I see that Wanstalls has some in again. I may have to revisit the Earl.... a whole lotta fun in a small package.
- Location
- On a resonably direct route in NS
Hmmm… lemme drag up my report from nearly two years ago when I bought my Earl.
My opinion hasn't changed; it's still a hoot-and-a-half to shoot, and even un-boxing on the line gets you attention. Love the look. Work hard at it and it can be semi-accurate, close targets only as the spur trigger and grip will really magnify movement and spread groups out at ISSF distances.
Can certainly plink steel spinners at 50m, but you won't hit with every shot.
My opinion hasn't changed; it's still a hoot-and-a-half to shoot, and even un-boxing on the line gets you attention. Love the look. Work hard at it and it can be semi-accurate, close targets only as the spur trigger and grip will really magnify movement and spread groups out at ISSF distances.
Can certainly plink steel spinners at 50m, but you won't hit with every shot.
- Location
- British Canuckistan
what's a long time to load/unload? 30 seconds? 1 minute?
I have a Black Widow. Took a long time to figure out how to hold it but once I did I could consistently shoot inside a 4-inch circle at 7 yards.
With a 1 1/8 inch barrel this is, at most, a 7 yard gun.
With practice you can reload in about 15 to 20 seconds.
You have to remove the cylinder to load or unload. To remove the cylinder, you just need to pull the cylinder pin out the front, take the cylinder out and stuff rounds into it, then replace the cylinder and pin. I suppose a minute or so to load... Same for unloading except you use the pin to manually push the spent brass out of the cylinder one at a time. adds an extra 20 seconds maybe; at most. Not really bad, just not as quick as most revolvers.
Although that said, single action revolvers of any type can be painfully slow to load and reload. I'd say the NAA guns are still quicker to load/unload than your average single action revolver
with a single loading gate.
Although that said, single action revolvers of any type can be painfully slow to load and reload. I'd say the NAA guns are still quicker to load/unload than your average single action revolver
with a single loading gate.
I bought The Earl because I already had a pair of 1858 Remington style Ubertis and the Earl just looked too cute and matching to let it slide.
The big issue is holding the guns with the small grips. I ended up holding it with my strong hand thumb and middle finger as best I could then reaching up from below in the old "teacup" hold to squeeze some extra pressure in from the sides with my support hand. This works out pretty well.
I use the hard part of the last joint on my trigger finger to pull the trigger. Otherwise the pad or fatty areas between the joints are just too soft. It's a little spine of a trigger and takes a good 12 lbs or so to pull to get the hammer break.
But once I do all that it's actually surprising how accurate it can be. At a club's bullseye envening I had so problem getting 6 inch groups at 20 yards most of the time. The odd flier pulled the group size out to 8 or 9 inches now and then. So the guns CAN shoot if we can manage to hold them and pull the trigger in a stable and consistent manner.
The fun factor is a personal thing. There's no doubt about that. For me it's way up there and I find I'm grinning like a kid the whole time I'm shooting it or letting someone try it. But I'm sure that since it really is a bit of a novelty that not everyone will find that it's their cup o' tea.
This picture should give you a pretty good idea of why I had to have it once I found out that they were coming into the country. Mine is one of the first batch brought in originally by Kokiak Arms when they were operating. It doesn't go to the range regularly but so far since I got it I'm guessing that I've put 300 to 400 rounds a year through it.
The big issue is holding the guns with the small grips. I ended up holding it with my strong hand thumb and middle finger as best I could then reaching up from below in the old "teacup" hold to squeeze some extra pressure in from the sides with my support hand. This works out pretty well.
I use the hard part of the last joint on my trigger finger to pull the trigger. Otherwise the pad or fatty areas between the joints are just too soft. It's a little spine of a trigger and takes a good 12 lbs or so to pull to get the hammer break.
But once I do all that it's actually surprising how accurate it can be. At a club's bullseye envening I had so problem getting 6 inch groups at 20 yards most of the time. The odd flier pulled the group size out to 8 or 9 inches now and then. So the guns CAN shoot if we can manage to hold them and pull the trigger in a stable and consistent manner.
The fun factor is a personal thing. There's no doubt about that. For me it's way up there and I find I'm grinning like a kid the whole time I'm shooting it or letting someone try it. But I'm sure that since it really is a bit of a novelty that not everyone will find that it's their cup o' tea.
This picture should give you a pretty good idea of why I had to have it once I found out that they were coming into the country. Mine is one of the first batch brought in originally by Kokiak Arms when they were operating. It doesn't go to the range regularly but so far since I got it I'm guessing that I've put 300 to 400 rounds a year through it.
Some day soon the plan is to make up a little wood spindle with 5 slightly differing lengths of 1/8" brass rod to eject all 5 cases in one go. The slightly differing lengths are to deal with the times that the fouling slightly sticks the cases. By only bumping one loose at a time the stickiness won't cause a problem like it might if they were all the same length.
Having that should speed up the unloading by not having to eject them one at a time with the base pin.
Having that should speed up the unloading by not having to eject them one at a time with the base pin.
- Location
- On a resonably direct route in NS
Working two cylinders (Magnum and regular), reloads are quick as just trading the cylinder. Bring your kid to the range and put them to work while you have all the fun.
