familyman555
Member
In March I bought a new NAA Black Widow revolver. I have ended up sending it back to the factory three times now while trying to get them to fix problems with abnormal low velocity. Initially I was getting 70-70% of their expected published velocity. The factory gunsmith agreed that it warranted sending back for free warranty service.
When I got it back he said that he had changed out both cylinders (22LR and 22 Mag) but nothing had changed. Apparently they do not do velocity testing at the factory and so he really didn't know if was any better or not when sending it back to me. I am amazed that they don't do velocity testing. So a couple days later I sent it back for a second time.
This time they just sent me a new revolver. However, since they do not velocity test they must have just been hoping that it would work better and it didn't. With the same bullet weight, the 22 LR rounds were coming out faster than 22 Mag rounds. The 22 mag velocity varied from 600 to 734 FPS instead of coming out right around 1,000 FPS which is a 66% average of normal. Another ongoing annoyance is that the adjustable sight could not be adjusted far enough to get the shots on target at 14 yards. NAA does not sight in their guns. From some comments by people that have toured the factory, their entire test is a function test of firing into a snail bullet trap and they have no idea if the gun shoots accurately or at a normal velocity. So it went back to the factory the next day and I am waiting for it to be returned.
If I was just plinking with it by shooting 55 gallon barrels at close range I wouldn't care but I had thoughtfully selected the Black Widow with a 2" barrel because a 40 grain 22 Mag should have a 1,000 FPS velocity and that should give me the penetration I was interested in for aimed self defense. If I was not going to get the published velocity I would not have settled on the Black Widow revolver.
So I encourage you to velocity test your NAA Mini-Revolver, if you are using it for self defense, and are expecting a specific velocity based on NAA's published tests.
When I got it back he said that he had changed out both cylinders (22LR and 22 Mag) but nothing had changed. Apparently they do not do velocity testing at the factory and so he really didn't know if was any better or not when sending it back to me. I am amazed that they don't do velocity testing. So a couple days later I sent it back for a second time.
This time they just sent me a new revolver. However, since they do not velocity test they must have just been hoping that it would work better and it didn't. With the same bullet weight, the 22 LR rounds were coming out faster than 22 Mag rounds. The 22 mag velocity varied from 600 to 734 FPS instead of coming out right around 1,000 FPS which is a 66% average of normal. Another ongoing annoyance is that the adjustable sight could not be adjusted far enough to get the shots on target at 14 yards. NAA does not sight in their guns. From some comments by people that have toured the factory, their entire test is a function test of firing into a snail bullet trap and they have no idea if the gun shoots accurately or at a normal velocity. So it went back to the factory the next day and I am waiting for it to be returned.
If I was just plinking with it by shooting 55 gallon barrels at close range I wouldn't care but I had thoughtfully selected the Black Widow with a 2" barrel because a 40 grain 22 Mag should have a 1,000 FPS velocity and that should give me the penetration I was interested in for aimed self defense. If I was not going to get the published velocity I would not have settled on the Black Widow revolver.
So I encourage you to velocity test your NAA Mini-Revolver, if you are using it for self defense, and are expecting a specific velocity based on NAA's published tests.
