Concealed Carry Handguns – August 2019

I choose are big factors. That gear al-
ways includes basic survival items. The
ability to defend your life, take small
game for food and signal rescuers all
become easier with a firearm.

So, even if I’m carrying another
gun, I include a NAA revolver in my
kit. They’re light and compact, and
so is a box of .22 Magnum ammo
compared to the larger calibers. While
the short-barreled NAA models excel
at being ultra-concealable, the ones
with longer barrels extend my realistic
chances of putting game in the cook
pot. Simply, the models with longer
barrels are easier to place hits on
smaller targets.

RANGER II
The Ranger II is a top-break design.
It’s the easiest of the NAA revolvers
to load and unload. With the hammer
locked back one click, you pull back
on the latch on the top strap and the
barrel and cylinder pivot on a hinge
at the bottom front of the frame. A
star extractor pops up to extract the
cartridge cases in the five chambers.

The Ranger II sports all stainless-steel

construction with an attractive set of

rosewood grips. The latch on the top

strap includes a notch that serves as

your rear sight. A simple bead serves

as the front sight.

The 2.5-inch barrel—nearly an inch

longer than the barrel on the original

Ranger II—provides a significant in-

crease in bullet velocity. For instance,

the CCI A22 35-grain load achieved

1,162 feet per second in this gun com-

pared to 975 fps in the shorter gun.

The Hornady 30-grain V-Max clocked

1,252 fps compared to 1,146 with the

shorter Ranger II.

BLACK WIDOW

The Black Widow features a heavy,

ventilated ribbed barrel, unfluted

cylinder and oversized rubber grips that

allow for a much better hold on the

gun. Perhaps the best feature is the set

of Marble Arms three-dot sights that

make it much easier to shoot the Black

Widow well. The sights are dovetailed

and held in place with set screws.

They’re adjustable for windage.

The Black Widow is

easy to take down

for loading, extract-

ing the empties or

for cleaning.

THE SPECS

Model: Black Window

Type: Single-action revolver

Caliber: .22 WMR (.22 Magnum)

Capacity: 5

Barrel Length: 2 inches

Overall Length: 5.88 inches

Weight: 8.9 ounces

Construction: Stainless steel with black

PVD finish

Sights: Marble Arms, 3-white-dot

Grips: Oversized rubber grip with black

widow logo

MSRP: $318

Loading and unloading the Black Wid-

ow is a bit more involved. You must

remove the cylinder pin and cylinder

to load the gun. When unloading, you

can use the cylinder pin to punch out

stubborn spent casings that might be

sticking in the chambers. That can be

an issue with any gun in .22 Magnum.

FALL 2019 • CONCEALED CARRY HANDGUNS 51