Little guns, big trouble

[PennsyPlinker]

This is partly humorous, but part very serious. Yesterday, as a last minute reward for getting my our chores done, Mrs. Plinker and I got together with a couple of our friends. He had called me and asked me if I knew anything about XD handguns, to which I replied that I had one. Mrs. Plinker was feeling sorry for me that I had had to turn down another shooting invitation, so late afternoon, when all the stuff on her list was done, we met them at the range so he could try out the XD. The XD is not a little gun, but that is not the focus of this post. I'm just setting up the story.

My friend has a couple of NAA single action revolvers, and he brought them along. I have looked at them in the store, seen pictures, but have never had opportunity to actually shoot one. He told me I was welcome to run some rounds through them. This is where the trouble began. Those of you who have met me personally know I am slightly larger than your normal person. My hands are huge. Holding this wee little .22 was harder than I thought. If I wrapped my middle finger around the grip firmly enough to hold the gun securely, I could not bend my trigger finger far enough to pull the trigger. I end up having to "pinch" the grip between my middle finger and my thumb, sort of like a delicate little tea cup at a tea party. That allowed me to reach the trigger with my trigger finger. It was not a firm grip though. I was also cognizant of the fact that my trigger finger would be very close to being "flame cut" by the escaping gasses of a fired round.

I managed to squeeze off all five rounds in the cylinder, although I had to take considerable time to reposition the gun each time. The recoil caused the whole gun to rotate around in my grip, until it was pointed straight up in the air. It stopped when the hammer came to rest against my thumb. At five yards, I was able to keep my shots on paper, and even on center of mass. My best hope would have been for the bad guy to die laughing though. People standing off to the side and slightly behind me could not actually see the gun as it fired. It sort of looked like the smoke and flash were coming out of the end of my fist. Below is a lousy cell phone picture of the gun in my hand.



It is well made, and nicely done, but way too small for anything I could ever do with it except admire it sitting on a shelf somewhere. This was the funny part. The serious part was much more so, and a warning to anyone who shoots anything.

The second revolver I shot was an NAA Earl, a somewhat larger .22 magnum, built to resemble old timey 19th century revolvers. I had a much better chance of holding this one, but I did not really get the opportunity to try it. We loaded up a cylinder, and I stepped to the line. I got a good grip on the thing, and squeezed off the first shot. It went bang, but it just didn't sound right. There was a hissing noise, and lots of smoke wafted slowly out of the gap between the cylinder and the barrel. Instead of pulling the trigger a second time, we decided to take a look. It was a squib, and the bullet had lodged in the barrel. Firing a second round would have been disastrous. But that was the end of that. I write this to remind everyone that this can happen anytime, with any gun. We were using factory loads (I don't think there is any other option with .22 mag), the gun was properly maintained, and had been fired recently. From all indications, it looks like the round just didn't have the powder needed, or something had contaminated it somehow. Paying attention to the normal sounds and feel of a gun, even if it is one you have never shot before, can mean the difference between a disappointment at the range, and a few hours in the emergency room while they pick pieces of gun out of your hand and possibly head.

He loved my XD. I think he may even buy one. But as for those minis, I will leave them for someone else.

[PisnNapalm]

Thanks for the chuckles. You holding that itty bitty revolver is amusing. Good call on checking the second for a squibbed round.

Keep shooting

PN

[FNG19]

I'm suddenly reminded of... The Noisy Cricket:

[Lucas]

My hands are a LOT smaller than yours and I had trouble gripping the NAA that I owned. That thing looks downright puny in your mitts!

[LisaA]

Nice story, PennsyPlinker! I have a NAA, and I really like it. As you point out, it is well-made. The squib story reminds me of my friend who shot one, two, three squibs in a row. Fortunately, the S&W did not blow up, but he should have been more attentive to the shots' sounds, particularly the first one!

[father-of-five]

A giant walks among us!

[ungawa]

Now I know why you snubbed me and Jeff!

j/k

LOL, glad that you were able to turn lemons into lemonade with a little application of accomplishment and guilt

[LowFlyer]

My hands are huge.

So where's your other hand? Couldn't you have reached up, wrapped your hand around your other and used your 'left trigger' finger???

Now THAT would have looked even funnier!

[Hawk]

Holster grips are available for those. Especially for those of us with large hands.

From NAA:
The .22 Long Rifle Mini-Revolver can be ordered with a Holster Grip. The Holster Grip is made of High Impact plastic and has a belt clip on the back side. The grip locks open, like a lock blade knife, and can be closed by pressing a button.

hg1.jpg

[dk99358]

Having met Pennsy, all I can say is chuckle, chuckle, chuckle.

Dale