North American Arms of Utah makes great little guns. “Little” being the operative word. One of their newer models — “The Earl“– is about as big as their little guns get. It’s a .22 Magnum (or .22 WMR/.22 LR convertible) oxymoron looking for a use case . . .
With its 4″ octagonal barrel — though NAA also makes it in 3″ and even 6″ “Hogleg” flavors — the Earl’s too big to be a pocket gun. Bereft of a trigger guard, complete with a hammer that’s just begging to snag, The Earl’s not ideal for concealed carry in a holster, either. Purse gun? There are better options.
If I had to find a real world use for this diminutive revolver I reckon it would make a good snake gun. I can see myself putting the Earl in a cross draw holster, loading it up with rat shot and sending a serpent straight back to hell.
Setting aside the issue of “what’s this thing for, exactly,” The Earl’s a beautifully made object d’art. The gun’s fit and finish are as good as you’d expect for ballistic bauble that cost just under three bills. Its minimal tooling marks are only visible when the cylinder’s removed.
Checkering? We don’t need no stinkin’ checkering! The Earl’s rosewood grips are as smooth as Sade.
Even so, the handle affords a comfortable, secure grip — a surprising but welcome ergonomic delight.
Disassembly is easy. Pull the locking tab (not tabby) to the rear.
Swing the contrasting colored arm, designed to look like a cap and ball loading lever, down.
Pull the pin out, half-cock the hammer, and slide out the five-round cylinder. And that’s how you load the Earl.
It’s a little fiddly and takes time, making The Earl just about the last firearm you want to bring to an extended gunfight. Still, the process eats up time range time, making your ammo last longer. So there is that.
The Earl’s front sight is a simple fixed post.
The rear sight is a notch machined into the receiver.
Taken together, the Earl’s sight picture is more than merely adequate for plinking and snake duty. The skinny front blade is easier to align in the rear notch than the standard Mini Revolver‘s thicker front ramp sight.
The Earl’s single action only trigger features a short pull with no take up, and breaks fairly cleanly at about six pounds.
Due to the revolver’s sight radius, quality construction and excellent trigger, The Earl is an accurate gun. I shot the target above at 10 yards, standing, in boots, indoors.
While The Earl flunked the make-a-smiley-face accuracy test — the left eye is a little low and the nose is a little high — this firearm is close-quarters combat can-do.
I swear I could have shot out the smile, but I ran out of ammo. Before I did, I put several hundred rounds of mixed brand .22 WMR through The Earl without any reliability issues.
The North American Arms Earl reminds me of a painting I bought at an estate sale. It didn’t cost much, it looks great, and I like to show it off. And unlike the painting, no one had to die for me to get it.
The North American Arms Earl has soul. Sure it’s too big to be a “ha-ha! you thought I was unarmed!” derringer, but that’s OK. It just wants to make noise and shoot stuff and make you think wow! I can make noise and hit stuff with this little gun. For under three bills, shooting relatively inexpensive .22 ammo, The Earl’s a firearms oddity you can afford — if you like to smile.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Caliber: .22 Magnum
Capacity: 5 rounds
Length: 7.75″
Height: 3.13″
Width: 0.94″
Weight: 8.9 oz.
Barrel Length: 4″
Sights: Stainless Post Sight
Action: Single Action
Grips: Rosewood Boot Grip
MSRP: $298 as tested (.22 WMR only), $332 with .22 LR conversion cylinder
Ratings (out of five stars):
Style and Finish * * * * 1/2
The Earl looks great and its finish is flawless. I took a half star off because of very small tooling marks inside the frame that are only visible when the cylinder is removed.
Customization * *
The North American Arms Custom Shop has custom finishes. As far as off-the-shelf customization, you’re basically limited to changing the grips.
Reliability * * * * *
It functions perfectly.
Accuracy * * * *
The Earl is more than accurate enough for a .22 magnum revolver plinker.
Overall * * * * 1/2
So much fun!
It looks as if there may be a gun case sticking up in the back seat.
I’ll take six.
There’s a place for a reinvigorated Remington (and Marlin even moreso) in the market. I’ll call it the “American Middle”- firearms designed for the US (and in many cases, Canadian) shooter’s needs, neither cheap nor expensive. Things like the 870 or the Marlin lever guns are not suited for the low end of the market- they just cost too much to build properly to sell at those prices. There’s a fairly under-served area of the market that Remington used to sell to in the 1960s and 70s- people looking for something nicer than the cheapest, but not looking for high-end. No, it’s not as profitable as controlling the low-end, but good luck doing that.
The best example I can give is the Marlin lever actions. There’s a place in the market for a slim, light, easy to carry, manually repeating firearm in a useful cartridge. The handiness of a lever action is hard to over-state- and in many ways is the key asset of the design. The Marlin 336 design is a solid one- easy to maintain, rugged, and with a loading gate (for those who prefer one). The ones made years ago were just fine. Get back to that standard, raise the price a little to accommodate the increased manufacturing costs, and it should do well.
Found a gun I’d forgotten about? No, but I’ve had to hunt down ones I’ve forgotten the location of…
Also, don’t touch your case… likely sound legal advice but what does the airline do with the unclaimed item(s) in a state like NY or NJ?
“what does the airline do with the unclaimed item(s) in a state like NY or NJ?” Who cares, it’s the airline’s problem.
Need #1: reciprocity. No more excuses. We need it and must demand it and fire anyone who disagrees.
Need #2: decriminalize “forgetting ” you have a gun. It’s bone-headed, yes, but there is little practical need to ruin someone’s life over what should be a trivial oversight. No one got hurt. There was no ill intent. Just tell the bonehead to either lose their place in line to deal with their gun or offer them a rented lockable case (for a not too cheap price) so they can keep their place in line.
Problem solved.
????
No turn signal.
That is 3,957 gun owners who need to stop owning guns. I can understand an errant round or two or magazine, but if you can’t be responsible enough to make FN sure you’re not taking a gun through the way too long line I have to stand in behind you then FU. Take some responsibility folks and man up.
If you are in Austin wouldn’t the sign pointing for Waco be showing South and not North?
The Bears haven’t won a game for along time… Oh the other bears,,. You go to the salmon lake, get in your bear blind, blow on your salmon call, and spear the shit out of them bears
I think you all missed the real point:
He was an American, hunting in Canada, and he outclassed and shamed and entire nation of liberal hunters.
Short answer, no.
A previous analogy was to the automotive industry. I think that’s accurate. Now, does the firearms industry need to produce safe guns? Of course! All firearms should be reliable, able to take a super hot load, and be drop safe. Good engineering should also be taken into account, so nothing overly risky must be done as part of routine maintenance.
Accidents will happen, guns get dropped or ammo goes wrong, just like a car will be crashed or maintenance put off for too long.
The difference, is that a car relies on other people as well, and plans for their incompetence. A gun manufacturer reasons that most gun owners are responsible and follow strict rules. Also, one person’s incompetence generally won’t affect another person in the way cars can. You can’t really crash a gun. Unless it’s a smart gun, but those are different altogether.
Basically, you have much more control over a gun, just by nature.
What’s “palm steel”? “Sake”? “…two large metal buttons not on the side of the butt stock…” where then?
“IT’S A TRAP!”
Wow, sponsored article, basically an advertisement in an article format… is this how the printed rags became what they became? I don’t know if my opinion matters, but this type of article is a letdown… and I own 3 original ppq’s and one in 45. I’m not hating on the brand, but people come here for the comments and articles, disguising ads as such is a turn off.
I’m a hickock 45 fan myself. However if you hear consistency all the reviews i pretty zure it can be trusted.
I trust some of TTAG.
I trust NUTNFANCY mostly…but hate to watch his videos.
Folks mention Hickock45. I like his videos. Dont know what folks would have issues with….you watch him him shoot the damned guns.
I like Gunblast for new product releases bit dont expect any information on problems you might have. Plus Jeff is not really putting out as many articles as he used to. Guess he has made his bones.
I like Mr Guns and Gear and Sootch. I really like pocket guns and gear. Consistent
But as when there were only paper magazines, everyone has a particular perspective when evaluating guns.
I like the guy over at Lucky Gunner but i know he is going to have a different perspective than I do since I have shoes older than he is. His reviews are thorough so it is no big deal.
Any who writes with too much authority ( you’re a dumbass if you don’t do it like I do), gets written off immediately.
Most of the TTAG reviews are good but you can tell what kind of weaponry they prefer by the tone of the article. Just gotta consider the source, same as ever.
You pay your money and make your choices….
Im really partial to RealGuns.com. I don’t subscribe any more but the articles appear for free eventually. He’s an Old Fart like me, so I can relate better than to the young jocks.
John Davies
Spokane WA
[sigh] Here we go…
“The question isn’t which sighting system — red dot of iron sights — is better in highly skilled hands. It’s which sighting system is more effective for most shooters during a DGU”
Well then the answer here would be NONE OF THEM.
Training and practice are the things that will get to the place you need to be when the SHTF. Iron sights, laser sights, or red dots…none of those are the weakest links when it comes to “most shooters”
May not be as concealable as a derringer, but has 5 shots opposed to two. And a hollow point .22 magnum will get your attention.
Hell, it’s just an affordable and fun little revolver. What’s not to like about it?