My first range report: The Earl

[vt800c]

Last night I got to take my North American Arms 'The Earl' out for the first time. For those who are not aware, The Earl (http://www.northamericanarms.com/EARL.html) is a 5-round stainless-steel revolver. It has a barrel length of 4", is 7 3/4" long overall and weighs 8.6 oz. empty. Mine is an NAA-1860-C, which has 2 cylinders (like my motorcycle...) and takes both .22LR and .22 Mag. Before I went out to the range I contacted the NAA blogs to see if it HAD to use LRs or if I could use .22 shorts. I was assured there'd be no problem running .22 short through the .22LR cylinder. More about that later.

I arrived at the range after a day at work and a nice home-cooked dinner. (Grilled ocean perch with baked sweet potatoes and a salad, but that's not important.) For targets, I used copies of a free 'printable' target (http://www.reloadbench.com/pdf/files/LargeTarget.pdf) mainly because that was what I had laying around. After checking into the indoor range (http://www.sharpshootersva.com/) I put the targets out at 5.5 yards and got ready to shoot. I took out the .22 magnum cylinder and took a few moments to look at the workmanship of the stainless steel. The edges were clean and crisp. I consider the quality and cleanliness of the machining and finish as a work of art, and a pleasure to look at. The distinctive octagonal barrel, the bead front sight and the pin retaining lever gives this handgun a style and appearance that will have people turning heads. After all, that’s what appealed to me the first time I saw this little puppy. I was now about to hear this puppy speak!

Because I was unsure about the kick and the feel of this gun, especially with the small boot grips, I loaded the .22LR cylinder with 5 .22 shorts, and loaded up the magnum cylinder at the same time. Slipping the cylinder into the frame and securing the pin I pulled the hammer back and took a bead on the black part of the target. (With my eyesight, I consider that pretty good...) take a breath, let half of it out and slowly squeeze......

POP! (WHAT??? did it FIRE?)

The gun gave a slight kick, with a mild report. It reminded me of when I was a kid, and playing cowboys and Indians with a cap-gun. Four more shots, and this cylinder was done. I liked the feel of the gun in my hand, but I knew that there was more to come. Swapping out the cylinders, it was time to 'man up' and try the .22 magnums.

Squeezing the trigger this time was quite a bit different! The report is noticeably louder, and the kick was...well it was about like I expected. This also reminded me of when I was a kid, but this time it was more like trying to keep a frog from jumping out of my hands! The shots rang out straight and true, and after four more times playing 'hold the frog', this cylinder was also spent.

Now that I knew the feel of the 'long' and the 'short' of it, I dropped the cylinders and loaded the .22LR one with some Blazer .22LR ammo. Firing was nice and crisp, and I can safely tell you that is now one paper target that is no longer a threat to the free world.

Over the course of the evening I did about 25 rounds of short (because it's so dang CUTE), 15 rounds of magnum, and about 50 rounds of LR. I was alternating with a Jiminez JA-22 to keep my hand limber. All the shots out of The Earl stayed on the paper, and as I was just first starting out, that was good enough for me. The longer I shot, the more I got accustomed to the feel and kick of my The Earl, and accuracy improved. I was starting to hit inside the 9-ring pretty consistently. (Remember, with my eyesight, I'm happy I can see the black!)

Roses and Thorns

The good points of The Earl: Style! For me, this is not really going to be a 'concealed carry' with the length over 7". But with the under-barrel lever to physically retain the cylinder pin, and the octagonal barrel, I like the way it's engineered. The 4" barrel makes it very accurate for a small gun. The dual cylinder gives me a nice variety to be able to go shoot whatever I have laying around, and not break the bank. The sights are pretty good and very visible against the white background. The quality of the machining, and the look of the stainless steel makes this a joy to own. I think I'll be having this one for a LONG time, before my son inherits it.

To be honest, the kick like holding a frog worries me. I'd like a bit larger set of boot grips, but then they may look out of proportion. It's a tough call on if I want to try finding another set or keep the stock ones. Also, the recommended way to get a stuck casing out of a cylinder is to use the center pin and just push it out. I know the soft brass is no match for the metal of the pin, but it still worries me to have to use it for this function. I think I'll be making a 'casing ramrod' out of some nice stained wooden dowel and brass strips. (Or gold paint, I'm basically cheap!) I don't think that would be too much 'out of style' with this firearm. Lastly, I'm not sure where it's coming from, but after firing I had a blackened spot on my trigger finger (right at the knuckle) about the size of a quarter. Talking with the range safety officer, he said that it's not unreasonable to get that much deposit from having your trigger finger that close to the end of the cylinder. I was wondering if it might have been blowing past the casing and around the frame. It's not a burn, and it washed right off, but I won't be shooting this one while wearing a nice white dress shirt.

Overall, the jury is still out on shooting my The Earl. It's fun, it has style, but it takes time to reload. I think this will be with me every time I go to the range, but some days it might just stay in the case. I'll let you know!

If you see me shooting at the range sometime and want to try it, I'll be happy to let you give it a shot. Just remember, it'll jump like a horney-toad in the springtime.

[SgtBill]

Good report, thank's
Bill

[zephyp]

(Grilled ocean perch with baked sweet potatoes and a salad, but that's not important.)

What?!?! That sounds almost as good as your pistol...hard to stay on target when your stomach is growling...