Adventures in .22 Magnum land with AMT, Winchester, Kel-Tec et c.

We've had a scant few of the new Kel-Tec PMR-30 .22 Magnum pistols in stock at the gun shop where I work, but they disappeared so quickly I hardly got a peek of one. It's supposed to be at long last that elusive unicorn of a semi-auto pistol, a .22 Magnum that won't jam.

I had a brief fling with an AMT AutoMag II .22WMR, the compact 4.5"-barrel version, and found out why they have a reputation as a Jam-A-Matic. That's it at the bottom of the next photo.

The other two handguns are also now departed from my fold, at left is a Steyr M357-A1 that also had a slight case of jam-itis. I have zero tolerance for pistols that are not 100% reliable. This is my life we're talking about here when it comes to carry handguns.

At right is my former S&W 1076 10mm, which I traded away for a much more carry-friendly Glock 29 10mm subcompact, which has been 100% reliable so far. The big Smith was just too ... big.

I also had a Winchester 94 lever-action .22 Magnum that I foolishly traded away years ago. It was a great shooter but alas, I was young and oh, so foolish.

Now Oleg Volk give us a peek of the Kel-Tec RMR-30, a carbine based on the PMR-30 pistol.

It's still under development, so be patient. This is going be even hotter than the PMR-30 or the RFB-18 .308 semi-auto rifle. Speaking of the latter, we've finally been able to get a few of those and keep it in stock at the gun shop. Oops, spoke too soon, out of stock again.

And I've already picked out my next carry pistol after my long-awaited Sig P239 .357 Sig compact arrives from Exeter, Mass., where it's been on special order for about a month.

It will be a .22 Magnum single-action mini-revolver from North American Arms they call the Black Widow.

Mark Walters at Guns & Patriots recently rated a NAA .22 Magnum mini at the top of his list of Top 10 Carry Pistols. And I've decided he's right.

I had a 4"-barrel NAA model called The Earl on layaway at the shop briefly before I had second thoughts. It's a neat pistol, but just a shade too long of snout for easy pocket carry.

So I took another look at the NAA models and chose the Black Widow. This will have to be a special order also as we currently have no Black Widow models in stock at the gun shop.

I want the conversion model with adjustable sights which comes with two cylinders, .22LR and .22WMR.

We've got several NAA mini-revolvers in stock at the shop but they all have either 1" barrels or 4" barrels.

As Goldlilocks said, the 2" barrel on the Black Widow is "just right," not too short, not too long. It fits in the pocket of any garment I might ever wear. Please don't even try to imagine my large posterior wearing a speedo. It would not be a pretty sight. Shudder!