NAA Guardian .380 Question?

[Mike Bono]

Hi Everyone,
I just recently picked up a new, (NIB), North American Arms Guardian .380 semiauto. It looks to be of pretty a good construction quality. I am going to the state game area on Saturday, 04/13/02. to "test" this new gun. I have heard horror stories about problems with Corbon +P 90s. I have two boxes of these that I will attempt to try after shooting 100 rds. of Winchester 90 FMJ white box, in an attempt to break in this gun.
I have had this gun for about a week now and have not had the time to shoot it. I have cleaned it with CLP Breakfree and also let it soak overnight per the instructions. Great stuff BTW! Do any of you have any opinions about what I am about to do?? I have a Walther P-99, 9mm that was my first gun and has been wonderful. I have put about 1000 rds. through it with no problems at all. But... Pocket guns, I have heard alot of problems with them. Design issues I guess are somewhat problematic to overcome?? Why???
Anyway, I will be going to shoot this little "pocket cannon" on Saturday and would welcome any of your opinions/cautionary statements ect.
(I know, why should I be asking such a thing of a new gun purchase? It does seem that quality control is a thing of the past. GET IT OUT OF THE DOOR ASAP!!! Is the norm these days...)
Mike

 

[ArmsAkimber]

My Guardian 380 absolutely loves to eat the Cor-Bon +P stuff! What horror stories have you heard?

If you're not opposed to shooting steel-cased ammo in your Guardian, give the Silver Bear 380auto ammo a try. It also works very well in my G380. I understand Silver Bear is made at several different ammo plants in Russia. Get stuff that is marked "LVE" on the box or headstamp. That's the stuff that worked flawlessly for me.

You will probably find the recoil to be a little...well...painful. I'm pretty recoil insensitive, and my hand was throbbing after the recommended 200 rounds break-in. My 6' 3" ex-Marine friend shot two magazines and called that enough. If you have a suitable glove, I'd suggest wearing it. The web between your thumb and trigger finger will take a beating. It's good to shoot a magazine or two through it for practice and to test function, but it's not a session gun. I doubt anyone would notice the discomfort in a necessary self-defense situation...well the shooter, anyway.

I have been very impressed with the Guardian 380. It's post break-in performance has been flawless. One of two caveats is that some rounds tend to keyhole. To my chagrin, Speer Gold Dot keyhole about half the time out of my gun. The Cor-Bons don't appear to keyhole. The other problem is the gun threw off it extractor somewhere within the break-in period. This appears to be a design flaw with the Guardian 380. However, even without the extractor, performance has been, as I've said, flawless. NAA has advised me that it is perfectly safe to shoot the gun sans extractor, and reliablity should not be affected. This has been my experience.

ArmsAkimber