NAA Guardian Woes

M

marca

New member
I just bought a North American Arms Guardian .380. I had a chance to run about 50 rounds through it and am having a few problems. :mad:

1. First of all, the gun feels like it's going to rip my hand off. That's something I suppose I can correct by finding the right way to grip it so the does not trigger guard smash up against the knuckle of my trigger finger (youch!). Suggestions?

2. I had an average of 2 misfires per clip of 6 rounds. That is, I pulled the trigger and instead of hearing "bang" I heard "click". Of course pulling the trigger a second time fired the round. This makes me a bit nervous. Is this typical?

3. Last, I had what I'd consider an unusually high number of half-ejected shells - at LEAST 1 jam per clip.

Any and all feedback and advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
Even NAA says that it should take 200 or more rounds to break-in the gun. If you shoot it and don't like the way it feels in your hand, you might just have to give it up for a bigger gun you can be more confident in. Unfortunately, the NAA Guardian 380 is in a class by itself. Until Kel-Tec or Seecamp comes out with one, you are pretty much stuck. Buy a Khar 9mm if you want a tiny gun with a bigger punch than 32.

Now, back to your gun. Any gun THAT size that you can only get one or two fingers on with such a short barrel is going to KICK. It's the nature of the beast. There is very little that can be done short of porting and a rubber grip sleeve to lessen that kick. As for the reliability. NAA states that 90% of their guns are 100% reliable out of the box. Further, 9% will be 100% reliable after 200 or so rounds of break-in. 1% will have to be sent back to the factory where they will troubleshoot, thoroughly test-fire, and send the gun back.

My advice is to put another 150 rounds through the gun (maybe with the help of guinea-friends) and see if the problem works itself out. If not, call NAA and they will make it right.
 
You have my sympathy. I know how frustrating it can be; I have the .32 ACP version. All I can suggest is for you to (if you haven't already) go to the NAA website and enter the bulletin board and you'll find dozens and dozens of complaints just like yours with the .380 and the .32; most of the problems with the .32 have been resolved. Keep in mind that if you call the NAA president, Sandy Chisholm (?), he will reimburse all of your shipping costs.

1) visit their BB
2) call Sandy

I think their website is www.naaminis.com

Hope this helps.
 
My strongest suggestion, Buy a good pair of shooting gloves. If you can't find a good pair of gloves you can substitute by using some weight lifting fingerless type gloves. I'm a cheapo so I use my workout gloves. $8.00 at Wally World (Wal-Mart).

#2. You didn't state what brand of ammo you were using. Try switching to a different brand of ammo. I generally use cheapo USA or UMC harball for all my auto pistol break in duty. After you have surpassed their recommended break in period, give it a thorough cleaning and use the good stuff.

If at all possible, try shooting somewhere not so formal. I try to do that when shooting a particularily painful weapon. Set out various items for targets such as tin cans and fruit and have some fun shooting. It will help to take your mind off of recoil and may prevent you from developing a nasty flinch. Ohh..enlisting your buds helps also. Just make sure you clean up your area..I know, not necessary to say, but no one likes a litterbug!

Till then don't rely on it for anything serious.

Good Shooting
RED
 
if you have serial # 1500 (something like that) and under,you have magazines that have since been re-designed,NAA will send you the new versions n/c upon receiving the old ones-also there is a hammer spring update (stronger?) for the early .380's..naaminis.com wil be a big help with any questions you may have...anybody need any of the newer mags for the .380? i have some extra for sale :)
 
Hi Marca:

NAA has upgraded two springs in its 380 Guardian. Also, the gun has no extractor and is designed to stovepipe the last round.

I have one of the original "beta" guns...SN 51. So far it has performed flawlessly.

As to recoil, it is far far less than my Seecamp. So welcome to the world of pocket guns.
 
That's the Ejector that it lacks. It uses the next round in the magazine to eject. This system works just fine to FLING THE DARN BRASS RIGHT AT MY FOREHEAD!

I pray for the last round so I won't get whacked. This is only when I'm firing in traditional fashion. Most of the time, I'd jab and pull the trigger. Sights are amusing on this gun!
 
This system works just fine to FLING THE DARN BRASS RIGHT AT MY FOREHEAD!
Click to expand...

No worries mate! Just keep using the same type of brass so you can have a cool little headstamp on yer forehead!:D

Good Shooting
RED
 
I could be wrong but I think it has an extractor but has no ejector; the next fresh round (if there is one) in the magazine causes the just fired case to eject. Am I wrong? Please explain.

My NAA Guardian .32 ACP has an extractor.
 
Catbird, I agree with you. The guardian has an extractor and no ejector. While the Beretta tip-up barrel pistols are the other way around, with no extractor and an ejector.

Marca, try some different brands of ammo before you throw the gun in the river.
 
If you are using Sellier&Bellot ammo, stop. Try Federal or Winchester. S&B has the reputation of having hard primers. NAA has a message board loaded with people who have problems with S&B. Run 200 or 300 round through it and if you continue to have problems, send it back to the factory. They're good for it. Also, I hear these guns stovepipe the last round. This is considered normal for these guns, since, as mentioned, the design uses the next round in the mag to eject the fired case. I have a new Guardian .380 that (hopefully) I will be trying out today.
 
Thanks

Thanks to everyone for your advice and feedback. I did email the president of NAA and he said it sounds like the gun needs some attention at the factory. Very impressive, not only did I get a response to my email inquiries within a day, I received them over the weekend. Good response to customers.:)
 
Sold it

I had a NAA .380 last year (for about 3 months) and experienced much the same problems as you. I wanted this pistol for CCW so I needed reliability and didn't want to sacrifice the factory-wait time, so I sold it. I let several buddies shoot it and they could hardly hold onto it. I'll bet we put over 200 rounds through it and it still didn't seem "broken in".

Maybe you're more patient than I was.
Gillman
 
I have a NAA 380 and love it. Mine was also one of the early ones- serial number in the 60s. NAA fixed a couple of teething problems with it. Slightly redesigned magazines made the biggest difference. The main spring was also stiffened for hard primers. Don't use CCI Blazer ammo. It has hard primers. Mine works with it now with the stiffer spring, but it did not at first. As far as recoil goes, I don't find it to be a problem. Lots of small revolvers in 38 +p and 357 mag are worse. The Guardian has an extractor, but no ejector. An interesting observation, the extractor pin on mine broke and the extractor fell out on the ground. The gun still worked perfectly without it, but you couldn't pull a live round from the chamber without it. I have fired over a thousand rounds through mine. I hope you get things worked out. In my experience the people at NAA have been great to work with. Watch-Six
 
I got a .380 Guardian about 2 months ago and like it a lot. I'm not having the biting problems some have with it. However, a friend and fellow TFLer fired a mag full at a recent range session and it bit him pretty bad. He is very experienced with all manner of pistols but he is also left handed so that may be a consideration. Several others tried it and liked it, one said he wanted to get one right away.

For the first box of ammo (American Eagle) it jammed several times. It was obvious that the bullets weren't making the trip up the feed ramp so I polished the ramp and it hasn't burped since (several hundred factory and handloads).

One problem I had in the beginning was that I needed three hands to remove the slide for cleaning due to the very strong spring. I figured out an easy way around it. If anyone is having a problem removing the slide, I'll post my solution here.
 
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