Service Life of a NAA?

Gun1 · November-06-22 17:11

I'm curious, does anyone have any round counts as far as the life of the NAAs? For the NAA minis, how many rounds until the frame stretches beyond repair? And for the Guardians, how many rounds before the frame or slide rails on the frame wear out or crack beyond repair?

bearcatter · November-06-22 17:11

Chronologically, NAA was "born" as part of Rocky Mountain Arms (now gone) in 1973 with just the two basic models. It changed hands twice before Sandy Chisholm bought it in 1991. He built a new factory and began expanding the line. So far as Guardians, the .32 was introduced in 1997, the .380 in 2001.

I've never heard of any mini frames stretching. As tiny as they are, they're still built more than heavy enough to withstand rimfire stresses. Issues over their lifespan appear to be confined to worn hands and an occasional mainspring failing.

Guardians are tough as well. Their only issue so far is broken drawbar springs, not surprising since they are shaped like a horse's hind leg (I have several of them stashed away). One person on this forum had a problem with his Guardian throwing extractors, but that's not normal. I've never heard of any cracks. Slide rails certainly wear eventually, I'd think more so with the .380 than the .32, but they haven't been out long enough for one to wear significantly. Remember there are a lot of old pistols out there with old rails still working fine.

Either model gun, if kept reasonably clean and lubricated, should last the lifetime of the original owner, probably a second one too. They might need a part or two to go that far.

OLD and GRUMPY · November-06-22 18:11

Don't think there are any "stretching" issues with the minis. For it's size and cal the frame is over built. Even with the hot 22 mags the barrel is too short for psi to spike. Shoot it in the dark and see the flame. Most powder burns after it leaves the barrel. I have been told the only damage from shooting was improper loading of the Companions with smokeless powder. Something about bending the cylinder pin. The early ones came with smokeless data. Don't try it.

pietro · November-07-22 07:11

.

FWIW, I don't care about excessive wear with my NAA's, as my guns are not subjected to the high round count that a target pistol might get.

For me, they are occasional practice plinkers, or "stick it in the ear" SD/CCW pistols.

YMMV, of course......

.

top dog · November-07-22 15:11

Gun1,
I agree with Bearcatter. For the most part,they will pretty much out live you and like Bearcatter said,maybe a small part or two may break but that is after many and I mean many rounds.

My first mini was the 22lr made shortly after Sandy Chisholm took over and not too long ago the mainspring gave way. I sent it back to NAA and in about two weeks it came back fully repaired and no charge.

Top Dog

KEN AR · November-07-22 22:11

I have bought several old ones made at the previous Factory. I have sent them in for warranty work and both were repaired at no charge.

No need to worry about a service life as far as I can see.

jsp123 · April-15-24 06:04

Option 2

naaadmin · April-15-24 07:04

Like others have said, we don't encounter a lot of stretching issues with our firearms. We get people who talk about their guns being heirlooms they received from family members. If you do encounter any issues, we have a warranty on our guns that covers a lot. We once had someone send in a gun that was lost at the bottom of a lake for a little while. Covered!

Rachel

PocketMagnum · April-15-24 21:04

I'm new NAA owner here myself (see this thread: https://naaminis.com/smf/index.php?topic=26842.0)

I have the NAA Wasp .22 magnum and I knew immediately after holding this firearm for the first time that it was very well made, durable, and will last longer than me. There's no way rimfire is putting that much stress that these beefy little guns cannot handle. I'm currently at 750 rounds of .22LR and 150 rounds of .22 magnum. No problems with the firearm at all. The only component that would eventually need to be replaced is the spring just like any other gun.

GunToteLib · June-04-24 13:06

Mine has been going strong since 2016. Shoot maybe 100 rds a year through it.

Canoeal · June-07-24 20:06

Some time back there was a similar thread and I think at the time I had over 1500 rounds through my BW. That was several years ago and it is still ticking.

Armybrat · June-09-24 11:06

Quote from: naaadmin on April-15-24 07:04Like others have said, we don't encounter a lot of stretching issues with our firearms. We get people who talk about their guns being heirlooms they received from family members. If you do encounter any issues, we have a warranty on our guns that covers a lot. We once had someone send in a gun that was lost at the bottom of a lake for a little while. Covered!

Rachel

My first Mini magnum was made in Spanish Fork. Bought it new back then.
It probably has less than fify rounds through it - all in the first year or two.
The cylinder has some end shake that seems to be excessive, and I was wondering if y'all could fix it?
If so, I'll send it in.

naaadmin · June-10-24 13:06

Quote from: Armybrat on June-09-24 11:06
Quote from: naaadmin on April-15-24 07:04Like others have said, we don't encounter a lot of stretching issues with our firearms. We get people who talk about their guns being heirlooms they received from family members. If you do encounter any issues, we have a warranty on our guns that covers a lot. We once had someone send in a gun that was lost at the bottom of a lake for a little while. Covered!

Rachel
My first Mini magnum was made in Spanish Fork. Bought it new back then.
It probably has less than fify rounds through it - all in the first year or two.
The cylinder has some end shake that seems to be excessive, and I was wondering if y'all could fix it?
If so, I'll send it in.

If you give our customer service team a call, they'll know all the exact answers and you could probably talk to our gunsmith about the rattle. All our revolvers have the lifetime warranty on them, so if you're having issues with functionality, I would suggest calling.

RogueTS1 · June-13-24 08:06

Fairly confident that most issues encountered with NAA Minis is from salesmen, unfamiliar with the product, forcing the cylinders in/out of the frame with the hammer either un-cocked or fully cocked rather than at the half cock position.

We witnessed this very thing last weekend while at a LGS. It was quite painful to watch.

Uncle_Lee · June-14-24 05:06

Quote from: RogueTS1 on June-13-24 08:06Fairly confident that most issues encountered with NAA Minis is from salesmen, unfamiliar with the product, forcing the cylinders in/out of the frame with the hammer either un-cocked or fully cocked rather than at the half cock position.

We witnessed this very thing last weekend while at a LGS. It was quite painful to watch.

I love the TV show "Cops" and have watched many hours of it.
I get embarrassed for the cops watching them try to unload a mini. They group up and pass it back and forth until one hits on the correct combination to get the cylinder out of the frame.

RogueTS1 · June-14-24 07:06

You have that one right Uncle Lee.