My first NAA product

howitzer · May-14-19 12:05

New to this forum and in the process of a trade for a Guardian 380. Not sure of the age but it does not say Kahr on the frame. Some things people don't like is the weight and the EMPTY case on the last round stove pipe. Neither a deal breaker for me. I do need clarity on one thing: The LIVE last round stove piping. What is the reason and fix for that? Any info appreciated.

howitzer · May-19-19 06:05

Well after doing more digging I found out the live round stovepipe was attributed to the mags in very early pistols. Mags were then upgraded. I did the trade and it's a well made pistol. Took it down and cleaned and lubed it. One quirk though the guide rod is stuck in the spring. Will not pull out. Not a big deal and I don't want to force it and booger up the springs. I'll just treat it as captured unit. Everything cycles fine with snap caps. We will see at the range.

Uncle_Lee · May-20-19 03:05

Welcome howitzer,
Glad you got an answer.
Good luck at the range.
Let us know how it goes.

top dog · May-20-19 05:05

Howitzer,

Welcome to the forum. I had a 380 Guardian and found it to be about the heaviest of the 380s out there.

Built very sturdy and the quality is definitely there.

Now that you have the magazine problem solved,maybe some extended range sessions for a break in might be needed.

If the problems still persist,the NAA service folks will correct the problem in short order.

I purchased one of the first 32 acp Guardians years ago and it is still going strong.

Top Dog

bearcatter · May-20-19 09:05

I've a Guardian 32 for about a year and love it. I couldn't warm up to the extra weight, size, and recoil of the 380.

I take it that by "LIVE last round stovepiping" you meant it won't feed? I had never heard of that before. On Guardians, the cartridge in the top of the mag serves as the ejector. So, when the mag is empty, the last FIRED case has nothing to bump it out and sometimes stovepipes. No big deal, mine seems to do it maybe a fourth of the time.

Ruger · May-20-19 12:05

Hey . . Howitzer . . WELCOME to the Forum! Glad to have you! Now don't be a lurker; we need your opinions, dreams, range reports, complaints, and, oh yeah, photos to back stuff up!

Warthog · May-20-19 13:05

Hey, enjoy the trash.

howitzer · May-20-19 15:05

Well thanks for that warm welcome. It's a used one made in 2009 according to NAA. Another question: I see in diagrams it shows a smaller extractor with a plunger set up. Mine is a longer extractor held in with a roll pin. I guess at some point they improved it?

bearcatter · May-20-19 17:05

You're looking at a 32 diagram, they use that for both models. The 32 extractor is held in by the plunger spring, basically; no pin. Similar design to a PPK. The 380 has a larger extractor, with a pin.

howitzer · May-20-19 18:05

Thanks for that info. By the way do they tolerate steel case ammo? I buy some from time to time for range use but I don't use it exclusively. I've had pretty good luck with the Tulammo and Monarch steel in many guns. If I do work it in my range time I always shoot the brass first as the coating on the steel gums up the chamber and then the brass will stick and not extract.

Lemon · May-22-19 19:05

Welcome to the forum. I purchased the Guardian 380 new and carry it everyday. Yep, had it on me all day today. I have a couple other NAA gun with the Sidewinder being one and the other is the 22LR mini. The stovepipe is rare on mine. All I put in mine is Hornady critical defense, PMC new ammo and lastly reloaded PMC brass that I reload myself. I have not used any other brands. Someone gave me a box of Winchester White box 380 but I do not plan to feed that to my buddy. He has a much better taste.

I hope you get a good Guardian and enjoy it as much as I do mine. When I do rotate my carry gun it is of course the Guardian, the sidewinder and the S&W 642 +P which I shot just today. I put a hand loaded 140gr Hornady XTP using Titegroup and exploded an unopen can of Mountain Dew. I love seeing it make cans explode. It even blows the fluids back onto you at 12 feet away.

bearcatter · May-23-19 09:05

My Guardian 32 ammunition is 71 gr FMJ, mostly Aguila. It's easy to get local, $17.99 a box, and works well. I have some Remington, that was on sale. Likely about the same ammo, since Aguila's factory used to be Remington's.

howitzer · May-23-19 14:05

Quote from: Lemon on May-22-19 19:05
Welcome to the forum. I purchased the Guardian 380 new and carry it everyday. Yep, had it on me all day today. I have a couple other NAA gun with the Sidewinder being one and the other is the 22LR mini. The stovepipe is rare on mine. All I put in mine is Hornady critical defense, PMC new ammo and lastly reloaded PMC brass that I reload myself. I have not used any other brands. Someone gave me a box of Winchester White box 380 but I do not plan to feed that to my buddy. He has a much better taste. I hope you get a good Guardian and enjoy it as much as I do mine. When I do rotate my carry gun it is of course the Guardian, the sidewinder and the S&W 642 +P which I shot just today. I put a hand loaded 140gr Hornady XTP using Titegroup and exploded an unopen can of Mountain Dew. I love seeing it make cans explode. It even blows the fluids back onto you at 12 feet away.

Thanks for the info. Not into getting fluid blown back at me though. But hey whatever floats your boat. LOL

bearcatter · May-24-19 10:05

Total waste of good Mountain Dew, my wife's favorite. Drink it first, then fill can with water. Works just as good.

RICKS PLACE · May-25-19 11:05

I was working at a gun shop when the 380 Guardians came out, got a good discount on what I bought. As I remember, the last round would stovepipe indicating an empty mag as the slide would not lock back on the last round. The gun was built like a Sherman tank, probably would have lasted forever, but, like a Sherman, it was heavy. Got rid of it in favor of a K-T P32 which finally fell to a series of Mini revolvers. Tried many .32 and .380's, kept going back to the revolvers where I've been for the past 10 years.

Dragon 1 · May-28-19 19:05

Welcome to the forum I have a NAA 380 that says kahr on it. Mine is old mint condition I think I bought it back in 2003. That is when Kahr Arms was Making the frames before Sandy had a CNC machine I guess devoted to just the guardians but North American arms made the slide and everything else just the frames were made by them at the time before Sandy had a CNC But that was done many years ago. They (NAA) haven't dealt with kahr in many moons they do everything from soup to nuts at NAA now. I also have a guardian 32 that's very old 1998 and I sent it back I had it customized by Wayne Martin God rest his soul after their guardian gunsmith Carl retired. Wayne took over that job he had told me at the shot show. On the guardian 32 I had every single thing done to it from their custom shop the only thing is I did send the gun out much later on to Teddy Jacobson of Action By T to tune the action he's done so many of those guardians over the years Teddy loves Sandy Company. Great guns besides The whole North American lineup is great good luck.

howitzer · May-30-19 15:05

What is your opinion on not being able to eject a live dud round without dropping the mag? That's my one concern. Most guns if you get a dud you can just rack it to clear. With the Guardian design the mag has to dropped. Waste some time.

Dragon 1 · May-31-19 06:05

I understand 100% of what you're saying I think but I'm not 100% sure you can call him Teddy Jacobson from actions by T in Sugarland Texas. Teddy worked on a lot of those guardian 32s and 380s back in the day. I have Both the guardian 32 and 380 that he did action work and his reliability package. I have to look at the work order he did the guns many years ago. I'm not sure I think he did something with the Breach face. He changed the angle or something I'm not 100% sure I don't have that paperwork right now at this time I'm already at work. Just give him a call he still works on guns and he'll talk to anyone He's an honest and great guy he'll tell you He doesn't keep any secrets what he does to the guns to make them work but just make sure you let the phone ring a lot because sometimes he's working on guns on his bench and can't hear the phone ring just let it keep ringing he will pick it up.

RogueTS1 · May-31-19 08:05

You can eject a dud without removing the magazine on a Guardian. You cannot lock the slide back and hence it will feed another round but it can be done.

howitzer · May-31-19 12:05

Embarrassing moment. I just realized I was at fault. I was trained to rack the slide with an overhand grip not a pinch grip. It seems doing overhand on these diminutive guns may cause the hand to interfere with the ejection port. I have just tried racking it a few times with a pinch grip. As long as I pull the slide to it's rear stop position and pause to give the round a second to clear it works ok. I'll tell you though it takes some practice for me to pull it that way as it's hard to get a firm grip with these guns. I just apologized to my little friend