i am an owner of a guardian .380. i am aware that this gun does not have an ejector, and that it relys on the next round in the mag to push out the spent casing. and because of its design, it will often stovepipe on the last round. that is NOT my problem. my problem is that it will often fail to extract spent casings from the chamber. it happened most often after the first shot, leaving 5 rounds in the clip. the nature of the malfunction was that the casing would eject half-way out of the chamber and get wedged against the next round in the mag. i would have to drop the mag, then rack the slide, and then reinsert mag, then rack, and it would happen again. this malfunction occured most often on the first shot, but it was not exclusive to it. it would happen on the second shot, third, etc... i bought this gun NIB, and shot about 50 rounds, with the problem occuring every time on the first round. also would happen on subsequent rounds, but most often on the first round. i was using remington UMC jrn(jacketed round nose, standard ball) from wal-mart. chamber was clean, gun was lubed, extractor was fine, extractor spring was fine, recail spring is fine. everything was the way it was supposed to be. i am thinking that the shell casings might have been too long in this particular brand of ammo? or the ammo was too hot, thereby expanding the casing in the chamber. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
problems with NAA Guardian .380
- Thread starter shtf
- Start date
- Status
thanks for answering...
my question...
anyone have something to say, that has anything to do with my question?
I LIKE the NAA. i just want to know what is wrong with it. i explicitly state that stovepiping is not the problem. i understand the design of the gun. MY issue deals with the problem of the empty casing getting stuck in the chamber. STEVE, don't say stupid things that will get this thread locked by a mod. i want to know what is wrong. if you actually read my post, you can see that i actually think it might be ammo related. i actually hope it's ammo related. i spent over $400 for this gun, and believe it or not, i WANT TO LIKE THIS GUN...
my question...
anyone have something to say, that has anything to do with my question?
I LIKE the NAA. i just want to know what is wrong with it. i explicitly state that stovepiping is not the problem. i understand the design of the gun. MY issue deals with the problem of the empty casing getting stuck in the chamber. STEVE, don't say stupid things that will get this thread locked by a mod. i want to know what is wrong. if you actually read my post, you can see that i actually think it might be ammo related. i actually hope it's ammo related. i spent over $400 for this gun, and believe it or not, i WANT TO LIKE THIS GUN...
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No Quarter
Member
- Joined
- May 8, 2003
- Messages
- 310
Sounds like maybe the extractor hook is not fully enagaging the catridge rim. At least that is my guess. I would call NAA and talk to one of their gunsmiths. they will steer you in the right direction. I love my G380. It is my main carry gun. I always have it on me.
if nothing else, they will be able to either send you a part to try or ask you to send the slide in so they can take a look at it.
FWIW, my guardian is a very reliable gun and I can hit with it easilyt at ranges up to 20 yards with no problems at all. Mine has been "melted" by the factory and I have the guttersnipe sights on mine.
I hope to pass mine on to my son when I die - It is that well made.
NQ
if nothing else, they will be able to either send you a part to try or ask you to send the slide in so they can take a look at it.
FWIW, my guardian is a very reliable gun and I can hit with it easilyt at ranges up to 20 yards with no problems at all. Mine has been "melted" by the factory and I have the guttersnipe sights on mine.
I hope to pass mine on to my son when I die - It is that well made.
NQ
cornbread2
member
It is very common to have problems with the .32 and .380 Guardian.
A two inch .38 makes a much better backup gun.
A two inch .38 makes a much better backup gun.
KahrKarrier
Member
WOW !! Some guys really have a burr under thier saddle when it comes to the NAA Guardian .380.
SHTF, like No Quarter says, it sounds like an extractor prob. Mine hates Cor-Bons but when it will pop a Cor-Bon the spent casing does not get stuck in the chamber and I believe that Cor-Bon is the hottest .380acp commercially available. Mine will run Win Silvertip HP's all day long but will barf her Cor-Bons even after I spit shined the feed ramp, I think the Cor-Bon bullet is too sharp and mine just won't feed them. Win Silvertips and any FMJ's work great.
--------------JED
STEVE, Shame on you, a senior member with over 850 posts and your trying to flame things up? Shame on you Sir
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SHTF, like No Quarter says, it sounds like an extractor prob. Mine hates Cor-Bons but when it will pop a Cor-Bon the spent casing does not get stuck in the chamber and I believe that Cor-Bon is the hottest .380acp commercially available. Mine will run Win Silvertip HP's all day long but will barf her Cor-Bons even after I spit shined the feed ramp, I think the Cor-Bon bullet is too sharp and mine just won't feed them. Win Silvertips and any FMJ's work great.
--------------JEDSTEVE, Shame on you, a senior member with over 850 posts and your trying to flame things up? Shame on you Sir
.
Let's not let this thread go the same route as the other Guardian .380 thread. shtf asked a legitimate question to which SteveW13's answer was uncalled for. Let's end that part of the discussion now.
Sounds to me like No Quarter and KahrKarrier are definitely on the right track - look to the ammo first. If a change of ammo doesn't appear to help, then a call to NAA is in order.
Sounds to me like No Quarter and KahrKarrier are definitely on the right track - look to the ammo first. If a change of ammo doesn't appear to help, then a call to NAA is in order.
Walt Sherrill
Member
I'll make the same response to this message chain as I did to the last.
One of the gunsmiths who writes articles for AGI (American Gunsmithing Institute) wrote about a fix -- which had to do with adding a slightly raised area on the follower, to lift the round a bit higher.
Another forum member contacted me by email to say that he had had this problem early on (some years ago), and that NAA had fixed it. And he just now noticed that they fixed by changing the follower.
Its probably OVER-SIMPLE to say this, but I suspect its true: a gun like this having a "stove pipe" on last round is probably a non-issue.
This is not a gun intended to be fired to empty with a rapid reload.
If you don't get the bad guy with the first few shots, its probably all over, anyway.
One of the gunsmiths who writes articles for AGI (American Gunsmithing Institute) wrote about a fix -- which had to do with adding a slightly raised area on the follower, to lift the round a bit higher.
Another forum member contacted me by email to say that he had had this problem early on (some years ago), and that NAA had fixed it. And he just now noticed that they fixed by changing the follower.
Its probably OVER-SIMPLE to say this, but I suspect its true: a gun like this having a "stove pipe" on last round is probably a non-issue.
This is not a gun intended to be fired to empty with a rapid reload.
If you don't get the bad guy with the first few shots, its probably all over, anyway.
thunderjet
Member
naa 380
If I read your post right the gun has a total of 50 rounds thru it. I have found this gun to needs about 100 rounds to breakin the slide fit. Some slides will not be removable until 15 rounds have been thru it. I run corbons thru mine now without a burp. The first 50 are going to be chore to run.
good luck stay with it.
TJ
If I read your post right the gun has a total of 50 rounds thru it. I have found this gun to needs about 100 rounds to breakin the slide fit. Some slides will not be removable until 15 rounds have been thru it. I run corbons thru mine now without a burp. The first 50 are going to be chore to run.
good luck stay with it.
TJ
good news
just ran 100 more rounds through it, and not one malfunction of any kind. 50 rounds of winchester win-clean ammo, and 50 rounds of remington umc. both from walmart. gun was dirty after 50? rounds. just kept plugging away, slow-fire, rapid-fire, no malfunctions. very happy to say the least. i guess the gun just needed to be broken in a bit. thanks for everyones' advice. note to self: always run a few hundred rounds through a new piece to break it in.
just ran 100 more rounds through it, and not one malfunction of any kind. 50 rounds of winchester win-clean ammo, and 50 rounds of remington umc. both from walmart. gun was dirty after 50? rounds. just kept plugging away, slow-fire, rapid-fire, no malfunctions. very happy to say the least. i guess the gun just needed to be broken in a bit. thanks for everyones' advice. note to self: always run a few hundred rounds through a new piece to break it in.
George Hill
Member
Have you called NAA?
SouthpawShootr
Member
Mine jammed like crazy the first time I had it out. Went home cleaned it up and hasn't jammed since (aside from the characteristic stopepipe at the end of the mag - but that doesn't count). First 100 rounds first time out. Nursed a sore hand for about a week (recoil seems to be concentrated right into the center of your palm) and fired another 50. I have every confidence in it as it stands now.
funny thing is...
my naa will run with absolutely no malfunctions now. i can't even get it to stovepipe the last shell. i actually practiced rapid reloads, and did fairly well. i guess i'm not recoil sensative, because after the 100 rounds, my hand/palm did not hurt at all, maybe i should give myself a few days for the pain?
p.s. george hill, no need to call them, as the gun is fine now.
my naa will run with absolutely no malfunctions now. i can't even get it to stovepipe the last shell. i actually practiced rapid reloads, and did fairly well. i guess i'm not recoil sensative, because after the 100 rounds, my hand/palm did not hurt at all, maybe i should give myself a few days for the pain?
p.s. george hill, no need to call them, as the gun is fine now.
I should have mentioned this before. The very first thing I did to my G380 was to polish the feed ramp after a few similar FTF's during the first box of ammo. The judicious use of a Dremel with a polishing wheel and a little rouge does wonders. You don't want to remove any metal, just polish it. Mine hasn't failed since that was done. BTW, that is usually what NAA would do if the gun were returned to them with that complaint.
George Hill
Member
Ah... no more problems... Excellent.
Had you called NAA, they would have taken very good care of you.
Had you called NAA, they would have taken very good care of you.
i'm either going to get it melted,
or high polished(whole gun). meltdown costs 100, and high polish the gun costs 150. any thoughts? which seems more practical? melted would be better for pocket carry, but high polish would make it more reliable(marginally?)and probably easier to clean. i thought of doing both, but investing $250 is too much. so which one, would be better? anyone have any pics of a highpolished guardian 380? couldn't find a pic on the naa site.
any thoughts/ideas would be well-received. thanks.
or high polished(whole gun). meltdown costs 100, and high polish the gun costs 150. any thoughts? which seems more practical? melted would be better for pocket carry, but high polish would make it more reliable(marginally?)and probably easier to clean. i thought of doing both, but investing $250 is too much. so which one, would be better? anyone have any pics of a highpolished guardian 380? couldn't find a pic on the naa site.
any thoughts/ideas would be well-received. thanks.
This is strictly my opinion, but I think you would be wasting your money having either procedure done to your gun. In its from-the-factory form, it practically has a melted look already.
George Hill
Member
Well... maybe some melting could be done... but I don't know how much that would really benifit you.
One thing I was thinking when I had the one in .32NAA for testing... was that some wood grips would be great for letting it slide in and out of the pocket easier.
If .32NAA was more common - I would get a Guardian in it.
One thing I was thinking when I had the one in .32NAA for testing... was that some wood grips would be great for letting it slide in and out of the pocket easier.
If .32NAA was more common - I would get a Guardian in it.
I also think the melting is unnecessary. I think they also remove the sights, when they do a melt job. As for the high polish, I would think that would just make scratches more noticable.
I actually did have some things done to my NAAs. I have a .32 and a .380. I had the fish scales done on the slides (they actually replace the slide) and had the muzzles crowned. I also had a trigger job done to them and had the front and back straps stippled (and maybe had something else done to them that I can't remember off hand). They really look good. I didn't need it - I just did it on a whim for.
George - I also bought the Hogue wood grips for each. They look very good, but are too thick. They add a lot of thickness and make it less pocketable. I took them off for that reason. They have a palm swell and feel better in the hand, but take away what these guns were designed for. They also stretch pocket holsters out more with the wood grips.
Steve
I actually did have some things done to my NAAs. I have a .32 and a .380. I had the fish scales done on the slides (they actually replace the slide) and had the muzzles crowned. I also had a trigger job done to them and had the front and back straps stippled (and maybe had something else done to them that I can't remember off hand). They really look good. I didn't need it - I just did it on a whim for.
George - I also bought the Hogue wood grips for each. They look very good, but are too thick. They add a lot of thickness and make it less pocketable. I took them off for that reason. They have a palm swell and feel better in the hand, but take away what these guns were designed for. They also stretch pocket holsters out more with the wood grips.
Steve
I agree - the sights are miniscule and really unusable. I wish they were better designed. Unfortunately, the only replacement sights are too big for the guns and the guns won't fit into holsters designed for the guns with those replacement sights. I just left them on, just because.
Steve
Steve
i'm just going to put about
300 more rounds through this gun to further check out it's reliability, and also, i will try out some new ammo, and mix it up a bit to see what it likes or dislikes. i enjoy shooting this piece, but i once heard that the service life on this pocket pistol is very short. this is hearsay, and i hope it's innaccurate, and if i am mistaken, please let me know. i don't want to be someone who spent over 400 for a gun that will shoot itself out in a couple thousand(2000-3000) rounds. i think i saw somethng about short service life in these forums somewhere. i typed in "guardian service life" but did not find the thread i was looking for.
on another note, when should i replace the recoil spring?
300 more rounds through this gun to further check out it's reliability, and also, i will try out some new ammo, and mix it up a bit to see what it likes or dislikes. i enjoy shooting this piece, but i once heard that the service life on this pocket pistol is very short. this is hearsay, and i hope it's innaccurate, and if i am mistaken, please let me know. i don't want to be someone who spent over 400 for a gun that will shoot itself out in a couple thousand(2000-3000) rounds. i think i saw somethng about short service life in these forums somewhere. i typed in "guardian service life" but did not find the thread i was looking for.
on another note, when should i replace the recoil spring?
George Hill
Member
Call NAA, they will let you know. If you shoot it out... they'll fix it.
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