NAA Guardian guys??

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khegglie

khegglie

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Jan 25, 2008
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Hello, Anybody still carrying a Guardian for SD?
I just picked on up after avoiding them for years. I am impressed with the fit-finish-function so far.
The rash of more recent 380's now may have better evolved features; less weight, locked breach ect; but anyone still carry NAA?
 
I have one................don't carry it much, would rather cary my Model 36 although there is a time and place for all size pistols and calibers....IMO.
 
The rash of more recent 380's now may have better evolved features; less weight, locked breach ect; but anyone still carry NAA?
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I carry my LCP for all those reasons, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sorely tempted by the guardians.
 
It's fun to have to compare /contrast the diff systems of operation. The NAA wount replace my P3AT but I can see carrying it in some cases. The weight makes up for the blow back system, so the recoil is about the same as the locked breach P3AT.
 
Got one and it has its place. Especially when concealment trumps other considerations.
 
I've got one in the back of my safe (.32 acp).

Small, handy gun. I don't carry it anymore for several reasons, I just keep it around for a possible pocket gun around the farm. I'd sell it in a minute if I got a good offer for it.

I don't like it as a front line defensive gun for the following reasons:

1) Stiff, gritty, long trigger pull.
2) Brutal recoil beating up my hand.
3) Even though I know it is a close quarters defensive handgun, the sights are worthless and it is hard to hit anything farther than 20 feet away.
4) No slide lock.
5) Defensive ammo way too spendy.
6) Questionable reliability. Many FTF, FTE, magazine drop-outs, etc.

To me, if a gun is no fun to shoot recreationally I will have to force myself to practice with it. With this gun it was more of a masochistic torture ritual and I avoided practice rather than looked forward to it.

These are just my personal opinions but I carry my 442 instead that has none of the issues stated above.

Dan
 
Lot better pistols on the market today KelTec or Ruger better choice. NAA is just 2 heavy. Can carry a S&W snub less weight. Terrible trigger. They seem to have some reliability issues. . Good customer service and owner a nice guy . I just don't think much of his guardian
 
one box WWB truncated cone: Instinctively points low unless you try to use the tiny sites. had 2 failures to fully eject the last case. The trigger pull is not that bad, but stiff by current standards. Ishot it along side a P3AT and a LCR with 38spl +P, the ouch factor on all were about the same.
Trigger whip with the 380's; muxxle flip with the LCR(not up to .357 loads that day)!

Carried it today in pocket and it is chunkier and HEAVIER that the PF9 in the other pocket!

Summ: I like it and it has a place but pocket carry has advanced aLOT since 1997-2001

I'm still interested in who's still packing one!
 
I bought a Guardian 'just because'. It's quite a little jewel. But in reality, these are old designs, based on even older designs.
The current crop of .32 and .380 polymer pocket guns with locking barrels have less felt recoil, have better triggers, are lighter, have larger magazine capacities, are thinner (easier to carry), and have better ergonomics (if there is such a thing in pocket pistols).
I'll keep my Guardian, but I don't carry it. There is nothing that my .32acp Guardian does, which my .32acp Kel-Tec P-32 or P3AT do not do better. Yes, I think K-T's are fairly homely...but their beauty is in function. I feel the same way about my Walther PPK/s compared with my Kel-Tec PF9.
I love metal guns and classic designs, but I carry fugly modern poly.
 
I gave or sold 2 NAAs to my dad (a 380 & a 32). Before he passed away earlier this year, he carried one in his car and kept the other close-at-hand at home. But when it came to carrying, he carried his Kel-Tec P3AT.
 
"It's quite a little jewel. But in reality, these are old designs, based on even older designs".
A good summary Pockets.
 
Shoot a box or two of ammo through it and let us know how it works for you.
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I've been shooting my NAA Guardian in .32 ACP for right at 8 years now. It does what it was designed to do. About a year ago I broke a drawbar spring, had a new one from NAA in about 3 days. Other than that, it's been a pretty reliable little gun. Its not a tack driver, but at the distance it was designed for, it doesn't need to be. At 10 yards, I can get fist size groups.

The gun can be bought with several options.

1. Standard configuration
2. Melt ~ sharp edges and sights removed
3. Custom Novak Sights
 
"It's quite a little jewel. But in reality, these are old designs, based on even older designs".
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^that

MrsBFD wanted one, and I bought it for her hoping she would carry it on-body, which she does occasionally.
She's aware that it is inferior to my KelTec P32 in pretty much every way but looks, and after some shooting of both side-by-side she prefers the P32 for actual range use but claims the NAA points more naturally for her, so it goes in a pocket once in a while.

The .32ACP beats up my hand, I can only imagine what a .32NAA or .380acp would be like.

They are nice little guns and well-made, but the design is just obsolete; a slimmer, higher-capacity, more-reliable, fuller-featured, lighter, easier-shooting, cheaper alternative exists, I see the NAA as a crutch for people who can't understand that a chunk of steel isn't always the best starting point for a gun.

khegglie, to be fair, it isn't really designed to eject the last case reliably, it doesn't have the mechanism to do so.
 
I see the NAA as a crutch for people who can't understand that a chunk of steel isn't always the best starting point for a gun.
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Never mind...
 
had 2 failures to fully eject the last case.
Click to expand...
that is they will tell you part of the design Their suppose to catch the last case Now you know you empty since slide doesn't lock back. R&R the mag and load(clears the case) and you back in action .
 
BFD and crew: I found out about the last round thingwith more research...Thanks.

I'm carrying it daily currently for laughs; getting used to the weight. My P3AT is waiting for me to get over it!

The Guardian is like a perfected AMT Backup.

USAF vet... if you get a mini revolver I strongly rec. an oversized grip like those on the Black Widow. 22mag sounds like a 38 spl going off.
 
I don't know about the guardian series, but I'm looking at getting one of the mini revolvers in .22 mag as a BUG.
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They're FUN as well as being nice little guns. Get a folding and/or oversized grip, and I'd get the .22wmr/.22lr convertible.

My NAA mini fits into a 1911 magazine carrier slot sometimes ... it takes up the room of a pocketknife and is more handy in some limited situations.
 
Unless you getting a long barrel 22 mag is all recoil and noise 22 LR both Mine has the 22 mag cyl and 22 LR We keep 22 LR Even their own board shows 22 mag isn't worth the time and trouble let alone expense. over 22 LR till 4" or so in barrel.
 
I was looking at the Mini Master in .22 mag (4"bbl).

I wear boots just about year round, so I was thinking about a boot strap holster for it.

If I went with the LR, I'd get a Black Widow. Something about the fuller grips I like.
 
I have one in .32acp.It is well made and has been extremely reliable.I consider it a "hide-out" gun and not a backup to my primary.In .380 they are more viable,but still a small and harder to shoot platform than other .380s or pocket 9mm.
 
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