Today I had my first chance to go out to the range and try my new North American Arms Guardian, chambered in .32NAA. I bought this yesterday from huawilso (+1, by the way--great guy), NIB, unfired.
UPDATE: Here are some photos of my Guardian:
The machining and finish on the pistol are excellent...perfect, really, just like the photos. You can tell that NAA spends the time to nicely finish their pistols, much more so than a typical less-expensive pocket pistol like a Kel-Tec. The action is smooth, although the trigger pull is HEAVY, which I had expected. It is also quite long. I would have NO concern with this weapon "accidentally" firing in my pocket, especially in a pocket holster. The trigger pull is one of the heaviest I've ever experienced--again, I don't mind this in a self-defense pistol with no external safety.
It also takes a LOT of force to rack the slide. In a self-defense scenario, I would hope that adrenaline would make this irrelevant, but my thumb is really sore from the serrations. I suppose it might be worth the investment to have NAA machine the special scalloped serrations that their custom people do.
.32 NAA is an interesting caliber. It's essentially a .380 casing necked down to accept a .32 caliber bullet, kind of analogous to a .357 SIG or a .17 HMR. In some places online, it's designated as the "32/380" cartridge. This generates a significantly higher muzzle velocity compared to the parent cartridge, while allowing a small frame (see NAA's page). The recoil from this sucker is impressive. I have a steel-framed S&W snubnose .357 (Model 640), and I think that the Guardian hurts more to shoot. Obviously, this is a pistol designed for close-range self-defense, not extended range sessions. I fired 70 rounds today and that was about my limit.
I like the idea of the .32 NAA caliber as a means of boosting the power of very small pistols. Although the ammunition is not commonplace in stores, I think it is a more powerful choice than .380 ACP for self-defense. 9mm is obviously going to be better--but it seems to me that the .32 NAA is better than .380 ACP, and it's pretty tough to get a 9mm down to this size. By the way, the ammunition really isn't difficult to obtain. I purchased several boxes directly from Cor-Bon, and several more from North American Arms. NAA offers a box of 50 FMJ cartridges for $24, and a box of 20 JHP rounds for $11. That's right, eleven bucks! Try finding a box of good-quality JHP cartridges in .380 for that price!
I have learned in the past few years that small pistols like the Guardian require a break-in period to smooth things out. Indeed, I need have three malfunctions today. Rounds 1 and 2 failed to eject completely, and round 14 failed to feed. After that I had no malfunctions for the rest of the 70 rounds (one box each of FMJ and JHP ammunition). The Guardian is known to often trap the brass from the final cartridge in a magazine as it ejects. This happened with mine on three of the first ten magazines. I do not count this as a malfunction, as it is a known issue only with the final round of a magazine--not a safety issue, as this pistol does not have a last-round-hold-open feature, and the slide must be racked anyway to chamber the first round of the next magazine.
Accuracy was acceptable for a pistol of this size class. I kept most of my shots on a piece of paper from about 5 yards. This is, by the way, the first time I've been to the range in months, so I am badly out of practice. My first 3 or 4 magazines generated the best accuracy, probably because my hand was starting to hurt and shake after that point. Again I will stress that this is a self-defense pistol and not designed for extended target shooting.
The pistol is simple to field strip, breaking down into the slide, frame/barrel assembly, and spring assembly (which itself consists of a large spring, a small spring, and a guide rod). It cleaned easily using a .32 caliber brush and some Rem Oil.
Fully loaded, this pistol weighs 21 ounces (comparable to my polymer-framed Kahr PM9, fully loaded at 20 ounces). It is, however, noticeably smaller than the PM9, and is even easier than the Kahr to conceal in a pocket holster. I also have the Desantis Rug designed for the Guardian, which makes it look like you're carrying a PDA or something:
So--overall, I am very pleased. The expected early malfunctions worked themselves out quickly, although I will probably want to put another 50-80 rounds through the pistol soon to verify this. This firearm is not exactly fun to shoot, but it looks great and I really like the size. I think this will be a good pocket backup weapon, and I may also carry it in the summer when even my PM9 tends to be slightly visible through the opening at the top of the pockets in my shorts. It's also small enough that the Desantis Rug for it can actually pass as a PDA case; even the Kahr is large enough that a similar case would look awkwardly large and would be more of a giveaway.
I like the NAA Guardian very much and would be interested to hear about others' experiences with this pistol, especially with the unusual .32 NAA caliber.
UPDATE: Here are some photos of my Guardian:
The machining and finish on the pistol are excellent...perfect, really, just like the photos. You can tell that NAA spends the time to nicely finish their pistols, much more so than a typical less-expensive pocket pistol like a Kel-Tec. The action is smooth, although the trigger pull is HEAVY, which I had expected. It is also quite long. I would have NO concern with this weapon "accidentally" firing in my pocket, especially in a pocket holster. The trigger pull is one of the heaviest I've ever experienced--again, I don't mind this in a self-defense pistol with no external safety.
It also takes a LOT of force to rack the slide. In a self-defense scenario, I would hope that adrenaline would make this irrelevant, but my thumb is really sore from the serrations. I suppose it might be worth the investment to have NAA machine the special scalloped serrations that their custom people do.
.32 NAA is an interesting caliber. It's essentially a .380 casing necked down to accept a .32 caliber bullet, kind of analogous to a .357 SIG or a .17 HMR. In some places online, it's designated as the "32/380" cartridge. This generates a significantly higher muzzle velocity compared to the parent cartridge, while allowing a small frame (see NAA's page). The recoil from this sucker is impressive. I have a steel-framed S&W snubnose .357 (Model 640), and I think that the Guardian hurts more to shoot. Obviously, this is a pistol designed for close-range self-defense, not extended range sessions. I fired 70 rounds today and that was about my limit.
I like the idea of the .32 NAA caliber as a means of boosting the power of very small pistols. Although the ammunition is not commonplace in stores, I think it is a more powerful choice than .380 ACP for self-defense. 9mm is obviously going to be better--but it seems to me that the .32 NAA is better than .380 ACP, and it's pretty tough to get a 9mm down to this size. By the way, the ammunition really isn't difficult to obtain. I purchased several boxes directly from Cor-Bon, and several more from North American Arms. NAA offers a box of 50 FMJ cartridges for $24, and a box of 20 JHP rounds for $11. That's right, eleven bucks! Try finding a box of good-quality JHP cartridges in .380 for that price!
I have learned in the past few years that small pistols like the Guardian require a break-in period to smooth things out. Indeed, I need have three malfunctions today. Rounds 1 and 2 failed to eject completely, and round 14 failed to feed. After that I had no malfunctions for the rest of the 70 rounds (one box each of FMJ and JHP ammunition). The Guardian is known to often trap the brass from the final cartridge in a magazine as it ejects. This happened with mine on three of the first ten magazines. I do not count this as a malfunction, as it is a known issue only with the final round of a magazine--not a safety issue, as this pistol does not have a last-round-hold-open feature, and the slide must be racked anyway to chamber the first round of the next magazine.
Accuracy was acceptable for a pistol of this size class. I kept most of my shots on a piece of paper from about 5 yards. This is, by the way, the first time I've been to the range in months, so I am badly out of practice. My first 3 or 4 magazines generated the best accuracy, probably because my hand was starting to hurt and shake after that point. Again I will stress that this is a self-defense pistol and not designed for extended target shooting.
The pistol is simple to field strip, breaking down into the slide, frame/barrel assembly, and spring assembly (which itself consists of a large spring, a small spring, and a guide rod). It cleaned easily using a .32 caliber brush and some Rem Oil.
Fully loaded, this pistol weighs 21 ounces (comparable to my polymer-framed Kahr PM9, fully loaded at 20 ounces). It is, however, noticeably smaller than the PM9, and is even easier than the Kahr to conceal in a pocket holster. I also have the Desantis Rug designed for the Guardian, which makes it look like you're carrying a PDA or something:
So--overall, I am very pleased. The expected early malfunctions worked themselves out quickly, although I will probably want to put another 50-80 rounds through the pistol soon to verify this. This firearm is not exactly fun to shoot, but it looks great and I really like the size. I think this will be a good pocket backup weapon, and I may also carry it in the summer when even my PM9 tends to be slightly visible through the opening at the top of the pockets in my shorts. It's also small enough that the Desantis Rug for it can actually pass as a PDA case; even the Kahr is large enough that a similar case would look awkwardly large and would be more of a giveaway.
I like the NAA Guardian very much and would be interested to hear about others' experiences with this pistol, especially with the unusual .32 NAA caliber.
Last edited:
