G380?

[mshechte]

I need another pistol like I need another hole in my head, but a little Gem of a Pistol caught my eye yesterday. A NAA Guardian 380. Anybody familiar with this piece? Seems like a real beauty. Checked it out on the Internet, and I am fairly impressed. New in Box for $460.00. That sound about right?
Please Advise.
Thanks,
Mark

[Michigunner]

Mark,

Teddy Jacobson is a well-known and respected pistol smith in Texas.

His most recent blog  may contain relevant information about the pistol.

http://actionsbyt.blogspot.com/

Bill

[Michigunner]

Mark,

I forgot to mention that Teddy has strong opinions about things.

I did not read other parts of the post, but only the NAA Guardian remarks.

He is a good man and always helps sincere people with questions about firearms.  I have sent email on multiple occasions to ask for his recommendations about certain handguns.

Bill

[Richard S]

Uh, oh!  Mark just said the magic word.  Sorry, guys, but here it is again:

I'm a huge G-380 fan, Mark, and often carry this one as a BUG to my 1911 or R9. It's the 64th one produced. (And, yes, those are sterling silver grips.)  

[BillinPittsburgh]

My Guardian .380 is the pistol most commonly on my person, either as my only gun or as a backup to a Glock 9mm.  It is among the best - if not the best - pocket pistol around.  Its weight is a bit much, but it is built like a tank and will reliably digest anything within reason.

[mshechte]

Wow...Thanks for the input fellas! Sounds like a winner. As far as the weight goes...similar too, Colt Mustang / Pony? I have a Mustang Pocketlite that I'm rather partial too, but there is something to be said about the simplicity of a good Double Action Pistol for ease of use. So this pistol is worth a second look.
Richard, NICE! I like a Pistol with a little flash to it! Did you have those scallops done at the NAA Custom Shop? While looking around on the internet, I read about the Carry / Reliabilty packages that are available. This sounds like something worth while to me, along with a Melt Job and "Gutter Snip" nite sites. The sites are probably of no use, but they sure are Cool, and sometimes Cool is enough...and speaking of Cool... gotta love those Grips. You must really go through the Never Dull keeping those babies looking like that. Nice, very nice!
Thanks again fellas, and I'll let you know when I get it. I think it will help with my "Recovery".
Mark

[Richard S]

Mark:

While they're not apparent in that photograph, my G380 has the Gutter Snipe sights.  I like them, if for no other reason than they make it easy to locate the pistol on a nightstand in the dark.  

The silver grips were made by a local jeweler who does casting in silver and gold using the lost-wax process.  He also tried to make a pair of silver grips for my R9, but with those two screw holes in each panel the tolerances were too tight for the process to work.  We abandoned the R9 project after several attempts.

I agree with Bill that the G380 is a superb pocket pistol, built like a little tank.  It's also about as simple to field strip, clean, and reassemble as anything out there.

[tequilamockingbird]

Just curious, how much weight do the silver grips add to the Guardian?

[Richard S]

TM:

The grips together contain 3 troy ounces of silver, which is equivalent to 3.29 traditional (avoirdupois) ounces of weight. The weight of the G380 is 18.72 ounces unloaded. Removing the original plastic grips and substituting the silver brings that unloaded weight to 22 ounces. Some would find that too heavy for a pocket pistol, but a Hedley holster helps in that regard. The added weight also seems to reduce the amount of felt recoil when firing the pistol.