Why the .32 NAA Never Replaced the .32 ACP

The short version: The .32 NAA was North American Arms' 2002 attempt to give tiny pocket pistols a faster .32, and Athlon Outdoors explains why the bottlenecked round solved one problem but created several others.

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NAA worked with Corbon to neck a .380 ACP case down to a .32 bullet, creating the cartridge for its Guardian pistols. The goals were straightforward: more velocity, around 1,222 fps from a 60-grain bullet out of a 2.5-inch barrel, in the hope of getting hollow points to both expand and penetrate, and no rimlock, a rare issue with the semi-rimmed .32 ACP. Bottleneck pistol cases also tend to feed well and headspace securely.

The rimlock fix worked. Terminal performance was another story: independent gel testing showed hollow points expanding but not penetrating deeply, likely because of the added speed, and a heavier 80-grain Hornady bullet did not fix it. The load that performed was a 71-grain FMJ, which the author notes is the same kind of load that already works best in .32 ACP. Meanwhile, recoil went up sharply, and the larger case cost a round of capacity compared with a typical .32 ACP gun.

Support stayed thin. The Guardian was the only production pistol the author knows of in .32 NAA, with conversion barrels offered for a few others such as the Diamondback DB380 and, briefly, the LCP. Ammo at about a dollar a round made practice expensive, and the .380 ACP already owned the pocket-gun market. The author's suggested fix for the .32 ACP is simply to drop the semi-rim.

Key takeaways

• Introduced in 2002 as a .380 ACP case necked down to .32
• Eliminated rimlock, but hollow points under-penetrated in gel tests
• More recoil and one less round than a typical .32 ACP gun
• Few guns and roughly $1-per-round ammo kept it a niche cartridge

Summary by GunWinner based on reporting by Athlon Outdoors. Deal links are affiliate links; GunWinner may earn a commission. Prices change quickly, so confirm at checkout.