SW Bodyguard, anyone have one?
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Have a SW442 /Crimson Trace that has lived in my front pocket for over twenty-five yeas. Never have to dress to cover it. It is not fun to shoot but is a comfort in knowing its always ready. Pickup a set of speed strips for the reload. I'm old and haven't carried the strips in a while. Have a De Santis pocket holster that work great. Good luck on your choice.
Cosmodragoon
New member
I had one of these and carried it for over a year. It fit wonderfully in a DeSantis leather IWB holster. Ease of carry is the major selling point and if it isn't best in class, it's definitely a contender. It is surprisingly comfortable in hand for such a small gun but was unpleasant to shoot. I know it's all subjective but I hated the trigger. The laser was cool but the switch was mounted in a funky place. Some people can activate it with their trigger finger but a lot of us will need to reach up and press it with the other hand. (Pressing it twice gives you a blinking option. Maybe someone more familiar with lasers could explain the benefits of that option.) I know rail-mounted accessories are often activated in this way but I feel like an integral laser, especially one on a super-compact emergency tool like the Bodyguard, would have been better served with grip activation like we see on the Crimson Trace grips.
My brother has one. Compared to my LCP, its a little bulkier, but the sights and trigger are better. The integral laser isn't all that useful in the daylight and has an on/off switch that needs to be activated with the trigger finger instead of a pressure switch like the crimson trace. Given a choice, I'd choose the easier carry of the plain model over the laser.
I have a BG 380 and like it for the most part.
It had a couple minor reliability problems that I had to send it back to S&W for, which seems fairly common with them.
Now it seems to work fine with the exception of an occasional failure of the slide to latch open after the last shot. But since it came back from Smith it has fed and fired reliably, which is obviously the most important thing to me.
I like that it has a manual safety, which is the main reason I switched from an LCP to it.
I thought it would be more accurate, but the best I can do is about 12" at 25 yards, which is long for a pocket pistol, I know, but that the shortest distance my range has.
David
It had a couple minor reliability problems that I had to send it back to S&W for, which seems fairly common with them.
Now it seems to work fine with the exception of an occasional failure of the slide to latch open after the last shot. But since it came back from Smith it has fed and fired reliably, which is obviously the most important thing to me.
I like that it has a manual safety, which is the main reason I switched from an LCP to it.
I thought it would be more accurate, but the best I can do is about 12" at 25 yards, which is long for a pocket pistol, I know, but that the shortest distance my range has.
David
Update on my post from earlier today.
Went to the range today with a friend. Had a partial box of ammo to use up, so decided to put a couple mags of it through the 380. It is some budget Speer FMJ, Lawman, or something.
Out of two mags I had 1 failure to fire (light strike), and 1 stovepipe jam. Not acceptable.
This was odd ammo that I had not yet fired through the gun, but it shouldn't matter a bit. This is enough to really make me doubt the reliability of this gun.
My friend brought his LCP which naturally ate everything we fed it without a hiccup. And was more accurate, too.
So I flipped my position on the BG 380 from endorsement to condemnation in 12 hours.
I hang around the S&W forum a bit, and I see two opinions on this gun. A lot of people have owned them and shot 100s of rounds through them without a single problem. Another large group has had problems similar to mine that may or may not have ever been fixed: failure to feed; auto forwarding; no slide lock back; light strikes; stovepipes.
I really want to like this gun, but if I can't trust it 100%, or even 99.9%, it's a deal breaker for me. I am afraid it will go down in history as a lemon.
David
Went to the range today with a friend. Had a partial box of ammo to use up, so decided to put a couple mags of it through the 380. It is some budget Speer FMJ, Lawman, or something.
Out of two mags I had 1 failure to fire (light strike), and 1 stovepipe jam. Not acceptable.
This was odd ammo that I had not yet fired through the gun, but it shouldn't matter a bit. This is enough to really make me doubt the reliability of this gun.
My friend brought his LCP which naturally ate everything we fed it without a hiccup. And was more accurate, too.
So I flipped my position on the BG 380 from endorsement to condemnation in 12 hours.
I hang around the S&W forum a bit, and I see two opinions on this gun. A lot of people have owned them and shot 100s of rounds through them without a single problem. Another large group has had problems similar to mine that may or may not have ever been fixed: failure to feed; auto forwarding; no slide lock back; light strikes; stovepipes.
I really want to like this gun, but if I can't trust it 100%, or even 99.9%, it's a deal breaker for me. I am afraid it will go down in history as a lemon.
David
I've carried one for going on 5 years in a desantis ankle holster. Over 2,000 rounds and I've never had a single FTF.
The only issue I've ever had with it was regarding the screw/cap covering the laser battery had worked lose and completely jammed the action (this was after almost 2k rounds and four years of ankle carry) granted I had never tightened it or even thought about it. If I had it all to do over I would get the M&P 380 without the laser. I find myself never using it but they weren't around then. With a snapcap it provides cheap trigger time though. The laser switch is near the front of the gun and has a solid and strobe setting. I usually activate it with the off hand pointer finger then slide it down the rail back to the triggerguard
It is very concealable, and the external safety adds to carry options. I've found it can shoot defently accurate when I "stage" the trigger. however, the trigger pull is Loooonngggg! But in a bug that to me is a good thing, almost like a secondary safety.
Mine does not like alluminum or steel cased ammo. It shoots but the one time I tried blazer it sparked and Ive yet to try it since.
(Edit to add) the mags have a flat floor plate and a pinky (well, more like middle finger) extension. I seem to have a lot more control with the extended floor plate. It doesn't add much bulk but on a gun so small any griping surface helps tremendously.
The only issue I've ever had with it was regarding the screw/cap covering the laser battery had worked lose and completely jammed the action (this was after almost 2k rounds and four years of ankle carry) granted I had never tightened it or even thought about it. If I had it all to do over I would get the M&P 380 without the laser. I find myself never using it but they weren't around then. With a snapcap it provides cheap trigger time though. The laser switch is near the front of the gun and has a solid and strobe setting. I usually activate it with the off hand pointer finger then slide it down the rail back to the triggerguard
It is very concealable, and the external safety adds to carry options. I've found it can shoot defently accurate when I "stage" the trigger. however, the trigger pull is Loooonngggg! But in a bug that to me is a good thing, almost like a secondary safety.
Mine does not like alluminum or steel cased ammo. It shoots but the one time I tried blazer it sparked and Ive yet to try it since.
(Edit to add) the mags have a flat floor plate and a pinky (well, more like middle finger) extension. I seem to have a lot more control with the extended floor plate. It doesn't add much bulk but on a gun so small any griping surface helps tremendously.
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if you get a good one, you will be happy. if you get a poor quality one, you will not. toss up which you get, although seems more likely now to get quality one. mine had to go back 3 times till they got it right. now it is ok. not fun to shoot 100 rounds thru at one setting like my glocks,but definitely small..