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This lint covered flat latch Airweight Bodyguard rides in my front pocket,opposite the 3"66 everyday. Made around 1965, the year of my birth. Gun is in much better shape than I am.

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This lint covered flat latch Airweight Bodyguard rides in my front pocket,opposite the 3"66 everyday. Made around 1965, the year of my birth. Gun is in much better shape than I am.

The lint adds charecter!

Nice gun. I like old snubbies. Do you carry it in a pocket holster?

Is that General Loan's belly button lint on that Bodyguard???

Lint?
Those ****** Bodyguards won't work with Lint!
Who ever told you to use that gun under adverse conditions like that should be chastised.
Better trade up to something more reliable.
Good luck!!

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.............SmithNut

That gun's practically ruined!!! Dust bunnies run amok! That gun has some character

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Rough waters ahead.

You need a new maid.

Blow it out with a little complressed air, she'll be fine.

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Memory of Randy Freas-Rimfired

My 442 gets a "D&C" (dust and clean) once a week. Pocket holster carry results in more lint for me, but it comes right off with a dry shop rag. Don't forget to dust out the inside of your pocket holster also.

Ronald617,
I hope you realize I'm joking.... The Bodyguard happens to be a favorite to me, the lint/crud/change in the "coin" slot drama that some like to point to is - IMO - internet lore....

Let's see, got a couple Bodyguards around here.... Oh yeah, here's an old pic.....

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.............SmithNut

SmithNut, no wonder I never see any used Body Guards you got them all

I have a 638 I try to keep lint free but in it's pocket holster and in my pocket as much as possible.

Rod, you truly are a SmithNut. And the real, honest luckydog. --Best, LD

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Good for you, carrying a second gun, and weak side at that! That is a perfect gun for a BUG. What do you feed it?

SmithNut...

Love your Bodyguards! I have been intrugued with Bodyguards since I first saw one in a S&W catalog when I was a kid. The late Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond books, was intrigued with them too and referred to the Bodyguard as "a real stopper." The first Bodyguards were Airweights starting in 1955. In 1959, the armorer of the Massachusetts State Police inquired if S&W could make them in steel rather than aluminum. The factory responded and the Model 49 became basic issue for the Massachusetts State Police detectives and other plainclothes officers until they transitioned to semi-autos. The image of the Bodyguard came to public attention in 1968 early in the Tet Offensive when a photographer captured the image of Republic of Vietman General Nguyen Ngoc Loan using a Bodyguard to execute a Viet Cong terrorist. General Loan is reported to have answered newsmen's inquiries with the comment, "He killed many of your soldiers and many of mine. Buddha will understand. Do you?"

I usually carry it in a Don Hume pocket holster.

Speer Gold Dot 135 grain Plus P. Very accurate.

Very nice. Bodyguards are my favorite J frames, and the Airwieght version my favorite bodyguard.

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Formerly know as Lucky Derby

Hey, MaineProbation,
Look a little closer - General Loan's gun isn't a Bodyguard; it's a Centennial.

lebomm,

Look closely at the enlarge section of the image. Definitely a Bodygyard.

I carry my model 38 "Bodyguard" in a DeSantis "Nemesis" pocket holster in my left front pocket as well. My primary is one of those plastic pistols. If I can ever find the duty rig I want, I'm gonna start carrying a K frame on duty again.

Then, maybe I can happen upon a 3 inch model 65 for off duty/concealed carry.

L-I-B! I've never seen an enlarged section like that before, and it sho' 'nuff is a Bodyguard there! The one in the full image still looks like a Centennial to my tired ol' eyes. I'll eat my former post !

Larry

lebomm,

That photo generated considerable controversy back in 1968 when it was published. It was a matter of discussion in the S&W community at the time and enlargements of the original photo (which at the time were available from the news services) confirmed it was a S&W Bodyguard (Model 38 or Model 49). That photograph won photographer Eddie Adams a Pulitzer Prize for spot new photography.

Next question is...nickel Model 49 or just a reflection? Sure looks like pearl or ivory grips.

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Centennial Every Day

"Boy, those grips are IVORY. Only a cheap Saigon pimp would carry a revolver with pearl grips!"

Patton Speech

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Centennial Every Day

There was also film shot of the event. I'm guessing it wasn't exactly the only time the General had pulled the trigger. Years ago I used to visit friends in Falls Church, VA and they pointed him out - kind of different experience, much like seeing an icon such as Mickey Mantle or Captain Kangaroo in regular clothes.

Later during the Tet Offensive, General Loan was wounded by machine gun fire and had a leg amputated. He later moved to the U.S. with his family after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Was he a devil or a saint? Probably neither. Reminds me of something my father, a WWII flyer in the North African Campaign, told me: "There are no winners in war, only survivors." I think others have claimed that quotation. But I heard it first from my father and it's been too often proven true.

The story was that the VC executed by Gen Loan was one member of a team that had asassinated some of his family.

I don't know if that is true or not.
rayb

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"cumplo pero no obedezco"

Story goes the team killed his brother, The commander of the national police, his sister-in-law and his 2 nephews aged 8 & 10.