After weeks into months of research, I finally purchased the .380
Bodyguard. I made my decision based on more recent post versus the ones
from 2010 when the pistol was first released. Plus the reasons listed
below. I have a Springfield XDM 9mm 4.5 (which is awesome) as my normal
carry, but needed a pocket pistol for the summer months. I was strongly
looking into the new Kimber Solo 9mm since it was around the same size
as the .380's. However, due to the many negative posts and sales person
feedback on the Kimber, I decided to hold off. One salesman told me the
Solo was on backorder until their issues were resolved, so I starting
looking at the .380's. The other 9mm sub-compacts were still to bulky
and heavy for a pocket pistol IMO.

I narrowed my top three .380 choices down to the Ruger LCP, Sig Sauer
P238 and the S&W Bodyguard.

The final decision came down to this:  
The Ruger LCP felt very small in my hand and I did want the added
protection in my pocket of the manual safety, which the Ruger does not
offer. The long trigger pull on the Ruger felt equal to the Bodyguard.
Since the Ruger felt to small in my hand and had no manual safety, I
narrowed to the search to the P238 and the Bodyguard.

My wife carries a Sig P238 tactical and it's great for her smaller
hands. She loves her P238 and it's a good gun. I have shot it many times
and like it too, for her. For my hands, it's still a little small even
with the pinky extension.  I would highly recommend the Sig, but it was
not for me on fit and the price tag is around $550-$580 depending on the
store. Although price was not the deciding factor for me, it did add to
the overall decision.  

There were obviously problems during the launch of the Bodyguard
including the pin popping out and trigger malfunction or failing during
firing. After reading several recent posts and visiting several gun
stores asking their opinion, I finally decided to go with S&W Bodyguard
for the pocket pistol. It seems S&W has worked out the problems and the
newer serial numbers and more recent purchases are not seeing the same
failures from the beginning models.  The serial number on mine was EAL.
If you purchase one of these, stay away from early serial numbers EAB,
EAC, etc.  Get one on down the list, as those were the first ones out
before S&W made some engineer changes, or at lease that is what I have
read.

The Bodyguard felt good in my hand, I like the sights, manual safety,
etc. The price was about 40% cheaper than the Sig. So I took the plunge
and spent $350 for it. Note: I saw it for $325 at another store a week
later. Oh well...

After the purchase:
I clean the gun before firing it. It was kind of dirty for a new gun,
probably from the first shot test at S&W, not sure. The field strip was
pretty easy, but the pin is a little tough to get out and a little
tougher to get in back in when you reassemble the slide. All in all, a
pretty easy field strip.  

The gun was flawless on my first outting and I am very pleased with the
Bodyguard at this point. I put over 50 rounds through it without any FTE
or FTF.  My wife shot it and did not like the long trigger pull compared
to her P238. I would rather it had a shorter trigger pull too, but it's
not a big deal to me as that is part of the design of a pocket pistol.
Her Sig. is more like a normal trigger pull and quicker with rapid fire.
The Bodyguard was just as accurate at the P238, so not real difference
there.  I used PMC FMJ and Hornady critical defense ammo. As I said above,
the Bodyguard had no issues.  The Sig. did have 1 FTF on a PMC round.  
The 2nd cycle fired with no problems on the same round.


I ordered an extra magazine from S&W, but got a notice they are on back order for 4-6 weeks.

I will update again if anything changes, but overall I am pleased with
this purchase so far.