New Bodyguard & Hickock 45

I like Hickock 45 and he gives good reviews even if he is a Glock whore. However just check out his grip. It's not a combat grip. Anyone could pull his gun straight out of his hand. The real world isn't YouTube :)
 
I've been shooting literally 1000's of WWB & UMC and I dont recall having any particular issues related to the ammo per se, Um I can tell you that I can feel the difference in recoil between these brands and lets say, a higher quaility ammo.WWB especially, I think they load them from the factory light, ei, not a lot of powder.. For economical target shooting/plinking/breaking in a new pistol, they're fine.

I'm surprised by Monarch ammo (the brass, not the steel cased) found at my local Academy store. It feels more "punchy" and a bit more sooty than the national economy brands however my bodyguard functions flawlessly with it. I'm gonna give Winchester Train & defend in 380 a shot soon. Hornady "American Gunner" XTP is my carry ammo. Again, functions beautifully in the lil' pistol.

Hickok45 gives decent reviews however I would like him to talk more about the pistol from a consumer stand point, that is, show us what box it ships in, what comes with it, warranty, field striping/lubing and then shoot the thing... I cringed while watching the video on the BG380, (the first video) that shows him struggling & hammering on the take down pin back into the slide....After field stripping it a couple times I can put it back together blind folded in 5 seconds.

And finally, to the OP, Congrats on your choice of pistol, the BG 380 is a great little carry piece. Take it apart as shown in the booklet, clean it, lube it shoot it...

I have noticed that around 100-150 rnds it does get sooty to the point where sometimes my mag would stick, I think that is most of the 380's problems lay. I keep on saying this. but when cleaning the pistol after shooting, take the mags apart and clean them inside with your favorite brand gun cleaner and put a toothbrush & cleaner to the red plastic mag follower and wipe dry, no lube needed.

Ok, I'm done :D
 
Rastoff said:
I'm not familiar with this term. Please post a picture of what a combat grip looks like.
Click to expand...

A combat grip is where your left thumb covers your right thumb, if you're right handed. It makes it almost impossible for someone to pull the gun out of your hand.
 
ATF said:
A combat grip is where your left thumb covers your right thumb, if you're right handed. It makes it almost impossible for someone to pull the gun out of your hand.
Click to expand...
Like this?
revolver-grip.jpg


If that is indeed what you mean, then I don't teach that either. Crossing thumbs like that tends to cause the shooter to pull the shot off line. This is the grip I, and most other instructors, teach:
ProperGripRightsmall_zps7bbedf5d.jpg


If you think it's easy to grab the gun out of my hands with this grip, I'd love to do a demonstration. More to the point, if you think the "combat grip" (pictured above) will prevent someone from taking the gun out of your grip, I'd love to demonstrate that too.

Someone who knows what they're doing will get the gun. Someone who doesn't know the proper technique will not get the gun with either grip. Further, if the bad guy is close enough to get the gun away, something else has gone wrong anyway.
 
I'll have to take a pic but basically the grip I use has two thumbs pointed forward, left thumb covering the right thumb both pointing forward with my left index finger gripping the trigger guard. Works for me.
 
The grip really has only one purpose; ensure the hits are on target. If you're hitting the intended target, whatever grip you're using is right. This is why I wouldnt criticise Hickock's grip, he usually hits the target.
 
buckshotshorty said:
I just purchased a new Bodyguard 380 non laser, and haven't been to the range yet, but after watching Hickock 45's review, I must admit I am a little apprehensive.

In his follow up video he uses two different Bodyguards, and both suffered from either light strikes or failure to lock back on last round. This has me wondering if I made a good purchase?😳

I hope to go the range this week and wring it out a bit, but until I do, I hope my own results are better.
Click to expand...

UPDATE

Went to the range yesterday with 6 different brands of ammo, and fired a total of 135 rounds: Hornady XTP, Rem Golden Sabre, Gold Dot, PMC FMJ, Blazer Aluminum, and Geco FMJ .

I had numerous light strikes with the Blazer and Geco; none with the other 4 brands. The brands that had the light strikes accounted for about half the total rounds fired. So, out of 70 rounds of Blazer/Geco i had roughly a dozen light strikes. All fired on the second strike.
Regardless of the fact that light strikes seemed limited ti 2 brands, I think I should have had none! I'll shoot another 150 rounds before I contact S&W .
 
It's no secret that the BG 380 is ammo sensitive. I would add PPU, Wolf and Tula to the list of hard primer ammo. This should tell you that it is NOT the pistol, but ammo related failure's.
But if you expect a small pistol to fire all brands of ammo, it aint gonna happen. It is just the nature of small pocket pistols, especially a hammer fired one.. You have to find ammo that it likes & stick with it. With me, you cant go wrong with Monarch 95 gr. fmj for target & Hornady "American Gunner" XTP's for self defense.
 
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I'm sorry, I don't think it's acceptable that certain brands of ammo will give you light strikes, especially since Blazer is American made and I assume uses CCI primers which I use almost exclusively in my reloading.

If it continues with the light strikes, it's going back to Smith.
 
buckshotshorty said:
I'm sorry, I don't think it's acceptable that certain brands of ammo will give you light strikes, especially since Blazer is American made and I assume uses CCI primers which I use almost exclusively in my reloading.

If it continues with the light strikes, it's going back to Smith.
Click to expand...

Good Luck with that :D Americans make some **** products just like any other country.

BTW I was talking about the ammo not the BG :)
 
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buckshotshorty said:
I'm sorry, I don't think it's acceptable that certain brands of ammo will give you light strikes, especially since Blazer is American made and I assume uses CCI primers which I use almost exclusively in my reloading.

If it continues with the light strikes, it's going back to Smith.
Click to expand...


Good luck..... But it's just the nature of small pistols due to their size. Especially hammer fired ones.
 
I watched Hickok,s video too. The BG he used just had the trigger bar in. When you watch the update video where he has the BG with the Galloway trigger bar plus the stronger hammer spring, there was no FTF. Galloway no longer sells just the trigger bar. It comes in a kit with all the springs you need too.
 
I watched Hickcock 45 (watch him often & like his reviews) and almost gave the S&W a pass b/c of it. I did pick up the no laser model and it's been great, no problems. I gave it a thorough cleaning at home and took it to the range. One hundred fifty rounds of Glazer FMJ and everything worked as designed. It's also very accurate. The trigger pull feels like my 442 but smoother. It's a keeper for me.
 
I fired 350+ rds in mine from 5 or 6 brands of ammo. They all had 10%+ light strikes/FTFire, numerous slide lock failures and self racking after the last rd. Everything on the gun was stock and purchased new. I sent it back to S&W and they replaced the slide. When I got it back the front sight was pushed so far left you couldn't have hit the wall at 10 yds. Rather than spend another $100 on ammo and range time I traded it for a Sig. Cost a little more but it goes BANG every time I pull the trigger and the groups are pretty tight. I just have to get used to having a SA gun in my pocket.

I don't think the BG is a bad gun. I just happened to get a lemon. Find an ammo it likes and enjoy it.
 
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I bought my BG about 1 1/2 years ago. When I first got it, I had a couple of ejection problems. The place I got it does work on guns so the gunsmith polished the barrel and ramp free of charge. Since then I have put hundreds of rounds through it without a jam. This includes all kinds of ammo, some even very old and also hollowpoints. Once I got over accepting that this is not a target gun, I was fine. That doesn't mean it isn't accurate, it is, but I don't like the long trigger pull. When discussing this with a friend, he reminded me that if I'm shooting this for self defense, I'm going to be pulling the trigger as fast and hard as I can and I won't be concerned about the long trigger pull . If you want to see a good YouTube video on the BG, pull up the Jerry Miculek video on the BG. He not only shoots fast, he can hit a target 200 yards away! Every time I think about selling mine, I find it too easy to carry, especially in the summer. If you accept the BG for what it is, I think you will be happy. Regards, Jim
 
Like you I was a little hesitant buying the BG after viewing the Hickok45 videos but I took the plunge and I just bought the BG M&P w/o laser last Sunday. Brought it home, cleaned and lubed it and took it to the range. Shot 100 rounds of Remington UMC 95 grain FMJ, 25 rounds of Hornady Critical Defense and 20 rounds of Federal Hydra-Shok. Only had one round of the Remington that took three trigger pulls to fire, all other rounds fired flawlessly. I am not giving up on it just yet. I will keep testing different ammo and hopefully find some cheaper target stuff that works reliably for range time and the defense stuff continues to prove reliable. I am hoping it just needs to break in and or it was just that ammo. I bought the gun specifically for pocket carry with a holster when carrying my Shield in an IWB is not practical. I looked at the LCP and the G42 but I was concerned they would be too big for my needs. I hope everything works out for us!
 
KYM&PGUY - Last year, I too purchased a new Bodyguard 380 for my wife. At the same time, I purchased a new Ruger LCP for myself. My first purchase of ammo was the Remington UMC FMJ. The Bodyguard did not fair too well with the Remington ammo. Had 3 magazines, middle of the mag, which had FTFeed issues. The LCP, however, fired anything I could throw at it! Our LGS determined the problem with the Bodyguard was an ammo issue. He fired it with Perfecta (inexpensive Walmart ammo), reloads a friend of his supplies to him, and PMC Bronze. Many rounds of these and not one issue with the Bodyguard! We have since moved on to the PMC Bronze and have had no problems. I have also read where others are having good luck with the American Eagle brand?

If you have any Remington UMC rounds left, next visit to the range, fire some with someone behind you and see if you don't have an excessive amount of sparks coming out of the ejection port. I never noticed it when we first went to the range, but our LGS pointed it out! He did not give us any specific reasons why that was happening, but asked that we not continue using the UMC rounds due to the issues we were having with the pistol. Whatever UMC rounds I have left, I will gladly load them in the LCP and get rid of them!

Don't give up on the Bodyguard 380. I believe it's a well built pistol. It's just one of those things you will have to put more rounds thru it and find the ammo that works best for it!

Good luck and happy shooting - Rick
 
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I'm shooting reloads with mine. I use CCI primers and Titegroup.

I've not had any issues with light strikes. I'm carrying with Hornady or Gold Dot. Not issues with those either (except they are 'spensive little buggers). I have zero issues with mine. The only thing that bugs me is that this is the loudest gun in my collection. Strange.
 
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