Report: Problems with new S&W Bodyguard 380

My younger son bought a Bodyguard for his very pregnant wife after a home invasion several months ago; luckily, she waddled in as the jerks were exiting out the back door, with several of their family guns. It scared him and her that they went on a crash program to upgrade their household security arrangements: alarm system, steel doors, better locks, and several guns where she can reach them in an emergency....but he wanted her to carry 24/7, and even her 642 felt like too much; the answer was Smith's Bodyguard .380.

I got to try it by day 3 and liked it so much that I bought one myself. Spent most of today cleaning, then shooting for sight-in on the Laser and irons....used Federal Eagle 95 gr FMJ's, as well as Remington's of the same type....good loads, didn't chrono them but got good hits at 7-10 yds from a modified Weaver stance. Haven't had a chance to try any bone fide SD rounds through it due to a local supply shortage. I prefer to carry factory loads for SD purposes so for now it'll have to be FMJ's.

My Serial Number is: EBZ56xx, with a March, 2013 test cartridge date. Don't know where that fits in the scheme of S&W's continuing progress with the design. Just hope that the light firing pin falls, the Laser screw problems, and take down lever issues have been dealt with....so far, at 85+ rounds down range, all's well.

Accuracy was surprising considering the size and construction of the gun. All shooting was done from a modified Weaver Stance, two-handed of course. Grouping initially with factory FMJ's, was one ragged hole at 5 yds, a little over an inch at 7, and roughly an inch and a half at 10, all shot with the irons. Later I tried some hand loads with Remington 95 FMJ's as well as Montana Gold's excellent JHP, using Win 231 with WSP caps. Nearing the top end of the recommended charges, things came together to beat the factory load gps. by roughly a 1/4" at all ranges.

As late afternoon rolled around, I switched to the Laser to get that in the ball park. No real need as both the irons and Laser were less than an inch out at 7 yds. A few minutes tweaking put them all on the Pt of Aim from the 7 yd line, with my hand loads and the Laser keeping them well under an inch. Those tightly packed holes, all clustered together with the red dot sight are addictive!

All in all, I put 85+ rounds though the gun, with no cleaning once firing started. I had no FTFire, FTFeed, or FTextract during that entire session. I cleaned it up after firing paying particular attention to the Laser attch screw in the frame's dust shield. I got about a 1/2 turn out of it with the supplied allen wrench....something I"ll pay another visit to, as the round count continues to climb.

I'm well satisfied with the gun, it's ergonomically well designed with the exception of the Laser on/off button. It's a bit of a reach, and then a bit much of a push to get it actuated. That said, for up close, bad breath CCW use, a Laser isn't needed...and beyond the 3 yd line, you've got time....I think....and hope never to find out.

My usual carry piece is a Smith J-frame [M60 .357 with a 3" tube] so the trigger was no great feat of learning....too, I carry a Sig P290 in my normal rotation, which has that same long trigger pull. The Bodyguard's trigger was better then either right out of the box, I"ll have to say...a big surprise.

So why'd I get it...the convenience of carrying in a front, loose fitting, jeans pocket, or a larger shirt breast pocket...bet you've not heard that one in awhile..used to be my J-frame location 40 yrs ago in lll Corps, RVN.

At less than 15 oz's. it's a very useful gun, albeit in a mouse gun caliber, but a gun in hand is worth infinitely more than its big brother back in the glove compartment or safe....

BTW, as to light firing pin strikes...all factory rounds fired as advertised, tho several looked a bit shallow. For my handloads, I normally use Winchester Sm Pistol primers...which normally have a slightly harder cup to them, at least in my experience. Those too fired just fine, but I switched to some Federals, again normally a bit thinner cup, and got better, deeper firing pin indentation. I have a similar light firing pin strike syndrome with my Sig P290, and in fact sent it back to Sig for re-work...got it back and have had no further problems, but I did switch to the thinner cup Federal caps for use in that gun...I'll do the same for the BG .380.

Best Regards, Rod
 
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BG380 Loose Magazine

Hi, I did a search and didn't find the issue I am having. I carry my BG in an ankle holster and am having to constantly "click" the magazine back in. I know that the mag release button is "touchy", as some have said in previous posts, and I thought that was just the problem. Apparently not the only problem...I just noticed that I can remove my magazine by wiggling it side to side, without being anywhere near the mag release. I was wondering if anyone else has this issue or if there is a fix for it. I am using a factory 6 round mag with the pinky extension. When the mag is fully inserted I can still see about 1/8" of stainless "mag" between the bottom of the grip and the pinky extension, so the extension isn't keeping it from going in all the way.

Doesn't take much effort to "pull" the magazine out...try it on yours...

I tried to do this on my Springfield XD40...not a chance getting the mag out this way.

Any ideas?
 
I've not had any magazine retention problems as you describe and will say that it takes a pretty good push on the mag release button to get it to drop free. If you were having retention problems only with the ankle holster, I'd say it was the holster positioning that was causing the problem.

Just wiggling the mag in its locked position should not cause a release. I tried wiggling my magazines while locked in the gun, as you describe, but couldn't get either to work loose. Both stayed locked in place. Sounds like you have an issue for customer service. BTW, both of mine have the pinkie extension. I tried the mag supplied with the BG, as well as another S&W supplied mag that I bought recently. HTH's Rod
 
I recently purchase a new BG and I can not load a full magazine with six cartridges in to the pistol. Loading five is no problem. I called customer support and they instructed me to put at least 300 rounds through the thing. This seems a bit odd to me. I am a newbie and I have read quite a bit about breaking in these guns, but one of the reasons that I purchased this was to carry six rounds instead of five from sone of the revolvers that I was looking at. Am I asking too much, or am I the only one who can not use a mag to it's full capacity?
 
I recently purchase a new BG and I can not load a full magazine with six cartridges in to the pistol. Loading five is no problem. I called customer support and they instructed me to put at least 300 rounds through the thing. This seems a bit odd to me. I am a newbie and I have read quite a bit about breaking in these guns, but one of the reasons that I purchased this was to carry six rounds instead of five from sone of the revolvers that I was looking at. Am I asking too much, or am I the only one who can not use a mag to it's full capacity?

Brett,

If you're saying you can't get 6 rounds loaded into the magazine, well, it just takes a little practice.

If you're saying that you can't get the magazine into the gun with 6 cartridges, just slam it in there hard.


Let us know..
 
I guess this has little to do with the review but if they walked off with guns, and she has a child on the way, wouldn't investing in new guns stashed around the house be a bad idea? Obviously where they were stored before was not good enough. I'd hate to think that they could just come back in and get more firearms or even the kid getting a hold of one!
 
I've not had any magazine retention problems as you describe and will say that it takes a pretty good push on the mag release button to get it to drop free. If you were having retention problems only with the ankle holster, I'd say it was the holster positioning that was causing the problem.

Just wiggling the mag in its locked position should not cause a release. I tried wiggling my magazines while locked in the gun, as you describe, but couldn't get either to work loose. Both stayed locked in place. Sounds like you have an issue for customer service. BTW, both of mine have the pinkie extension. I tried the mag supplied with the BG, as well as another S&W supplied mag that I bought recently. HTH's Rod

Thanks Rodfac. I tried to duplicate the issue I was having with a friends BG and couldn't duplicate it. It's not just the holster...if I squeeze too hard with my ring finger (rests on the mag) it comes out. Bump it, wiggle it, flick it, all cause it to fall out. I will be contacting S&W to see what I need to do. Thanks again
 
First and my last.

The wife wanted a carry gun so we want and looked at some. The S&W name is why I picked the BG380. I have had a lot of guns but never S&W. We picked it up and before shooting, I sat down with it to tare it down. I did everything I could by hand to get the takedown lever to drop. It would only go 1/2 way and never dropped. I took it back to the dealer and there gun smith said he can not get it to drop and I will have to call S&W. S&W tolled me to shoot it some and try again. Still no go. To top it off, I could not hit the side of a barn with it at 35'. With my other autos we both were hitting good. The trigger travel is way to far, not smooth at all and way to stiff.
I sent it in with a long list of what I think of it. I got it back in O.K. time. But there is a but..... Now it is still really stiff to drop the lever all the way and also when reassembling, the barrel wants to travel with the slide all the way and will not engage to allow the lever to be placed back in. I have to fight with it just to get it back to gather.
There is nothing I like about it now. it is dangerous. If it has to be pulled to save your life, the only hope you have is to empty the mag at them and then even with a well pointed shot, the first or all have a hi likely hood of missing the target and will be sent to hit what ever is behind them......
I will not let it be carried and it will now just sit in a box. nether one of us have any interest in shooting it. I will never buy a S&W again......
 
I wouldn't rely on this as a carry with all your issues, mine works great and if it didn't I would change to my other pistols, just saying
 
Mine also is great. Serial #KAKxxxx. Have fired 300 or so rounds with ZERO problems. No mag drops, no fail to feed or fail to fire problems. Surprisingly mine came with the standard barrel not the MIM one that most have. Wife bought one and she had problems with the trigger pull, arthritis etc, so she traded on a SIG 238 and loves it. Her's was serial #KAR 2xxx and had the MIM barrel. No problems other than her not being able to comfortably operate the weapon. Mine has gotten smoother and easier as time goes on as far as trigger pull but I do sit at the computer and dry fire it frequently. Laser buttons are hard to work even with the new style but I didn't buy it for the laser, it was just there. Love the size, the way is easily hides in your pocket and/or waist band. My experience with it is it is a very accurate weapon at 10 yards or so and even further if pushed there. I know many have had problems but I think many more have not. Like anything else there are lemons out there and for once I didn't get one.
 
hello everyone I join this forum just to share my experience with my bodyguard that I purchased today after just 50 rounds of shooting I had 3 fail to fire federal ammunition. also after just 3 mags worth of shooting the laser went out. I replaced the batteries and it still doesn't work.I made the decision to buy this gun after searching for a few hours on reviews around the web with great feedback. so I understand that I'm probably just that guy that got a bad apple. Still sucks :/ and I already lost the receipt so I cant send it in to have the laser warranty
 
Did you register it with Smith & Wesson? If so, shouldn't be a problem. They know when the weapon was produced and I would think they would want a happy customer. Try either calling customer service or sending them an email to see what they can do for you.
 
I got mine a little more than a year ago and was experiencing repeated light primer taps with varying ammo. Even after repeated cleaning and lubes, it was continuing.

I sent it off to S&W and I haven't had a problem since it's been returned.

The only thing I notice is assembly pin creep (right under hammer on frame handle) after a lot of shooting.
 
After 50minutes on hold they said just to send in the laser only no receipt required and they should have it turned around in about a month. I mentioned the missfeeds but he basically ignored my concern and just asked for me to send in the laser :/ better than nothing. I'm glad they're atleast taking care of the laser. Also is there a shorter aftermarket trigger available for this gun?
 
BG380 laser cover won't stay on

I took my new BG380 to the range for the first time last night and while firing the second magazine the little plastic laser cover came off and slipped forward jamming the slide when chambering the next round. I field stripped it put the cover back on, reassembled, checked the laser which was now about two feet off, and after firing two rounds the same thing happened again. Not the kind of quality / reliability I want in my pocket in a critical situation. Any ideas? Help?
 
My experiences w/BG380, EAR5xxx, purchased new Sep-2011:
Jan-2012, at ~500 rounds... broken firing pin & on-going laser switch problems. S&W
replaced both. Apr-2013, at ~1700 rounds total... broken trigger return spring. S&W repaired.
Get about 3% FTF on first trigger pull (12# when new, 10# now, at ~2800 rnds) with all ammo,
restrike always works. No solution yet for that. Have self-repaired more laser switch problems
(outer contacts on laser module shifted position under recoil or by in-out drag when replacing
batteries. glue problem?) Fabricated replacement laser battery contacts, both of which had
broken off at different times. (best results w/ 0.004” brass, sourced from an old feeler guage set)
Conclusions: 1. Laser design and/or materials inadequate. 2. S&W doesn't sell (last I checked)
most parts for this model to end users. Not much you can fix or maintain yourself. 3. Appears S&W
now has better firing pins, but found no info on better trigger springs. Have no idea if better
parts were used in either of the S&W repair jobs. 4. I don't trust my BG380 as reliable for CCW.
It's currently relegated to GSB (gun safe ballast) status.
 
I have two new stainless Walthers. A PPK & PPK/S. Each has been fired once, one round. If I ever need to carry them, I will qualify with them. Were I going to carry a .380 one of these would be the one.
 
Got my new BG380 yesterday...shot 200 rds of FMJ plus 25 rds of Hornady CD...my slide will occasionally lock back. It appears the slide lock tab is missing the slot on the mag follower and getting jammed between it. Even on an empty mag this will happen the slide will not lock back. It looks like the mag follower is getting twisted (away) from the metal tab on the slide lock. Sent S&W and email and received a ticket number for repair. It happens with both factory mags provided plus another factory mag purchased separately. Anyone else have this problem....
 
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Got my new BG380 yesterday...shot 200 rds of FMJ plus 25 rds of Hornady CD...my slide will occasionally lock back. It appears the slide lock tab is missing the slot on the mag follower and getting jammed between it. Even on an empty mag this will happen the slide will not lock back. It looks like the mag follower is getting twisted (away) from the metal tab on the slide lock. Sent S&W and email and received a ticket number for repair. It happens with both factory mags provided plus another factory mag purchased separately. Anyone else have this problem....

If you're left-handed, don't bother reading this ...

Before you send the gun back ...

Are you a right-handed shooter?

If so, try shooting left-handed and seeing if the "problem" still occurs.

If it doesn't, figure out somewhere else to position your thumb so it doesn't shift and push against/down the slide stop lever tab during recoil (meaning when the gun snaps/lifts and your thumb tries to move with it, but hits again st the slide stop lever pad).

If it still happens when you shoot the gun left-handed, I'd send it back.

Heck, you could send the gun back no matter what, if they offer you a shipping label and you want it checked out. if the gun checks out to be fine, though, it might still pay to check out if it's your thumb doing it without your being aware of it.

Just a thought.

Hanging onto these itty bitty .380's doesn't always leave much room for error when it comes to room for finger/thumb positioning. ;)
 

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