I just bought 2 380 Bodyguard pistols. I just fired one and it worked perfectly. I came in and was inspecting the pistol and the slide wont lock open with the mag inserted and empty. I checked my second one and it works properly. I found the problem, the mag follower is not pushing up hard enough to push the catch up to lock the slide open. I only used one mag when test firing but the second mag dose the same thing. I tried the two new mags from the pistol that I did not fire yet and the pistol I fired works properly then. Whats going on here? Anyone have this problem? Do I need to contact S&W?

Inconsistent spring pressure. I would contact them and see if they'll send you two new mags for free and then see if that works.

Mine has zero issues even after hundreds of rounds.

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Smith all the things

I would definitely contact Smith & Wesson, and I am confident they will make it right. Sounds like weak magazine springs. It happens.

You're going to like your Bodyguards. I have over 1500 rounds through mine.

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Stay protected my friends.

Just loaded a new mag for first time. When I pushed the sixth round into the mag it was very hard to push then "click", from something inside the mag then the round went in. I removed all the rounds and now its not pushing the slide lock up very hard just like the other two that I was having a problem with. Now I have three ****** mags......Should I go for four???? Ha Ha

I would disassemble one of the mags and check it out. I do this from time to time on all my various brand mags to clean the dirt out. Who knows, maybe it is a simple fix.

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Take that mag apart. You will find the spring is collapsed, for a better word. I just put some "10% stiffer" springs from Galloway Precision in mine because I deemed the stock units to be weak. Still think it's a great gun.


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Called Smith &Wesson today. Told them that I took the mags apart and bent the end of the spring up a little giving a little more push up on the front of the follower. This fixed 2 of the 3 mags. They told me something is wrong with them. Said to send in all the mags and they will replace them no charge. I hope the new ones work ok?

the springs are weak from the get go in those magazines

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S&W BG380, S&W 915 9mm

Question: When you take the mag apart then put it back together does it make any difference which way the spring goes in (e.g., is it possible to put the spring in wrong)?

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Old Cop
LEO (Ret.)

Yes you can put the spring in wrong. They go like this

The spring on the left is a stiffer spring from Galloway Precision

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I just bought a new Bodyguard this past week and had the identical problem with one of the two mags.

I tried putting the spring from the good mag into the bad one but that didn't solve the problem. Then, after taking down the gun and removing the slide I watched the way the mag release behaved with each mag. The follower on the bad one allowed me to move the release down so it slipped between the follower and the frame with much less resistance than the good mag.

I reassembled the gun and put the follower from the good mag into the bad one and--presto, the slide locked every time I opened it on the empty, previously "bad" mag.

Spring pressure may be a factor in some failures to lock open, and I think putting the spring in facing the wrong way might also promote poor function by creating a kind of see-saw effect on the follower. But for my particular gun and mags it seems the follower itself is the key.

(PS--I'm a newbie to posting on any forum so I hope I've done this right.)

Call me a dinosaur, but I never try to load a new mag to capacity. What's wrong with loading to capacity minus 1 and leaving it that way a day or two before you shoot? Empty the mag at the range, then load it to capacity. A small price to pay to avoid shipping stuff back to the factory.