Looking for a hammer fired 380 to give my punishing 380 Seecamp (have a 32 also) a rest. Got rid of a striker fired gun, not interested again.

Experiences with recent production Bodyguards. Not interested in a laser either.

__________________
Sure you did

Get an LCP Max. I have one and it goes everywhere with me in an Alabama Holster pocket holster. It's been flawless and with 13 rounds, it carries a lot more firepower than the Bodyguard. I installed a Sigurd trigger and it's a pleasure to shoot.

Ambi Pocket Holster – Alabamaholster.com

Sigurd Max Short Stroke Trigger for Ruger(R) LCP(R) MAX Pistols

Attached Images

	IMG_1981.jpg (137.4 KB, 37 views)
	IMG_1980.jpg (75.2 KB, 26 views)

__________________
NRA, SWCA #2262

I've had my .380 BG going on 4 years now and close to 300 rds through it and it hasn't given me one lick of trouble. Acceptably accurate too. I have zero complaints with it. I carry it almost every day in a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster.

__________________
SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS

ladder13 Did you have failed to look for hammer fired 380's on your own so far ? Since you did not mention any other specs other than a 380 thats hammer fired heres a few below .

Size wise it your problem to fiture it out

How about the m&p EZ 380 as it is hammer fired
Bersa 380cc an thunder series \\ walther pd380 & ppk
colt mustang
kimber micro 380
sig p238
spring 911 3890
ruger max and security 380
browning 1911 380
and a sig p250 sub compact came in 380 too but doubt you will find one !!

How about a snub nose revolvers ! .
Taurus 380
charter arms

No current taurus TCP 380 but if you find a new non current or nice one , there good .

I'm sure I messed others but thats it from me .

Have plenty of small revolvers. Not looking for a 1911 style 380.
Ditched the MAX.

The Bodyguard seems to fit, long DA trigger pull and double strike capable.

__________________
Sure you did

I'd add a "lock breach" design if possible.

I carry my M&P BG380 in a belly band when I run. Recoil is a little snappy, but not bad. A couple hundred rounds through it without a hitch.

IMG_5227 copy.jpg

__________________
Ain't This Fun Though?

Only had friends who picked up Bodyguards… out of three, none liked/kept them.

I had the original LCP for years. Upgraded to the Max last year and very happy with it. Ran everything from garbage to self defense ammo thru it… 100%.





One thing I miss from the original LCP is the Magguts conversions. Extra round per magazine. I used to carry the LCP in a rear pocket holster that held a spare magazine… 15 rounds of .380 in my back pocket was fine in the summer months. Magguts is supposedly looking into the Max, which I’ll convert if it’s offered.

They do have a setup for the Bodyguard, if I remember correctly.

If you have medium to long fingers, you will find the Bodyguard trigger unusable. On the one I tried I had to modify my grip halfway through the pull to get the hammer to drop. The Mark 1-1/2 Ruger LCP is a better proposition. It is hammer fired, but it does not have double strike capability.

__________________
Release the Kraken

I was very happy with my Sig P238, especially once I switched to the 7 round magazines, with the pinky extension base.
I had a very early one, and once in a while it would fail to feed some brands of ammo. After I polished the feed ramp a little, it ate over 1,000 rounds of anything and everything I fed it.

ladder13, I agree with hardluk1. If you can find a SIG P250 subcompact in .380, grab it! I own one (with 2,500 rounds through it), and I think it hits all of your requirements. It's hammer-fired, accurate and reliable, carries 12+1 rounds, and has what may be the smoothest DAO trigger in existence, with double strike capability. Good Luck!

__________________
What, me worry?

Well I guess I'll swim against the tide here. I'm very happy with my Bodyguard (no laser), trust it completely, and carry it everyday. It's been very reliable for me. I don't keep track of rounds fired in my guns. Hundreds and hundreds, at least, through my Bodyguard, and probably well over a thousand. I have XXL hands, long fingers. I think because my hands are so large, the recoil was vey snappy. I put a Hogue Handall grip sleeve on it, and it transformed how the gun fit in my hand. Huge improvement, without adding bulk. I like that it's hammer fired, with a long relatively heavy trigger pull. I just had to practice with it to get proficient. The thumb safety doesn't stick out much, and eventually I started carrying it with the safety off. To me, with the hammer not being partially cocked by chambering a round, it's as safe for pocket carry as my J frames.

When .380 ammo was unobtainium a few years ago, I bought some new ammo from a small manufacturer in Colorado that gave me about a 50% failure from light strikes. They must have used rock hard primers. I gave that ammo to a buddy, because they shot fine in his SIG. No problem with light strikes with Winchester white box, Browning ammo, Blazer, or my carry choice of Hydrashock Deep.

I pocket carry mine in a Mika holster. I also have a Nemesis that works fine, I just like the Mika better.

I only wish S&W would come out with a Bodyguard Plus in the same footprint, as Ruger did with the LCP. Until they do, I'm comfortable with 6+1.

Hyena, look over, I am in the lane next to you.

__________________
Sure you did

My vote would be for the Ruger LCP Max. Nearly 1,000 rounds through it and not a single hiccup. It's been my EDC for 6 months now. Couldn't recommend it highly enough.

I've carried mine for nine years never a problem,reliable,accurate.Long trigger for which I learned to adapt too.I also own a gen II LCP and a P 238great gun but I don't like the cock and lock.So my BG .380 was my go to carry gun.I just switched to a P365 because I felt the need to up my caliber and capacity.I will use it for a bug.

Attached Images

	IMG_1837.jpg (98.9 KB, 21 views)
	IMG_1148.jpg (123.9 KB, 14 views)

Hammer fired…is it? I had one, sold it.

__________________
Sure you did

It is… all of the LCPs were/are hammer fired.

Correct, thank you, I meant second strike capable.

__________________
Sure you did

Got you. That feature, while may have a use… is far from useful.

When our agency switched from .40 to 9mm… it was also from H&Ks to Glocks. The H&Ks were around years before I came on, but from what I heard, the decision to go with the LEM was due to BP view of wanting second strike in the environment they were predominantly in (southern border area). BP had a big hand with the move to Glock, which is telling in what they wanted more than second strike; a full size (47) and compact (19) pistol option and RDO ready. We initially were issued Winchester Ranger 147 grain until Speer G2 147 grain was put out in the numbers that we could get everyone carrying it. The Winchester scared most of us out the gate, since the bullets looked like they were corroding out of the newly opened cases… we were told that was fine, ammo is good to go.

With the transition course and 4 qualifications we ran before getting to the Speer… we had exactly 4 instances of a Winchester round not igniting on first strike. This is an AOR with approximately 60 sworn officers. One officer thru the transition and qualifications shot, on average, 1,000 rounds. Approximately 60,000 rounds… 4 failures to fire.

To go further into analysis… the 4 failures happened during qualification runs, where the course of fire is 46 rounds total. Any round that doesn’t go off, the instructor usually will have the officer retrieve it after that stage and toss back into their current magazine so the number would be accurate (if we shot 20 and have 26 left, the ejection means there is 25 in the gun/pouch and the last 4 round string would only be 3).

Out of those 4… how many went off the second time? Zero! We legitimately tried one about 10 times in 3 different Glocks… it refused to fire.

Listen, I really don’t have a dog in what you decide on for a new gun. I legitimately hope whatever it is works out great for you. But with bullet technology where it is at now, ammo failures are not common with quality centerfire ammo. If a round doesn’t go off, unless the gun is extremely worn or defective (reason why the primer didn’t ignite)… that round’s chance of going off again is low. Can it happen? Definitely… but just from odds and looking at it from a standpoint that I need this gun to work like RIGHT NOW… kicking that round out is the smarter move than trying again and again. That is why tap/rack is so widely drilled in training.

With that being said, another pistol that may be worth a look is the Beretta Cheetah line. Zero experience with the .380 guns, but my .32 Beretta 81 is awesome… and can’t wait to try it out with the suppressor when it warms up. There still are surplus pistols out there for a decent price and there is the new 80X.

I don't need your reasons why You don't like brand X, Y or Z. It is your problem to figure out what 380 to buy . My wife is a small 68 year old 5-2 lady and has a ruger max as a higher capacity 380 option over her old TCP . She only carrys ether one when a dress is more appropriate and then a garter belt holster holster carrys the 380 and a spare mag . Other wise she carrys a p365xl or kimber ultra in 9mm .

I just picked up a Glock 42, so I'd love to hear what happened with your striker fired gun if you would. I really wanted a Bodyguard for a long time but oh people tell of the problems. Then I looked at the Sig 365 and saw that they were having the same difficulties as other tiny 380 models. I wrote up a range report recently on my Colt Mustang 380. I got it new in 1986. I have learned over the years how to make it work. Others tell stories and oh the reliability issues, but I just have learned with these tiny guns everything has to be just right. Another commenter here said he got his gun and just learned it. Get used to it. Learn to fight with it. Adapt. Improvise. Overcome.

Let us know OK?
Kind Regards,
BrianD

__________________
696-6906-457-38-3913-CS40-411

I had Kahr, while small, never felt comfy having it IWB, or in the pocket. I do have a P365 but don’t carry that IWB either, just OWB.

Maybe I’ll just stick with my Seecamps.

__________________
Sure you did

mine have been reliable. NP3+ on both. i shoot them as well as any pistol i own [that's not a real high bar]. i carry one at night when my Wranglers get hung up and i put Sweat pants on. and a flashlight in other pocket

Attached Images

9956F75D-F9F1-4E11-B3E2-F0664B1FCF0F.jpg (61.5 KB, 25 views)

The requirement for double strike narrows the field a lot. I can think of three small pistols other than the Bodyguard.

Remington RM380
SCCY CPX-3
Sig P290RS in 380
Sig P250SC in 380

__________________
Release the Kraken

Bersa Thunder .380 CC also.

I have several Bodyguards since they were introduced: laser, no laser, manual safety, no manual safety. They all worked 100%. I currently use a no-laser version and have about 600 rounds through it. Not only is it completely reliable, the mechanical accuracy is far better than any Ruger .380 I've shot or seen shot, including the LCP Max. It is no problem keeping 6 rounds into 4" from a rest at 25 yards. I've seen the same accuracy with my other Bodyguards, and other shooters.

You'd be lucky to achieve that half the distance from the LCP Max, assuming you can get it to shoot reliably. The guns are just not consistent. I bought one when first introduced because the package is attractive and it has a nice set of sights. But it went back to Ruger with magazines dropping out, failure to lock back, shotgun-pattern grouping out of a barrel with no crown, a slide finish that rusts if you look at it wrong, and a POI that was 6" low at 50 feet and went down from there.

And I'm not the only one. Do a search of the Ruger boards and you will see that some run fine, many have problems. Recently my LGS got in a distributor exclusive with OD green frame, and upon examining it, it appears Ruger has gotten their act together and fixed some issues: the magazine release is stiffer, the magazines lock back the slide manually, and the barrel is properly crowned. Finish looked somewhat nicer.

So I bought it. Have a little over 100 rounds through it, and it is shooting within 1" of POA out to 50 feet, a big improvement. Mechanical accuracy also is improved, as the gun will group into 3" @ 50 feet. Have had no reliability problem with it. But the trigger is still stinky - lots of neutral take-up, and then a very abrupt break. Finish, while improved, started showing rusting within a week.

In the same timeframe, a client purchased a standard production LCP Max, and while training him with it, he had some lock-back and mag-dropping problems, although there was no POI problem. Accuracy was spotty. As I said, the guns are inconsistent.

Personally, I would not carry the LCP Max in a pocket or IWB appendix. Even though it is hammer fired, it has a low-mass pre-cocked hammer design which verges on SA sear engagement, which is why Ruger has added a trigger blade safety to the design. Same reason I would not carry a striker fired, nor SA-only pistol, in those modes. Bodyguard uses a traditional DA hammer pull and like a DA revolver have no problem with that in a pocket or appendix IWB. To each his own.

In my experience the Bodyguard is the better made pistol, and it's also flatter in the pocket. Many "modern" shooters do not know how to shoot a traditional DA-only hammer fired action, so complain about the trigger. I've shot and carried DA revolvers for 45 years, so I think the Bodyguard is just dandy.

Seecamp has double strike capability also.

So you are of no help as I asked?

__________________
Sure you did

You might take a look at Walther's 380 lineup. The new PD 380 looks interesting and affordable. Here's a link:

Premium Firearms; Handguns & Pistols | Walther Arms

i bought one as soon as they were available. there's alot to like about the PD380. the double action trigger, however, makes a Bodyguard trigger seem like a hair trigger. it is 10# and mine stacks. comments by new owners complain about the double action trigger. single action is not great, but pretty good. no reliability issues. just a heads up in case you want to buy one without first trying.