Bodyguard 2.0 Hollow Point Problem

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Rf53

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Hello, I am new here but not new to shooting. I posted another thread and received some great advice so I hope you guys can help me with this issue.

I have a new Smith & Wesson bodyguard 2.0. Unfortunately, I am experiencing a problem trying to load it with hollow point ammunition. No matter how I attempt to load (inserting a magazine and releasing the slide, or inserting a magazine with a closed slide and racking) I am experiencing failures. The round does not fully chamber and prevents the slide from fully closing. This only happens with hollow point. It does not happen with ball or dummy rounds.

Does anyone know if this is an issue with this weapon? Thank you!
 
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dben002 said:
can you post closeup photo's of the feed ramp? it would help to see if there is a burr problem preventing the rounds from loading....also what Hollow point ammo are you trying to load?
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IMG_3062.jpg

IMG_3058.jpg
 
I like Fiocchi. I shoot a lot of it in 9mm Para with nary a hitch. Ironically, I had a CZ 82 in 9x18mm Makarov that would only function all the time with "Fiocchi Classic Load." It did not like any of the Russian, and other East Europe ammo, or Chinese ammo. Go figure! It just liked the ogive of the Fiocchi Classic Load.

If you feel comfortable with polishing the ramp, go for it.

If not, I would try a couple of different brands of hollow point ammo (get a few rounds from a friend); then, if it is still messing up, I would check the magazine springs and go from there. I believe some folks have had magazine Like how does the top round look on the mag compare to FMJ ammo wich is digesting fine.
 
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I charge from an open slide, but give the slide a REALLY VIGOROUS rack, doing the 'push pull' thing. Mine usually isn't ammo sensitive, though I had a mag act up the other night.
Moon
 
halfmoonclip said:
I charge from an open slide, but give the slide a REALLY VIGOROUS rack, doing the 'push pull' thing. Mine usually isn't ammo sensitive, though I had a mag act up the other night.
Moon
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This is interesting and it has never happened to me before. The BG2 magazine springs are really tight out of the box. I have now determined that with one or two hollow points in the magazine the gun feeds just fine. With more rounds in the magazine it fails. This may just be a matter of breaking in the magazines because they are so tight that they are pushing the rounds beyond the feed lips. I need to fully load the magazines and let them sit for a while to work in the springs and then determine if the hollow points feed without a problem. I will report back.
 
dben002 said:
I personally don't like the Fiocchi brand and don't use it, but keep this post active as there are some better experts here that can help and guide you.
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So get this. I did a test. I started with one round of the Fiocchi .380 in the magazine, inserted it, and released the slide. No issues. The same for rounds two through four. When I got to round five I started experiencing the feeding issues.

Then I did the same thing with the ball ammo. No problems through nine rounds. The spring is still so tight I still can’t fit the 10th into the magazine. I don’t have a loader.

At this point, I have to believe it is the ammunition, although to be sure I’m going to have to purchase another brand and test it.
 
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Rf53 said:
.. This may just be a matter of breaking in the magazines because they are so tight that they are pushing the rounds beyond the feed lips.
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Your assumption about the mag feed lips is correct.

I loaded my 12-round with all 12. Using my UPlula it was extremely difficult to get the 12th round in. The amount of force I had to use was very uncomfortable. I attempted to pop out the 12th round and found it was took extreme force to get it out of the feed lips.

I measured the width of the feed lips with 12 rounds, it was 0.444". I removed 2 rounds, leaving 10 rounds in the 12-round mag. I measured the width of the feed lips, it measured 0.440".

4 thousandths of an inch may be causing a tolerance issue. But clearly the force that is being exerted on the feed lips is more than I want. Because of that force, I do not load ANY of my mags to full capacity. I always load 1 round short.

I have not noticed any difference in force required to load a mag by hand by loading one and leaving it loaded for days or weeks.
 
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I don't think you should be discouraged with this learning curve break-in period. You are going to find a round that not only functions reliably but also hits to point of aim and behaves consistently at long and close range.

One of my favorite YouTube influencers is Stav at "SheEquipsHerself".
Nothing profound there but she and her fine husband have done so much to bring new shooters especially girls into the 2A fold. I found them when researching the Glock 42. So did S&W. That is why they were invited to the factory with other influencers to the launch premier of the BG2.0 last year. Shooting the factory tuned sample it was all wonderful. When they got home with their own copy they started having feeding issues. The husband did a video on it and explained that the problem is with the 2-part feed ramp. We had the same issues with the old Colt 1911 and is the reason some will still only shoot ball ammo.

He showed that he wanted to always use flat point ammo. A lot of people coming from the 40 S&W think that and the people coming from 38 wadcutters think that. Very soon, I expect you will start seeing comments that the 380 is under powered and you should not use hollow points, etc. etc. However, the shoulder of the FP meplat would hit the gap and go awry. I cannot remember if he found a work around.

Polishing should help. Also look at the upper surface of the chamber as the round has to bump/bounce off that to go in fully.

Note: I could not find the video I was talking about on their channel. Sorry.
I did see a lot of Tubes about polishing the internals of that pistol.

Good Luck With This!
BranD
 
Brian Parrish said:
I don't think you should be discouraged with this learning curve break-in period. You are going to find a round that not only functions reliably but also hits to point of aim and behaves consistently at long and close range.

One of my favorite YouTube influencers is Stav at "SheEquipsHerself".
Nothing profound there but she and her fine husband have done so much to bring new shooters especially girls into the 2A fold. I found them when researching the Glock 42. So did S&W. That is why they were invited to the factory with other influencers to the launch premier of the BG2.0 last year. Shooting the factory tuned sample it was all wonderful. When they got home with their own copy they started having feeding issues. The husband did a video on it and explained that the problem is with the 2-part feed ramp. We had the same issues with the old Colt 1911 and is the reason some will still only shoot ball ammo.

He showed that he wanted to always use flat point ammo. A lot of people coming from the 40 S&W think that and the people coming from 38 wadcutters think that. Very soon, I expect you will start seeing comments that the 380 is under powered and you should not use hollow points, etc. etc. However, the shoulder of the FP meplat would hit the gap and go awry. I cannot remember if he found a work around.

Polishing should help. Also look at the upper surface of the chamber as the round has to bump/bounce off that to go in fully.

Note: I could not find the video I was talking about on their channel. Sorry.
I did see a lot of Tubes about polishing the internals of that pistol.

Good Luck With This!
BranD
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I visited my local gun shop and explained the issue. They told me their experience is that .380’s don’t like regular hollow points very much. They suggested Ft. Scott tumble on impact .380 rounds. They are basically hollow points with a polymer tip. As the name implies, they are designed to tumble upon impact providing greater stopping power so they are supposed to be a good defense round. They said all their staff carries TUI in their small caliber autos.

I loaded a full mag and dropped the slide. The BG2 chambered the round smoothly. For now I will carry these. As the gun breaks in a bit will retry normal hollow points to see how they perform.
 
There was a man who wanted to use the Hornady Critical Defense Round, the one with the polymer tip. That round has been exemplary in both professional and amateur testing with perfect expansion and penetration. Usually with 380 you get one or the other.

You would think looking at the shape but no, his BG2 would not cycle them. He found that the case mouth rim would hit that edge on the 2-piece feed ramp. A more rounded nose would send the case mouth over that crack instead of straight into it.

Glad you found a round and if that round hits where you aim then all is good in the world. Keep us up. Very curious you know.

BDP
 
Brian Parrish said:
There was a man who wanted to use the Hornady Critical Defense Round, the one with the polymer tip. That round has been exemplary in both professional and amateur testing with perfect expansion and penetration. Usually with 380 you get one or the other.

You would think looking at the shape but no, his BG2 would not cycle them. He found that the case mouth rim would hit that edge on the 2-piece feed ramp. A more rounded nose would send the case mouth over that crack instead of straight into it.

Glad you found a round and if that round hits where you aim then all is good in the world. Keep us up. Very curious you know.

BDP
Click to expand...

I will. I emailed S&W to let them know what I experienced and to get their opinion. In the meantime here is an interesting video on hollow point vs TUI ammo. Surprising results.

https://youtu.be/ps-o0m3Ds_M?si=xzIiKFmpuRs5RbQH
 
Rf53 said:
I will. I emailed S&W to let them know what I experienced and to get their opinion. In the meantime here is an interesting video on hollow point vs TUI ammo. Surprising results.

https://youtu.be/ps-o0m3Ds_M?si=xzIiKFmpuRs5RbQH
Click to expand...

For the last 5 years I’ve watched 100s of YouTube video “experts”.

Like too many, that video is showing incomplete testing results proclaiming to meet “FBI protocol”.

Where in the testing did we see anything related to the very strict test procedures in the FBI protocol?

What was the temperature of the gel used?

What about Test Two – Heavy Clothing? Or do we assume that if we have a self-defense encounter it will always be with a naked person?

If the Fort Scott TUI was such a hot defense round, it would have been tested by the FBI.

I have shot Winchester PDX1 Defender BJHP, Sig Elite JHP, Hornady Customer XTP, Hornady Critical Defense FTX, Federal HST JHP, PCM FMJ, Magtech FMJ, and Winchester FMJ Flat Nose, with zero failures.

My carry ammo for now is Hornady Critical Defense 90 gr FTX.
 
GnarlsR2 said:
For the last 5 years I’ve watched 100s of YouTube video “experts”.

Like too many, that video is showing incomplete testing results proclaiming to meet “FBI protocol”.

Where in the testing did we see anything related to the very strict test procedures in the FBI protocol?

What was the temperature of the gel used?

What about Test Two – Heavy Clothing? Or do we assume that if we have a self-defense encounter it will always be with a naked person?

If the Fort Scott TUI was such a hot defense round, it would have been tested by the FBI.

I have shot Winchester PDX1 Defender BJHP, Sig Elite JHP, Hornady Customer XTP, Hornady Critical Defense FTX, Federal HST JHP, PCM FMJ, Magtech FMJ, and Winchester FMJ Flat Nose, with zero failures.

My carry ammo for now is Hornady Critical Defense 90 gr FTX.
Click to expand...

Hey, I’m not trying to start a my round can beat up your round debate. I just posted that video and information in case anyone is interested, and definitely for BG2 owners as an alternative to hollow points that may not feed well in their guns. I will be happy to try Hornady some day in my .380. Goodness knows I’ve put enough through my Sig.
 
Brian Parrish said:
There was a man who wanted to use the Hornady Critical Defense Round, the one with the polymer tip. That round has been exemplary in both professional and amateur testing with perfect expansion and penetration. Usually with 380 you get one or the other.

You would think looking at the shape but no, his BG2 would not cycle them. He found that the case mouth rim would hit that edge on the 2-piece feed ramp. A more rounded nose would send the case mouth over that crack instead of straight into it.

Glad you found a round and if that round hits where you aim then all is good in the world. Keep us up. Very curious you know.

BDP
Click to expand...

Ok… it’s definitely the Fiocchi ammo. I found this post on Reddit. Check out the video. This is exactly what I experienced. Stay away from Fiocchi .380!

https://www.reddit.com/r/SigSauer/comments/1f7kw9q/fiocci_xtp_380_not_feeding_in_the_p365/
 
GnarlsR2 said:
For the last 5 years I’ve watched 100s of YouTube video “experts”.

Like too many, that video is showing incomplete testing results proclaiming to meet “FBI protocol”.

Where in the testing did we see anything related to the very strict test procedures in the FBI protocol?

What was the temperature of the gel used?
Click to expand...

Most of these YouTube testers use Clear Ballistics gel, which is NOT FBI protocol compliant. It leaves a pretty wound channel that's easy to see and show off, but it's a synthetic material and doesn't replicate the performance in proper FBI-spec ballistics gelatin.
 
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