We have all been following the three .380 glitches,take down pin, trigger and laser controls but I cannot recall anyone giving a partial SN for reference. The ones I have seen all start with EAA and that series propably runs to 9999. Be interesting to know if most problems are occuring in lower or higher end of range or all over. For example I have one in the 3000 range and one in 7000 range and both had laser problems. Any one else care to comment ? Has a new series other that EAA shown up ?

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NRA Bene Life, SWCA 2372

There is a statistical survey going on over at another web site. So far it appears that all serial numbers are affected. My serial # is EAA23XX and I had my trigger mechanism break on the second round I fired. My left laser button still doesn't work in spite of a trip back to the factory. I'm taking mine out for a long shooting session this weekend to see if anything else goes wrong. Failure of the take-down lever seems to be the most common problem although laser problems, failure to fire problems, a broken firing pin, and the trigger mechanism are also reported. The Bodyguard seems to be fraught with problems and it seems that at least 500 rounds need to be fired to verify reliability.

I just was in contact with S&W. They said they replaced the frame and gave me a new serial number to go with it. My new number is EAA0XXX

EAA28xx here and have only a problem with right laser button. It comes on sometimes when you press really hard. Another problem is the magazine catches about half way when I insert it in gun. Close to 200 rounds fired and no other problems to report. I did call S&W to send my BG380 back to correct the issues but have not yet received shipping label. I stillreally like the BG380

EAA 35## back to S&W about the takedown lever and the right laser button issues. Mine was tested at the factory on 7/10/2010 and purchased last week.

TXM&P. You might want to takeout the gray laser botton and rotate replace and till it works better . It worked for me. With the magazine give it a good hit with the palm of your hand and it should go in. After awhile it should be ok. Might be better than sending it back to factory.

That is what I did and it works great now.

i have 200 rounds through mine serial EAA6003 and no problems so far.

Mine is a EAA51XX My laser was a pain to get to turn on from out of the box. I went back to were I bought it from. they changed out the laser from another one they had in stock. It seemed to work a little better but sometimes it wouldn't come on.
At the range after about 100 rounds. found the gun had jammed on the last round and the screw came out of the laser, we 100% made sure it was tight when I was at the gun store.
So i know it wasn't that

My laser is on it's way to S&W should be there Monday. they said send it back with the buttons and they will replace them

EA00XX no problems after 450 rounds. So far so good! I really like this gun!

correction, serial EAA00XX

SR# EAA95xx
300 rounds
No problems so far

450 as of today...so far,so good..

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JR

Mine is EAA6000. In back at S&W for the second time for the take down pin. I hope they get it right. They have had my gun longer than I have.

EAA94XX

Trigger Reset Problem
Right side laser button

Bought - Thursday, 20 trigger reset failures in 50 rds - Friday, Shipping it to S&W - Monday.

right side laser button does not function properly first day tested serial # EAEXXX

This is an update to my earlier post...I have shot over 800 rounds with mine with no issues except the laser buttons being difficult to operate.After using the ball point pen, ink refill modification mentioned elsewhere in the forum,I have had no further problems.It seems that most of the issues were corrected by the time the EAA95xx series was produced,or I was very fortunate with the one I acquired.

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JR

I have one that I have fired over 500 rounds through with no problems at all including the laser. Serial number in the low EAB series. Maybe they have it right now.
cflier

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Mark Connot

I bought a .380 Bodyguard on Dec. 15 and its serial number is EAF31XX. Only 100 round thru it but it did its job, the Prvi PPU failed to fire 6 out of 36 rounds . Three did fire on second strike but the WWB and Fiocchi all ran fine. I hope the "F" in my serial number means "FIXED"
Chris

Just got one a few weeks ago, it works great with two different types of ammo; Hornady critical defense ammo and Remington Golden Saber ammo . Seems to be reliable after 100 rounds through it.

Picked mine up yesterday. Apparently the factory is shipping EAF9xxx rigth now. I'm betting the kinks have been well worked out by now.

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Dave

I just purchased this gun (BG380) two weeks ago serial number EALXXXX. My initial complaint was that the buttons to activate the laser were extremely hard to use. I had to push the buttons multiple times before the laser would activate. The gunsmith at the store I bought the gun from said there was no fix for this and that it was an inherent problem with this pistol; however, I contacted S&W customer support who sent me new buttons for free within three days, which were firmer. Now the laser activates easily and I could not be happier with this gun. I tested similar guns in this class, such as the Ruger LCP, and I preferred the looks, feel, price and the performance of the Bodyguard 380. I highly recommend this gun for concealed carry. IMHO, this is the best looking gun in its class, and has a great price (S&W recently lowered the MSRP as of April 2011) to $399.

Attached Images

SW Bodyguard 380_4.jpg (43.4 KB, 152 views)

Just purchased this 380...(July of 2012) and its an EBSXXXX SN#. So Ill let ya know as soon as I put a few rounds through it. In theory it should be an excellent CQC Deep Concealment/Backup weapon. Like many people I was kind of divided between this and the Ruger LCP, but liked the grip/feel of the Bodyguard a little better and being Left Eye Dominant the adjustable sights were a huge plus in my book. The Laser is a nice touch, nice intimidation factor, but when the adrenaline dumps nothing beats instinctive, front sight shooting...so honestly while a cool-factor feature, I (personally) can take it or leave it.
Hopefully Ill be running it through its paces at the range soon and will see if they've worked the gremlins out of it in the past couple of years...being Smith and Wesson I'll be SORELY disappointed if they havent gotten it all dialed in by now.

OfficerWard, I just picked up a 380 too, but mine has an EBPXXXX serial number.

I too liked the feel of the bodyguard over the lcp.

I hope they've sorted out these issues for the EBS EBP series.

I purchased one about 3 weeks ago, Serial Number KAJXXXX, have about 500 rounds through it, Speer, Federal, Remington, and even steel cased Tul Ammo. Not a single FTF, FTE, or light strike. No issues with the firing pin. I have added the Mag Guts (dual spring and "Wilson Combat Power Mag Type" steel follower that turns the 6 round mags into 7 round units) magazine extra capacity kit from Galloway to both of my mags and one of Galloway's extended fingertip base and floorplate kit's to one magazine. The laser activates with just a brush of my finger with very little pressure. I have not had a single issue with this gun, and yes it does have the MIM barrel. Groups are about 3 to 3 1/2 inches at 21 feet. Great and solid little gun. Have no problem using this for concealed carry as a pocket gun. The only thing else I will be changing is the sights. This is purely my preference, as when shooting at targets with a dark center bullseye, the solid black front sight paired with the solid rear black sight makes it difficult to acquire a correct point of aim quickly. True, in a real combat situation, you may not have time to "sight in". But for target uses, I would prefer a XS Big Dot Tritium sight set over the stock ones. As for design and construction, the XS Big Dots are as snag free as the stock S&W sights. I have been thinking about Galloway's hard steel firing pin after reading all of these issues about the MIM unit, but so far I haven't had any issues with mine. I tend to agree with Fastbolt's comments about the BG380 on other threads, if the LAPD have been given the green light to carry these as backup guns, they would have pulled this firearm if any service use issues would have came to light or made itself evident with any negative "trends".

Hi Lexington,

I'm very interested in the Mag Guts for the BG380. How are they performing for you? Any failures at all?

Don

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I'm Proud To Be An American!

Got mine from Galloway Precision the first week that they became available. Very straight forward design. It is a dual spring kit. There is a larger spring which takes a steel "cup" that the smaller spring slides into for assembly. At first I was very concerned about the performance, but after assembly, and several "manual" rackings of the mags without firing to test dry-fire ejection issues, they worked flawlessly. Next was to the range with actual firing. I put several types of ammo through them to test for any particular ammo "likes" of the design. I fired Remington, Speer, Gold Dots, Federal, Critical Defense, and steel cased Tul Ammo through the gun. Not a single FTE, or FTE. The kit will also replace the stock plastic orange follower, with what I call a very similar design to a Wilson Combat/Tripp Research type steel follower that was free of any burr's or rough edges. The replacement floorplate also has a reversable placement hole to hold the new smaller spring (it goes on the bottom of the stack assembly) in place for either flat or fingertip type base plates. I have since converting to these +1 upgrades to my magazines,... put about 300 rounds through both of them together with no issues. The new dual spring system also does not "overforce" or cause "over-pressure" issues on the rounds as you are loading or unloading which is typical of "follower" replacement design's that use the existing springs that just become "tougher" with increased compression resistance on the firearm and mag body. 7 rounds load just as easy as 6 with no increases in resistance on the magazine body or increased resistance pushing up on the slide as the action works through live firing or manual racking of the slide. I prefer this design and magazine set-up well over the stock system, and now I can carry 7 rounds +1 in the barrel for eight shots out of the holster with no changes to the firearm size or dimensions. Again, this is just my opinion and experience, and I am by no means a expert, but I would highly recommend these kit's to anyone I know who has a BG380. I showed these to my local gunstore, and as of last week, he sold 10 kits as soon as he got them in. Nothing fancy about the packaging, plastic bag with stapled card stock on top, which when unfolded, contains installation instructions in detail. Hope this helps.

My FFL guy will turn over my BG380 this Friday but I did get the S/N and have contacted S&W. It's KAMXXXX and was built on 5/15/13 and shipped on 5/29/13. I inquired about any "glitch" fixes from prior manufactur dates and the only major issues the guy could recall were S&W using Loctite on the infamous laser screw/anchor that kept backing/coming out and a change to the laser button rubber compound to prevent premature "softening".

Is there anything else I should be aware of? I have range ammo, defense ammo and 2 mags that should be here by this weekend's range trip. I know that I had to tear down and lube my Kahr 9mm before the first range trip. Any such recommendations for the BG380?

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Rick

Dang it! I just saw in the OM to clean the gun before using the first time. I hate when I answer my own question...

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Rick

Thanks for the info, Lexington, you sold me on your experience. I'm going to order a couple kits and give them a whirl.

Best,
Don

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I'm Proud To Be An American!

Just figured I would post some good news for a change. As I stated in my earlier post, I purchased my BodyGuard 380 new,..... recently, about 4 weeks ago now, Serial number KAJ XXXX. I have done only a couple of things to mine, Polished the barrel feed ramp until it has a smooth as glass surface, put XS Big Dot Tritium sights on it, and upgraded my magazines to the plus one capacity Mag Guts parts kit so my magazines hold 7 rounds instead of 6. Today, after having put close to almost 500 rounds through the gun previously, with no FTE's or FTF's, or any other issues, I tried to get the gun to fail. I dry fired it about 40 to 45 times, I put all kinds of different types of ammo, hollow point and FMJ and I changed up between Silvertips, Critical Defense, Speer, Federal, Remington and even some Tul Ammo and Wolf WPA steel cased, into the magazines for range use. I even used a buddy of mine's Pro Mag 10 round magazine, and changed up rounds of different types in the same magazine. The gun never jammed or failed to perform, not one time. Ejected cases were strong and up and over to the right. And I never cleaned the gun during another 125 rounds. Something I never do, just to try and see, I picked up a small amount of fine dirt, poured into the chamber and on top of the magazine to simulate a very dirty condition mechanically, fired both magazines, and again ZERO failures. Of course I gave the gun a complete detailed strip down and cleaning afterwards and inspected all parts. No concerns or issues after inspection.

With all the issues reported on this model from the past from other owners, I wanted to make sure I had a "keeper". Looks like I will be keeping this one and with this kind of reliability, I have no problems carrying this gun as a summertime pocket concealed piece. The Critical Defense Rounds have great penetration in my solid 6"x6" wood post backdrop on my targets as that is my bullet of choice for carry ammo.

I had been thinking of trading for a new Sig P238 Nitron after I first bought this gun and heard all of the story's. But really, for a pocket gun especially for summer time concealed carry, the weight is perfect, and I actually prefer the heavy trigger pull, which has lightened up somewhat after breaking in. Don't know if I will ever use the laser, haven't yet, and I still find it curious that the LAPD has this gun on the approved back-up carry list, but with two major changes. 1) The LAPD have access to a police version of the BodyGuard 380 that DOES NOT HAVE A EXTERNAL SAFETY. 2) The LAPD department armorer's must deactivate or remove the laser before returning the gun to active off-duty use. Officers must purchase the BG380's with personal funds, as the department does not supply the firearm or 380 ammunition. The only approved ammunition is Critical Defense 380 rounds.

MagGuts installed and hand cycles OK. Won't carry it though until I put a couple hundred through it.

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I'm Proud To Be An American!

Been running the following modifications for almost 2 months now, put about another 400 rounds through my BG 380, with XS Big Dot front sight and the MagGuts one additional round kit to the stock magazine frames. Not a single FTF, FTE, or any issues or function failures. I did polish the barrel feed ramp, the hammer and contact surfaces just a matter of choice as well. Also using Adams short grip extension's on the bottom of my magazines as well. Again using various ammo types and grains. Recently I upgraded to the short stroke trigger bar and RTK Edge aluminum trigger, and have since put another 100 rounds through the gun, Again, no issues or failures. The RTK short stroke trigger is adjustable for reset and over-travel. Makes for a very tight and crisp set up. To me it seems it has removed over half of the play from stock polymer trigger, resets every time, and is much smoother than the original parts set-up. This trigger does not decrease the pounds of pull, just makes it a much shorter distance to activate the trigger bar and fire. Now close to over a 1000 rounds with no issues. I believe I have a keeper............................ Still waiting on the steel heat treated and hardened firing pin just as a matter of choice, but so far I have had no issues with my stock part. I also switched out the barrel from a MIM one to a cast unit just for piece of mind prior to the last 500 rounds. I have no problems trusting this gun to operate when expected.

I am having no issues with mine. I have a MIM barrel. Where did you find a cast barrel?

I thought MIM was a type of casting. 'The term MIM stands for Metal Injection Molding'. The only other barrel that was offered was 'machined'.

After 4 mags shot, my MagGuts kit will not push up the slide lock lever all the way. Steve Corso said there is a new follower coming out soon that increases the pressure, said he'd send me one to try out.

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I'm Proud To Be An American!

My Bad. Should have said machined I guess. The difference in the two types of barrels are the MIM one, (metal injection molded) and the Machined one. To tell them apart is real easy, on the MIM ones, they say, ".380 Auto over top of BG380" on the ejector side of the barrel, stamped in letters. On the machined barrel they say, "380 Auto" right on top on the barrel hood, right down the middle. I picked mine up from a gunsmith who was using parts from the lower receiver of another gun that had the lower polymer body "melted" from being left too close to a fireplace by some extremely careless previous owner. This smith had no need for the slide assembly, and since it has no serial numbers to contend with, I identified the barrel as being non-MIM, inspected it and the entire slide did not show any damage from any heat issues, so I offered him a $100.00 for the whole thing and it was sold. Plus now I have a few extra factory parts as well. The barrel showed basically no wear marks and appeared "like new", as well as the entire slide, broke down the slide and it too was basically clean inside and out. No wear marks or casing dis-coloration from shells even around the firing pin hole in the slide. Looks like it was a never shot pocket piece, except for the melted lower polymer body, not melted like wax, just enough to see a bend in the grip that was not a natural holding angle.

Just a note: Got my BG 380 in mid-June S/N: KAKXXXX. Have about 350 rounds through it with absolutely no issues. No laser screw problems, no FTF/FTE, no slide problems. Everything has been great and the gun shoots extremely well with really good accuracy.

I love carrying and shooting this little gem...just chiming in.

Later gang.

Just a quick note. Bought wife a BG380 4 weeks ago serial #KAR 2XXX and it appears to have the MIM barrel. Liked it so well that I bought me one today, serial # KAK7XXX which also seemed to have the MIM barrel. Why I question which barrel wife's firearm has a noticeable seam while the new one does not. Possibly better finishing would be my only guess. Wife has only fired 1 box of ammo so far but absolutely no issues so far. She can work the slide and after a through cleaning and lubrication the trigger does nothing but improve. Seemed to make a major difference when the mainspring (in the mag well) was lubed. Florida buy so I cannot pick up till Thursday (3 business day wait) but hopefully same no issues for mine.

OK, Picked up new BG380 today. Surprise, out of the box not a MIM barrel. 380 Auto top of barrel, and BG 380 on side of barrel. Second item, mag release seems to be made of metal, not plastic, just checked both guns are metal. 3rd trigger pull seems slightly lighter, not major difference but still some what lighter. Still pulls to rear of trigger guard but a slight improvement. Again this is the one with serial # KAK72XX.;

Are you sure the magazine release is metal? I've never heard of this and would really be interested. Can you hold a magnet to it to confirm?

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I'm Proud To Be An American!

Got a shipping notification that the revised follower is on the way from MagGuts. Steve's customer service is outstanding! Will post the results ASAP.

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I'm Proud To Be An American!

Sorry for the time to reply. Took a scratch awl and removed some paint, looks like pot metal or like substance, not plastic. did not have a magnet handy so was unable to check that way. Did not check both but this is the one with the regular barrel, not the MIM barrel.

Mine is metal and magnet does indeed stick. New member just picked mine up yesterday. Serial num kar36xx manufactured 7/29/13. Shot some rounds after a initial cleaning and it ran like a champ.


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Serial number EAY3xxx
Mag drops during carry. Mag dropped during target shooting.
Mag breaks free with a little wiggle and pull.
Mag release internal appears plastic and worn. I'm original owner. Worn from dry runs with mag removal......sad.