.380 Bodyguard stopped working

[PostsOnPercocet]

Hi guys, I did some googling and it seems this is somewhat of a problem. I went to the range yesterday with my 380 Bodyguard and it would not shoot. I unloaded my hollow points and loaded up two magazines of brand new Remington 380. Pull the trigger and nothing.

Racked the slide figuring it was a dud and nothing again. Pulled the trigger 5 times and still nothing. I repeated this process for all 6 bullets.

When I looked at the bullets it looked like a light primer strike. All except the one time I pulled the trigger 5 times. That looked normal but it still didn't fire.

Now this gun has about 300 rounds through it and has been flawless. I fired it about two months ago and it was flawless.

I don't over or under oil, I take care of my guns, and I also let my friend try shooting it to see if he could get it to fire.

I checked the firing pin, it's not broken and when I dry fire everything seems normal. My friend has the same gun and they both sound and act the same except mine, all of a sudden is not shooting due to light primer strikes.


Any suggestions?

 

[mag318]

I'd call S&W for a return label and let them sort it out.

 

[losingle]

Please check this poster out, he may need assistance.

 

[3dots]

The only thing I can think of is that the pin is obstructed. Perhaps crud in the pin cylinder is making for short travel.

 

[Mcwsky09]

Did you try different ammo? Try the ammo in a different gun?

 

[PostsOnPercocet]

I checked the firing pin by using a small pin to push on it. It feels really smooth and unobstructed and I comes out to the point where it can see the tip of it so I don't think that is it.

I tried brand new Remington .380 and I also tried Aguila hollow points. The Remington worked in my friends gun.

I ended up calling S&W, and I've heard their CS is great, but I did some googling and found more than one person who's had a similar problem, who've sent their bodyguards back and said it appeared S&W did nothing to the gun and it still was not fixed.

I hope that isn't the case with me.

 

[JDP530]

Are you sure the hammer is dropping and pushing the pin? You can check by inserting a pencil into barrel and pulling trigger. Pin should eject pencil out of the barrel when trigger is pulled. Be sure to wiggle the pencil past the ejector so that pencil is up against the breech face.

Does the trigger feel like its set to fire? If trigger is simply moving back and forth without resetting then look at the right side of slide under the rear sight where slide contacts the frame and see if the trigger bar is moving up and down. If its not moving up completely it will not disengage the locking block.

 

[PostsOnPercocet]

So it's been a week and I still haven't gotten the return slip emailed to me from S&W. They said it'd take two to three days and it's been since last monday. I'm guessing the holiday may have something to do with it.

So my dad looked at it and I think I know what's wrong. There is a little mechanism in the slide that has to be depressed in order for the firing pin to go 100% forward and hit the primer. I think the little level that presses on that mechanism is broken. It didn't look like it was moving. My friend who has the same gun took his apart and his moves upwards when you press the trigger, pressing on the mechanism allowing the firing pin to go 100% forward. Mine didn't act like his did.

So I'm guessing that is it because what else could it be?

 

[shawn mccarver]

Anything that fails after 300 rounds, even if NEVER cleaned is a bad idea. Get it fixed and get a Shield in 9mm.

 

[JDP530]

trigger bar

The lever that moves up to depress the safety block is the trigger bar. Remove the slide and look at the section of bar that protrudes up through the frame. Try depressing this section of bar and see if it pops up. You should feel the some spring tension pushing up the bar. If bar isn't popping up then the spring on housing may have popped out of the grove in the bar.

You can disassemble the gun by knocking out the two pins but there are a couple of springs and parts to keep track of. Try YouTube for trigger bar replacement. Galloway Precision has instructions.

 

[radar1972]

I have a BG380 that I carried a lot for almost three years. I have put about 1000 rounds through it with no problems.

But it's reading of issues like this that made me more leery about carrying it and I have started carrying my S&W J-frame revolvers all the time. I have greater confidence that they will go bang when the trigger is pulled.

 

[PostsOnPercocet]

The lever that moves up to depress the safety block is the trigger bar. Remove the slide and look at the section of bar that protrudes up through the frame. Try depressing this section of bar and see if it pops up. You should feel the some spring tension pushing up the bar. If bar isn't popping up then the spring on housing may have popped out of the grove in the bar.

You can disassemble the gun by knocking out the two pins but there are a couple of springs and parts to keep track of. Try YouTube for trigger bar replacement. Galloway Precision has instructions.

I think I tried this when I was looking at it and it didn't move. Oh well, it's on its way back to Smith. I'm sure they will fix it.

 

[gm272gs]

Did you clean it before you tried to shoot it the first time?
They fire them at the factory, then gunk 'em up pretty good, before they ship 'em.

 

[JDP530]

Just have some patience with S&W customer service. It will probably take 4-6 weeks to get the gun back from their shop.