Hello... considering a Body Guard as a carry gun. Have a couple of Equalizers now. Great for an old guys with less strength. But, while a compact by name, it can be large for me to carry at times. I am either with a walker or in a wheel chair due to a disability. Thinking the Body Guard would be a more compact option. Given all of that, who all has tried the Guard and what are your thoughts? Thank you in advance. T
Body Guard
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Eric300
Member
I've had mine for about 5 years now and carry it about every day. I never had any malfunctions or any other issues with it. Some people just don't like them, though, for whatever reason. Some say the mag pops out unintentionally, the trigger pull it too long/heavy for their liking, etc. I like mine and think it's a pretty good choice for an easily concealable, reliable sub-compact EDC pistol. That being said, I also have a SIG P238 that I carry every so often. It's a great little .380 and I like it better than my BG for a few different reasons, but it's also more than twice the price of the BG.
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Cphobes
Member
BG2.0 or even original both worth a look.
Newest is my daily pocket carry, light easy to carry.
Newest is my daily pocket carry, light easy to carry.
Bodyguard 2.0 is the way to go with the Ruger LCP II or Max a close second. Please, stay away from the original bodyguard. S&W dropped it for a reason, it’s a good gun, but couldn’t compare with the Ruger LCP series. A Bodyguard 2.0 will, IMHO, serve you well Sir. Good luck!
While the Bodyguard 380's size is supremely tempting for concealed carry with a mobility device, its operational drawbacks, specifically the heavy trigger and stiff slide, make it a potentially poor choice for someone with strength or dexterity concerns.
Thank you for that Eric. Being a life long SW fan, first gun a K frame, that is an appreciated overview.
Thank you Cphobes, good to hear.
Cavil09, thanks for the thoughts.
Thanks for your thoughts. Fortunately it's Christmas time, so there's a new one to be had!
I have an LCP Max, and although it’s not as small and accurate as my older BG 380s, it has higher capacity. I fondled a 2.0, and really liked it, but when I saw that some brilliant engineers decided it was a good idea to have to remove the rear sight to be able to remove the striker, that was a deal breaker for me. Being a competition shooter, and a range officer since the 90s, I KNOW that the striker and striker channel needs to be clean and dry to be reliable
The answer to that is the Smith & Wesson EZ series pistols
Cwilly8
Member
We have both the S&W 380 EZ and the Bodyguard 2.0. The BG 2.0 is significantly harder to load and rack. That's the only negative, in my opinion. Its higher capacity and smaller size are in its favor. Find a BG 2.0 and see if you can manipulate it.
hyena
Member
I like my Bodyguard 1. (I called it that to differentiate it from the new BG2.) I like that it's hammer fired with a long heavy trigger pull. I pocket carry it in a Mika holster every time I leave the house. I'm comfortable with 7 rounds, plus I usually carry a spare mag. It took practice but I shoot it very well. I carry it with the safety off. That's why I like the trigger pull.
No personal interest in the BG2. If I decide I want more capacity I'll go with an LCP Max.
No personal interest in the BG2. If I decide I want more capacity I'll go with an LCP Max.
i had a s&w bg1. it worked fine, but for me it was too small for 380acp. same with a bersa thunder, taurus spectrum and sig p238. all are gone and my deep ccw is a keltec p32 gen2, which is excellent.
all 380acp pistols should have a 32acp option. consistent hits with a 32acp will be sufficient for this retired, peaceable, suburban civilian who is safely tucked in at home after dark. my accuracy with 380acp out of a pocket pistol was dismal, only ammo with a proximity fuse would be effective.
all that said, the s&w ez 380acp is the perfect defensive semiauto sidearm for anyone seeking a softer, easier, still compact but not pocketable, shooter.
all 380acp pistols should have a 32acp option. consistent hits with a 32acp will be sufficient for this retired, peaceable, suburban civilian who is safely tucked in at home after dark. my accuracy with 380acp out of a pocket pistol was dismal, only ammo with a proximity fuse would be effective.
all that said, the s&w ez 380acp is the perfect defensive semiauto sidearm for anyone seeking a softer, easier, still compact but not pocketable, shooter.
dipperdave
Member
When in the last year as my wife was transitioning from her double action Smith revolvers to semi-autos we took our time and let her shoot several of my polymer striker fired handguns on various range trips. Those included three different models of the excellent Sig P365 series, Glocks 42 and 43, Walther PPS and both of my Shield Plus models, one with night sights and the other plain white dots. Then I took her to a real gun shop and not to a big box which will not allow dry fire. Looking at you local Academy and Bass Pro.
I wanted her to handle a BG 2.0 and fire it if she wanted in that shop's firing range. And she liked it better than any of the others she had fired although she had done very well with each of them. So we bought it and have just under 600 rounds through it. It eats anything we feed it except Critical Defense and it doesn't seem to like that pointy nose. Carry ammo for the little BG is Gold Dots, which is generally my carry choice in 9mm.
Not understanding the comments about a stiff trigger pull as her BG has an excellent trigger, very similar to my Sheild Plus models and noticeably better than my Glocks 42 and 43. And the sights were dead on out of the box. The slide is a bit stiffer than I expected but only a minor notice and not as bad as my Kahr CW380. As far as removing the rear sight to clean the striker channel, I think this is a requirement on all or most of the Smith M&P series semis and not specific just to the BG 2.0. I would rather it not be, but certainly nowhere close to a deal breaker for me or the many tens of thousands of owners of those M&P style handguns. It just isn't.
The BG 2.0 has a lot going for itself. Capacity of 10 or 12 rounds and both size magazines come in the box. Very good sights and trigger. My neighbor and shooting buddy has a Ruger LCP and I don't like the sights or trigger at all. The little BG 2.0 also feels great in the hand with similar ergonomics to the it's full-size M&P 2.0 big brother. Of my other handguns she had tried she liked the feel of the Walther PPS best before she tried the BG 2.0. No surprise there as Walther makes handguns with superb ergonomics.
Bottom line in our opinion is that it's easy to recommend the BG 2.0 to someone looking at a .380 semi-auto to carry.
I wanted her to handle a BG 2.0 and fire it if she wanted in that shop's firing range. And she liked it better than any of the others she had fired although she had done very well with each of them. So we bought it and have just under 600 rounds through it. It eats anything we feed it except Critical Defense and it doesn't seem to like that pointy nose. Carry ammo for the little BG is Gold Dots, which is generally my carry choice in 9mm.
Not understanding the comments about a stiff trigger pull as her BG has an excellent trigger, very similar to my Sheild Plus models and noticeably better than my Glocks 42 and 43. And the sights were dead on out of the box. The slide is a bit stiffer than I expected but only a minor notice and not as bad as my Kahr CW380. As far as removing the rear sight to clean the striker channel, I think this is a requirement on all or most of the Smith M&P series semis and not specific just to the BG 2.0. I would rather it not be, but certainly nowhere close to a deal breaker for me or the many tens of thousands of owners of those M&P style handguns. It just isn't.
The BG 2.0 has a lot going for itself. Capacity of 10 or 12 rounds and both size magazines come in the box. Very good sights and trigger. My neighbor and shooting buddy has a Ruger LCP and I don't like the sights or trigger at all. The little BG 2.0 also feels great in the hand with similar ergonomics to the it's full-size M&P 2.0 big brother. Of my other handguns she had tried she liked the feel of the Walther PPS best before she tried the BG 2.0. No surprise there as Walther makes handguns with superb ergonomics.
Bottom line in our opinion is that it's easy to recommend the BG 2.0 to someone looking at a .380 semi-auto to carry.
I have dry fired 3 or 4 of them. All seemed to have a light trigger. The 2 I have purchased had a trigger weight right around 4.5 lb. Quite a nice trigger actually. The slide is stiff but it helps a lot to apply a Talon slide grip to the rear serrations.
Thanks for that. Best laugh I've had today.
2.0 for me, great little gun with nice load, hides easy. Haven’t had an issue.
I purchased the the original BG380 and hated it(normal reasons- trigger/pull Miss feeding). I took a real beating on getting rid of it. I'm hearing that the NEW model is like night and day. Instead i went to the to P238 and right out of the box i knew i had made the right decision. I liked it so much i purchased a few of the versions that were available.I realized that Cost does not mean anything if you get what you pay for.
agreed on the original BG.... I hated mine.
Sig P238 is the one for me.
I want to join in on the harder to rack aspect. The description "significantly harder to rack" can't be emphasized enough. I have one and I'm older, but not weak nor do I have hand issues, but the BG 2.0 is a really seriously difficult firearm to rack given it's small size and overpowered spring (IMO). Maybe I just got a really difficult one, I don't know. I have other pistols of various calibers and have no issues whatsoever with racking the slides. I would suggest that you don't even consider buying one until you experience the BG 2.0 personally and see how it feels.
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Thank you RH25.
As I have posted in several other BG2 threads, I have “gunsmithed” my guide rod spring assembly. Due to the out-of-the-box issue of the end of the spring under the front guide rod end cap coming out and onto the guide rod cap, then not getting the guide rod to seat into the slide when re-assembling.
After 16 days for S&W to send me a new one, that was exactly the same part, I removed the spring and, using a small Dremel tool cut-off wheel, cut off about 3/8” off the front and 3/8” off the rear of the spring. That made a noticeable difference in the force to rack the slide. Without a measurement, my “feel” guess is the force/grip to rack my BG2 is about the same as racking my P365. Adding the Talon grip to the rear of the slide made a big difference. I have a combination of about 400 rounds of 9 different ammo brands/types without any failures. Fortunately, the barrel chamber ramp had been polished by the shop armorer before I bought it.
As much as I like this pocket carry, I’m not convinced yet that it is accurate enough at 21 feet. I will be bench testing again next week. I am tending to suspect the barrel is not perfectly inline with the slide, and the barrel lockup is not precise enough and appears to be inconsistent. I will have a couple of my highly experienced range buddies also test it.
I am not one of several very lucky owners that have zero issues out-of-the-box.
After 16 days for S&W to send me a new one, that was exactly the same part, I removed the spring and, using a small Dremel tool cut-off wheel, cut off about 3/8” off the front and 3/8” off the rear of the spring. That made a noticeable difference in the force to rack the slide. Without a measurement, my “feel” guess is the force/grip to rack my BG2 is about the same as racking my P365. Adding the Talon grip to the rear of the slide made a big difference. I have a combination of about 400 rounds of 9 different ammo brands/types without any failures. Fortunately, the barrel chamber ramp had been polished by the shop armorer before I bought it.
As much as I like this pocket carry, I’m not convinced yet that it is accurate enough at 21 feet. I will be bench testing again next week. I am tending to suspect the barrel is not perfectly inline with the slide, and the barrel lockup is not precise enough and appears to be inconsistent. I will have a couple of my highly experienced range buddies also test it.
I am not one of several very lucky owners that have zero issues out-of-the-box.
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Unless your gun is defective, I think you should be happy enough with the accuracy at 21 feet. With XS sights on mine, and without wearing my glasses (which makes for a pretty blurry sight picture), I can keep about 80-90% of my shots within a 4 inch diameter circle, while rapid firing at 21 feet. I suspect that with the Armalaser on it, that will improve even more, but I just haven't had time to get to the range with it yet; plus, I have no holster for it now, either.
Frank
So, what is the reason? I traded an LCP 2 for a BG1 for the safety aspects of DA in the pocket. No more accurate than the Ruger. The trigger could be lightened if wanted. But a pocket .380 is last resort, not NRA qualification.
whittsailor
Member
I’m 65 and like mine. It’s a pleasure to shoot at the range as I don’t find the recoil too harsh at all. Plus, I really appreciate the front sight and grip texture.
The factory recoil spring assembly can sometimes be a pain to reinstall, but other than that it’s a keeper.
The factory recoil spring assembly can sometimes be a pain to reinstall, but other than that it’s a keeper.
Thank you Cwilly8 I am going to do so tomorrow. A friend is bringing his over.
Thanks whittsailor, having shot a LCP it about buried my wrist. But, what I am reading and seeing suggests that with using the larger mag you are able to get an entire grip. If I'm able to rack it, sounds like there may very well be a new one under the tree!
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