Bodyguard 380: Anyone had their misfires fixed??

[csax]

The definite fix for me was to ask and receive a full refund for my EABxxxx Bodyguard. I sent mine back 4 times for the FTF and FTE problems. In the meantime I bought a Ruger LCP and it has never yet, after hunnerts of rounds FTF or FTE with both factory and handloads.
I really enjoyed my Bodyguard when it went bang, but I bought the gun for reliability and that it was not.

Did the refund come from S&W or the store you purchased it from?

 

[maddtrapper]

After 2 months of pocket carry since being shot and cleaned last, took it to the range today and it worked perfect. Used the Federal that I've carried in the gun and extra mag and some Remington fmj.

 

[38-55]

Just have to add my 2 cents worth.... I've had my Body Guard for almost a year now, approx. 500 rounds thru it, NO problems what so ever, not even 1 FTF. Factory ball ammo and lead handloads. It's a handful to shoot because of it's small size, but I have no complaints about the quality of this gun.

 

[Pote]

The second one(my dad's) did great on the first day, didn't miss a beat in about 24 rounds. The ammo was from the same box that mine had misfired repeatedly on. On the second time at the range with his 380, (today), it misfires as much as mine did on the first day, 12 days ago. My dad has been relying on it for concealed carry. I will be calling them tomorrow.

I'm always concerned when I read these kinds of posts...please keep your dad from carrying that. Imagine what could happen if he actually needed it in a SD situation. No matter the gun, whether a new pocket gun or 1911 or anything...a gun will never be on my hip until it has proven to me it can run at least 500 rounds of ball without a single hiccup..NOT one. Moreover, it also has to be flawless with at least, at least 200 rounds of any of my SD JHP ammo. if it has any kind of malf, it will remain in my safe until its either fixed, problem ammo weeded out, or it can make it through that many rounds reliably.

Reading that a gun is having serious issues without getting through a box of 50 rounds is serious concern and I nor any loved one would be allowed to carry that gun for protection, period. No matter my like or attachment to a design, my life and theirs is worth so much more than trying to will a gun to work. please be safe.

 

[greybeard43]

I've shot about 250-300 rounds so far. I've never had a jam though and only recently I had the misfires (FTF).

Yes, I do keep it in my pocket holster in my pocket. I use a Desantis Nemesis pocket holster. Any suggestions?

Btw, the stitching on the rim causes the BG380 to catch on it. The sights are too sharp. Just a FYI.

Replace the nemasis with a sticky holster. I had the same problem.

 

[Northwindtucker]

Recluse holster.

 

[greybeard43]

No problems with FTF or any other function with mine, but I probably don't have more than 50 or so rounds through it.

The biggest problem is that the sights seem to be way off.
(And, man, those little buggers are hard to move!)

Depending how much pad you are placing on the trigger on a dao pistol, you throw the shots to left or right. I would get a second opinion if I was having the problem by having someone better than me shoot my pistol (that is not hard to do in my case). With that short sight radius it's really hard to throw the sights off that much unless you see it really off center.

 

[jimmyolson]

Mine is a EBB XXXX. When I bought it, I disassembled it, cleaned it and lightly lubed it. I put about 2 boxes of PMC FMJ thru it, no issues. At 25 ft the best I could do was 5 inches but, NO issues. I then put 2 boxes of Hornady Critical Defense thru it, NO issues. At 25 ft all shots within 3 inches. I couldn't believe how great the Hornady ammo shot.

Also I bought a Remora holster for pocket carry. They are great.

 

[GeorgeP]

Depending how much pad you are placing on the trigger on a dao pistol, you throw the shots to left or right. I would get a second opinion if I was having the problem by having someone better than me shoot my pistol (that is not hard to do in my case). With that short sight radius it's really hard to throw the sights off that much unless you see it really off center.

Something to watch for. The BG380 has a firing pin blocker that the trigger lifts out during the last 1/16-1/8 inch. This can be stiff enough to actually lift the slide ever so slightly...enough to change you point of aim. Take the slide off and flip it over. You should see a button looking device about an inch from the rear. Use your finger, tooth pick, or Q tip to press that device in. Feel how much resistance it has. Feel if there's any roughness. It should have a factory resistance of 5-6 lbs and be smooth. Mine was about 5 lbs and very rough/scratchy feeling.

Oh, by the way on topic, my favorite ammo, when I can find them is Ficochi (sp) but the gun shoot anything and every thing I feed it. Never a Failure to Feed, Failure to Fire, or Failure to extract/eject. I have between 400-600 rounds.

Here's what I did, but I DO NOT recommend that you do it. First I took the rear sight off. (Very very very very hard to do and requires a heavy hammer and no faint heart.) The blocker and spring are under the sight. I snipped some of the blocker spring off, stretched the spring just long enough to push the blocker back into the firing pin notch, but no more. You might need to snip it more than once. Mine ended up at about 1.5 lbs, plenty strong enough to still be completely safe. Then I polished the blocker's friction surfaces and the port in the slide. I found both a little rough on the edges. Lastly, I polished the cut-out for the blocker in the firing pin with a focus on the surface where the blocker contacts the pin. After you put it back together put a drop of high quality synthetic oil or light grease on the blocker port and let it soak in. With you Q tip, work the blocker up and down a number of times. You don't need to press on it hard, just move it in and out. It will smooth out even more as you shoot it.

My trigger is still long and hard but it's smooth from start to finish and my accuracy improved.

Hint. If you ever take the rear sight out, for any reason, (required to clean the firing pin and pin channel or to replace the firing pin) put some 500-600 grit paper of a flat surface and work the front and rear dovetail surfaces of the sight down a little, very little. Makes adjustment and future removals much easier. If you should take too much off, use some blue loctite. But you should have to tap it back in with some reasonably hard taps. I can push mine back in about 1/2 way then have to tap it in the rest of the way with my plastic mallet. It never moves under fire.

 

[Ken1911380]

Just some info

Ok hi I'm new here just want to share some info, I bought a 380 bg it was demo. Last one in store,I'm not new to guns, I reload and shoot all the time, I'm no expert but I'm very mechanically minded, my body guard stopped firing after about 200 rounds. A couple FTC mixed in those before it totally stopped completely at about 200 rounds . I'm a huge smith wesson fan, always have been. But after having recent problems with a very reputable brand rifle a couple weeks ago now this body guard I started to question all the manufacturing now a days. I was pretty disappointed to say the least, but after reading tons of posts on here and talking to very reputable gunsmiths, here's what I found: small carry guns are built so small to be so light and just what they are supposed to be what every one wants:light small pack a punch,well one of the draw backs of this gun is Dry firing is absolutely forbidden on this gun!!! The firing pin bottoms out and the hammer shocks the end of pin causing it to break at a notch . Regular guns the pin does not bottom out so dry fire is ok! I did not know this either and was dry firing it slot ,showing it around letting others erudite it too, being the display I'm sure this got tons of dry fires in store , the double action trigger is the killer, every one wants to try it, that's the culprit on the tons of broken pins, I'm very confident that when this gun comes back it will be fine cause I'll never ever allow this gun to be dry fired ever again !!! I've read on these post people actually going home with repaired gun dry firing it 400times to break it in!! Omg really? Even if I didnt think the dry fire would hurt it I would never go sit down and just wear out the parts for no reason! There is only one way to be sure gun was never dry fired , that's for the new owner to be conscious of the dry fire problem from first touch, if you think about it it's too tempting to not dry fire the thing, you get gun even if you don't try it in store you will in car or at home it's inevitable, so in closing get a new pin and never let the gun get dry fired . Keep in mind if the gun is dry fired it fatigues metal, you have damaged the metal when it will now break -no one knows. Could be next round or 200 , that's why you only know if you never do it at all from start, if your reading this you probably have had this problem, so when you get gun fixed don't dry fire and let us know how you make out ,I'll do the same. Still a smith wesson fan!!!!

 

[Ken1911380]

Don't share bad info

Any one have any little ideas on how to alter their gun? Well keep it to yourself ! These guns were engineered by experts using the smarts to keep everyone safe first then performance next, if you alter your gun there is a reason smith wesson did not do that! I would feel pretty bad if my advise got someone hurt, what works for one -fine keep it to yourself- you have no idea who is reading your post and gonna start screwing with their gun then carry it around other people or let others shoot it not knowing they rigged it

 

[MackIII]

Ok hi I'm new here just want to share some info, I bought a 380 bg it was demo. Last one in store,I'm not new to guns, I reload and shoot all the time, I'm no expert but I'm very mechanically minded, my body guard stopped firing after about 200 rounds. A couple FTC mixed in those before it totally stopped completely at about 200 rounds . I'm a huge smith wesson fan, always have been. But after having recent problems with a very reputable brand rifle a couple weeks ago now this body guard I started to question all the manufacturing now a days. I was pretty disappointed to say the least, but after reading tons of posts on here and talking to very reputable gunsmiths, here's what I found: small carry guns are built so small to be so light and just what they are supposed to be what every one wants:light small pack a punch,well one of the draw backs of this gun is Dry firing is absolutely forbidden on this gun!!! The firing pin bottoms out and the hammer shocks the end of pin causing it to break at a notch . Regular guns the pin does not bottom out so dry fire is ok! I did not know this either and was dry firing it slot ,showing it around letting others erudite it too, being the display I'm sure this got tons of dry fires in store , the double action trigger is the killer, every one wants to try it, that's the culprit on the tons of broken pins, I'm very confident that when this gun comes back it will be fine cause I'll never ever allow this gun to be dry fired ever again !!! I've read on these post people actually going home with repaired gun dry firing it 400times to break it in!! Omg really? Even if I didnt think the dry fire would hurt it I would never go sit down and just wear out the parts for no reason! There is only one way to be sure gun was never dry fired , that's for the new owner to be conscious of the dry fire problem from first touch, if you think about it it's too tempting to not dry fire the thing, you get gun even if you don't try it in store you will in car or at home it's inevitable, so in closing get a new pin and never let the gun get dry fired . Keep in mind if the gun is dry fired it fatigues metal, you have damaged the metal when it will now break -no one knows. Could be next round or 200 , that's why you only know if you never do it at all from start, if your reading this you probably have had this problem, so when you get gun fixed don't dry fire and let us know how you make out ,I'll do the same. Still a smith wesson fan!!!!

Ken is it ok to use snap caps to dry fire?

 

[Shuz]

The definite fix for me was to ask and receive a full refund for my EABxxxx Bodyguard. I sent mine back 4 times for the FTF and FTE problems. In the meantime I bought a Ruger LCP and it has never yet, after hunnerts of rounds FTF or FTE with both factory and handloads.
I really enjoyed my Bodyguard when it went bang, but I bought the gun for reliability and that it was not.

Did the refund come from S&W or the store you purchased it from?

The full refund came directly from Smith and Wesson.

 

[Chevy]

I have 2 BG 380's, one I bought new and one I bought used. In all the rounds we've shot through then I have only had 1 FTE fully. That is with several different types of ammo both brands as well as FJM, HP, etc . . . I love the way these things work. I do however have a Sig P238 that FTF and FTE all the time no matter what the ammo. I would never carry the Sig for defense.

 

[lonewolf5347]

I had my eye on bodyguard 380 cal. to replace the beretta 21A but after reading all the problems seem like it the toss of the coin to buy one that works.
I wonder if the newer models are still having problems or did they get it right .

 

[goldenbb]

Any one have any little ideas on how to alter their gun? Well keep it to yourself ! These guns were engineered by experts using the smarts to keep everyone safe first then performance next, if you alter your gun there is a reason smith wesson did not do that! I would feel pretty bad if my advise got someone hurt, what works for one -fine keep it to yourself- you have no idea who is reading your post and gonna start screwing with their gun then carry it around other people or let others shoot it not knowing they rigged it

Ken, please keep in mind that firearms are not just "engineered" but that the legal department also has a lot of input in things like trigger pull weights and other issues for liability reasons. While inexperienced people shouldn't do un-informed gunsmithing, I think there's plenty of room for improvement on factory handguns, otherwise there wouldn't be any gunsmiths and semi-custom shops doing work on them.

As far as dry-firing goes, it's a centerfire weapon, if they're that fragile, why even own one? There are some .22 firearms that you can't dryfire, but honestly, dry-firing is such a normal part of all handgun training, it's just a huge disadvantage to not be able to practice like that.

 

[turbo38gn]

I had my eye on bodyguard 380 cal. to replace the beretta 21A but after reading all the problems seem like it the toss of the coin to buy one that works.
I wonder if the newer models are still having problems or did they get it right .

I beleive they are just fine, most have been fine from the beginning. No doubt, it had growing pains out of the box, buit I haven't seen much in the way of complaints for a while, other than a few that semed like they wanted to have problems, if y0u know what I mean. Mine has been flawless.. I don't shoot it often, carry it occassionally, it's a keeper.

 

[Lost Lake]

I have to agree that a weapon like the Bodyguard which has a different "feel" to it because it is striker fired, should be able to be practiced with.

The Bodyguard has a hammer.

 

[Lost Lake]

Well maybe I don't know what a striker is then.

When I pull my trigger, a large metal piece moves toward the rear of the gun and that metal piece slams forward into a firing pin which hits the primer. A short pull on the trigger makes the big metal thing move back a short way. I can pull the trigger back and stop it just before the release and easing on the trigger allows it to go back in the gun.

Each time I pull the trigger it does the same thing, without having to cycle the action.

I call it a hammer, as it looks just like the hammer on any wheel gun I have, except it doesn't have a thumb catch to pull it back manually.

So what's the difference between a striker and a hammer?

 

[Lost Lake]

The body guard has a striker! They are not the same intent design or even complete funtion. I have owned S&W revolvers for over 50 years and am a Mechanical Engineer. I believe that I know the difference.

Being an engineer myself I did a little more investigation. My expertise is not in weapons or the intricacies of nomenclatures for various parts and functions, but what I see on my BG380 looks like what a hammer is to me.

Perhaps there is a misunderstanding of what a striker is compared to a hammer, but S&W lists the BG380 as a hammer fired weapon on their website.

BODYGUARD® 380
$419.00 *
*Suggested Retail, Dealer Sets Actual Pricing
SKU:109380
Model: BODYGUARD® 380
Caliber: .380 Auto
Capacity: 6+1 Rounds
Barrel Length: 2.75" / 7.0 cm
Frame Size: Compact
Action: Double Action Only (Hammer Fired)
Front Sight: Stainless Steel
Rear Sight: Drift Adjustable
Grip: Polymer
Overall Length: 5.25" / 13.3 cm
Weight: 11.85 oz / 335.9 g
Frame Material: Polymer
Material: Stainless Steel w/Melonite® Finish
Finish: Matte Black
Purpose: Personal Protection
Professional / Duty

Your thoughts?