CaptRon956
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Bodyguard 380: does your slide hold-open release when inserting mag?
- Thread starter db4570
- Start date
This is with my M&P 380 at 10 yards, is this good enough?
No. You never got one in the bulls eye. Send it back
Here's a follow-up. I got the gun back from Smith. They replaced the slide stop/firing pin, and polished the feed ramp.
I took it to the range and shot a box of 50 through it. It still auto-forwards if I smack it hard enough, which isn't a big deal. I had one failure of the slide to stay open after the last round. Fed and fired perfectly.
I guess I'll have to live with the possibility that the slide may not lock back on an empty mag. In a tense self-defense situation I could picture this throwing my rhythm off, but at the point I'd probably have other distractions to deal with.
As long as it feeds and fires properly, I guess I'll trust it as my CCW.
What do you guys think? Is an occasional failure-to-lock-slide-on-empty-mag (is there an abbreviation for that?) a deal breaker for you relying on a carry gun?
I really do like this gun. It's good to have it back.
David
I took it to the range and shot a box of 50 through it. It still auto-forwards if I smack it hard enough, which isn't a big deal. I had one failure of the slide to stay open after the last round. Fed and fired perfectly.
I guess I'll have to live with the possibility that the slide may not lock back on an empty mag. In a tense self-defense situation I could picture this throwing my rhythm off, but at the point I'd probably have other distractions to deal with.
As long as it feeds and fires properly, I guess I'll trust it as my CCW.
What do you guys think? Is an occasional failure-to-lock-slide-on-empty-mag (is there an abbreviation for that?) a deal breaker for you relying on a carry gun?
I really do like this gun. It's good to have it back.
David
CaptRon956
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I will say this much, the pistol is sensitive to any build up of soot from repeated firings at the range.
The only time I've seen a BG380 not lock the slide back after the last round was due to the red plastic follower sticking in the mag. Not popping up all the way after that last round.
Clean very thoroughly and wipe dry, I use a foaming gun cleaner and I hose it down everywhere inside and I work the trigger & move the slide lock up/down & work the cleaner in, using a small toothbrush I scrub anywhere & everywhere it can reach & wipe dry with paper towels, cotton patches & Q-tips. I use q tips over the trigger spring, the top portion of the trigger inside the pistol, I work it back & forth drying it off with the Q-tip... It will amaze you how much soot is in there... shake excess cleaner out if you have too and make sure the entire pistol frame is bone dry. The same goes to the slide. Apply ONE drop of gun oil to the lube points and NO more... If you overdo the lube its possible that excess oil can wick down into other parts of the pistol and soot from firing at the range can stick to it and that my friend can and will cause performance issues such as this... Not saying you're doing it, but I have seen it before...
The BG 380 IS ammo sensitive. I know that certain brands have a harder primer, brands such as PPU, Wolf, Tula, are a few that come to mind... If you or any of you guys experience light strikes, IE, round not going off after you pull the trigger, but maybe goes off if you pull the trigger again, then change ammo brands. I've been using Monarch which is found at the Academy, its made by PPU but after hundreds of rounds, I havent had a light strike, not once. WWB flat point, Hornady american gunner JHP & federal american eagle all fed well in my M&P 380.
Abbreviation for occasional failure to lock slide on empty mag? sure its, "make sure you dont forget to take apart your magazines & clean them real good"
The only time I've seen a BG380 not lock the slide back after the last round was due to the red plastic follower sticking in the mag. Not popping up all the way after that last round.
Clean very thoroughly and wipe dry, I use a foaming gun cleaner and I hose it down everywhere inside and I work the trigger & move the slide lock up/down & work the cleaner in, using a small toothbrush I scrub anywhere & everywhere it can reach & wipe dry with paper towels, cotton patches & Q-tips. I use q tips over the trigger spring, the top portion of the trigger inside the pistol, I work it back & forth drying it off with the Q-tip... It will amaze you how much soot is in there... shake excess cleaner out if you have too and make sure the entire pistol frame is bone dry. The same goes to the slide. Apply ONE drop of gun oil to the lube points and NO more... If you overdo the lube its possible that excess oil can wick down into other parts of the pistol and soot from firing at the range can stick to it and that my friend can and will cause performance issues such as this... Not saying you're doing it, but I have seen it before...
The BG 380 IS ammo sensitive. I know that certain brands have a harder primer, brands such as PPU, Wolf, Tula, are a few that come to mind... If you or any of you guys experience light strikes, IE, round not going off after you pull the trigger, but maybe goes off if you pull the trigger again, then change ammo brands. I've been using Monarch which is found at the Academy, its made by PPU but after hundreds of rounds, I havent had a light strike, not once. WWB flat point, Hornady american gunner JHP & federal american eagle all fed well in my M&P 380.
Abbreviation for occasional failure to lock slide on empty mag? sure its, "make sure you dont forget to take apart your magazines & clean them real good"
Hmm. I might be a little guilty of that. I'm re-thinking my lubrication methods.
Thanks for the suggestion, CaptRon956.
I did finally get around to cleaning the mags and they were filthy. They seemed really smooth once they were clean. I lubed them with Lubriplate oil recommended by Grant Cunningham, who I learned a lot about lubrication from by reading his Lube 101 article. I'm assuming it's acceptable to lube a mag. I put it on as light as I could, but I still tend to be a little lube-happy.
Now I am thinking about tearing the whole gun down and cleaning all the guts. Maybe polish a little something here and there while I'm in there...
David
I must concur with CaptnRon. Small guns need a lot more cleaning than bigger guns. Regarding slamming a mag it's up to you if you want to do it. Forcefully inserting the mag will not cause an auto-chamber but slamming it probably will. You either like it or you don't. It's not a defect as explained in the instructions.
