Bodyguard 380: Finally Reliable!

[richr1226]

I tried the Galloway firing pin and extra power hammer
spring in my Bodyguard 380 to try and cure the light
strike problem. I would still get an occasional light strike.
I will be sending this firearm back to S&W.

Update;
I sent my BG 380 to S&W for repair. The paperwork indicated
that the firing pin was replaced. I fired 100 rounds of PMC ammo
through this weapon without any light strikes. The primer indents
look deeper than those with the old firing pin. I will fire at least
200 more rounds of ammo through this pistol before I will carry it
as a self defense weapon.

 

[jstanfield103]

I have bought 4 BG380's over the time they were out. I would buy and use them until I decided on something a little bigger. Then I would trade them in on that something. I was lucky and never did have any problem with any of mine. What I decided was that they were not going to be reliable do to all the problems everyone else was having so after the Ruger LCP Custom came out I have never looked back. Traded my last BG380 in on the custom and it is reliable and just perfect for me. The only thing I like about the BG380 better is last shot hold open slide, but I can deal with that.
I do not like the regular LCP but the custom is great.

 

[VirtualWatts]

Thanks for the write-up David. I had all but given up.

I have the M&P BG 380. I am an M&P Armorer and have changed triggers on all my other M&P's, so was comfortable doing the Galloway mods and XS sights.

When I bought it the FTF was about 1 in 6 (Never a full mag without FTF), I wasn't too concerned since I was doing the Galloway short stroke trigger and tool steel firing pin. 100 rnds later and Galloway kit, better, but still FTF - I was surprised. I had to run through the state qual course with it and just double-actioned the FTF to get through the course.

Called Galloway and they blamed the ammo (so much for 100% satisfaction). So I ran a test of 12 ammos with OEM and Galloway kit (PITA) to show it wasn't the ammo - which got me to the right conclusion {pssst, it's the pistol stupid}.

Although it was a very bad customer experience with Galloway, they did point me to the root of the problem. I ordered more springs from Galloway to see if that would make a difference, it didn't. Next I tried removing the firing pin blocker thinking this was preventing the firing pin - without blocker no change in operation or FTF.

Damn, just one more step, you have discovered it is the other indentation, on the firing pin retaining pin, not the blocker.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is by far the most accurate and comfortable of the 380's and now I can get it up and functioning.

Since I have both OEM and Galloway firing pin I can experiment now, the only drawback is that it is a serious PITA to remove the firing pin, mod, re-install, test, remove, repeat.

With your pic I'm going for once and done mod. Will see if I can mod the firing pin as your picture indicates and get it reliable.

 

[oldiegoldie]

New member here, a long time follower of this forum. I have quite a few j frames and model 386sc in .357. My main interest in the S&W brand is the .380 Bodyguard. Have 3 of them, all with lasers. carry one every day in my weak side front pocket.

Have been very interested in David's experience with his BG's. He has been a real fount of information, much appreciated. I have had no problems with my BG's except with Fiocchi 90gr. XTPHP's. Many fail to fires, but on 2nd or even 3rd pull they have ignited. A little googling I have found others complain about hard primers with the Fiocchi. Also have had problem ejecting unfired rounds with a cartridge I will not name. The cartridge is a jacketed hollow point and is 20/1000" longer than the Fiocchi. So, am carrying the Federal Hydrashok and it has been very reliable. I try to use PMC for range ammo and don't remember ever having a failure to fire with it.
Have replaced all firing pins with the Galloway. I got a bad Galloway firing pin and they sent me a good one. I've had good experience with the company.

Keep my guns very clean and lube the rails and sides of hammer with TW25B, a synthetic lubricant.

S&W sent me a new Crimson Trace to replace the original laser in one gun. Well, a long rambling post but hope to be able to share information on the BG in the future and really enjoy gleaning information from other owners.

Long live hammer fired!

 

[johnpem]

well i will add to the list of firing issues.
i just sent my bg380 back to smith for the light strikes and a couple other things. got 650 rounds through it with 7 types of ammo on 6 magazines.....
lots of light strikes, even when they go off first pull it still a light hit, hope i get lucky there first try. also had a recent problem with a couple fail to feed all the way into the chamber, mostly hp ammo, likely a ramp polish if they don't do it right my gun smith may have to. and the third is slide lock back, it misses the top of the notch by just a little. if i push it up it's all good else it autoloads, not horrible except sometimes it does not pick up the round that's a problem. sad since i own 6 other various s&w's and all work great. so now i am on the lets see list, summers over so i switch off to something larger, hope it comes back all good because i really do like the gun.
JohnP

 

[newbg380]

My BG 380 is perfect, however, if I had all the problems you guys are having I would totally dump that gun, sell it, and buy another brand.

I said before, this is a huge black eye for SW, their brand in general and especially their customer service. If they can't fix a gun, knowing the problem, and then having the nerve to send it back to the customer with the same problems, I think that speaks volumes for the company. So if i was having an issue, I'd start looking at Ruger.

Screw brand loyalty, a backup pistol is too important for that.

 

[db4570]

Be careful with those Galloway firing pins. I noticed that I was getting really tiny primer indentations from them tapping the primers just a little when loading a round. I know it probably isn't enough to touch off the round, but still. A firing pin that's too long is just plain dangerous.

I'd also avoid modding the firing pin yourself. We are talking a few thousandths of an inch. And it's very hard to measure with normal calipers. Cut that notch a little too deep and you can get a pierced primer. I'm thinking that would be bad. I understand from S&W that the firing pin is not the ultimate fix. It is one thing they try, depending on how it tests when they work on it.

I took BG#3 to the range Sunday to test it, and it fired fine. No FTFires. So they fixed something besides the firing pin. But the slide failed to lock back. Dang! So, back it goes.

Send them back to S&W for repair. Here's a little secret: they usually throw a new mag in the box when they return it. So after 7 trips (with three guns) back to S&W so far, I have enough spare mags to last me a while. YMMV.

David

 

[6strings]

I just picked up the laser-less M&P version today , brand new , i`m really likeing the looks of it so far, the test fire date was 6/5/15 and starts off with a KCK serial #. I traded in my older laser version one for it , had over 900 rounds through that one and it`s had it`s share of issues but it was dependable for my needs , it was a KAH serial from 2013 , it liked the speer lawman cartridges and i could fire those all day and not have a problem , i also used blazer aluminum cased ammo for practice and had no issues with that either , but it would light strike off and on with no rhyme or reason. So im hopeing my new BG will be better !!

 

[Herculite]

I got a BG about 3 weeks ago and I'll just count myself lucky but I've have NO issues with WB, or any other ammo I fed it so far (400 rounds as of today).

 

[Historian1863]

I received my BG 380 back from S&W to repair the light strikes.
Guess what, still light strikes. I ran 100 rounds of factory ammo
With 5 failures to fire.
The work order stated firing pin replaced
I am debating to return the BG for repair again or sell it

 

[oldiegoldie]

hard primers

Not plowing any new ground here but I would try different ammo. My Bodyguards have alot of failure to fire with Fiocchi ammo. That is the only ammo that has been problematic in my BG. That said, it is certainly possible there is a design flaw. How long did it take Remington to admit a flaw in the Model 700?

 

[VirtualWatts]

Not plowing any new ground here but I would try different ammo. My Bodyguards have alot of failure to fire with Fiocchi ammo. That is the only ammo that has been problematic in my BG. That said, it is certainly possible there is a design flaw. How long did it take Remington to admit a flaw in the Model 700?

Right, but as I said in my earlier post, in order to even get Galloway to speak with me I had to prove it wasn't the ammo's fault. So I ran a test matrix of 12 ammos, from cheap Blazer to my Hornady critical defense (my carry load). While Blazer and PMC were the worse, the FTF % was still fairly high.

I would only believe it is the ammo if the ammo is introducing a variable that highlights an out of spec condition on the pistol.

Case in point I've carried a Kel-Tec for years, 2k rounds through it and never a FTF (I ran the Kel-Tec alongside the BG380 just to see if any problems).

I hate the Taurus, have the LCP Custom but cannot warm up to it, so I keep trying the BG380. With the XS sights and Galloway short stroke and steel FP I was able to ace my annual quals this year, I usually drop a couple points on the 25 with the Kel-Tec *** sights.

 

[VirtualWatts]

Okay, David I appreciate the mental exercise but I think the firing pin is a red herring. The reason is because I have a Galloway steel firing pin and it eliminates even the remotest possibility of a "short throw". Also for reference, I have the Galloway short stroke trigger kit, which already includes an increased rate hammer spring.

The Galloway and the S&W OEM firing pin, as measured from the back, have nearly the exact same dimensions, the G is just longer.

Here are my FP measurements for the Galloway and the S&W:

G OAL: 1.4550
SW OAL: 1.4325

G Top of Notch: .3435
SW Top of Notch: .3440

G Width of Notch: .1945
SW Width of Notch: .1970

G FP Throw: 1.1115
SW FP Throw: 1.0885

For me the more interesting measurements are this:
Protrusion of Firing Pin as distance from the breechface:
No retaining Pin:
G .1635
SW .1115
(wow)

With retaining Pin:
G .0765
SW .0435

I tried it with and without spring to see if it was binding, but there was no significant diff.
The SW protrusion is nearly invisible compared to the G, so I'm seriously doubting it is the throw of the FP.

So I am back to my original theory that Galloway's recalcitrance led me to understand, it is something in the firing mechanism, like the hammer angle or hammer rotation during pull.

 

[mrmike7189]

bodyguard #2 keeps on going

My first Bodyguard had the lazer& had a few light strikes and had to 2nd strike. I never liked the lazer so when the the M&P version came out I traded it in.
I've been reading about the problems and just wanted to post that I have had zero issues with 600 rounds of different ammo.
Remington golden sabers, federal hydra shocks, cor bon DPX, Winchester white box and Defend target and PDX1 hollowpoints, american eagle target, PMC target. I've tried them all and they all work. I am on my 2nd bodyguard. fired 600 rounds and counting. I'm hoping it keeps on shooting without issues. So far so good.

 

[johnpem]

got my bg380 back for S&W, only 2 weeks. the only thing documented was they replaced the barrel. i only fired about 70 rounds today here's the results.
- slide lock problem is fixed.
- no feed issues yet but was somewhat rarer and low round count.
- 1 light strike on Fiocchi XTP rounds out of 18 rounds of it i fired. sadly it was to be my chosen carry ammo, jury still out now.
compared casings from before and after, not really seeing any difference on primer indentations.
i will keep playing and monitor things.

 

[VirtualWatts]

I made no mods today, just the full disassembly of all parts slide and body to take measurements. I noticed Galloway has started offering a .050" spacer to increase strikes. While I had it apart I installed yet a third hammer spring, the extra power spring from Galloway, even though I got one with the short stroke kit.

Then went to the range with the BG380 and my new LCP Custom to run through their paces and confirm BG380 rear site alignment. Figured if the BG isn't going to run I should go ahead and train up on the LCP. To my surprise I had no FTFire with the BG. So I focused on the BG380 and put an additional 100 rnds through it of Blazer and PMC range ammo with no light strike/FTF. Huh. I then went ahead and burned through the remainder of my Georgia arms HP and Hornady CD.

I had zero failures, and the slide locked back on each magazine. All totaled a little more than 150 rnds with no FTF.

I have no explanation, maybe it was the new versus old G hammer spring, or maybe I magically passed the 400rnd count mark, dunno. Yes, I added the new G hammer spring, and yes I did a full detailed disassembly and reassembly cleaning and lubing all. I'll repeat again this week and if all is good will return to carry.

 

[Florida J Frame]

I've been shopping for a .380 for my wife, and for myself when I need to really work to conceal. I wanted to get the BG, but she didn't like the feel, and then I read about alot of them having light strike issues. She has pretty much settled on a Glock 42(Gotta admit its pretty nice), but with this new info, might just get a BG. Can't beat the price w/ a laser included.

Never liked the BG but I recently switched from an LCP to the Glock 42 due to some early arthritis. It is a great, soft shooting pocket pistol. 200 round test the first day at the range and it was perfect. I have found the Freedom Munitions 90gr XTP is a good self defense round. I was never a Glock fan but this little gun changed my mind.

 

[csxcang]

just got my bg 380 with crimson laser back for repair to light strikes. Ran 100 rounds of fiocchi and winchester through it without a single FTF. Very happy with S&W. Tech mentioned a new firing pin and spring replacement. Also own a Shield and a 15-22. Really liking S&W now.

 

[oldiegoldie]

To the range yesterday with my 3 .380 BG's. Had some Fiocchi ammo that I bought intending to use for carry ammo. 30 rounds of it and had failure to fire at least one round in every magazine. Second strikes produced fired rounds. It is not reliable in my BG's. Shot 120 rounds pf PMC [my preferred range ammo] and had zero mis-fires. My luck with Fiocchi in 9mm has been flawless.

Anyone have a good, easy solution for cleaning out firing pin channel without disassembling slide? Appreciate any feedback.

 

[johnpem]

after getting gun back from smith i had one light strike on fiocchi extrema hp's. i am thinking of trying the galloway hammer spring, seems simple enough to install and may be just the little extra i needed. i have read a few posts where it seemed to help and others where it did not. anyone else have success after installing the spring? any down side to it?
JP