Bodyguard 380: Not Ready for Primetime

[3shot]

Hello all
I am new to this forum but believe my experience with the BG 380 is worth sharing.
I was really happy with my BG 380 for the first 200 rounds: I can shoot it well, the felt recoil in low, sights are good, redundant safety is nice to have when carrying near family, and it feels like a “real” gun. Yes, the trigger pull is too long and heavy and the laser control is clumsy and poorly designed, but overall a way better concealed carry than my LCP.
Then the BG 380 started to fall apart and have other reliability problems: (1)the takedown level repeatedly fell out when firing, (2) the trigger developed excessive freeplay that portends worse to come, and (3) I had 3 failure to fire on PMC FMJ( a very reliable brand of ammo), which all fired when re-loaded into the magazine.
I recognized the risk of some problems with a new gun, but expected them to be in areas that S&W could not have reasonably tested for. Not so, the problems I ( and others) have appear to be pretty basic and should have been discovered before the gun was released.
I am doing S&W’s alpha and beta testing. If there is any Corporate accountability at S&W , the project manager who declared this gun ready to be released to the market should be at home polishing his resume.

I have sent my BG 380 back to S&W after 450 rounds. Hopefully, the repairs they make will be permanent. Replacing a failure prone part with an identical failure prone part isn’t going to fix the problem.

Here’s the bottom line: The BG 380 will be an excellent gun when it’s debugged. But for now based on my experience, it’s still in the workout stage. Buyer Beware. If you plan to carry the BG 380 for self defense, make sure that you put enough mileage on it ( at least 300-400 rounds) to surface any problems .

 

[.357 mag]

Yes, the trigger pull is too long and heavy and the laser control is clumsy and poorly designed, but overall a way better concealed carry than my LCP.

What was wrong with your LCP.

 

[xzhync]

3Shot, I couldn't agree with you more. I haven't experienced all of the same problems that you did, but with my trigger failure, it just seems pretty obvious that they didn't do any sort of quality testing. All they would have had to do is take a random sampling of new BG's and put a few hundred rounds down range. There is no way, these problems wouldn't have become glaringly obvious to them. When I spoke with the CSR at Smith yesterday, he said that "they" (I assume he meant the customer service reps) just recently received an overview of the gun, so he didn't have enough product knowledge to speculate on the cause of the problem. Now, he was either staying close-lipped or he truely doesn't know the product yet. Based on that, I agree with your concern about them just putting another failure prone part back in the gun and sending it out for me to continue the beta testing...of course, at our expense. I, too, traded in an LCP for this pistol. I thought it had enough advantages to merit the change, but if they don't get these fixes right and fast, I'll be moving on to another .380 pistol.

I know everyone says you shouldn't buy a gun (or other products for that matter) when they first come out, but I believe, if a company cared enough to properly test their products, the new product problems could certainly be minimized.

 

[perrazi]

the last 30yrs. of smith& wesson has had a different business philosphy than the earlier days of the company. notice i said different not better.

 

[mag318]

When S&W does a run of pistols in the tens of thousands, a few problem ones will turn up. Mine has been flawless and I know two other people with them and they have experienced no problems. Ofcourse if you get one with problems you're going to be upset and rightfully so. But rest assured S&W will correct those problems as they have really good customer service. Problems like these have always occured with large manufacturers, but years ago without the internet you just didn't hear about them. I still buy S&W products and have confidence in the company because I know if I encounter a problem they will make it right.

 

[n4zov]

It took S&W six years to admit there were problems with their version of the Walther PPK and to offer a fix for purchasers. Hopefully it won't take that long with the Body Guard .380, but I wouldn't hold my breath! S&W offers great customer service in most cases, but too often there would not be a need for a trip to CS if the problems had been worked out before the gun hit the market. Sorry, but the days of my depending on S&W's reputation for quality are long gone.

 

[spec5]

Take down lever problems too

Took my Bodyguard .380 to the range for the third time and mine had a major problem. The take down lever backed out after firing about 100 rounds today and the slide, spring, guide rod, and take down lever blew off the gun. I was left holding only the lower with the mag in it. I picked up the pieces and put it all back together and the only way to keep the take down level from backing out was to put my finger next to it. If I would take my finger away it would continue to back out after firing several rounds. Called S&W and told them my story and I got the shipping label and just took it to FedEx. The CS person had heard the story before and they don't know a reason why it is happening. The way I see it is the take down lever is being moved by recoil when the slide is open and will drop all the way down and out of the gun. There does not seem to be enough tension on the take down lever on my gun as it moves easily on slide open or slide lock.

 

[compassman]

I just ran 200 rounds through my new BG380 and experienced no problems. I will run another 200 rounds through the pistol to see how it holds up. So far I am happy with the performance. The other posts get me worried. My wife will be carrying the pistol for protection. I need a pistol that will protect my wife. She had an encounter last month when she was leaving work late and locking up. Everything turned out ok but she had a scary experience.

 

[Copnomore]

Trigger failure to reset; Bg 380

I talked to someone in customer service today about some of the problems. This one major problem was identified and the problem part has been corrected (poor quality part). Hopefully, that will solve the specific problem on those leaving the factory now. They have a whole dedicated machining line for the Bodyguard .380, with orders for thousands yet to be filled. I may not get mine until November or December based on my order date. By then I would hope the bugs will all be exterminated.

 

[compassman]

I just picked mine up yesterday from a new batch. I wonder how long ago they discovered the problem. I will post the first few numbers of my serial number. Maybe we can see if there is a production range or if is just all the new ones. I am a little nervous as this gun is for my wife.

 

[Loco Weed]

I had a failure of my trigger also -- wouldn't reset. I got two shots off before the problem developed. My BG left for S&W today and I hope to have it back soon so I can continue my reliability testing.

 

[compassman]

I had a failure of my trigger also -- wouldn't reset. I got two shots off before the problem developed. My BG left for S&W today and I hope to have it back soon so I can continue my reliability testing.

How long ago did you buy yours?

 

[Dragon88]

Oh no, talking about serial number ranges and how recently your gun was made, before or after the "fixes". This reminds me of the 15-22...

 

[tritontr]

Oh no, talking about serial number ranges and how recently your gun was made, before or after the "fixes". This reminds me of the 15-22...

Or the Ruger LCP

 

[Loco Weed]

How long ago did you buy yours?

I bought mine on the 3rd of August. Serial # EAA23XX.

 

[compassman]

I bought mine from a new batch yesterday and the serial number is EAA78xx. I guess I will put a few more rounds through it and se what happens.

 

[spec5]

Bodyguard 380 back

Received my Bodyguard 380 back today August 30th and I had sent it off August 19th and they received it the 23rd which was over a weekend. Good turnaround. I had asked them for a mag for my trouble and they sent one in the box. I will report back after my next range session this week. The take down lever still seems too easy to back out but I will wait and see. I had to call as nothing was noted on the info inside the box as to what work was performed. I called the 800 number and was told they replaced a spring, barrel stop and take down lever.

 

[xzhync]

Hello all
I am new to this forum but believe my experience with the BG 380 is worth sharing.
I was really happy with my BG 380 for the first 200 rounds: I can shoot it well, the felt recoil in low, sights are good, redundant safety is nice to have when carrying near family, and it feels like a “real” gun. Yes, the trigger pull is too long and heavy and the laser control is clumsy and poorly designed, but overall a way better concealed carry than my LCP.
Then the BG 380 started to fall apart and have other reliability problems: (1)the takedown level repeatedly fell out when firing, (2) the trigger developed excessive freeplay that portends worse to come, and (3) I had 3 failure to fire on PMC FMJ( a very reliable brand of ammo), which all fired when re-loaded into the magazine.
I recognized the risk of some problems with a new gun, but expected them to be in areas that S&W could not have reasonably tested for. Not so, the problems I ( and others) have appear to be pretty basic and should have been discovered before the gun was released.
I am doing S&W’s alpha and beta testing. If there is any Corporate accountability at S&W , the project manager who declared this gun ready to be released to the market should be at home polishing his resume.

I have sent my BG 380 back to S&W after 450 rounds. Hopefully, the repairs they make will be permanent. Replacing a failure prone part with an identical failure prone part isn’t going to fix the problem.

Here’s the bottom line: The BG 380 will be an excellent gun when it’s debugged. But for now based on my experience, it’s still in the workout stage. Buyer Beware. If you plan to carry the BG 380 for self defense, make sure that you put enough mileage on it ( at least 300-400 rounds) to surface any problems .

Hey 3Shot, have you had any progress on your 'assembly pin backing out' issue? Just curious as I now have the same issue

 

[3shot]

My BG 380 is still with S&W. In fairness, they only received it on 8/23. I really hope they have an accurate handle on what is causing the take down pin and trigger problems, and can put permanent fixes in. I'll report back when I have the gun and a chance to run some ammo through it.

 

[spec5]

Take down lever

I will try to get to the range on Wed or Thu and post a reply on whether or not the take down problem was fixed for me and waiting for the a reply from 3shot also on the same issue.