Update
After much back and forth, I finally caved and bought a second bodyguard 380. I ran about 50 rounds through it and it was flawless, except it had the same slide lock issue that my first bodyguard 380 had.
Just to check, I ran the new magazine in my old bodyguard and it still had FTF every 3 rounds with the same ammo.
I will say that the newer one recoils more softly too. I'm guessing it's from the new recoil spring. I did try a new recoil spring in my old one, but it didn't fix anything.
So long story short, I still don't know why my old one has issues, but the new one is flawless, except for the slide lock. This time though, I learned to just leave it alone. The slide lock doesn't really matter. The last time I sent a BG380 to S&W for a slide lock, it never functioned correctly again... for 5 years... including probably another 3 trips back to S&W. So the advice for all of you that have a functioning BG380 with a slide lock issue, just accept it and live with it. Don't be like me 5 years ago. Being like me is bad in general, but save yourself the headache and the cost of buying a new gun. If there's no FTE or FTF, just let it be...
To outline the procedure for fixing your BG380 FTF, do the following:
1. Ditch your old BG380
2. Buy a new BG380
3. Come to peace with the slide not locking back
4. Don't ever send your BG380 back to S&W
That is all.
