Continuing major problems with Bodyguard 380

[db4570]

A couple months I posted ago about some issues I was having with my BG380: occasional failure to feed, light strikes, failure of the slide to lock back, auto forwarding.

This is a recent model, no laser. I am using inexpensive but name brand ball. I have over 30 years of shooting experience, am not limp wristing, clean and lube the gun and mags thoroughly and correctly.

I sent it back to S&W and they replaced the firing pin and slide latch, and polished the ramp. Great customer service, BTW.

I got it back, put a few mags through it, everything worked fine except it still auto forwarded, and the slide didn't latch back once. I figured I could live with that.

Yesterday I went back to the range with it and in about 4 mags had one failure to fire and one stovepipe. This was different ammo than I had used before, but still decent stuff: Speer Lawman FMJ.

I am going to try sending it back one more time, but right now I have ZERO confidence in this gun. I really want it to work, because there is nothing else with the characteristics I want that can replace it. Plus, I like it.

David

 

[N4KVE]

It sucks to hear stories like this, because the small pocket 380's are what many people carry to prevent robberies, etc. If a gun doesn't work 100%, it can't be trusted, so why should we carry it. When I work the gun shows for my boss, the 2 pocket guns I recommend the most are the BG, & the LCP. I don't even mention the Keltec unless the customer asks. It's sad that this happens, & even if they fix it, I would never trust it until I wasted hundreds of $ of ammo to test it. Another gun [LCP] would be cheaper. Good luck to you sir. GARY

 

[Rpg]

I'd send it back to S&W, give them another chance to fix it then get rid of it.

I would be unwilling to use it for sd: I simply would have no confidence in such a firearm.

 

[unclebob]

It's too bad there are way too many stories like this about a trusted company!!

 

[CaptRon956]

did you ever take the magazines apart & clean them as well? A lot of problems with this pistol has been contributed to a sticky mag follower. with the slide forward insert a empty magazine and watch the slide lock. What does it do? It moves up. The magazine spring applies the tension to the slide lock and if you have a sticky follower or weak spring that may cause the faiulres your describing. I would take the mags apart & with a toothbrush use some gun cleaner & brush the soot off the plastic mag follower and insides of the magazine and wipe dry...

 

[Rickgus]

I am going to try sending it back one more time, but right now I have ZERO confidence in this gun. I really want it to work, because there is nothing else with the characteristics I want that can replace it. Plus, I like it.

David

David - I also responded to your first post, as did Capt Ron. He has pointed out to several the importance of cleaning the magazines. Don't know if that will solve all your problems, but take them apart and see if a cleaning will help. My problems with the BG was ammo issues and it took my LGS showing me that it wasn't the pistol at all, it was a certain brand of ammo creating the problems. I understand your feeling of having no confidence in the BG and if the pistol comes back with the same problems maybe you should move on to something else. My first range trip with the BG, I was very disappointed, as I too liked the features the BG offered, but the BG was failing in one way or the other. Just changing brands of ammo has given me more hope in it becoming a "keeper" for us. It is a shame some of us have to go thru this process, but, apparently with the smaller pocket pistols, that is the "nature of the beast!" I also have an LCP that has never given me any issues! That's the way we all want our purchases for SD to go!

Good luck David! Let us know what comes of the second return! - Rick

 

[Abflyboy]

I have had similar issues with my Glock 42. Long story short, much of the available ammunition is not running at SD velocity and won't fully cycle the slide 100%.

The G42 and BG are both designed primarily as SD pistols and have heavier recoil springs installed which will cause issues with some of the 'plinker' loads that we practice with.

I hate having trust issues with a firearm that was purchased for SD duty and it will probably take a few thousand rounds with zero malfunctions before I decide to EDC my G42. If it keeps giving me fits, it's gone.

 

[mafbloggerdanny]

I have had similar issues with my Glock 42. Long story short, much of the available ammunition is not running at SD velocity and won't fully cycle the slide 100%.

The G42 and BG are both designed primarily as SD pistols and have heavier recoil springs installed which will cause issues with some of the 'plinker' loads that we practice with.

I hate having trust issues with a firearm that was purchased for SD duty and it will probably take a few thousand rounds with zero malfunctions before I decide to EDC my G42. If it keeps giving me fits, it's gone.

I have had similar issues with G42. I decided to go with the G42 over the BG380 for a couple reasons. For one was not looking for CCW as the primary role. already had a shield for ccw. was actually looking at 380 because i wanted something softer shooting than 9mm and the G42 is larger than other 380's. The other deciding fact was reading threads like this, about people having problems with the BG380. Light primer strikes, FTF, FTE, pins walking themselves out.

When it comes to full size M&Ps I think S&W can beat Glock pound-for-pound. Equal reliability with superior ergos. However, Smith and Wesson's 380 offering just isn't as well refined as Glock.

That said, I have been disappointed with the G42 too. The spring is just too heavy. I understand you want something that will allow you to use hot self defense rounds and not beat the gun up too much, but someone REALLY needs to come out with a lower lb. spring for people that want to use target rounds or reloads.

It's really annoying when I can buy 8 different types of .380 loads from different manufacturers and only 4 or 5 of them will cycle in the gun.

I have been waiting for Galloway Precision to come out with new lower # recoil spring assemblies but I think they're still working on them. Who knows if they will ever see the light of day. It's a tough world for 380. Part of me wishes I had gone Sig P238.

 

[Old cop]

I'm sorry to hear about your problems w/the M&P .380. I've had mine about a month now and took it to the range for the second time today, about 100 rounds of ball ammo. No problems and the more I shoot this gun the more I like it. My G42 was a disaster, every kind of malfunction you can name. Ruger LCP & KelTec same thing, w/the exception of the KelTec .32, which I foolishly sold. UPDATE: My M&P .380 developed light strike problems in late 2016 so I got rid of it (full disclosure @ a steep loss) b/c I'd lost confidence in it. I did p/u the LCP for $199 just before the LCPII came out and it runs fine up to about 75 rounds, then starts the stove pipe thing. I know it is okay through two mags but still trust my M&P340, my EDC, more than any of the little .380s.

 

[lmacrichter]

I had all the problems you have plus a few more. Sent it back to S&W and when they said it was fixed I traded it on a P238. Haven't had a problem in the world since except finding ammo. 380 seems to be in short supply in central Al right now unless you want to pay the higher GS prices.

 

[db4570]

did you ever take the magazines apart & clean them as well? A lot of problems with this pistol has been contributed to a sticky mag follower.

Thanks for that suggestion, CaptRon956 and Rickgus.

Before this latest issue I took your advice and cleaned them thoroughly, and they were a bit gunky.

I also very lightly oiled them with my normal gun oil, Lubriplate. I got mixed advice on whether to lube them or not. I had never lubed a mag before, so I figured I'd try it. It's a very thin film I can barely feel. They seemed to operate very slick after that.

What do you guys think? Lube or dry?

David

 

[db4570]

It's an interesting theory that the target rounds might not be quite powerful enough for guaranteed cycling.

If I knew that it would only malfunction while using cheap(ish) target ammo, it wouldn't bother me that much. Because for carry I'll be shooting high-end stuff.

Because of the cost, I have only put a couple mags of my carry ammo, Hydroshoks, through it. It ran fine on them, but it was only a sample of 15-20 rounds. I don't want to run $200 worth of high-end ammo through my $300 gun just to decide whether to keep it or not.

(Oddly, the 380 Hydroshoks are labeled "Low Recoil", which normally would be something I'd avoid, assuming that would also mean less powerful. But the ballistics for them are right up with everyone else's.)

Although I'm willing to try to standardize on an ammo that will be 100% reliable, it doesn't seem right. I never had to with my LCP. Or my CS9, or 92F, for that matter.

IMO, a finicky gun is an unreliable gun.

David

 

[CaptRon956]

Thanks for that suggestion, CaptRon956 and Rickgus.

Before this latest issue I took your advice and cleaned them thoroughly, and they were a bit gunky.

I also very lightly oiled them with my normal gun oil, Lubriplate. I got mixed advice on whether to lube them or not. I had never lubed a mag before, so I figured I'd try it. It's a very thin film I can barely feel. They seemed to operate very slick after that.

What do you guys think? Lube or dry?

David

I clean my magazines out and brush the red plastic follower with a toothbrush & get them real clean and just wipe them down, I see no problem with applying a lube but I would be very conservative with it, maybe use a silicon coated cloth & wipe everything down after cleaning.

I hope that fixes you up, Its a great gun, it's just a lil' picky about being dirty... Go grab a couple boxes of ammo and go to the range & let us know how it went.. As a matter of fact, I think I'll head out to my range tomorrow with my M&P 380!

 

[db4570]

I clean my magazines out and brush the red plastic follower with a toothbrush & get them real clean and just wipe them down, I see no problem with applying a lube but I would be very conservative with it, maybe use a silicon coated cloth & wipe everything down after cleaning.

I hope that fixes you up, Its a great gun, it's just a lil' picky about being dirty... Go grab a couple boxes of ammo and go to the range & let us know how it went.. As a matter of fact, I think I'll head out to my range tomorrow with my M&P 380!

I think it's obvious this gun has more issues than the magazine. After cleaning and oiling them, I still got the stovepipe and light strike. I don't see how even the worst magazine could cause those particular issues, anyway.

This gun has serious issues, and while I'll make one more attempt to deal with them, I'm not going to make excuses for it. This is totally unacceptable, and S&W should be ashamed. This is not some notorious cheap '70s Jennings or something; it is a premier American brand with a general reputation for excellent quality.

David

 

[Rickgus]

Wouldn't it be nice if we could rate product satisfaction like we do with rating Netflix movies, Ebay feedbacks and service companies requesting that we complete their customer surveys so that they might in turn improve those areas where they are falling short? Other than providing a return shipping label to return a product to S&W, what have they done to make their product and service better? Come on people, we're not dealing with products purchased from Walmart. We're dealing with purchases for self defense and personal protection. This is a company whose reputation for quality has always been "second to none" but that was the past. I not hearing that anymore! Consumers like David (DB4570) are giving the company a second chance to make this right. If that doesn't happen, he WILL move on! Now where is the product loyalty? Gone to another manufacturer, that's where! Good luck David! It is unacceptable!

 

[Horn]

You'll Get A Replacement/ CALL

I'd send it back to S&W, give them another chance to fix it then get rid of it.

I would be unwilling to use it for sd: I simply would have no confidence in such a firearm.

From my own history with S&W customer service, considering you've sent it back once and still have problems__the secret words you used ___you can't trust it___will apt to get you a replacement pistol.
You may just have gotten one assembled by someone that didn't learn well during the instruction period after hiring.
G'luck.

 

[Horn]

A Good Gun and Good Ammo Counts

I have had similar issues with G42. I decided to go with the G42 over the BG380 for a couple reasons. For one was not looking for CCW as the primary role. already had a shield for ccw. was actually looking at 380 because i wanted something softer shooting than 9mm and the G42 is larger than other 380's. The other deciding fact was reading threads like this, about people having problems with the BG380. Light primer strikes, FTF, FTE, pins walking themselves out.

When it comes to full size M&Ps I think S&W can beat Glock pound-for-pound. Equal reliability with superior ergos. However, Smith and Wesson's 380 offering just isn't as well refined as Glock.

That said, I have been disappointed with the G42 too. The spring is just too heavy. I understand you want something that will allow you to use hot self defense rounds and not beat the gun up too much, but someone REALLY needs to come out with a lower lb. spring for people that want to use target rounds or reloads.

It's really annoying when I can buy 8 different types of .380 loads from different manufacturers and only 4 or 5 of them will cycle in the gun.

I have been waiting for Galloway Precision to come out with new lower # recoil spring assemblies but I think they're still working on them. Who knows if they will ever see the light of day. It's a tough world for 380. Part of me wishes I had gone Sig P238.

I have a nephew in N. Idaho that has a Sig P238 and has had no issues and it drives tacks. I have the Sig P232. No problems but
only keep it "someplace" in the house, not for packing. (Have Shield for that) I do keep my P232 loaded with Buffalo Bore's 100gr, flat nosed +P stuff. It fires them well.
Buffalo's sales pitch for them (on BB's site) is pretty persuasive.
I like the bullet style being the same as used in big game ammo.
G'luck and stay safe.

"People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
-- George Orwell

 

[CaptRon956]

Sounds like you could use a new recoil spring & a new (or heavier) hammer spring. Both are easily replaced and available at Galloway.

 

[tjhodges310]

Really sorry to hear this. I have to laser-less BG model and it has been flawless. I know what you're going through BTW as I had an LC9 that had the same type of issues. Ruger finally got it right after I sent it back to the 3 times but boy did I lose confidence in the gun. I ultimately traded it in for the Shield 9.

 

[mrsig]

I have a pair of Glock 42's and although they both have worked at the range I still have this gut feeling of doubt that if I ever have to depend on it will it take care of me.

I guess all the negative posts on the BG and Glock does not give you a warm feeling of trust. Both manufacturers are top notch and you wonder why have so many iffy .380's out there. Where the engineers and testing people before these guns we're let loose?