New Bodyguard 2.0

[Tugger]

I’m a brand new member so I thank everyone, in advance, for their help.
I have a brand new BG 2.0. It has already spent 8 weeks in Springfield taking care of issues.
Now that it works, I have a question. When the mags are loaded with 10 rounds ( I live in one of those states), I can’t insert the mag unless the slide is locked back. Is that normal? Any other pistol I own can be loaded with a full mag whether the slide is open or closed.
Thanks, Tugzopp

 

[geeollie]

Lots of people on this forum have this trouble. My Bodyguard 2.0 and M&P9C does this.

Probably it is smaller guns and very stiff but reliable springs.
Keep shooting and it does get better. Not easy, but better.

 

[ImDrRich]

Welcome to the Forum.

Mine is there right now. The only way I could get the slide to lock back was to clip the fangs on the magazine followers. Works every time now.

 

[halfmoonclip]

I've trimmed the 'fangs' on my followers, which avoids the fangs catching in the mag catch, but it doesn't solve the 10 round problem. That is hit or miss, some can be seated against a closed slide, some cannot.
For the OP, if you haven't a Lula, get one. Your fingers will be mighty sore otherwise, assuming you can fill the magazine.
Beyond that, the BG2.0 is a great pistol; love mine.
Moon

 

[LEGION12]

Mine loads with full mag's with the slide closed just have to use a little force .

 

[GnarlsR2]

To the BIG-GUN firearm manufacturers…

I believe it’s well-known that the most common failure of a magazine-fed firearm is the magazine. The magazine is a relatively very simple component.

When Sig offered a new 17-round mag for my P365, I bought two. I could NOT load 17 rounds. I sent them back to Sig.

Practically every magazine, aftermarket or from the firearm manufacturer, I have had to “gunsmith” to make it work properly. That includes everything from disassembly to clean the rust and corrosion, to filing of areas where the follower is hanging up on the poor quality controlled feed lips. My BG2 12-round mag needed to be disassembled to clip part of the poorly designed follower to prevent it from hanging up on the mag catch hole, that only allowed 3 rounds to be loaded.

I still cannot get all 10 rounds and all 12 rounds in my BG2’s magazines without extreme force and creasing the ammo case with an UPlula.

It’s easy to measure what happens to the feed lips and the bulging mag tube when a poorly designed magazine is loaded with the maximum rounds. The smooth and precise bullet feed process is the first critical function of a magazine-fed firearm.

Design tolerances for the magazine feed lips, the mag catch slots, and spring pressure, all effect consistent reliability.

If MagGuts can design and produce a simple 3-piece “+1 Conversion Kit”, that actually allows me to load a full mag by hand, why can’t the big name firearm manufacturers do it?

Am I expecting too much?

 

[tarheel13]

Am I expecting too much?

In terms of mechanical function.... a mag that is not rusted and that does it's thing without user modification, no... your expectations are reasonable and should go without saying.

In terms of magazine capacity.... yes, you expect too much from a company that operates in cut-throat competition in a market driven by consumers who are just barely paying attention anyway. Most gun buyers are not studying in advance the guns they end up purchasing. They buy on whim and based (in the best case) on reviews from on-line "influencers" whose reviews are only allowed after the signing of a non-disclosure agreement that allows no exposure of problems. I think that if the 12 round Bodyguard 2.0 magazine could actually function properly holding 12 rounds, Smith would have advertised it as a 14 round mag. Because that's what gets them sales. We have reached a state where "hey, everybody lies" is the accepted practice.

I really like the BG 2.0 and so far our family has bought two of them. But we have large hands and use only the "12 round" magazine. So I also bought a bunch of 12 round mags. They don't have rust or mechanical problems but none of them will load 12 rounds. I do not worry about this. I load 10 rounds and everything works fine. Do I "need" more than 10+1 rounds in a pocket pistol? No, not really. I would certainly rather download the mag and then have no problems with it. The only thing that's really wrong is that the manufacturer is lying. So in that regard, yes... you expect too much.

 

[mauser9]

Glad I stick with my CS-9. Don't need the issues or headaches.

 

[GnarlsR2]

In terms of mechanical function.... a mag that is not rusted and that does it's thing without user modification, no... your expectations are reasonable and should go without saying.

In terms of magazine capacity.... yes, you expect too much from a company that operates in cut-throat competition in a market driven by consumers who are just barely paying attention anyway. Most gun buyers are not studying in advance the guns they end up purchasing. They buy on whim and based (in the best case) on reviews from on-line "influencers" whose reviews are only allowed after the signing of a non-disclosure agreement that allows no exposure of problems. I think that if the 12 round Bodyguard 2.0 magazine could actually function properly holding 12 rounds, Smith would have advertised it as a 14 round mag. Because that's what gets them sales. We have reached a state where "hey, everybody lies" is the accepted practice.

I really like the BG 2.0 and so far our family has bought two of them. But we have large hands and use only the "12 round" magazine. So I also bought a bunch of 12 round mags. They don't have rust or mechanical problems but none of them will load 12 rounds. I do not worry about this. I load 10 rounds and everything works fine. Do I "need" more than 10+1 rounds in a pocket pistol? No, not really. I would certainly rather download the mag and then have no problems with it. The only thing that's really wrong is that the manufacturer is lying. So in that regard, yes... you expect too much.

I appreciate your excellent observations.

Having spent a large part of my early professional career in technical sales, marketing, and advertising in the supply of components, mostly semiconductors, to the aerospace and defense industries, “lying” about ANY aspect of the semiconductor products would be disastrous for the supplier and manufacturers.

A majority of my time with my customers was spent discussing availability, quality control, and every aspect of performance and reliability - like MTTF and MTBF (Mean Time To Failure and Mean Time Between Failures) and lead times. Most of my time was spent with design and application engineers and purchasing and materiel executives.

When everything went “according to plan”, I made BIG commissions.

Lying or misrepresenting about a firearm’s performance for self-defense is at the very least disconcerting and at the worst extreme, potentially a life or death event.

 

[justwippet2006]

I’m a brand new member so I thank everyone, in advance, for their help.
I have a brand new BG 2.0. It has already spent 8 weeks in Springfield taking care of issues.
Now that it works, I have a question. When the mags are loaded with 10 rounds ( I live in one of those states), I can’t insert the mag unless the slide is locked back. Is that normal? Any other pistol I own can be loaded with a full mag whether the slide is open or closed.
Thanks, Tugzopp

I bought my BG2 the week they came out and I had the same issue. I contacted S&W and they basically told me to "smack the crap out of it." Yup, it worked. It just takes a pretty good swift slap to get the magazine to seat.

 

[restewartjr]

I’m able to get 10 rounds in the 10, and 12 rounds in the 12, by hand but it’s hard to do. I bought a loader specifically made for the BG 2.0 and it has been easier to load ever since.

 

[GnarlsR2]

"Smack the crap out of it!" is what I think needs to happen to some executives at S&W.

 

[halfmoonclip]

I contacted S&W and they basically told me to "smack the crap out of it."

By REALLY forcing it, yeah, they can be made to lock in. It has to be hard on parts, and parts longevity. I'm satisfied with loading 9 in most backup magazines (some will accept 10, and seat without drama...go figure).
I never drive my car like I stole it, and never treat guns like a throwaway.
Moon

 

[Phenix]

Lots of people on this forum have this trouble. My Bodyguard 2.0 and M&P9C does this.

Probably it is smaller guns and very stiff but reliable springs.
Keep shooting and it does get better. Not easy, but better.

There is no point in manufacturers making springs as still and long as they do. You should not have to use a loading tool either. I disassemble the magazines and start clipping coils. For some reason, most people are terrified to do that. It can solve more than one problem.

 

[Phenix]

I bought my BG2 the week they came out and I had the same issue. I contacted S&W and they basically told me to "smack the crap out of it." Yup, it worked. It just takes a pretty good swift slap to get the magazine to seat.

You shouldn’t have to do that on ANY gun.

 

[andysant]

To the BIG-GUN firearm manufacturers…

I believe it’s well-known that the most common failure of a magazine-fed firearm is the magazine. The magazine is a relatively very simple component.

When Sig offered a new 17-round mag for my P365, I bought two. I could NOT load 17 rounds. I sent them back to Sig.

Practically every magazine, aftermarket or from the firearm manufacturer, I have had to “gunsmith” to make it work properly. That includes everything from disassembly to clean the rust and corrosion, to filing of areas where the follower is hanging up on the poor quality controlled feed lips. My BG2 12-round mag needed to be disassembled to clip part of the poorly designed follower to prevent it from hanging up on the mag catch hole, that only allowed 3 rounds to be loaded.

I still cannot get all 10 rounds and all 12 rounds in my BG2’s magazines without extreme force and creasing the ammo case with an UPlula.

It’s easy to measure what happens to the feed lips and the bulging mag tube when a poorly designed magazine is loaded with the maximum rounds. The smooth and precise bullet feed process is the first critical function of a magazine-fed firearm.

Design tolerances for the magazine feed lips, the mag catch slots, and spring pressure, all effect consistent reliability.

If MagGuts can design and produce a simple 3-piece “+1 Conversion Kit”, that actually allows me to load a full mag by hand, why can’t the big name firearm manufacturers do it?

Am I expecting too much?

You are not!
After buying my 2nd BG2 I realized the mags were flawed in my first gun.
After a couple of complaints to SW they finally sent me the improved spring and followers.
I can load 12 in my Fl gun with a loader and 10 in my Nj gun by hand.
Great little gun, breaks in quickly leaving rounds in mags and leaving the open in the safe.
I upgraded the sights on my NJ gun to XS sights and I shoot it pretty good
Enjoy

 

[tarheel13]

I can load 12 in my Fl gun with a loader and 10 in my Nj gun by hand.
Great little gun, breaks in quickly leaving rounds in mags and leaving the open in the safe.
I upgraded the sights on my NJ gun to XS sights and I shoot it pretty good
Enjoy

Not familiar with the the FL and NJ abbreviations. I assume you are not referring to the states.

 

[justwippet2006]

You shouldn’t have to do that on ANY gun.

I can't disagree with that.

The BG2, despite some of its shortcomings, has been extremely reliable for me. With approximately 750 rounds through it I haven't experienced a single failure. Of course that was after fixing the magazine followers and getting a workout from an overly strong recoil spring (which is now much easier to rack). With that said, I'm realistic enough to know this is not an "heirloom quality" pistol but it definitely fits my needs: reliable and small/light enough to carry through Florida summers (which are 6 months long).

I've noticed a rather steep decline in the quality of new guns in the last 5 years. Pretty much every new pistol or revolver that I've purchased in that period has had at least one small issue that required either attention from me or a trip back to the factory.

 

[seldon14]

Working behind the counter I had a great many "this mag is defective it will only hold XX" in all but one example it was not defective (one case of follower/spring issues). In pretty much all cases I was able to load them to capacity without a loading tool.

 

[Jjdogm]

I’m a brand new member so I thank everyone, in advance, for their help.
I have a brand new BG 2.0. It has already spent 8 weeks in Springfield taking care of issues.
Now that it works, I have a question. When the mags are loaded with 10 rounds ( I live in one of those states), I can’t insert the mag unless the slide is locked back. Is that normal? Any other pistol I own can be loaded with a full mag whether the slide is open or closed.
Thanks, Tugzopp

I have gone thru all the failures of the bg 2.0. I sent it back to mfg, had the feed ramp polished but I still have to watch what kind of ammo I-run. some run great others have both issues in the mag loading fully and then feed issues; so I just don’t run the troublesome ammo and everything runs great consistently. Im going to drift the sight or change my sights to XS to get the gun shooting on target instead of left. when Galloway gets their inventory I’ll try their stainless recoil spring.