I wanted to share some experiences I've had with the Smith and Wesson 38 Bodyguard Revolver. This is the new style polymer frame "tactical" looking J-frame. This thread is mostly a critique about the product and customer service I received. I know people here are die-hard Smith fans and are going to be quick to point out how someone dares to post something about Smith, so to clarify, I own a lot of Smith and Wesson products and have done some things to support them.
I purchased a brand new Bodyguard from Cabela's some time last year. I originally wanted to purchase a Ruger LCR but I figured that most of my purchases were Smith and Wesson and I wanted to keep things that way. The trigger pull was not nearly as nice as the Ruger LCR, however. There was significant stacking towards the end of the pull, even when compared to other J-Frame revolvers. I was getting some work done on some competition revolvers and I sent the Bodyguard out for some spring work by a very-qualified gunsmith.
When I received the gun back, I naturally shot it to see the difference. The pull was still terrible, just marginally less so. I did not plan on using the integrated laser sight, it seemed too gimmicky. With iron sights at 5 yards, the revolver shot low and to the left by a few inches. I realize that small guns are difficult to shoot, but I have also shot J frames without this issue.
I figured it was me regardless. I had a friend who is a Smith and Wesson employee and career engineer shoot the revolver. He'd been shooting revolvers for umpteen years, both in competition and recreationally. He had the same results. I also had a friend who was last year's ICORE East Coast Revolver Championship's Open Gun champion shoot the gun. Same results. This was slow, deliberate, very controlled firing from three guys that shoot wheelguns A LOT. I understand that new users frequently pull shots down because of double action pulls; the shots were grouping fine, but they fell outside of an eight inch scoring zone (0 zone on an IDPA target) at 5 or 6 yards. That's not acceptable. It's dangerous.
I sent the gun back to Smith - they provided good communication and a pre-paid packing label. I sent a detailed letter explaining the nature of the problem and the above story, plus our qualifications as shooters. I received the gun back recently; the note says the the gun was in-spec, and that the springs were replaced back to factory condition.
Obviously, changing springs will do nothing to change point of impact on a gun. If anything, a harder main spring resulting in a harder pull is going to excaserbate a shooter induced inaccuracy problem, if that was the case. This doesn't make any sense to me. Why did I bother to include a detailed letter about rounds not impacting to approximately where the front sight lands at close distance if I wanted to respring the gun? If I had the gun resprung with lighter springs, wouldn't I have been able to replace the factory springs anyway?
Things like this frustrate me. I don't want to sell this gun because in the very very very unlikely case that this gun has to be used in self defense, I don't want someone putting the front sight on something that needs to have a bullet on it and have the bullet go somewhere completely different. I am going to continue to follow up with Smith and Wesson about this, but I would recommend that people stay away from the S&W "new style" Bodyguard. The cylinder release is kind of a neat idea and the gun seems to lock up quickly, but the trigger stacking is ridiculous and the laser seems too gimmicky for quick activation. In the meantime, I've taken to carrying a Model 10 snubnose from the 70s. It's not much larger than a J Frame, it's an "old" style gun, and even though it was initially out of time (I fitted a new hand for it) it still put shots very closely in the center of a target at 10 yards.
I purchased a brand new Bodyguard from Cabela's some time last year. I originally wanted to purchase a Ruger LCR but I figured that most of my purchases were Smith and Wesson and I wanted to keep things that way. The trigger pull was not nearly as nice as the Ruger LCR, however. There was significant stacking towards the end of the pull, even when compared to other J-Frame revolvers. I was getting some work done on some competition revolvers and I sent the Bodyguard out for some spring work by a very-qualified gunsmith.
When I received the gun back, I naturally shot it to see the difference. The pull was still terrible, just marginally less so. I did not plan on using the integrated laser sight, it seemed too gimmicky. With iron sights at 5 yards, the revolver shot low and to the left by a few inches. I realize that small guns are difficult to shoot, but I have also shot J frames without this issue.
I figured it was me regardless. I had a friend who is a Smith and Wesson employee and career engineer shoot the revolver. He'd been shooting revolvers for umpteen years, both in competition and recreationally. He had the same results. I also had a friend who was last year's ICORE East Coast Revolver Championship's Open Gun champion shoot the gun. Same results. This was slow, deliberate, very controlled firing from three guys that shoot wheelguns A LOT. I understand that new users frequently pull shots down because of double action pulls; the shots were grouping fine, but they fell outside of an eight inch scoring zone (0 zone on an IDPA target) at 5 or 6 yards. That's not acceptable. It's dangerous.
I sent the gun back to Smith - they provided good communication and a pre-paid packing label. I sent a detailed letter explaining the nature of the problem and the above story, plus our qualifications as shooters. I received the gun back recently; the note says the the gun was in-spec, and that the springs were replaced back to factory condition.
Obviously, changing springs will do nothing to change point of impact on a gun. If anything, a harder main spring resulting in a harder pull is going to excaserbate a shooter induced inaccuracy problem, if that was the case. This doesn't make any sense to me. Why did I bother to include a detailed letter about rounds not impacting to approximately where the front sight lands at close distance if I wanted to respring the gun? If I had the gun resprung with lighter springs, wouldn't I have been able to replace the factory springs anyway?
Things like this frustrate me. I don't want to sell this gun because in the very very very unlikely case that this gun has to be used in self defense, I don't want someone putting the front sight on something that needs to have a bullet on it and have the bullet go somewhere completely different. I am going to continue to follow up with Smith and Wesson about this, but I would recommend that people stay away from the S&W "new style" Bodyguard. The cylinder release is kind of a neat idea and the gun seems to lock up quickly, but the trigger stacking is ridiculous and the laser seems too gimmicky for quick activation. In the meantime, I've taken to carrying a Model 10 snubnose from the 70s. It's not much larger than a J Frame, it's an "old" style gun, and even though it was initially out of time (I fitted a new hand for it) it still put shots very closely in the center of a target at 10 yards.
