BodyGuard 380

[TomTerrific]

There was a flurry of posts earlier this year when the S&W BodyGuard 380 came out and I am wondering if any of y'all have had any experience shooting it?

I went to Jim's yest with the professed interest in looking at mouse guns, thinking I really liked the Taurus TCP. The clerk said that the main bad thing about the Taurus was it was a Taurus. He said they can't keep the BG in stock.

I shot an LCP earlier this year and didn't like the way it didn't fit my hand and the snappiness made it hard to control. I have small hands but can get only one finger on the grip below the trigger housing. I can get two on the TCP.

He showed me a Kahr. Besides being about $200 more than the Taurus, I thought it was way too thin to achieve a decent grip and it was a one finger grip, also. I did not feel at all comfortable shooting the LCP and I doubt that I would with any pistol with small, one finger grips

I have a snubbie S&W .357 that I am happy shooting +Ps with cuz I can hold onto the piece. Am I being paranoid with the mouse guns? I thought they were a good idea, but am having second, and third, thoughts now.

Feedback requested.

 

[Guate_shooter]

I recently had to take the decition between the LCP and the P-3AT, I shot them both and went ahead and bought the P-3AT.

That being said if I could do it again I would choose the TCP, the slide lock feature makes things A LOT better IMO.

In a near future I will buy the TCP, there are only 2 downsides from it one that is a Taurus and two the goofy looking trigger guard, everybody that I know that has one loves it, I shot a buddies and it feels better than my P-3AT.

As far as the BodyGuard380 I have only handled one at the store and they seem very well built, the design is a little funky to have in the pocket IMO, kinna bulky looking.

 

[gacajun]

I bought a BG380 2 weeks ago and have been to the range 2 times with it...have about 150 rounds through it. I shot tight patterns at 7 and 15 yards with iron sights and laser. At 25 yards it is basically lobbing bullets. I turned on the laser and aimed up about 1 foot till I saw what the drop was and then was able to shoot about a 12" pattern.

The gun is light but the recoil was not too bad..less than the Rugar LCP. I like the actual sights instead of the plastic ones on the Rugar and Keltec "mouse" guns. I shot 94 grain bullets. 380 ammo is not to hard to come by now so that issue is resolved. I liked the fact that the slide locked open on the last shell and it has a real safety if you like it...or not use it. The trigger pull is pretty long since its a true DA gun. One plus point on the longer trigger pull is that you want to make sure you don't shoot yourself in the leg when you pull out the gun from your pocket.

There have been issues with the disassembly pin backing out and some earlier model laser buttons being a little tricky. You can see LOTS of info at www.bodyguard380.com. Most of the problems have bee with the earlier EAAxxxx serial numbers. The newer EABxxx weapons seem to have the spring problems addressed.

All in all its a pretty sweet little gun. However I am going to reserve judgement until I put 1k rounds through it.

 

[angrycookieman]

Anybody else with input on the BG380? I'm trying to make the same decision now.

 

[themcfarland]

I can tell you , as a lefty I dont like the mag release being where they are on the lcp,p3at,and now this.. I am currently looking for a replacement or my p3at

 

[mb504]

I tried one out recently and the laser switch took a lot to turn it on. It almost took two hands to turn on the laser, since the switch was soo stiff. I expect it to turn on with just a brush of the finger when drawing and indexing your trigger finger along the slide.

Given all that, I would prefer a g26/lcp/p3at/sr9c/p380/p9/db380 with a crimsontrace laserguard. (Armalaser works too)

 

[03GeeTee]

my friend just bought one yesterday and I had the chance to shoot it. Was very accurate with the laser and sights at 7 yards once I got used to the trigger. It also seemed alot more comfortable to shoot than an lcp. I'm thinking of getting one once I get my ccw.

 

[mb504]

my friend just bought one yesterday and I had the chance to shoot it. Was very accurate with the laser and sights at 7 yards once I got used to the trigger. It also seemed alot more comfortable to shoot than an lcp. I'm thinking of getting one once I get my ccw.

How was it drawing it and turning on the laser?

 

[03GeeTee]

I didn't do any draws, but his laser turns on pretty easy with either hand. I found that I prefer to hit the button on the left side with my support hand.

 

[dtd80]

I wasn't too impressed with it. It is a great concept but fell short with the trigger. I found the grip a little too thin for my tastes but that's from my perspective. As a BUG or conceal, it would definitely work. I didn't think highly of the laser too. It did as MB504 said, pretty hard to actuate. I found that 4 out of 5 times, I had to press it again pretty hard to make sure it would turn on/off. The strobe feature isn't necessary either. Maybe it needed some breaking in, but my buddy didn't like it and his fiance didn't like it, so they will probably trade it. Might want to see if he'll sell out right. It might have 50 rds down the pipe if that. I'll pm you his SN.

 

[angrycookieman]

Well, I do know that they have already gone through a couple revisions and the laser switch is supposedly fixed on the latest and greatest. I personally wish that they would sell a cheaper version without the laser. I really liked the way the gun felt for a compact pocket gun.

 

[Boudreaux]

thinking of getting one of these for the old lady.

 

[Sin-ster]

Long trigger pull, yes. But HEAVY was the thing that stood out in my mind. It stacked, then gave way to this weird dead zone-- I actually staged/prepped/framed the shot completely by accident the first time I handled it.

Certainly well built, and despite still being a tiny little pistol, it definitely has more girth to it than the LCP. I found that the Pearce extensions on the LCP made it fit my hand very comfortably, but I range on the small side in that department. You bigger bear claw guys will probably prefer the Bodyguard.

The magazine, like so many pistols out there that it's no longer cool to bash on these boards () looks like it's made of rolled sheet metal. And it darn well might be, for all I know.

It's a Smith, which is hard to argue-- we all know they have excellent customer service, without question or reservation. I'm sure Ruger is in the same category and haven't heard anything too terrible about Taurus, but S&W stands out in my mind for being good to its customers.

I did not get a chance to shoot it, sadly-- just a couple dozen dry pulls. I would have no problem believing it's more pleasant than the LCP; on top of the added size, the ergonomics are a bit better as well, in the opinion of my hands.