I've been through several small, pocket sized 380's but never really gave the Bodyguard much though. Found one with no laser or thumb safety at a great price and decided to give one a try. It seems the internet is full of bad reviews on this particular pistol but my experience was very positive.
The fit and finish on this little pistol is pretty dang good. Compared to some other 380's in this class, this gun seems solidly built and has a good over-all finish. I like the town down on this one as well. I like it much better than popping out the pin on my LCP.
The trigger seems to get a lot of bad press and I can understand why. It's pretty long and definitely heavier than most. It took me a few mags to figure out how to stack it right before the break. After shooting it for a bit, accurate shots became very easy. Even rapid fire at 5-7 yards became comfortable for me. But I must admit that my LCP Gen 2 has a much better trigger pull and travel. In other words, it's fair to see people not liking this trigger. I guess it's an acquired taste.
The reliability on my particular sample was excellent. I shot some aluminum cased ammo and some defensive rounds through it and did not have the first hiccup. In total, I fired about 150 rounds which takes a while with the two 6-round mags included. I will admit that it does wear your hand out much quicker than larger guns but it wasn't enough to deter my shooting outing. It seemed to have less recoil than my LCP Gen 2.
A few other miscellaneous notes to add......
Another complaint online that I kept seeing was with the mags dropping free unintentionally. It seems that the older models had polymer mag release buttons which wore out over time and caused the mags to drop. My particular BG380 has a metal mag release button and worked perfectly.
I also saw concern over S&W using MIM barrels but I don't think mine has a MIM barrel. I do not see any lines or marks that would indicate the barrel was MIM. It may very well be, but it doesn't seem that way. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
All-in-all, I really like this gun. If I get another 150-200 trouble free rounds out of this gun, it will become my pocket carry of choice. I won't be selling off my LCP anytime soon, but I'm happy with the first outing of my BG380. Safe shooting to all!!
The fit and finish on this little pistol is pretty dang good. Compared to some other 380's in this class, this gun seems solidly built and has a good over-all finish. I like the town down on this one as well. I like it much better than popping out the pin on my LCP.
The trigger seems to get a lot of bad press and I can understand why. It's pretty long and definitely heavier than most. It took me a few mags to figure out how to stack it right before the break. After shooting it for a bit, accurate shots became very easy. Even rapid fire at 5-7 yards became comfortable for me. But I must admit that my LCP Gen 2 has a much better trigger pull and travel. In other words, it's fair to see people not liking this trigger. I guess it's an acquired taste.
The reliability on my particular sample was excellent. I shot some aluminum cased ammo and some defensive rounds through it and did not have the first hiccup. In total, I fired about 150 rounds which takes a while with the two 6-round mags included. I will admit that it does wear your hand out much quicker than larger guns but it wasn't enough to deter my shooting outing. It seemed to have less recoil than my LCP Gen 2.
A few other miscellaneous notes to add......
Another complaint online that I kept seeing was with the mags dropping free unintentionally. It seems that the older models had polymer mag release buttons which wore out over time and caused the mags to drop. My particular BG380 has a metal mag release button and worked perfectly.
I also saw concern over S&W using MIM barrels but I don't think mine has a MIM barrel. I do not see any lines or marks that would indicate the barrel was MIM. It may very well be, but it doesn't seem that way. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
All-in-all, I really like this gun. If I get another 150-200 trouble free rounds out of this gun, it will become my pocket carry of choice. I won't be selling off my LCP anytime soon, but I'm happy with the first outing of my BG380. Safe shooting to all!!
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