S&W MP .380

B

briandg

New member
I could not find a post on this subject, don't know why.

I'd like to hear about the M&P .380 bodyguard by smith and wesson. I picked one up a few months back, and currently I'm just not thrilled with it. Accuracy seems to be lacking. I cannot fire it well with a single hand. I had a couple of stovepipes when using the winchester ammo, I found it to later be reduced recoil. the brass is flung all over the range, and sometimes even hits me in the face.

The worst part of it is the grip configuration. I have bigger hands than many people. and unless I carefully place my thumb and trigger finger, I wind up jamming my finger against my thumb and can't fire the pistol. I can't put it in the thumb groove, and I have had to learn to drop my thumb just below the slide. The trigger stacks pretty badly, so badly that I actually have a hitch in trigger pull every time. I can't get a smooth pull.

I'm sure that this isn't anything new to others like the LCP. If it wasn't a fine compact pistol, i'd get rid of it. Since I can even put it in a watch pocket of my jeans, or a shirt pocket, it's here to stay. I'm still not happy with the way it worked out.

The main question, though, is whether others find these functioning problems. Stove pipes? Facial hits with the brass? hitting people on the left with ejected brass? I've found brass as far as almost 30 feet away. it tosses it anywhere except straight forward. No big issue, but there are still the questions of the stovepipe and other possible failures to feed. for that matter, when a person is in a serious situation, would an ejected shell casing in the eye result in serious injury?
 
btw, I am using sig 100 grain jhp. I find them to be accurate in all of my other handguns, and I expect that they will perform admirably. I look at the star shape to allow better penetration while still cutting a wider path through the tissues.

A question. Does anyone know what sort of paint I could use to mark the magazine end caps? These things are as black as pitch, as are my holsters, and no matter where I set them down, it may take three or four hours to find it, even though it was sitting right next to me on my couch. White mag caps would make this less of a problem while not being too obrusive when carried. I need something that will bind to plastic and remain intact for long periods of carry. or, does anyone know where to buy color coded caps?
 
A while back I tried one with a laser on it and I never warmed up to it. I really like the M&P lineup and wanted to like the little 380, but the trigger was tough for me. Got rid of it and stuck with LCP. Good luck.
 
For me, it was between that and the CW380. I picked the CW380 and I'm glad I did. They CW380 is as easy to carry, but it is a high quality gun...
 
I had one a while back, traded towards a Shield but I plan to pick up the M&P .380 without the laser soon. I never had any problems with mine, and I have a couple buddies who also own one and neither of them have had problems either. I was actually pretty impressed with the accuracy with mine, though I am used to DA triggers, so for those that aren't it may take a bit of getting used to.
 
My bodyguard ( no laser) is a super pocket pistol or IWB carry, although i normally carry a G42, Sig P238 or Kimber Micro the Bodyguard is usually in the PU within it's carry case. The trigger does require some familiarization to be proficient and it will never be a target pistol however i find that i can put one shot on top of another at ten yards. I seriously doubt i would have occasion to shoot the BG at greater distances but have no doubt that with some experimentation one could take out man sized targets at 100 yards. My BG has had quite a few rounds through it by a number of shooters and inaccuracy has never been a topic of conversation.
 
at thirty feet, the first batch of ammo went into a scattered pie plate sized group. As I said, it stovepiped once, and another failure jammed it. changing to full powered remington ammo seems to solve the reliability issues, but the brass still flies everywhere. It may sound like no problem, but it actually indicates that there are some problems with the extractor/ejector design, and that the casings are bouncing around like hyperactive five year olds as they exit the port. This is why the thing jammed.

My only reason for buying it was the size. Unlike lots of people, I seem to have problems acquiring my handgun from a holster of any kind while driving. There seem to be some occasional problems that arise when in a vehicle, and an IWB holster isn't conducive to trying to rip a 1911 out of the holster and deploying. I have several methods of carry while in the car, and none of them involves any sort of confinement like an IWB.

I'd still like to hear whether anyone else has ejection port problems, or other problems involving ejection. If so, I just have to put up with having hot brass fall into my shirt, but if it's not common, it needs to go back for some tuning.
 
This appears to have more problems than solutions.Maybe a trusted friend can help you.Good Luck,Skeets.
 
I looked into getting one a few years ago and I just didn't like the feel or size of it. I ended up with a Ruger LCR which I eventually traded off on a vintage Smith Model 36. I'm more of a "revolver guy".

I have a friend who is early 80's who purchased the Smith Bodyguard. I went their the CPL class with him and I watched him really struggle with his. First - the size of it and the stiff racking was very difficult for him with arthritic hands. He had several brands of ammo - I don't remember which but he had some failure to feed and a couple of stove pipes out of the 100 rounds we shot to qualify. I tried to convince him to trade it in on a revolver which would be more friendly with his hands. He has since purchased a smaller 9mm but still has the Bodyguard.

I have shot one a couple of times. I personally view it as a "close up self defense gun" out to 21 feet or so and even then, some good practice to be able to keep it in central mass under stressful situations.

I only had one semi-auto - a Ruger SR9. I recently purchased a 9mm Shield to switch of to once in a while for CCW just for more capacity. I carry on the belt and I find the size of it to be very comfortable - thin and even with the 7 round (shorter) mag, I can get a good grip on it.

I'm not bad mouthing the 380 Bodyguard nor the caliber. A lot of folks like them and seem to be very comfortable with them. I'd suggest you try and find a rare where you could rent a 9mm Shield or see if someone has one you could try. All I have shot out of mine are my own lead reloads - 115 gr, 124 gr and 147 gr. I have only had one failure to eject and that was when I was working up a load with a new bulleet I hadn't tried. (I start at min load data and work up). It was my fault - not enough powder charge to fully cycle the slide. An increase in the land cured that problem. As I said, I'm more of a revolver guy but I am really enjoying my Shield and am more than satisfied with it - accurate at SD distances, functions well and the recoil is very manageable. I think I could shoot it for hours and not have any ill effects - and I'm "older" and have some arthritis in my hands as well.

It's well worth the time to check the Shield out - and there are others out there as well that fit your needs.

If your are stuck on the .380 ACP - you might try on of het Bersa models as well. I had one a few years ago that I purchase used - it ate anything I fed it and functioned flawlessly - I sometimes wish I had held on to it. Good luck!
 
I have had three and have had reliability problems. BUT:

I like the gun so much that I persevered with S&W and kept sending them in for repair until they were reliable.

With the first gun I had a couple feeding and ejection problems. This they fixed easily. But with all three I also had continuing occasional FTFires which really bothered me. They finally were able to fix it, apparently with a new, redesigned firing pin. It is now 100% reliable with any ammo I feed it.

Mine, too, chucks brass all over the place. Probably not as bad as yours.

Send it in to them with your complaints and they will fix it. Then you need to decide if you like it or not. But get it working right first.

David
 
I really wanted to like the 380 bodyguard when they came out. I liked that they had better sights and fit my hand better than my first gen LCP. Several of my friends hopped on the band wagon early and purchased them. That allowed me to shoot them alot without taking the plunge and buying. Long story short was that the three bodyguards I shot were just not reliable enough to stake my life on one. Each made at least one trip back to S&W for work, but two of the three still had issues.

I stuck with my old LCP until the LCP Custom came out. I then upgraded to a Custom and couldn't be happier. Now i have better sights and trigger plus this gun has olny had one failure to feed in 500 plus rounds. The ftf came at round 50 so I'm very comfortable with the reliability of this gun.
 
Have to Agree stick with 9mm

I have to agree. I'm not a fan. But I absolutely love my SW MP 9mm ( Also a present to myself). One of the best gifts ever...

-For the .380 I have to say I dont think SW did a good job there. Didn't fit my had well, which is why I like the 9mm.
 
I have had the Taurus 738 tcp and now have a LCP.

I regard them as mission pieces. I have them because they have a job.
I decided I could not live with out a pocket rocket.
I shoot them just fine and all. But they are not fun too shoot.
I shoot them enough to maintain proficiency.

But for fun. Its the Besa Thunder all the way, I love that gun.

Usually when I take the 380's to the range.
I run about 25 -50 through the LCP then the rest of the 380 shooting is from the Bersa.

So I get training and fun all in the same trip.
 
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