Should I make this trade tomorrow? Glock 26 vs S&W Bodyguard 38

The answer is: choose the one you like best!

I prefer the Glock 26. It is very accurate, holds 10, 15 or 17 +1 rounds. It's extremely reliable. It's fast to reload and conceals well.

I am not much of a snub nosed revolver fan. I find them much more difficult to shoot fast and accurately. Many other people I know shoot them well, but they practice with them.
 
A lot of what your saying is a bit alarming. You want to carry a gun for self defense but you will never train with it because you "know how to fire it". Further more, you want to begin to carry one of the most difficult to master handguns out their for self defense simply because you've fired one before? Your banking on scaring someone off with your gun but could you even properly deploy it? Do you practice drawing from concealment? Doesn't sound like it...

Here's my advice, go shoot some IDPA one of these weekends. Once you've got a tiny taste of a self defense type situation you'll realize that you can't shoot that gun enough.
 
i agree with shadi!! there is alot more to carrying a gun then just "carrying" a gun. you want this thing to save your life or your families you better know how that thing shoots, what the trigger pull is like, what the recoil is like etc...most important thing is KNOW YOUR GUN!! not a gun but YOUR gun. otherwise your gonna pull out your revolver or glock and spend the last second of your life lookin for a safety that doesnt exist.

i practice more with my carry gun then any other gun. and do it as much as ya possibly can:)
 
The gist of this whole thing comes down to preferance most of all. I have a taurus 9 holds 12+1 which has second strike capability in a semi auto due to its self reseting trigger. A very practical design despite the name. I also have a ruger sp101 hammerless which i carry around most often. I am comfortable to sacrifice ammo capacity for its reliability, ease of storage while loaded, caryability and such due to the fact that if i need more than the 5 .357 rounds im probably in too much trouble and need to be retreating to safety, which i hate to advise of anyway. Autos are only faster/easier to reload if an extra mag is already loaded if its not then it takes a whole minute or more. Also except for fun shooting, its a very slim chance ill have to use it on anyone and hope not to so another ten rounds just sitting in there are practicaly useless just being carried around.but like weve all said its preferance, weight,economy vs firepower
 
Enough with the training non-sense over and over and over again. Sure it's important. But HOW do you know if I have trained or practiced with the gun or not? How do you know if I have fired it once, or 1000 times? How do you know if I don't practice drawing it from a holster and practice it dry-firing?

And I have practiced those things, but that doesn't really matter much anymore, since I didn't make the trade, so this threads pretty much no longer needed.
 
I don't own a Glock and don't want one but I would take a Glock over that particular Smith. Now, if the trade was for another Smith snubbie, maybe. :)
 
while i think everybody should have 1 snubby 38, i dont like the hammerless models, i much prefer the airweight with the shrouded hammer. I wouldnt trade the glock for that gun....if i was only going to have one gun and those were my choices id stick with the glock.
 
you need to be proficient with a gun if your going to carry. you have to practice with a gun somewhat regularly to maintain muscle memory because in a fight for your life a lot is going to depend on that very factor. 200 years ago people everybody carried swords and had to know how to use them.
 
sw bodyguard

I bought my wife the bodyguard, she loved how it felt could not hit the broadside of a barn with it. Very lite. Very brutal to shoot. Put 20 rounds thru it and traded it for a 686 she loves it.
 
I am mainly a revolver guy. I conceal carry almost daily, and carry a revolver 98% of the time. I also have several S&W revolvers. I am also not a Glock Fan.

I recommend that you keep your Glock.

I have a couple reasons. One I do not like the Model 38 Body Guard at all. It is not on my need to own list. If you were looking at a 2.5" Model 66, a 3" Model 60, or a 2" or 3" 64 or 65, I would say trade.

Next, and probably a bigger deal. I am guessing that you do not shoot much. A J Frame revolver is not a good choice for those not putting rounds down range with some frequency. A DA J Frame is not the easiest gun to shoot well. The G26 is much easier to shoot accurately.

Bob
 
Enough with the training non-sense over and over and over again. Sure it's important. But HOW do you know if I have trained or practiced with the gun or not? How do you know if I have fired it once, or 1000 times? How do you know if I don't practice drawing it from a holster and practice it dry-firing?
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It's because you're asking dumb questions. Put more delicately, you're asking the type of questions that people ask when their plan is to buy a gun, put it away, and assume it will magically repel all evil.

Even this quote suggests newb. If you had fired it 1000 times, that doesn't mean anything. You don't fire it 1000 times and are then "done," and put it away. Firing it 100 times a week would suggest familiarity. I have a friend who once cut down a tree with his Sig .40S&W, he fired something like 3,000 rounds. He is one of the worst marksmen I have ever seen, he sometimes misses paper at 7 yards.

The revolver vs. automatic question has a lot to it. You would be concerned with capacity, dealing with recoil, clearing malfunctions, reloading speed, how you will carry spare ammunition, accuracy with one of the most difficult to fire accurately guns made, etc. You don't ask about any of this. You ask about how often you need to clean it.

Once you explain that your plan is to practice with a Glock 19 and carry a Glock 26, you move from "complete newbie" to "still doesn't quite get it." You need to shoot the gun you carry, period. You're on the right track, with the practicing, but you're still developing habits that will hurt you in real life. Like using your pinkie to stabilize the gun, and having 15+1 on tap before needing to reload. You will practice reloads less often because you can probably complete some IDPA stages without doing it at all. Etc.

So, I mean no offense, but don't be surprised when we jump on you to take a class. You're asking all the red flag questions, and seem completely oblivious to all of the stuff that matters.
 
For an extremely lightweight easily carried/concealed handgun I recently picked up a Smith 642 Airweight.
airweight2.jpg


For myself I know it was the right choice.

BUT , like some of the others mentioned - it is not a good choice for a novice shooter. The recoil is pretty snappy for a 38 Special and the DAO pull is something that will most likely require some kind of regular practice to shoot well. I imagine all the same applies to the Bodyguard as well.

I've never been a Glock fan by any means but you might be best served just keeping the G26 and learning to shoot it well.
 
For concealed carry the snubby beats the Glock 9 ways from Sunday. Much is made of the "difficulty" of shooting a snubnose revolver well. In reality, the accuracy needed is not that challenging....center mass at from zero to 7 yards statistically will cover 99 percent of self-defense situations. At a range of zero yards the snubby offers the advantages of being able to be fired from inside a pocket and being more difficult for an opponent to wrestle away from you. It is also markedly faster to get into action--it can be carried in your hand in a pocket....ready to go. To be carried safely, a Glock requires a holster so the pistol must be unholstered and drawn....both actions consuming precious time. Stats would also indicate that you are highly unlikely to need to reload. Being able to score the first solid hit is far more important than magazine capacity. If the bad guy plugs you first those 15 rounds in your magazine won't likely be of much use. A revolver requires a minimum of maintenance and cleaning is simple. It will digest any ammo you feed it and will not jam or stovepipe.
 
For concealed carry the snubby beats the Glock 9 ways from Sunday. Much is made of the "difficulty" of shooting a snubnose revolver well. In reality, the accuracy needed is not that challenging....center mass at from zero to 7 yards statistically will cover 99 percent of self-defense situations. At a range of zero yards the snubby offers the advantages of being able to be fired from inside a pocket and being more difficult for an opponent to wrestle away from you. It is also markedly faster to get into action--it can be carried in your hand in a pocket....ready to go. To be carried safely, a Glock requires a holster so the pistol must be unholstered and drawn....both actions consuming precious time. Stats would also indicate that you are highly unlikely to need to reload. Being able to score the first solid hit is far more important than magazine capacity. If the bad guy plugs you first those 15 rounds in your magazine won't likely be of much use. A revolver requires a minimum of maintenance and cleaning is simple. It will digest any ammo you feed it and will not jam or stovepipe.
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Sounds like a knife meets all those qualifications too. I carry one with my 9mm :)
 
Josh17, is the 17 your age?

When not carrying it will be sitting in storage the rest of the time
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So you have no intention of practicing with your carry weapon.

I probably won't be cleaning it very often, since it will never be fired. (Emphasis added)
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Ditto.

First, often simply having a gun can scare off someone in a self defense situation . . . I have practiced and will continue, just with a different gun.
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While it is true that displaying a gun can dissuade some criminals, this is a sure-fire way to get killed if it really comes to cases. No one carrying a firearm should assume the bad guys will melt away upon your brandishing of a sidearm. Fact is, the street criminal is more vicious than you, more willing to kill than you, and less bound by God's law against killing you. Unless you, too, are a psychopath. ;)

More to the point, guns are not interchangeable. Practicing with a SIG while intending to carry a Glock is actually a really crappy idea, since the two pistols have very different characteristics, controls, grip angles, etc. Saying guns are all alike is about as silly as saying cars are all alike.

Enough with the training non-sense [sic] over and over again.
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:rolleyes:

Oh, and if this thread is serious, keep the Glock.
 
Yikes.

I'm not sure most commenters realize that OP is not considering trading the Glock for the classic Smith Airweight Bodyguard with the aluminum frame and the decades-long reputation for quality and reliability. At least I don't notice anyone above pointing this out.

He is thinking of trading for the NEW Bodyguard with the built-in laser. Not sure how much quality is built into those. They are very cheap-looking to me.

I would not trade a Glock for the new Bodyguard. Glock much higher quality, proven reliability, doesn't need much maintenance, easier to shoot, more firepower. Even given the bizarre criteria of insisting that maintenance will only be every 6 months, the Glock should be fine.
 
My comments were based on the new Bodyguard .38, polymer revolver with built-in laser. I have no reason to suspect that the quality is lacking. Just because its polymer doesn't mean its not quality (didn't they say this about Glocks when they first came out?)

Same with Ruger's LCR (which I would choose above the S&W if I had to choose).
 
This may be worth just what you're paying for it, but here goes...
Between the Glock and the 'new' 'bodyguard', keep the Glock...
If you get a chance for a REAL Bodyguard (a Model 38, 49 or 649), get it--they are classic, time-tested, simple and easily-concealable handguns.
Imo, 'new' doesn't necessarily mean 'better'.
 
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