[ron54]

Was hitting some pawn shops with my buddy today looking for that bargain gun. So I decided to take him to this new LGS / range not to far away. They have been open about 4 months, and have a large selection of guns. He's an ex LEO detective, looking for another carry gun. I'm kind of wanting another pocket rocket. Something decent but not expensive. Need a quick / easy and light weapon to stick in my shorts at night when walking the dog. I came across a used Bodyguard 380 with the factory installed laser. It looked like it was just about brand new. Checked it out, and appeared to have been shot very very little. I ended up buying it for $270, with box, case, etc. I feel like it was a decent deal......

 

[Toney]

Congrats!!! Was a good deal....

 

[xPSYCHOTRONx]

Nice find!

 

[ron54]

I guess I'll find out how good a deal it was when I get to the range and shoot it. If it proves reliable, then I got a deal.........

 

[ron54]

I'm going to do my Kahr break in prep on it before the range visit. Then run at least 100 - 150 rounds thru it, at the range. Then it'll be good to go.

 

[Toney]

You ain't shot it yet!!!

 

[ron54]

No.........I got it Fri late afternoon, yesterday had company at the house. Today I got dragged to the mall so she could do some shopping. Tomorrow I have an appointment, so it'll be Tues till I get to the range. I am anxious to shoot it and see how it compares to the kahr P380 & sig P238 I had. If its anything like either of those, I'll be very happy !!!

 

[Big Max]

In my opinion the S&W Bodyguard is not as nice a shooter as the Kahr P380 or Sig P238.
You will notice the harder trigger pull and recoil. But nothing unmanageable though.

 

[ron54]

I did notice the stiffer trigger, and unlike the Kahrs smooth trigger, it does stack. Compared to the sigs SA trigger its much stiffer. This I did know from handling it in the store. It is a compromise purchase, I didn't want to spend the kind of money the kahr & sig cost, I have owned them both and they are great guns. I wanted something similar but reasonable. The like new bodyguard came along, and was reasonable, so I jumped on it.

 

[Toney]

You know I never warmed up to its lines with the laser. I always wanted one of the 380 sigmas

 

[ron54]

Yeah the sigma 380 is/was a nice gun. I wasn't looking for a laser on the gun, it just happened to be there. It is impractical for this type of weapon, but I guess it becomes a selling point, and some folks have to have it. All I care about is its reliable, and isn't horrible to shoot. I got it at a price that if turns out to be a turd, I can sell it and recover my money

 

[ron54]

Well I broke her down this morning, cleaned ( it was clean as a whistle ) I don't think more than a few mags have been run thru it, if that. I replaced the laser batteries as I'm sure they are original, and don't want any leakage from old batteries in there. I'm continuing with my FrogLube trial and used that in it. Racked the crap out of the slide, till the hands hurt. It seemed pretty smooth, so we will see how it goes when I hit the range In the morning. I just hope it turns out to be a decent shooter. I wish I would have had the cash for a P380, even so they are hard to find used and in excellent condition, they are way more than I paid for the bodyguard !!!!

 

[Toney]

It'll work, its a Smith!!!

 

[ron54]

Ok so I went to the range this morning and shot 100 rounds thru her. The first 50 were WWB, had 4 ftf's . I believe 3 of them I might have limp wristed, as I was rapid firing 1 handed. The other one not sure. Then I shot 50 rounds of S&B as well as 2 mags of hornady ccd, no issues. The hornady was the most accurate of what I shot as well. So I will try to avoid WWB in the future if I can find other ammo to shoot. The WWB was the truncated cone shape, the S&B was round nose............Otherwise the gun handled nicely, more felt recoil the I remember the kahr p380 or sig p238. Not as accurate as either of those, but not bad. The trigger was just ok, but again not up to the kahr or sig. To be really accurate had to stage the trigger. All in all it was ok, not great but not bad either. For what I paid and how I'm going to use it, I'm not unhappy.

 

[Toney]

Sweeth!!! I don't shoot wwb. I had a squib in our p32 when it was brand new.
I got it out, was about 1/4 the way down the barrel.

 

[ron54]

So here's some ongoing info on the gun........when I got around to taking it to the range a second time I had a bunch of light primer strikes...........about 11out of 50 rounds fired. No ftf's or fte's at all, but I'm thinking this isn't acceptable since this is going to be a gun I will carry on occasion. So I brought it to one of my trusted gunsmiths and ask him to take a look at it. He tells me its the firing pin, which is a known issue with this weapon. I told him that I am not the original owner of the gun, bought it used. So he said smith & wesson has great customer service. He calls s&w and they issue him a return label. He sends the gun to them, and 2 weeks later they return it with a new firing pin as well as a barrel modification for more reliable feeding. And all at No Charge...........they simply warranted the work. The best part was the smith didn't charge me anything either. Wow I thought, even though he did look at it and took the time to send it off for me. I expected to pay him something for his efforts !!!! All I can say is s&w will be at the top of my list, the next time I decide to scratch that new weapon itch !!!!!! And I will continue to use this smith for all my gun issues in the future ( I have used him before and he did excellent work at a fair price ) Glad I found him.........

 

[Toney]

Cool!!! A good Smith is hard to find, I couldn't find one here to stake a front sight on a 1911.

 

[ron54]

Yeah...........sometimes when you do find one that knows what he's doing and does good work, they charge a fortune for anything they do, and act like they did you a favor. I've been there before...................sucks !!!!!

 

[ron54]

Well it was a good range visit.........ran 57 rounds.........1 box magtech fmj & 1 mag of Hornady cd..........all flawless........Thankyou, S&W

 

[Toney]

Sweet!!!......