M&P Bodyguard 380

[trax80]

First post, so I figured I would share. I picked up one of the new M&P (not a typo) Bodyguard 380's for my wife the other day. Everything is pretty much the same as the old version except the laser is gone, the slide has been changed to the M&P style, and you get two mags (one flush, one pinky ext) with it. The profile of the gun is less chunky as well without the laser shroud being built into the lower. Check out some pics on S&W's website.

We took it out to the range the other day, and it performed as expected. It's the same snappy .380 pocket gun with the long DA only trigger pull. It breaks in the same exact spot as the previous Bodyguard. It's actually a very nice shooting gun for what it is. My wife really likes it, and this will be her new CCW. We both had no issues being relatively accurate at 15-25ft.

S&W lists this gun with a MSRP of $379, and I picked this one up online for $319. I actually ordered two of them, but one of them came with a defective trigger, so I sent it back. Decided to get my money back instead of waiting for another one. It was going to be my backup or special circumstance carry for the summer, but with all the used .380's I see out there, I can definitely save a few bucks.

Here's a quick pro/con...

PRO:
- No laser. She/I would NEVER use it, so why pay for it?

- Very functional stainless steel sites. Nice and high as well.

- Fits in the old S&W leather Galco pocket holster with zero problems.

- It's a fun gun to shoot. It won't beat up your finger webbing.

- Thumb safety. It has the same one as the previous model. This will be in my wife's purse. Even in a holster, she wouldn't be carrying with one in the chamber if it is being kept there. It's a scary place in that purse. Piece of mind for me (plus i won't use it in the Galco) and 6+1 for her.

CON:
- You can use +P ammo, but the manual calls it out that this will degrade the gun faster. With this being .380, I wouldn't feel comfortable with the +P ammo until I shot 5-6 mags of it. Too many .380's have functional issues with .380 pocket guns and +P ammo to not shoot a lot of it before trusting one brand. She will be sticking with normal FMJ or regular JHP.

- They didn't do anything with the trigger. It still breaks at the very end of the trigger pull. The defective one that I sent back wouldn't break at all. I don't know what longevity looks like with zero room for play. In my experience, triggers always wear longer, not tighter.


Overall, I like the gun. My wife isn't going to be carrying anything bigger than this on her person. A 9 in the car is a different story, and she still practices with both, but this was optimal for her. I just figured I would share this with you guys since I had one of these.

I lurked around these boards for years, and I just decided to make an account the other day. Hope you found this helpful.

[nitro570]

Good job and thanks.

[Emptymag]

I assume this is it?





I haven't been in the market for a 380 in years - didn't even know the one with the laser existed, let alone a "new" model without the laser.

[trax80]

That would be it. I didn't really see myself looking into .380's either, but I got the wife into shooting recently. She works in Monroeville, and there was a recent car jacking not too far from there. She decided that it's time to carry.

We did a date-night (which was way more awesome than I thought it would be) at the range, and I had her fire some pistols. She can shoot my Glock 19 very well, but she didn't like my CCW Glock 26 even with the pinky extension. I had her shoot a Ruger LCR 38spl, since her mother has an older snub 38, and that ended her shooting that day. She hated everything about it and that ruled out a lot of the j-frames that I figured would be best for her. I did a lot of research on 380 pistols, and they have come a long way in the past few years with their design and function.

The way I see it, this was a reasonable compromise because I let her pick what she wanted and was comfortable for her. I took my caliber BS that was in my head and put it aside, because she would be in more danger if she wasn't comfortable with the firearm.

I backed off on my plans to pick up a .380 for myself for the time being. I found myself not carrying when it was warm for comfort and printing reasons. I have a Galco King Tuk coming in the mail tomorrow to see if that will make a difference with my 26. I currently use a Galco Triton, and it carries a little high for my liking. I carry right over my wallet, so the new holster should allow me to carry a little deeper and spread the weight out better. I even rented a M&P Shield to see if that would work better for me. It was a VERY nice pistol, but I still liked my 26 more. I'm thinking the holster change will make a difference.

If anyone is in the market for a 380 for a backup or for a situation similar to mine, this new M&P is pretty nice. The wife and I are going to shoot it some more on Tuesday. If I run into any FTE's, FTF's, or other issues, I'll drop it in here.

[Yellowfin]

Why do they keep putting crappy triggers on guns that are most vulnerable to accuracy degradation because of it?

[pittstang5]

Thanks for that review. I'm disappointed to hear that S&W didn't change the trigger. That was the main reason I didn't buy the first series. The trigger pull was just way too long for me.

[trax80]

It's the OP again. I'm not sure how many of you check out youtube videos, but hickok45 did a 20+ minute review/overview of this pocket gun in the past week or so. My wife and I have fired about 300 rounds since I posted about this. We did have 2 rounds not fire on the first pull but they did fire one the second pull because of the DA only/second strike action. I found a ton of Remington UMC hardball FMJ ammo, so that's what my wife and I were shooting. I haven't tried anything else. If you watch hickok45's video you will see malfunctions even though he doesn't mention it. His slide doesn't lock back after emptying a few mags, and it releases unexpectedly one time. He did have to double strike a few rounds, like I did, as well. Bottom line for me is that I'll carry it with no reservations, and it's in my wife's purse most of the time. I still prefer my glock 26. I even got my carry position in a galco triton to the point where i can wear shorts (with a super stiff leather belt) and a t-shirt with very minimal printing. Not sure if anyone is interested in this or not, but I figured I would follow this post up.

[Kenny Wood]

I got my hands on one of the (old -- with laser) ones the other week. Didn't like the feel of it -- too small for my hands. I thought the laser was neat, but didn't really like the way the laser button felt; the button seemed too gummy.

I had the same reaction to the trigger pull as yinz did, too. So, maybe a 380 -- and definitely this one -- isn't for me. I'm thinking that I might take a look at a Glock 19 when I get a chance (and when my wallet allows it), and see if that makes better sense for me as a CCW.

OP -- just curious: why would a laser be something you'd never use?

Thanks!

[free]

OP -- just curious: why would a laser be something you'd never use?

No time to turn it on.

It's a pocket gun, and doesn't lend itself to longer ranges. I have an original Bodyguard .380. For me, the use case is someone very close getting sufficiently aggressive to merit a few bullets in their body. I suspect it would be getting used in close quarters - maybe 10' or less (mostly less), in a super flash of an instant, as a "surprise" response to aggressiveness. I neither need, nor will have the time to turn on, the laser in this scenario.

If you have to use the laser to go hunting for your target with this thing, you've got the wrong gun AND would be better off making a tactical retreat from the situation.

[afdcomposer]

No time to turn it on.

It's a pocket gun, and doesn't lend itself to longer ranges. I have an original Bodyguard .380. For me, the use case is someone very close getting sufficiently aggressive to merit a few bullets in their body. I suspect it would be getting used in close quarters - maybe 10' or less (mostly less), in a super flash of an instant, as a "surprise" response to aggressiveness. I neither need, nor will have the time to turn on, the laser in this scenario.

If you have to use the laser to go hunting for your target with this thing, you've got the wrong gun AND would be better off making a tactical retreat from the situation.

I used to have one of the Bodyguard 380s with the integral laser. I'd say it probably took less time to turn on the laser than it would to acquire a target in the dark with the shitty iron sights on that thing.

Beyond that it is incredibly unpleasant to shoot.

More importantly, the superiority of 9mm over .380 is widely recognized, and there is now available a wide array of firearms chambered in 9mm and only barely larger than the S&W Bodyguard. I myself moved up to a Sig p938.

Free, the P938 has night sights on it, and is more useful beyond the range you mention.