I just bough a bodyguard 380 . I took it to the range and the first few mags went fine. Then the slide started to fail to lock back. And it wouldn't chamber any round stripped from the mag no matter what Ammo I used. I had hopes for this gun. For me and my girlfriend. My Taurus tcp does a far better job than thus gun and it's a smith and Wesson. Really. My TCP functions goes bang every time. And has a better trigger. Any thoughts .
New bodyguard
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I inherited one from my daughter who was basically just going to throw it in a closet and never touch it again. I took it as a challenge. Is yours a M&P Bodyguard 380 or the original (no M&P on the slide)? If it isn't an M&P, you might want to talk to Smith. I sent mine in and they actually destroyed it and sent me a new M&P marked one. I took it from there.
I changed the trigger for an aftermarket one after the new one came back. Huge improvement. There was no problem functionally with the trigger, we just like the replacement one much better. Well worth the investment. The little gun has been absolutely flawless since then. It is a quality weapon and we have probably 500 or so rounds through it of various brands of ammo. Not a single hiccup and it is nicely accurate. I carry it as a backup regularly.
I'm sorry to hear of your issues. Give S&W a call. They are good people and genuinely care about their customers.
I changed the trigger for an aftermarket one after the new one came back. Huge improvement. There was no problem functionally with the trigger, we just like the replacement one much better. Well worth the investment. The little gun has been absolutely flawless since then. It is a quality weapon and we have probably 500 or so rounds through it of various brands of ammo. Not a single hiccup and it is nicely accurate. I carry it as a backup regularly.
I'm sorry to hear of your issues. Give S&W a call. They are good people and genuinely care about their customers.
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On the original BG 380 with the laser the screw that holds the laser in place backs out and interfears with the slide. I sent mine to smith and had them remove the laser completely and install a new non laser frame. The gun came back like new and works flawless now. The laser was kind of useless anyway. Too difficult to activate in a hurry.
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Take it to a local gun-smith and have the smith do a quick function check on it.
Most gun smiths are decent, honest people and they will not hit you over the head for a simple repair.
If he/she is a registered gun-smith and ultimately it turns out that your firearm has a manufacturing defect, S&W will still honor a warranty to repair or replace.
That is what I would do rather than just automatically sending it back to S&W. :yup:
Most gun smiths are decent, honest people and they will not hit you over the head for a simple repair.
If he/she is a registered gun-smith and ultimately it turns out that your firearm has a manufacturing defect, S&W will still honor a warranty to repair or replace.
That is what I would do rather than just automatically sending it back to S&W. :yup:
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If it makes you feel any better, I bought a Ruger LCP custom thinking it would replace my TCP. While I have had no problems in 200 or so rds, I like everything about my TCP better except the stigma of carrying a Taurus. Better trigger, less snappy, better accuracy. LCP stays in the drawer usually in case I ever have to send the Taurus back for repairs (I hear the wait times can be months, although it has not been my experience).
No offense, but those types of failures are frequently caused by limp wristing. Maybe you were both getting tired, or having trouble with your grip, but it is pretty easy to absorb just enough energy to make these little pistols malfunction. My wife can't get her Kahr CT380 to work for her, but I don't have problems until after a hundred rounds or so.
Take it out again and try a more rigid stance and grip.
Take it out again and try a more rigid stance and grip.
It could be the mags cause g the slide not to lock back. But I'm not limp writing. When I let the slide go it won't chamber a round no matter how I let the slide go. The slide won't go into battery. With different ammo. The rounds get stuck in the chamber. I guess I'll have to. Call Smith. Or sell it. None of my other guns do this. Even my tcp.
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Galloway Precision. If you are not comfortable taking a trigger mechanism out, you might want to let a good gunsmith install it. IIRC Galloway will also install it for you at a fairly reasonable cost.
Thanks for the reply's everyone. I think I resolved my issue with my by380. It's the mags. I'm gonna clean them again. See if that helps. If not I will contact Smith and Wesson. See what they have to say. Maybe send a couple new mags. As this gun is brand new. But it's up and running again. Take care and stay safe.
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I've had mag issues with my BG380 before. Mine were with an overall fit issue, as the length of the mags and location of the slide hold open didn't mesh right with my gun. New mags solved the problem; malfunctioning mags went in trash. I trust my BG380, but... always carry a spare mag just in case.
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I typically don't carry my bodyguard but I do shoot it occasionally. I find it to be comfortable and a good shooter at 5-7yrds but I do have a factory mag that pops free every 2-3 rounds for some reason.
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I find that one of the sources for such problems also seems to be the tiny guns aren't real easy to have a proper 2 hand grip without modification to accommodate not hitting mag releases, slide releases or dragging the slide. On both my BG380 and P380 I noticed that if I got a FTRTB it was sometimes caused by hitting the mag release and the mag dropping just a hair. Oddly I have found that shooting one handed with these little guns at SD range often got better results and solved the issues. On the BG 380 I also installed the heavier Galloway springs since I tend run SD ammo. This tamed the recoil and also provides more return force to strip th round and muscle up the steep ramps on the little guns.
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