Gun Nuts Inside...Smith And Wesson 380mm Bodyguard

[SRT-4 Turbo 7]

Does anyone have personal experience with this weapon? I placed an order for it because out of all the 380mm pistols it felt the best in my hand plus the external safety is a nice feature.

I know some of you will say a 380mm is a waste of a firearm. But being that I have a smaller frame and I wanted to have a weapon that would fit nicely in a pocket holster a 380mm seemed to be my best bet after doing 7 weeks of research.

Link for specifications:
http://www.smith-wesson.com/webapp/...57892_757752_757751_ProductDisplayErrorView_Y

 

[TermNewb]

Never had any experience with that weapon, but with small caliber weapons in general its all about shot placement. Make sure you practice and buy high quality ammo.

 

[E. Green Cobra]

Never had any experience with that weapon, but with small caliber weapons in general its all about shot placement. Make sure you practice and buy high quality ammo.

Pft. One needs not worry about shot placement with a 380mm round.:lol1:

OP have some experience with Ruger's poly .380. Nice little get off me guns/BUGs. I'm sure yours will be the same. Though quality SD ammo may be hard to find, unless NJ has changed their stance on JHP's.

 

[oldmodman]

380 is a fairly light round, but with the proper ammo it is quite potent.

I have been carrying a Walther PPK for 35 years and with MagSafe ammo I feel that it will "do the job"

Here is a quote from their 380 caliber ammo tests.

MAGSAFE SWEPT THE STRASBOURG TESTS
The now -famous Strasbourg Tests put MagSafe on the map. To Summarize what nearly everyone already knows, over 600 live French Alpine goats (their bodies are very much like humans) were shot under controlled conditions: no anesthetic, same shot placement form animal to animal, and with blood pressure and heart rate monitors to determine the Incapacitation Time (measure of how long it took a goat to cease functioning after the single shot was delivered).

MagSafe Ammo worked - better than anything else. Tests were done without MagSafe's knowledge, so some versions tested were the lowest powered. For example, two types of .380 ACP are offered; the .380 Defender, a 60-grainer at 1,360 fps in a Colt Mustang; and the .380 MAX (designed for a big city's undercover drug agents) with a 52-grain slug sizzling along at 1,620 fps in the Mustang.

The Defender has 247 ft-lbs of energy, while the MAX load has 303 ft-lbs. The Defender's lower velocity hampered stopping power, resulting in a Average Incapacitation Time (AIT) of 7.12 seconds. That's the average time for five different goats, each shot once with the MagSafe 60-grain Defender.

However - and this is where things get interesting - there wasn't a jacketed hollowpoint bullet in ANY caliber which dropped the goats faster than MagSafe's weakest .380 load!

MagSafe's .380 beat every .45 ACP slug, every 10mm, every 9mm (including police-only ammo), every .40 caliber - no matter who made it - Cor-Bon, Remington, Glaser and HydraShok.

In fact, MagSafe's lowest-powered .380 ACP load had an AIT faster than the best manstopper of all time - Remington's .357 Magnum 125-grain JHP!

Average Incapacitation Times for all other MagSafe's calibers were in the 4-second range, and MagSafe topped the tests in every caliber but .357 Magnum (a prototype Quik-Shot beat by a fraction of a second), and .38 Special, where Glaser won by .04 seconds. Had the .38 Special tests been done in a 2-inch barrel, MagSafe would have topped that test, too.

And here is their site.

Mag Safe Ammo - Pre-Fragmented Saftey Ammunition Handcrafted In The USA

 

[ford_racer]

Something tells me that a 380mm round won't fit in a handgun

 

[Steve@BAS]

That gun just hit the market, I don't think you will find many with it yet. Should check out the pistol forums on ar15.com though

 

[jbrown1238]

The gun just hit the market and early reports are there still needs to be some sorting out of issues. Many are having trigger issues and are being returned and repaired or replaced under warranty. Several buyers reported having two or three with the same problem.

I have been waiting for this one to come out since May. Just think I will wait a while for the first year blues to be addressed. The price varies a bit from $389.00 to $589.00 depending on where you go.

 

[5spd07gt]

i have been following this gun since they announced its release earlier this year. It was suppose to come out in June but kept getting pushed back. I plan on picking it up once some of the bugs are worked out.

 

[jbrown1238]

It is a nice little weapon. I have not fired one but did get a chance to hold one and check it for pocket fit at a dealer a week or two ago. A very small package with a great feel. Not firing 100% of the time could be a serious problem though.

 

[Sinister04L]

I looked at picking one up but I'd rather wait until all the bugs are worked out. A standard built in laser sight is a nice bonus too.

 

[astrodudepsu]

pocket 380's are all about in hand comfort. go and handle a dozen different types and see what feels right. chances are your pinky is going to hang off the bottom, and not everyone likes that.


also good luck finding .380 in stores. where you can find it, it's usually almost 1$ a round, which is ridiculous, hell even a lot of online places are just getting back some stock.

 

[RDJ]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha I bet PETA was all over these guys for this. LOL

380 is a fairly light round, but with the proper ammo it is quite potent.

I have been carrying a Walther PPK for 35 years and with MagSafe ammo I feel that it will "do the job"

Here is a quote from their 380 caliber ammo tests.

MAGSAFE SWEPT THE STRASBOURG TESTS
The now -famous Strasbourg Tests put MagSafe on the map. To Summarize what nearly everyone already knows, over 600 live French Alpine goats (their bodies are very much like humans) were shot under controlled conditions: no anesthetic, same shot placement form animal to animal, and with blood pressure and heart rate monitors to determine the Incapacitation Time (measure of how long it took a goat to cease functioning after the single shot was delivered).

MagSafe Ammo worked - better than anything else. Tests were done without MagSafe's knowledge, so some versions tested were the lowest powered. For example, two types of .380 ACP are offered; the .380 Defender, a 60-grainer at 1,360 fps in a Colt Mustang; and the .380 MAX (designed for a big city's undercover drug agents) with a 52-grain slug sizzling along at 1,620 fps in the Mustang.

The Defender has 247 ft-lbs of energy, while the MAX load has 303 ft-lbs. The Defender's lower velocity hampered stopping power, resulting in a Average Incapacitation Time (AIT) of 7.12 seconds. That's the average time for five different goats, each shot once with the MagSafe 60-grain Defender.

However - and this is where things get interesting - there wasn't a jacketed hollowpoint bullet in ANY caliber which dropped the goats faster than MagSafe's weakest .380 load!

MagSafe's .380 beat every .45 ACP slug, every 10mm, every 9mm (including police-only ammo), every .40 caliber - no matter who made it - Cor-Bon, Remington, Glaser and HydraShok.

In fact, MagSafe's lowest-powered .380 ACP load had an AIT faster than the best manstopper of all time - Remington's .357 Magnum 125-grain JHP!

Average Incapacitation Times for all other MagSafe's calibers were in the 4-second range, and MagSafe topped the tests in every caliber but .357 Magnum (a prototype Quik-Shot beat by a fraction of a second), and .38 Special, where Glaser won by .04 seconds. Had the .38 Special tests been done in a 2-inch barrel, MagSafe would have topped that test, too.

And here is their site.

Mag Safe Ammo - Pre-Fragmented Saftey Ammunition Handcrafted In The USA

 

[CobraBob]

Yeah Dave, I was thinking the exact same thing when I read about those ammo tests. That's a lot of live goats herded for an ammo test. If PETA members here get wind of this thread they'll be all over it.

I've never heard of the Bodyguard 380 but I can see why it would be a nice hand gun for some people. Definitely do some research on the ammo you would want to use before you "pull the trigger" on the deal. Sounds like the cost and availability of the good stuff might be a issue for you, at least right now.

 

[wvmystichrome]

Nice looking CCW. Neat packaging. Thats the one issue I have with my Glock, NO SAFETY.

 

[SpectorV]

I wanted to get the bodygaurd but it wasnt out yet and was a bit more than I wanted to spend on a 380 auto. I picked up the Ruger LCP and its a nice gun. I got it for 320 (no tax) in the normal black. If you plan to go with a laser site then get the bodyguard as you wont be able to do it for any cheaper than 400 bucks with gun~ (new)

They are smaller but if you plan to carry it in your pocket you really cant go any bigger... Its great for concealment. I plan to get something bigger down the road but I like the Ruger. Only issue I have is the grip is short... but thats just how it is if you want a smaller gun you can conceal, no way around it.

Ive put about 100~ round through it and from 20-25 yards its so so accurate but from 10 its pretty good. As said get GOOD ammo for keeping in it for defense, but for shooting get something less expensive to practice with. The Ruger is SUPER easy to tear down and clean as well. Ammo for 380 is around 20 a box for 50 fmj~ give or take a couple dollars. I picked 100 rounds of winchester fmj for 32~ to practice with.

Also the Ruger has no safety other that the double action trigger.... (they had a recall on firing when dropped that they have fixed, if you buy a used Ruger LCP get on their site first and make sure its fixed, after a given serial number they are good, if its before you can see if they have been or not, its free to fix either way). If you want a bit cheaper the KelTec version is just about identical to the Ruger (very very very very close)

 

[slick4_6]

Looks like it will be nice option when they get some of their issues sorted out. I have been looking at a Ruger LCP with a crimson trace grip laser for the same price that one of the Bodyguards can be picked up for. I have a friend that picked up a Keltec about the same size as the Ruger LCP because he could get the Keltec in 9mm.

 

[type911]

Nice looking CCW. Neat packaging. Thats the one issue I have with my Glock, NO SAFETY.

Your Glock actually has a few safeties. The main one being your finger. If you keep it outside the trigger guard it will never go off. (short of being in a raging house fire.....But then...) Your Glock is not evil just because it is black. I promise it will not pull its own trigger. The internal safeties will keep it safe until YOU decide to pull the trigger. In the hands of an experienced gun nut it is an extremely safe fire arm. Just pulling your chain here.

 

[jerrad]

Your Glock actually has a few safeties. The main one being your finger. If you keep it outside the trigger guard it will never go off. (short of being in a raging house fire.....But then...) Your Glock is not evil just because it is black. I promise it will not pull its own trigger. The internal safeties will keep it safe until YOU decide to pull the trigger. In the hands of an experienced gun nut it is an extremely safe fire arm. Just pulling your chain here.

Where have you been? Haven't seen a post in like 8 months. lol

 

[type911]

Where have you been? Haven't seen a post in like 8 months. lol

LOL, I am sitting at the MWR center in Kuwait waiting to head back up to Iraq. My year long tour is almost up. 4 more months to go. You hit it right when you said 8 months.

Cant wait to get back to my Family, Florida, Guns and Rods.

 

[jerrad]

LOL, I am sitting at the MWR center in Kuwait waiting to head back up to Iraq. My year long tour is almost up. 4 more months to go. You hit it right when you said 8 months.

Cant wait to get back to my Family, Florida, Guns and Rods.

That's great. Glad you're almost done.
Stay safe over there. :beer: