The new S&W Bodyguard has earned its “2.0” status. To put it bluntly… the original 6-shot Bodyguard .380 left much to be desired. The new 2.0 version fixes what was wrong with its predecessor.
The older one was stubby, slick and had a trigger that made you want to say wirty dirds. The sights sucked, to be honest. The only thing that saved it, in my opinion, was the fact that you could get it with a built-in CT laser. I think that alone sold more Bodyguards than would otherwise have happened without the laser.
A New Bodyguard
With the introduction of this 2.0 version in July 2024, S&W proved that it does listen to shooters. This little guy is one of the best pocket .380s I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a few. I’ve owned several and have generally been pleased with them, but there was always something lacking in the way they fit my hand. I don’t have large hands, but they’re not mouse-sized, either.
Kel-Tec, Ruger, Kahr… they just didn’t feel right. Not so the 2.0. It’s like someone shrunk a full-sized M&P pistol and made it fit in a pocket holster. The grip is, in a word, amazing. More later. So… what did they change to bring about this long-awaited pocket blaster?
2.0 Upgrades
They totally re-designed the pistol. Here are some examples…
Slide
The slide has serrations front and rear that cover the entire side of the slide and are aggressive, and easy to grip. Racking this slide is easy, as is press-checking the chamber. The tough Armornite finish should hold up very well to day-to-day knocks and dings.
Sights
Sights that had seemed an afterthought on the original were changed to a large U-notch in the rear, serrated to prevent glare. This sight reminds me of the rear sight on my Springfield Armory Hellcat RDP – the same large opening and serrations. It works great.
The front sight has a tritium center surrounded by an orange ring, the best of two worlds. Both are windage adjustable. They work well on a pocket-sized pistol.
Grip & Trigger
The grip is, in my opinion, the best upgrade they did to the Bodyguard. I mentioned above how the gun seems like a shrunken M&P, and the grip and trigger are no exceptions.
Here we see the grip texturing, front and back, with a smaller amount on the sides. That works. Also of note is the new striker trigger. You no longer need a long, gritty DAO pull to drop the hammer… there is no hammer. The trigger on mine breaks at 4 pounds, 2 ounces with very little take-up and no creep. This flat-faced trigger with its integral safety lever is a game-changer in the pocket .380 world.
These are the main points that stand out to me when I think about the differences between 1.0 and 2.0. There are other changes but these are the ones that grab your attention when you pick the gun up.
Specifications
Let’s look at the specs, from the S&W website and my observations…
- width 0.88 in
- length 5.5 in
- height 4 in
- weight 9.8 oz (no mag)
- CALIBER 380 AUTO
- SIZE MICRO
- CAPACITY 10,12 – one of each magazine included
- ACTION STRIKER FIRED
- BARREL LENGTH 2.75 in
- GRIP & FRAME POLYMER
- SIGHTS BLACK (front night sight)
- OPTIC READY NO
- SAFETY NONE (available with thumb safety or state compliant magazines)
- COLOR/FINISH BLACK
- STATE COMPLIANCE CO, DE, IL, VT
- THREADED BARREL NO
- BARREL MATERIAL STAINLESS STEEL
- LASER NO
- NUMBER OF MAGAZINES 2
- 10LB TRIGGER NO
Where To Buy
I was not surprised to see that there is no optics-ready option for this gun… it’s less than an inch wide, for Pete’s sake…
Range Time
My .380 ammo selection is limited, so I thought I would cut to the chase… I chose representative practice and defense loads. They were the S&B 95-grain FMJ and the Remington Ultimate Defense 102-grain JHP. Here are a couple of targets I chose, and velocities that I got with my Garmin Xero C1 Pro chronograph. The targets were set at 7 yards in my backyard range…
S&B 95-grain FMJ, 847 fps.
Remington Ultimate Defense 102-grain JHP, 915 fps
I wish I had access to boxes and boxes of ammo, but even these two targets show promise. Both loads were mostly centered on the targets and would be worth investigating further. It seemed to like these loads, over multiple targets. That speaks well for its overall accuracy… probably almost any decent .380 load should show promise.
The gun was a bit snappy off the rest, something I’ve found true for other small guns. Shooting them standing back on your hind legs, as the saying goes, tends to help a bit with recoil. One thing that helped with the dreaded “R” word was the frame design. The trigger guard was undercut a bit and the beavertail was pronounced… that allowed me to get up higher on the gun. When you can do that, the bore axis is lowered so the gun doesn’t flip up so much as it comes straight back in recoil. That makes it easier to control.
Field-Stripping
The gun comes apart like most striker-fired pistols. The nice thing is that it has a take-down lever like many German pistols so you don’t get “Glock Thumb” from pulling down those sharp little tabs, nor do you have to play “Seek And Ye Shall Find” like some Ruger and Kel-Tec pistols cause you to do when the take-down pin drops off the bench and jumps to parts unknown. Here’s the drill for the 2.0…
- Make sure the chamber is empty and remove the magazine.
- Lock the slide back with the slide stop.
- Turn the take-down lever downwards 90 degrees.
- Release the slide and pull the trigger… off she comes.
- Separate the barrel and spring from the slide and clean away!
To re-assemble, do this list backwards…I’m sure you know the drill. There are no rough patches upon reassembly. The spring goes where it should under the barrel, and the slide mates easily with the frame. That captive take-down lever saves a lot of wear and tear on your fingers.
Final Thoughts
Pocket and other .380s are gaining in popularity, as advancements in bullet technology have helped the “shorty nine” gain some ground among many concealed carry practitioners. The round was enough to start WWI when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was assassinated by a Bosnian Serb student, Gavrilo Princip. The gun used was a .380, FN Model 1910. That terrible event caused the dominos to fall and WWI to start.
That happened 110 years (plus a couple of months) ago. In more modern terms, the round is capable of self-defense – especially now with the high-tech, whiz-bang bullets we have. More and more .380 pistols are being made and sold than before.
If you want to hop on that particular bandwagon, might I recommend you look at the S&W Bodyguard 2.0? I think you’ll be glad you did. I have it in my pocket (holster) right now. It carries very easily. Many other gun reviewers are singing its praises… there must be a reason for that. If you own one, let’s hear from you below!
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