S&W Bodyguard 2.0 Review

The original Smith and Wesson Bodyguard .380 was the quintessential pocket .380. The micro-sized gun fits the same profile as every other pocket .380. The Ruger LCP and S&W Bodyguard .380 essentially copied the KelTec P3AT and were microsized DAO guns with polymer frames. While the original Bodyguard fit the mold, the Bodyguard 2.0 completely breaks the mold.

S&W Bodyguard 2.0 – The Change 

The S&W Bodyguard 2.0 is a radically different gun than the original Bodyguard. The only thing they have in common is the fact they both fit in your pocket. Somehow. The Bodyguard 2.0 defies physics. It’s hardly bigger than the original Bodyguard, but it is a completely different gun. 

The first magic trick was finding a way to fit ten rounds of .380 ACP into a flush-fitting magazine that doesn’t extend the height significantly. The grip is longer and sits higher, but the overall height of the slide is shorter, which makes the gun roughly the same overall height. Much like the SIG P365, the BG 2.0 uses a stack and a half magazine to maximize capacity without increasing size. 

The BG 2.0 uses a striker-fired system rather than a hammer-fired DAO design. This improves the trigger. The gun also implements nice-sized sights that aren’t the tiny nubs from the original Bodyguard. Shooters now have the option to choose between a manual safety or a safetyless model. Both guns have trigger safety, much like a Glock. 

The original Bodyguard was a handful but small enough to carry in your pocket. The S&W Bodyguard is less of a handful but a bit more of a pocketful. While the gun is larger, it’s still easily concealable. S&W aims to revamp the pocket gun world with the Bodyguard 2.0, but have they hit their target? 

S&W Bodyguard .380 Features:

1 Aggressive Slide Serrations

Better grip when handleing

2 Night Sights

Faster target acquisition in low-light and no-light situations

3 Flat Trigger

Improvement of accuracy when firing

4 10-12 round capacity

Allows for the preferred choice of capacity size

The S&W Bodyguard 2.0 – The Future of Pocket Guns

The biggest improvement over the Bodyguard 1.0 is how easy this thing is to shoot. The grip is higher and hand-filling. It allows you to get a good grip on the gun. I’m not a big believer in the high versus low bore axis arguments with most guns, but it makes a serious difference here. The Bodyguard 2.0 is one of the easiest-handling pocket guns on the market. 

The Bodyguard 2.0 ditches the rough and hard-to-handle recoil of the original Bodyguard. In its place, we get a gun that has little muzzle rise. The recoil can be somewhat stiff, but the guns remains on target between shots. It’s the easiest shooting pocket .380 on the market. 

The sole downside is the slide bite. Holy crap does this thing mangle my hands. It doesn’t seem to affect most shooters since I’ve hardly seen any complaints about the slide bite. My hands are bloodied by the end of two magazines worth of .380 ACP. I am a big guy with big hands, so maybe that’s the problem. 

That’s also my biggest ergonomic gripe. The rest of the gun is solid. We get an aggressive grip texture that helps keep the gun locked into your hands. The slide features extremely deep serrations, making it easy to grip and rack the slide or fix malfunctions. I chose the non-safety model, so the only other controls are the slide lock and magazine release. 

The slide lock is fine. It’s small, and what we expect from a gun like this. The Bodyguard 2.0’s slide is heavily textured, and the preferable method to drop the slide after a reload is to give the slide a tug. The magazine release is quite large and easy to hit without shifting your grip. 

Reloads on a closed slide are extremely difficult. The magazines are so tightly packed they create substantial tension with the slide forward. You really gotta slap the thing into the gun. Speaking of, the 12-round magazine takes feats of near Herculean strength to load the last two rounds.

Ringing Steel 

The Bodyguard 2.0 has the potential to be very accurate, but the sights make that difficult. There are two issues of note. First, the rear sight drifted, and all my first shots went way left. This seems to be a weird problem with all the first guns out of the gate, and I’ve seen it repeated. It was a quick fix. 

The rear sight has a massive U-shaped design. The rear sight opening is absolutely massive. The idea is that a wider, more open sight makes it easier and faster to shoot at close quarters. I don’t find this to be the case. I can shoot quickly with a more enclosed rear sight. The open rear sight makes it tough to get great sight alignment. 

At ranges beyond 15 yards, the gun can be difficult to shoot straight. I’m often making tight groups, but they aren’t where I want them. I’m hoping someone produces a new rear sight for the BG 2.0. It would be an outstanding upgrade. Up close, it works well, and the front high visibility sight is easy to see and focus on. 

I did chew through both Remington 95-grain FMJ loads and Fioochi 95-grain FMJ loads without any issues. The gun fired a handful of .380 JHPs from Federal without any issues either. The gun’s fired a little over five hundred rounds without a problem. I had to switch to shooting with gloves to get it done, but that’s just me.

S&W competitively priced the Bodyguard 2.0, and it seems to retail for about 400 dollars. That’s not a bad price point for such an innovative pocket pistol. If you want a gun that’s easy to carry, fairly easy to shoot, and packs 10 to 12 rounds of ammo, you’d be hard-pressed to find something better than the Bodyguard 2.0.

S&W Bodyguard 2.0 Pros and Cons

My Preferred Ammo

Accessories to Include: 

1. Safariland Model 25 Pocket Holster		A mix of Suede and Polymer First Design Does Not Collapse Comfortable In the Pocket	Check It Out
2. Clip&Carry Pistol Mag Pouch		Conceals With Ease Pocket Knife Style Clip  Allows For A Quick Reload	Check It Out

Important Links and Manuals for S&W Bodyguard 2.0

Are you looking to pick up a S&W Bodyguard 2.0 but need a bit more info?  Or maybe you’ve just misplaced your user’s manual?  Either way, check out the links below.

• Smith&Wesson Bodyguard 2.0 Manual