In need of a pocket carry piece, I recently picked up a S&W Bodyguard 2.0 that comes with 10 and 12 round magazines in the box. I'm not as strong as I was 25 years ago, but I'm still young and I have strong hands. It was all I could do to get the 11th round in there. I'll let it sit overnight and maybe I can get 12 in tomorrow when I can feel my thumbs again. I know new springs are tight, but I've never seen the likes of this. Is this just me, or are they all this stiff out of the box?

---Post 9/12/26 range day edit by OP below in thread---

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Aquilon,

get an uplula

A friend bought a new p365 about 5 years ago and it was the same way.Without a loader I couldn't load it fully.

quote:

Originally posted by 1KPerDay:
get an uplula

This is the solution to your problem. Same thing occurred with me several years back. Bought one and after using it, I now own five. Two for pistols, two for AR’s, and one for M1A

I'v got two of the bodyguard 2.0s and I have found that the Uplula is a thumb saving necessity for me. My AR mags are easier, but I got the Uplula for it and the 30 round mags are a breeze.

Bob

Yes, get an UpLula. Even with one, you might have to press very hard to get the last round or two in, but even that won't overstress or slice up your fingers on the feed lips. Rest the magazine on something hard like a table or bench top.

The UpLula for .380 will probably not work with these magazines (it doesn't on my Ruger LCP Max), as it is made for single-stack. Get the one for double-stack 9mm. The tool's "beak" should still fit between the feed lips.

Thank you, gents. I have accepted my fate and ordered the UpLula.

Good call. Save your fingers the pain.

I have the loader, that helps immensely with stiff magazines.

For some reason I’m not bothered when shorting a magazine by 1, or even 2 rounds.

I rented a BG2 yesterday. Even with UpLula getting 11 in the nominal 12 round magazine was a chore. Making up for small size with stiff springs, magazine and recoil.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Watson:
I rented a BG2 yesterday. Even with UpLula getting 11 in the nominal 12 round magazine was a chore. Making up for small size with stiff springs, magazine and recoil.

Yep. Everything about it is stiff. I'm hoping it breaks in and loosens up a little after a few hundred rounds. I find seating a magazine with a round already in the chamber is also a bear.

It is off my shopping list.
Hard to load, hard to rack.
Whacks my thumb joint and slaps my trigger finger.
If I get a small auto it will be a Glock 42.

I told myself I wanted one after handling this version a few weeks back but now you guys have me rethinking this $400 plus dollar purchase. I may just stay with the P365 in 9mm or the S&W 642 since my gun fund money has shrunk a lot since retiring.

For those now contemplating other options, check the Ruger LCP Max 380, the mag isn't difficult to load, it's light, and decently priced. I carry one all the time.

10+1 or 12+1 depending on the Magazine you use or if you are in a socialist state just 10+1, if you get the extended mag model it's 13+1

https://ruger.com/products/lcpMax/models.html

HRK - Will check out the Ruger. Thanks for posting this recommendation. Mark

I personally chose the LCP Max over the Bodyguard because, as a gun, whether as an only or a backup, to be exclusively pocket carried, it has a streamlined profile, with no projections or sharp edges or corners of any kind. YMMV, not a knock on it.

Not at all impressed with this pistol. Maybe a QC issue, maybe super tight tolerances on a new pistol, but whatever the problem, this is my first and probably last S&W.

First time out it cycled FMJ fine, but choked on Hornady Critical Defense FTX and Sig Elite Performance. I realize people have reported issues with both of these rounds in the BG 2.0, as the Hornady has the red polymer tip and the Sig is their V-Crown design. But it's what I had on hand in .380.

Entirely possible that a "standard" JHP round would cycle fine. Friend who has two of them suggests polishing the feed ramp. Also lots of anecdotal reports online of this thing needing 500 rounds to loosen up and feed reliably. While all of these things are possible, I find this unacceptable in new gun I intend(ed) to carry on occasion for personal defense. I wanted reliability in a pocket pistol out of the box, not a project.

Will probably be looking at a Ruger LCP Max as well. This BG 2.0 was intended to replace an old first generation LCP. Several people recommended it to me over the Ruger. But while that old LCP didn't shoot so well (uncomfortable for me to hold with a standard mag - larger hands), it never choked once on anything I put through it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Aquilon,

I'd try different-shaped HPs, with more rounded sides and narrower cavities (IOW, a round-nose profile), as you alluded to, before writing it off.
Sometimes ammo makers get hung up on expansion in a jello block and forget about feed reliability.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,

I bought a BG 2.0 a few months after they came out. As others said, the magazine and recoil springs are pretty stiff for my 75-year-old hands. Mine cycled all ammo just fine, though, and I replaced the stock sights with a highly visible set of XS sights that really pop.

For me what makes the negatives on this gun worth the workarounds is that it's so darn shootable. I can consistently make 15 yard hits at speeds I'd normally expect from only a full-size pistol. Part of the "secret sauce" (again, for me) is the grip geometry that pushes my hand way high up close to the bore line, making the recoil impulse almost entirely rearward and thus negligible. With 10+1 in such a thin, concealable package, it sent my much loved Kahr P380 into retirement.

HoWink