Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Ruger LCP vs. Smith 380 Bodyguard Opinions, please.

I've never owned a centerfire semi-auto, tend to favor my revolvers. Wife has taken a shine to the neighbor's LCP, I've handled a few along with the new Smith Bodyguard 380's. To me, the Smith feels like a lot nicer pistol, but I'm not crazy about the location of the laser switch. A pressure pad on the grip would make much more sense to me, but I sure like the feel of the pistol otherwise. She hasn't handled a Smith yet but I'm going to take her window shopping soon, this will be hers and I want her to be comfortable with whatever she gets.

Anybody owned both? Own one or the other? Good, bad, ugly?

Thanks

I wasn't crazy about the tiny safety on the Smith BG, also it seemed bigger than the lcp but I didn't have them side by side. I think the Taurus TCP will get my money when the time comes.

The Taurus has had some problems; one guy I work with (and he's an OLD gun nut) has has his back to Taurus 4 times now.

Personally, I still like the little Kel-Tec .380.

If not one of those, then the SIG remake of the Colt Mustang.

Depends on who you talk to. A few minutes ago I talked with a cop friend of mine whose opinion I respect, and he is high on the Ruger. A dealer friend says the Rugers are outselling the S&Ws, although he didn't say why or which specific models of Smiths. He can offer good deals on the Rugers right now. Another dealer I spoke with this weekend wasn't fond of the Bodyguard, said it wasn't up to other S&Ws.

So it seems that opinions differ. Makes it hard to choose.

Paul

Agreed. Although the Sig P238 is a "big little gun" that operates just like a mini-1911, unlike the LCP and Kel Tec which are true "pocket guns:" e.g., no sights, smooth edges, etc.

Got the same story from my cop friend that I mentioned in my previous post. Yet recently my gunsmith said that current Tauruses (Tauri?) are very good.

Danged hard to sort it all out.

Paul

Current Taurus stuff, in general, is superb. The little TCP, though, seems not to be.

One thing for sure is both the LCP and P3AT have been around long enough to have their teething issues corrected.
Except for the price what about the Kahr P380?

I've been looking at the Kahr p380.. and I agree that it has some "Pricing issues."

As for the Ruger, I didn't like the trigger slap. And I mean SLAP. I was splitting a box of 50 rounds between the keltec p38T and the ruger lcp. I probably didn't shoot 10 through the ruger before it was back on the bench. The fit and finish on the Keltec wasn't as nice, which was noticeable even at such a small size. At least it didn't numb my finger! But pretty much wrote them both off.

I still haven't fired that Kahr p380.. has anyone compared these side x side?

Although the Diamondback has received some bad press I own one and have about a 1000 rounds or more through mine and it's a pretty good little gun.
I can easily fire two boxes of ammo through mine at a range session with zero pain.
What you mentioned about the LCP's slap is exactly what kept me from buying it or the Kel-tec as you are not the first to mention it.

Really? Without any trigger slap either? Hmm... I'm intrigued.

Carry the Sig P238, used to carry LCP for 2 years. The Sig cost a lot, I sure do like the trigger. Seems to be a little bit bigger, but not enough to bother me.
Make sure what ever you get that the wife has a good enough grip to rack the slide.

After some reading, it looks like they may have fixed some of the initial issues. Which MAY mean they are listening to their customers.

But there IS a lot of bad press out there.. I don't know man. That Kahr p380 is still calling me..

Ruger's got nearly 3/4 of a million LCP's out there. If they didn't work they wouldn't be selling like that. I like mine. There are a lot of nice guns out there but for what it is, the price, and size it's hard to beat. Plus (big +) it goes bang everytime.

Skivvy,I realize a customer should never be a beta tester for a new firearm and I can say that when Ruger and Kel-Tec introduced their little micro .380's there were plenty of issues,recalls (Ruger),pissed off owners,etc.
Even my early production Diamondback went back to the factory for a warranty issue in which the magazine would pop out after each shot fired.
Since then it has been flawless.
I guess it could disengrate one day shooting it but I am pretty happy with mine.
One of the quirks about this pistol though is if you forget your round count and dry fire it on an empty magazine YOU MUST rack the slide before putting in a fresh magazine otherwise the firing pin will cause the newly racked cartridge to fail to feed.
I see this complaint a lot of owners disgruntled because of the pistols failure to feed.
They obviously have not caught on to this little quirk.
Anyway it's got much better sights than the LCP or P3AT.
It is not uncomfortable to shoot and trust me I am no handgunner extraordinaire as for the last several decades I only owned rifles and shotguns but due to age have recently graduated to owning handguns and a concealed carry license for protection.
As far as the Kahr P380 if it's built like my newly aquired PM9 it may be very possibly worth the extra money.

Caribou,
There are 800,000 Yugos in the world. That just means they are a car manufacturer. But that doesn't mean it's a good car.

I'm glad you like your LCP. I have a friend who swears by his. But I still don't like them. As is the way with opinions. I guess we will have to agree, to disagree.

Texas,

Well, I am still intrigued. According to what I was reading, and even though some were negative, most praised how the DB handled. (Recoil, grip, etc.) I may still check it out. If I am blessed to have 2 pocket guns, then maybe the DB would be there.. right along side my p380. (assuming it IS worth the $).

You have a pm9? I did fire that, and loved it. Which is why i went looking at their 380 in the first place..

I just bought an LCP. I really wanted to go with the Sig but read too many negative forum reviews. The LCP is what it is, a $300 pistol that is pretty dependable, even so I would have paid the $500 for the Sig if I hadn't been deterred by all the negative posts I had read.

The Kahr would be my choice

Thanks for the opinions, everyone. I got my paws on a LCP at a gun shop today and that thing feels like a toy, just can't figure out where to put the caps.