Ruger LCP or SW Bodguard?

[Rule3]

I have carried and LCP for years along with larger guns. My LCP is one with old LONG trigger. I want a shorter trigger like the new ones. So the question is a new LCP or a SW Bodyguard, The SW comes with 2 mags, a steel guide rod and locks back. The Ruger one mag plastic guide rod and doesn't lock back except if you push the lever up.

My only dislike of the SW is it has a safety but it feels pretty hard to accidentally move onto safe.

Please, no other options or calibers.

 

[huntsman]

5 years now with my LCP and I'm happy with it, my only experience with the S&W is 2nd hand. A friend bought one shortly after I got my LCP, he never got the first box through before he had to send it back for laser repair after that he had other issues but I haven't seen him in a few years to find out how it worked out for him.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I shot them both and I like the Bodyguard best. Two of the reasons why, it fit my hand better and the slide lock.

If I wanted to buy a .380 like the LCP I would buy the Kel-Tec P-3AT which it copies right down to no slide lock.

 

[Normandy]

I shot a Glock 42 today, and it was instant LOVE!
Your two choices are very limited, and neither of them has a decent trigger. My advice is for you to check out the S&W Shielf 9 and the Glock 42 (.380).

 

[Rule3]

I have Shield and the Glock is to big. I have smaller 9mm's than the 42. If it was a 9 then just maybe.

 

[Fiv3r]

I've got both but generally prefer the Bodyguard without the laser over the lcp. Both are great guns

 

[mavracer]

I've got one of the new LCPs and love it sights are usable and trigger is good. no experience with BG

 

[forestswin]

Not that I'm a fan of pea-shooters

But the S&W looks way cooler!
Unless maybe if you got the Ruger LCP w/ OD Green Grip frame or the WaterDog Micro Fiber Film Grip Frame

 

[donato]

Don't buy either. Get an LC9s.

 

[BigBore45]

i have both and i do not like either. i end up carrying a sig 938 most of the time when i need a very small gun. my normal carry is a springfield XDS .45 but when going to church or have to tuck a shirt in i carry in a ankle holster and find the smaller guns better. that said my ruger LCP is the old model, and the trigger is why i do not like the gun.

 

[dakota1911]

I voted for the S&W as that is what my wife just bought. She had a female sales lady at the gun store and looked at a bunch of little pistols before picking the S&W. Now hers has a LASER but it was the grip and trigger pull that sold her. For background she has a S&W 469 she bought back in the 80s but as she is getting older feels pulling the slide back is hard and her friends are getting revolvers so.......

I have shot it and it is O.K. I guess. I carry a Colt Commander and if I need a small hand gun I have a Kahr P9.

 

[show_me_2nd]

I've shot the old LCP, BG, and now carry a new version LCP every day. I have large hands so I added a Hogue Hand-All grip. In my opinion, with that grip and the pinky extension on the mags, the pistol is perfectly suited for pocket carry in a good pocket holster. It has been 100% reliable after a thorough first cleaning and I can keep all shots in a 4" circle rapid fire, one handed, at 10 yards. That's all I need.

 

[kokapelli]

Neither, the P238, G42 and TCP are all better choices.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I looked at both, and for my needs, I felt the Ruger was better for them. I specifically wanted a pocket gun that is smooth, streamlined and as snag-free as possible, on the order of the Seecamp (but cheaper and more available). The Bodyguard had too many facets, edges, corners and projections for that need. My LCP has a smooth and short trigger pull and has been 100% reliable.

 

[jimbo555]

I guess they make and sell about 50 different 380's for a reason. Everybody has different likes and dislikes. I chose the s&w over the ruger cause it has features and feels like a larger gun. The sights on the bodyguard are superior, the slide locks open on the last round, and the double strike capability. It feels better made to me also.{subjective} The glock 42 is too large for holding the same amount of rounds in my opinion. The sig p238 I owned was ammo sensitive and I wasn't comfortable with cocked and locked carry in the pocket. That's why they make so many different guns.

 

[DeepSouth]

The LCP's are cheap made in my opinion, the S&W has a better fit and finish and just a more quality feel to it. So I lean to the bodyguard, that said I've owned 3 LCP's and while all looked and felt like a cheap throwaway gun, I've never had one fail. While I've never owned a bodyguard I have shot a couple, and again I've never seen one fail.

 

[BruiseLee]

I shot my friend's LCP in an indoor gun range. It is the only gun I've ever shot that I literally was not able to see the front sight. It is so tiny. The Bodyguard's sight is much better, though I wish it had some white dots or night sights, but even then you've got the laser, which should solve any low light level sighting problems. And now you can get a Crimson Trace laser, which should solve any laser related problems, other than instant actuation.

The Bodyguard also holds open on the last shot, another advantage. Though the LCP is lighter and I think a bit more of a snag free design.

 

[fastbolt]

Nice to have a couple of similar offerings from 2 of the major American makers.

When I asked myself this same question back in 2012, I examined both the S&W Bodyguard .380 and the Ruger LCP.

I didn't want the laser, and they weren't making the Bodyguard without the laser at that time.

I was planning for the role of whichever I picked to be used when wearing jeans with tighter & shorter pockets that wouldn't allow me to pocket-holster one of my S&W J-frames. Size mattered.

The Bodyguard had a larger grip profile, which felt fine, but was just enough larger, overall, that I felt the LCP fitted my needs, meaning my tighter pockets, a bit better.

The triggers were a wash, for the most part. The LCP ended up having a smoother and lighter DAO trigger stroke, but it wasn't that big of a deal, since I'm a longtime J-frame DA/DAO shooter.

The LCP's fixed sights were pretty rudimentary, but a couple dabs of some different color paint and nail polish helped quite a bit.

The inherent practical accuracy of the LCP in some assorted drills and qual courses-of-fire was pleasantly surprising, as was its ability to feed, fire and extract/eject an assortment of JHP's I had available.

I've been very pleased with my choice ... but so have other owners I've met of both the Bodyguard .380 and the LCP.

I recently considered ordering one of the newer Bodyguards that have been adopted within the M&P line, and are now made without the integral laser.

However, when it came time to once again compare the attributes and overall sizes of the slightly larger G42, new M&P Bodyguard and a stainless version of the LCP ... I ordered a stainless LCP (to complement my blued one).

If I carried a .380 in a belt holster, I'd probably go for a larger model (G42 or M&P Bodyguard). Since my pockets in some of my jeans remain tight & short, however, the LCP's attributes remain a decent choice, for me.

You only have to suit yourself. Try to shoot examples of both, using some representative sampling of ammo you'd normally use for defensive purpose, and see which offers you the best compromise of features and shooting characteristics.

FWIW, a slide's "hold-open" feature in such a diminutive pocket pistol isn't something that figures greatly into my consideration of desirable features, but that's just me.

 

[FireInCairo]

The Bodyguard's trigger is designed to be more like a switch, which is to say it's a terrible trigger that can't really be made better.

 

[bannockburn]

Between the two I like the Bodyguard better; even more so without the built-in laser. It fits my hand better (which I can relate to as I already have a P3AT), has a slightly better DA trigger, a slide release lever, and higher visibility sights.

 

[Cee Zee]

I don't get the disdain for lasers but everyone has their opinion. For a belly gun for my wife to carry that laser might save her life. It's hard to aim and fire under stress and that laser can make it easy to know when you're on target. My wife is learning to shoot a handgun well but she still needs help with a small piece like that LCP. She wanted a gun she could carry in her purse so that's what we got. I borrowed a Buck Mark for a few months and she learned to shoot it very well. She was shooting 4" groups at 25 yards. I bought a Buck Mark yesterday so she could keep up with her practicing. I'll make a shooter out of her yet.