It's like a gun, only smaller.

I'd been carrying a J-frame as a backup gun and in the outside breast pocket of my winter coat for many years. While I liked the idea of some of the small .380 autos that hit the market, they were either such little bricks (NAA) or so much of a crapshoot in the reliability department (P3AT) that I just didn't see the need to move off my tried-and-true wheelgun.

My winter coat finally reached the point where it was time to be replaced, and though I selected the new coat specifically for having a breast pocket to fit the J-frame, in practice it turned out to be a little snug for fumble-free access.

Excuse the lousy cell phone picture. It's a placeholder 'til I can get some daylight.

This sent me looking at the inexpensive little .380s again, and I decided to give S&W's offering a try. After living with it for a few months, some thoughts:

Given that the Bodyguard is a true DAO, I see no real need to use the safety on mine. It's completely redundant. It's stiff and awkward and as useful as a kickstand on a tank; the trigger is difficult enough to pull on purpose, let alone by accident. Like the double-action-only J-frame before it, I carry the double-action-only Bodyguard in an el-cheapo Uncle Mike's pocket holster, which keeps the trigger covered and the gun oriented in the pocket.

The trigger on my Bodyguard was buck wretched out of the box, like pulling the proverbial piano across a gravel road with your index finger, but after a hundred rounds or so it smoothed out to be a usable, if still heavy, trigger*. If you can shoot a double-action trigger well, you'll be able to manage it; if, on the other hand, you're one of those people, the ones who thumb cock their double-action revolvers for every shot and refer to DA/SA autopistols as "crunchentickers", then a long, heavy trigger pull on a light, tiny pistol is going to be a recipe for yanking the sights off-target.

The laser activation buttons on the integral laser are ambidextrous, but might as well be located in Albania for all the chance you'll have of activating them in a hurry as you yank the gun out of pocket or purse. I'm assuming that Crimson Trace holds some sort of patent on a grip-activation button for lasers.

Unlike the P3AT, I can shoot the Bodyguard one-handed without it short-cycling. It has thus far been 100% reliable with FMJ, Hornady Critical Defense, and Winchester PDX1.

.380 Auto is a completely unsatisfactory round from a self-defense standpoint, but it beats a handful of nothing and it's replacing a .32 H&R Mag in my pocket, which wasn't exactly the Hammer of Thor, either.

For the niche for which I need it, to fit in the outside breast pocket of my winter coat where I can access it with the coat zipped up or while  seated in my car, it's dandy. In warmer weather it will do for a pocket-carried BUG. Unlike the J-frame, it will fit in the pocket of my mom jeans.

*I have not yet put weights on it, and I would not be surprised to find out that its actual weight is less than I would guess, but the popsicle-stick grip dimensions don't give grownup-sized hands the best leverage on the trigger.The trigger itself is reasonably wide and smooth-faced, and if you do not have Truckasaurus mitts, you might actually find it less objectionable.