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So after however long it's been, I finally purchased a carry gun two weeks ago. I've been oogling Snipe's LCP for a while and did some looking around. After handling it, I wasn't a fan, but I did find something I liked in .380.

I picked up a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380. I've put about 300 rounds down the pipe since I picked it up. All for practice as I've never handled a double action pistol before, and for sighting the integrated laser system. I'm carrying Hornaday hollow points as everyday carry in a Blackhawk IWB holster.

I'll add pictures later, as I'm at work and for whatever reason, Homeland Security doesn't like you accessing firearm related websites from their computers.

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Put on your tinfoil hats, the black choppers are coming, and I'm calling them in.
Former DCC OA-10A T/N 80-278

Nice, enjoy it.

Congratulations! .380s are fine little weapons for close in work, but as with most, the true performance is in the projectile. Hornaday makes some great designs. I also like the Federal Hydro Shocks for a .380. My personal favorite is Remington's Golden Saber, but I don't think they make it for the .380, at least I've never found it.

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Slow is Fast, Fast is Slow
Violence may not be the best option, but it IS an option

I have yet to shoot one of the bodyguards. They seem nice, but i don't like the laser activation system. To me, there is nothing that compares to the instinctive pressure activation system of CT laserguards.

That being said, the BG has a lot of really nice features, like full iron sights.

Congrats, and good luck with it!

I've been using Buffalo Bore 100gr+P hard cast lead flat nose bullets. They have about 50% more muzzle energy than most other loads available in .380, and will get over 20" of penetration in ballistics gel (more than double the pen. of the hornady critical defense rounds).

I may have to look into those. I have to send my BG back to S&W today. It's been having some feed & extraction issues. They think it might be the magazine, and since I can't find any out here to buy a new one to verify, off it goes to the motherland.

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3 Branches down... 2 to go!
Put on your tinfoil hats, the black choppers are coming, and I'm calling them in.
Former DCC OA-10A T/N 80-278

It's normal for a new design to have teething problems. The first LCP's had some problems too.

I bought a revised model, and mine is very reliable and accurate.

Buffalo Bore makes by far the hottest ammo in .380. Thy make a Speer Gold Dot bonded core JHP that cracks over 1100fps from a tiny little LCP barrel as well as the 100gr hard cast lead flat nose load that i use (1050fps from an LCP).

Right now the most popular .380 load on the market is the Corbon DPX solid copper hollowpoint. It gets amazing expansion in gel, but the penetration is a bit low for my tastes. It is also extremely expensive ammo. So for those reasons i opted for the very powerful 100gr+P flat nose lead bullet from Buffalo Bore. Even in my tiny LCP it is very comparable in muzzle energy to .38spl+P fired from a J frame revolver.

From my GF's 4\" barreled Beretta Model 84 it has ballistics comparable to a 4\" barreled .38spl+P.

The load is specifically designed as a trail defense load. I've had conversations with Tim Sundles, the owner of Buffalo Bore, and he told me that it should be fully capable of achieving a killing shot on a black bear. At over 20\" penetration (significantly more than most full power defensive hollowpoints can achieve), i believe it.