Smith & Wesson M&P Bodyguard .38 Special Revolver with Integrated Crimson Trace laser.
November 20, 2024
By Margie Thompson
This is the second installment in my series on personal protection firearms for new female gun owners. The first review was for the Kel-Tec P-32 auto. It’s time to look at revolvers. I referred to the Smith & Wesson Bodyguard as a “surprisingly” good choice because it isn’t promoted specifically for the female market and, frankly, it’s just too good a gun to be overlooked. Remember, it takes more than pastel grips to make a handgun suitable for a lady. You might ask, “Doesn’t Smith & Wesson have a lady’s gun?” The short answer is: No, they used to, it was called the LadySmith series, but after 2013, S&W scaled it back. Today, apparently, it’s gone. But, it’s no coincidence that in 2014, S&W introduced the M&P Bodyguard .38 Special Revolver with Integrated Crimson Trace Laser as a specially designed, personal protection and concealed carry weapon. Since then the Bodyguard has become an industry superstar. For first time female gun owners looking for a defensive weapon, there’s a lot to like in the M&P Bodyguard revolver. But there’s a trade-off for everything.
The Basics The author firing practice shots wearing a shooting glove in anticipation of monster recoil that didn’t come. The 12-pound trigger pull can be daunting if you don’t have a lot of hand strength. Get a spring from Wolf Gun Springs to lighten it up if it’s too heavy for you (GunSprings.com). Two factors that drive all personal protection firearm design. They have to be sleek for snag-free presentation and lightweight for concealed carry and just as importantly they have to be as easy as possible to shoot in a self-defense situation and as safe as possible otherwise. And nothing is as straightforward to shoot as a double-action revolver. Revolvers generally don’t have a manual safety but out of an abundance of caution, many makers will design their personal protection models as double-action, only. The Bodyguard is no exception; it is double-action, only. The trade-off here is just how hard to make the trigger pull. The Bodyguard has a 12-pound pull. Many revolvers marketed for personal protection sport a traditional spur hammer, S&W designed the Bodyguard with a shrouded hammer, thus ensuring virtually snag-free draw. That’s a good thing! But that also means you can’t cheat on the hard, double-action only pull by cocking the hammer (as I admit I have been known to do).
Like many small revolvers, the Bodyguard has a five-chamber cylinder. This doesn’t sound like a lot of firepower compared to a concealed carry automatic’s seven- to 10-round magazine, but the .38 Special ammo more than makes up for it. Each round is going to do more damage to a potential attacker than a .32 or a .380. Note: As a general rule, first time gun owner’s looking for personal protection should stay away from any caliber higher than .38 or 9mm because of recoil. Since this type of firearm tends to be lighter and the barrels tend to be shorter, the recoil can be punishing with heavier loads. Loading and unloading a revolver is super easy. Unlike an automatic, there’s no magazine to load with its strong spring, no mag release button to fight with, and no slide to pull. It’s also easy to see if the gun is empty — just look at the cylinder!
Loading a revolver is so much easier than loading an automatic! Rear view of the The Bodyguard showing the shrouded hammer, the cylinder release button, the laser button, and the the U-shaped groove that serves as the rear sight. The cylinder release is located at the top of the Bodyguard’s frame on the left side. It’s a small ramp with a slightly raised bump in the middle and horizontal grooves to help push it forward to unlock the cylinder. The cylinder only opens to the left but don’t expect it to just spring open. Hold the gun in your left hand, pushing the release forward with your thumb, and then push the cylinder out with your right hand. To close it just roll it back in place with your right hand until you hear it click. An advantage of revolvers over automatics is reliability. Revolvers just seem to misfire less often than automatics. If an automatic misfires, the only way to clear it is to pull back the slide or maybe a second hit if the pistol is a DA. If a revolver misfires, many times you can just keep shooting! The dud will stay in the chamber and the next trigger pull will advance the cylinder to present a fresh round. Because personal protection firearms are designed for concealed carry, they need a smooth, sleek silhouette to ensure snag-free presentation. The trade off for this can be the sights.
Advertisement
The Bodyguard’s sights aren’t great, but that’s typical of snub-nosed revolvers. The rear sight is an integrated U-shaped channel. The front sight is a black ramp that can be hard to see, especially in low light or if, like me, you need readers. But from the beginning, S&W recognized this and so the first M&P Bodyguards were designed with an integrated laser. Makes sense. You’re more likely to need a defensive weapon in low light than broad daylight! Today, you can choose to forgo the laser option, but I don’t recommend it. There’s only a $119 difference in MSRP between the two. Pennies per day! Buy the laser! I love laser sights! Traditional sights on almost any handgun can give me fits because I’m left-handed and right eye dominant. That means I shoot left-handed but with my left eye shut. I also have readers. I did all the tests with the laser on. As a new gun owner, you may not be familiar with lasers, so I’ve included a short section on them.
The Crimson Trace Laser The front site can be hard to see. If you wear glasses, it’s a good idea to practice with and without them. Love, love, love the Crimson Trace Intergrated Laser sights. Before we begin you should know that “Crimson Trace” isn’t an adjective. It’s the name of the company that manufactures the laser. Lasers used for gun sights generally come in two colors: red or green. Crimson Trace makes both. The M&P Bodyguard’s laser is red. Which is better? It depends. Basic Physics will tell you that our eyes have evolved to see green more readily than red. Unsurprisingly then, many people can spot a green laser dot at a greater distance than a red one and so they swear by green, but keep in mind that our focus is personal protection. As such we’re generally dealing in the seven to ten yard range, so it really doesn’t make much difference what color the laser is. Lasers can be steady burn or pulse. The Bodyguard lets you chose. It has a small red button on the top of the frame to the right of the cylinder release. Press once for “on-steady,” again for “on-pulse/flash,” and again for “off.” You can see which mode you’re in from the reflection of the laser on the cylinder.
My only issue with the button was finding the darn thing without taking my eyes off the target or actually trying to look for it in low light. Being a lefty wasn’t an issue since the button is on top of the frame. I found the best method for me was, while holding the grips in both hands with right thumb over left at the back, to bring my right thumb up in an arc toward my palm, feeling along the ribbed cylinder release until I could feel the laser button. But touch lightly! The last thing you want to do is to release the cylinder. I recommend a lot of practice until you can devise and master a technique that works for you. So, steady burn or pulsating laser light? This is one you just have to try out for yourself. Some folks swear by pulse where the dot flashes on and off. For me, personally, I prefer the steady mode. I think the flashing is distracting and it makes the dot seem to jump around. Either way, the laser uses a battery so be sure to turn it off when not in use or between practice rounds. I’ve included the laser’s specs from the S&W website. Lasers are remarkable for interiors in any light, unless you aim at a highly reflective surface. Exteriors are a different story. Aiming into shade is a dream. Bright sunshine can make the dot hard to see. There are pretty much two different ways to compensate for this. The most common is to use the revolver’s sights to find your target and then use the laser to aim at center mass. This assumes you can find the laser button without looking. The alternative is to aim from the “low ready” position, pointing the laser at the ground and then tracing a line to the target and up until the dot is on center mass. I used the latter method during the tests to get the dot onto the center mass “X.” I was then able to fire rapidly enough without losing the dot between shots. Which brings us to accuracy; but accuracy is dependant on trigger pull and recoil.
Advertisement
Trigger Pull Seven yards, 1.25-inch group using Black Hills 148- grain HBWC. Seven yards, 13/8-inch group using Speer Gold Dot 135- grain GDHP SB. Seven yards, 1.5-inch group using Glaser 80-Grain, Standard. The Bodyguard has a12-pound trigger pull. That’s two sacks of flour and a sack of sugar! Since its double-action only and there’s no hammer to cock, that’s a really tough pull each and every time you fire. [EDITOR’S NOTE: One easy way to remedy a too-heavy trigger pull is to replace the trigger spring. I have used Wolf-brand springs for well over 30 years and I reccomend them: GunSprings.com.] I have small hands. Sam’s Club’s blue gloves in size small are just a bit tight but wearable; size medium are a bit big but more comfortable. I have a touch of arthritis in my fingers. And I don’t have a lot of hand strength. I actually own a double-action revolver, but I haven’t fired it for over a year. I’m telling you all this because you’ll see in the photos that I’m shooting the Bodyguard with two fingers on the trigger. My hand wasn’t strong enough to pull the trigger with just my left trigger finger; I needed the right for added pressure. That sounds worse than it was. Luckily the trigger guard was long enough to let me use both.
That said, in preparing this article, I was able to dry fire the Bodyguard one-handed with a single finger from either hand. What was going on? Then the answer dawned on me. The Bodyguard and I had met for the first time at the range when I did the tests. I had never fired it before. And I was a long time out of practice at shooting a double-action revolver. Too long! Like any muscle, if you don’t use it, you lose it. So I tried a variation on the old FBI one-handed, dry fire test. Using only my left hand to hold the gun, I was able to dry fire 16 times in 13 seconds before I had to use my right hand to help out. I am assuming the next time the Bodyguard and I meet at the range, one-finger trigger pulls won’t be a problem. While shooting practicing rounds with the Bodyguard, I encountered something odd. I sighted the laser on the “X” center mass on the target. I had both fingers on the trigger, and, just like I was taught and just like how I had been practicing, I slowly squeezed the trigger while steadying the dot (it tended to jump around as I was squeezing) and . . . nothing happened. The trigger felt as if it were flush against the back of the guard, but the gun didn’t fire. After a bit of experimentation, my husband, firearms expert Leroy Thompson, figured it out. Apparently, a slow squeeze can be too slow, and I admit I can be a bit pokey, but a fast hard pull fired every time. Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam! And that’s a good thing. In a defensive situation, with your adrenalin pumping, that’s probably how you’re going to shoot anyway! Firing faster meant less dot drift and OMG, just check out my groups!
Recoil Recall that recoil is the sworn enemy of accuracy. And how much recoil you feel will depend on several factors. In general, revolvers will have more recoil than automatics. The lighter the weight and shorter the barrel, the more recoil you’ll get. The larger the caliber in which the gun is chambered, the higher the recoil. The more powerful the load you’re shooting, the more powerful the recoil. And finally, the more rounds you put through, the more tired you’ll become, and you’ll perceive the recoil more. The Bodyguard weights just 14.4 ounces when empty. The barrel is 1.875 inches long. It’s chambered in .38 Special which has more stopping power than .32 or even .380. And I was about to put more than a whole bunch of rounds through it. Naturally, I braced for a monster recoil and donned a pair of shooting gloves. I didn’t need them. In fact, they made the recoil worse because of the position of the seam around my thumb. I only wore them for the first couple of practice rounds. I shot the actual tests bare-handed. Understand, there was definitely strong recoil. It definitely hurt and I was sore, but it wasn’t eye watering. To be completely honest, I wasn’t exactly quiet though either. The last couple of rounds for the last test produced an increasing loud, involuntary series of “ows.” But frankly, I’ve shot .380’s that were worse. I assume that in a real life, self-defense situation, adrenaline will kick in and you won’t even feel it until it’s all over. I, personally, attribute the difference between the monster recoil I anticipated and the tolerable recoil I experienced to the grip design: one-piece, smooth polymer grips with just enough texture to provide friction to keep the gun from sliding around. No fancy cross-hatching to tear up my palm. No seams to wear a blister. And most importantly, no molded finger indentations. Those darn things never fit my fingers so I feel the recoil in every bone in my hand! Holding the Bodyguard was more like gripping an Oxo padded kitchen tool.
The Tests The Bodyguard in its soft case getting ready to be tucked into my nightstand. It will be loaded with the Black Hills wadcutter ammo visible in the upper left. The recoil I experienced varied considerably with load type, but thanks to the laser (I used it for every test), my groups were remarkably, consistently tight. All tests consisted of five-round sets at twenty-one feet, fired with the fast hard trigger pull from seven yards to simulate a personal protection situation. I chose three different types of .38 Special ammo based on my personal expert’s recommendations (At the time of this writing, not many types of ammo were available due to industry shortages).
Test 1: Black Hills .38 Special 148-grain HBWC (Hollow Base Wadcutter) — Lots of folks think of wadcutters as competition ammo. But, back in the day, savvy police officers would pack a snub-nosed .38 Special as a back-up gun and load it with wadcutter ammo. The idea was to compensate for the loss of muzzle velocity due to the short barrel length. What they discovered was that the flat nosed bullet leaves a larger entry wound than a traditional tapered bullet. The 1.25-inch spread was my best with two shots of the five overlapping and two more kissing. The recoil wasn’t terrible.
Test 2: Speer Gold Dot 135-grain GDHP SB — These rounds were developed specifically for personal protection in short barrel revolvers. The spread was only an eighth of an inch wider than the Black Hills, but three rounds landed nearly on top of each other! The recoil was about the same as the Black Hills.
Test 3: Glaser Silver Safety SLU .38 Special Standard 80-grain — These were first developed for Air Marshals who needed a non-ricocheting load that would produce maximum damage to an attacker without the slug tearing through the body and taking out a window or damaging the electronics/hydraulics hidden within an airplane’s fuselage. These little devils fragment, distributing their energy wholly within the attacker. This group’s spread was 1.5 inches with only the first shot close to the center mass (X). The subsequent four shots overlapped each other but were low and to the left.
In conclusion, I would recommend the Smith & Wesson M&P Bodyguard .38 Special revolver with integrated Crimson Trace laser for personal protection and self-defense for everyone, but especially for first time, female shooters. It’s hard to beat it’s .38 caliber stopping power, integrated laser sights, easy loading and unloading, shrouded hammer, smooth grips, and all black frame, barrel, and cylinder. Change just one feature and you’ve missed the point. In fact, I made my husband buy me one. I liked it that much! In the first article in this series I described my Kel-Tec P-32 as “My Sunday, Go To Meeting” gun. This little beauty is going to be “My Little Black Dress!” And it’s going right into my nightstand, next to my P-32.
