Okay..let's talk about S&W Bodyguards

[Dagga Boy]

Cool.

Although if I ever see you in a Shoot-Me-First vest, I be worried…

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I spent a year on a detail in both a shoot me vest to conceal my 1911 in a Sparks 1AT and wore a fanny pack with a Glock 17 and a 30 round spare. My partner had a vest too....

[SAWBONES]

My 649-2 Bodyguard is definitely my favorite J-frame, of the eleven I own.

Solid stainless steel, dedicated .38 Special (does anybody really want to shoot .357 Magnum in a J-frame, or can anybody shoot .357 Magnum accurately and quickly from a J-frame?), easy to carry, pretty easy to shoot, points naturally, never malfunctions.

Long distance accuracy and precision? Not in my hands.
Speedy reloads? Not in my hands.

Still, a great little CCW revolver under certain conditions and in some circumstances. Love the humpbacks!

[LSP972]

I spent a year on a detail in both a shoot me vest to conceal my 1911 in a Sparks 1AT and wore a fanny pack with a Glock 17 and a 30 round spare.

Another icon falls… sigh.

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[LSP552]

I owned and carried real Bodyguards for MANY years. I've had 38s, 49s, 649s and carried them working undercover where being caught with a real gun would have been unwise.

It pains me to say they are all gone, liquidated in various moments of stupidity. My 642s & 442s are better pocket guns but they just lack the Bodyguard's style. I'd be all over a new production no-lock 638.

[Dagga Boy]

Another icon falls… sigh.

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I have some pretty good stories from that detail. In regards to what we wore. We pull into a 24 hour CVS in our issue black SUV to get some medicine in a shitty part of San Bernardino (led the nation at some point in per capita homicides). A couple black paroles are hanging out in front of the store. When we got out the just sighed and walked over and grabbed the wall and spread eagle to get patted down. Funny stuff. We were not trying to be discrete, and it was obvious that the two white guys in the ghetto at 2 AM with vests and fanny packs (black Eagle packs no less) were armed and not to be trifled with or to beg change off of.

[Dagga Boy]

My favorite "Bodyguard" wear was actually my Duluth chore coat. Had a custom made pocket holster for a P7 made for it. I was always the guy who looked like I was a maintenance guy who talked to people with his hands in his pocket.......the "bodyguards" wore 5.11's and looked nervous and fidgety.

Here is my 49-2 I just inherited. The Ahrends grips are really neat. They look kind of weird, but when you extend the gun with one hand, that Model 49 feels like an extension of the hand. This gun is getting paired up with a model 13-2 3" that I have matching grips on order for. This is a duplicate of my first off-duty guns when I first started as a cop.

Normally, j frames are not my "thing". Since deciding to get back into my love of fighting revolvers as my mid-life crisis and a means to really enjoy guns again, I have also been acquiring some more J frames again. Back in the "revolver days" when we worked heavy details and were actively hunting bad guys, we tended to carry a good primary revolver and "speedloaders" were actually a couple of snubs. It is always fun having "Retro Mike" around as he still lives this.

The 49-2:

[ACP230]

My first one was an M49. My older son has it now and doesn't use it at all, as far as I can tell.

Then bought a 649-2 and a 649. And, later, an M38. That's an interesting one. It's got an alloy frame and a
stainless cylinder. Smith made up an order like that in the 1970s for the Michigan State Police. The cops were
pocket carrying them and rusting the regular steel cylinders. They are using something different now and the
M38s were surplused out in the early 1990s, if I recall correctly.

Never found a 649-3. I'd probably own it if I had. They are my favorite snubnoses.
Shot the 649s all the way out to 50 yards and, occasionally, 100. I can make a paper silhouette
nervous at 100, and do better than that at 50. All the "two car lengths" talk on various sites
amuses me when it isn't making me cranky.

My 649-2 shoots best with factory and reloads. The 649 is next. The M38 isn't as accurate but carries most easily.

[LSP972]

That's an interesting one. It's got an alloy frame and a
stainless cylinder. Smith made up an order like that in the 1970s for the Michigan State Police. The cops were
pocket carrying them and rusting the regular steel cylinders.

Those were called "pinto"; never heard why, exactly, but the blued/anodized frame and barrel with white stainless cylinder was made in several different combinations back then.

Additionally, back then MSP had a neat innovation that I would implement for our guys if I was king. Their uniform trousers had leather-lined front pockets, the purpose being so that a trooper could keep his issue J frame in one of his front pockets for quick access. When I first heard of this, back when I was running our FTU in the 90's, I floated the subject with the Deputy Superintendent; he told me to look into it and get some prices. At that time, the vendor for our Class A uniform was the Fecheimer (sp?) company, and the price they quoted for a quantity of our wool blend trousers with black leather lining on both front pockets was positively frightful. I didn't bother to bring it back to the #2 guy; he was quite the practical fellow when it came to spending the department's money, and would have had me committed, as LSP552 would verify.

Its a fabulous concept. But I called the MSP FTU and spoke with an old-timer who remembered that practice; he said they quit doing it because of the cost of the trousers.

Frigging bean counters will be the death of us all...

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[LSP972]

The Ahrends grips are really neat.

Indeed they are; the way they narrow towards the bottom in both dimensions makes for added comfort and concealability when pocket carried. IMO, only the Spegels "shoot" better when we're talking about proper concealed stocks.

I have three pair; one on my EDC 360PD, one on the spare EDC 342, and one on the practice 640.

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[Dagga Boy]

I am with you on the Spegels. I am at the point of really liking Nill's, Ahrends and the VZ's on my shooting guns, and the Spegels for concealment small guns. Took a gigantic box of grips to figure this out over twenty years. I still like rubber on some of my big bore magnums, but my hands have told my brain to stop shooting them.