The Smith & Wesson Goldilocks .380

 Thursday August 15, in conjunction with their GOALS Convention in Knoxville, Gun Owners of America had their first Media Range Day near Sweetwater, TN. We were able to shoot a large variety of firearms. One that caught my attention was the Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 2.0 in .380 caliber.

I call this the Goldilocks .380 because, for a .380 it is just right. There are lots of .380's on the market of varying sizes. Walther has had one on the market for many decades. Many manufacturers have one out there today. A game changer in the .380 market was the Kel-Tek P3AT, which put the .380 in a true pocket-pistol category. The Ruger LCP followed, which popularized that size firearm. 

This S&W is slightly larger than the LCP, with their dimensions compared at the HandgunHero website. From the HandgunHero site, here are same-scale silhouettes of the two pistols.

 Where the S&W really shines, though, is that despite its diminutive size, the felt recoil* is considerably less than the P3AT and LCP, which makes it just right as a .380; small enough to carry discreetly, yet relatively gentle to the user.

*Felt recoil, as the term implies, is a measure of how it feels to the user. Every cartridge from the .22 short to the big magnum African game cartridge has its own intrinsic recoil. From there, firearm shape, action type, weight, etc., all have a bearing on felt recoil. Each shooter will have their own perception of recoil, also.