Any thoughts on the Smith & Wesson Model 49 Bodyguard?

I have a LW J frame and I really like it. It's about the same gun as yours except LW. A pocket holster and a speed loader and you are set for summer.
Or you can be very optimistic and carry 2 speedloaders.

BillD said:

I have a LW J frame and I really like it. It's about the same gun as yours except LW. A pocket holster and a speed loader and you are set for summer.
Or you can be very optimistic and carry 2 speedloaders.

Click to expand...

Does yours have a shrouded hammer, like the Bodyguard? I know they made a model like that in lightwight, called the Bodyguard Lightweight, I believe.

Here's an article on the Model 49. http://www.notpurfect.com/main/m49.html

No, mines hammerless
At least you can't see the hammer and is DA only.

Your is an interesting type. I don't have experience with them particularly but with J frames in general.

Cool, so the Airweight has the same configuration as the Bodyguard, jus lighter.

Well, I shot it today. Can't say it was a lot of fun, though. After 20 rounds, I'd had enough, and went home. Gun shoots plenty straight, but it bangs the heck out of my fingers. It's not the recoil, per se. It's the fact that my hands are much too big for those tiny little grips. It becomes a projectile in my hand when I fire it, and at least three fingers got banged up from contact with one part of the frame or the other. Think I will look into some Herrit custom stocks for it. Don't want to go rubber, as rubber tends to catch on fabric.

PS All I shot was standard pressure 158 grain loads. Imagine if they were plus p or .357 magnum. What the heck is the point in making a gun that small and light in .357 Magnum, as has become so popular recently? Who could shoot it?

Cool, so the Airweight has the same configuration as the Bodyguard, jus lighter.

Well, I shot it today. Can't say it was a lot of fun, though. After 20 rounds, I'd had enough, and went home. Gun shoots plenty straight, but it bangs the heck out of my fingers. It's not the recoil, per se. It's the fact that my hands are much too big for those tiny little grips. It becomes a projectile in my hand when I fire it, and at least three fingers got banged up from contact with one part of the frame or the other. Think I will look into some Herrit custom stocks for it. Don't want to go rubber, as rubber tends to catch on fabric.

PS All I shot was standard pressure 158 grain loads. Imagine if they were plus p or .357 magnum. What the heck is the point in making a gun that small and light in .357 Magnum, as has become so popular recently? Who could shoot it?

Cool, so the Airweight has the same configuration as the Bodyguard, jus lighter.

Well, I shot it today. Can't say it was a lot of fun, though. After 20 rounds, I'd had enough, and went home. Gun shoots plenty straight, but it bangs the heck out of my fingers. It's not the recoil, per se. It's the fact that my hands are much too big for those tiny little grips. It becomes a projectile in my hand when I fire it, and at least three fingers got banged up from contact with one part of the frame or the other. Think I will look into some Herrit custom stocks for it. Don't want to go rubber, as rubber tends to catch on fabric.

PS All I shot was standard pressure 158 grain loads. Imagine if they were plus p or .357 magnum. What the heck is the point in making a gun that small and light in .357 Magnum, as has become so popular recently? Who could shoot it?

649 Bodyguard

It's a real nice shooter. I like the fact you can cock the hammer for single action and the more you shoot it in double action the smoother the trigger gets. I chose to change the rubber grips to wood for the mentioned fact the rubber does tend to catch on clothing and the wood grips for me took alot of the sting out of the 357 rounds. Hers the grip site i purchased mine from.
http://www.badgercustomgrips.com/smith_and_wesson_pistol_grips.php?pid=1

I have the older airweight models 38 and 37. Both are great for pocket carry in a good holster. Recoil is a bit stouter than the steel counterparts, but, this is not an issue in close range defense.

"It's the fact that my hands are much too big for those tiny little grip."

I have pretty big hands, too, and found that going to "combat" grips on my SW 637 allows me to get another finger firmly on it, which helps a lot with handling. Obviously, some sacrifice in concealability, but not much.