S&W Bodyguard 380
 

I was on the S&W website to get a picture of the Bodyguard 380 for our upcomming raffle. I am glad we have not bought it yet. The price was listed at $399 MSRP as opposed to the $550 I have been seeing in the stores. I emailed S&W and they confirmed they had reduced the price.
Product: BODYGUARD® 380

Thing is, Ruger has sold OVER 500,000 LCP's in about 3 yrs. so, of course, S&W wants a bigger piece of the ever-growing new-CCW-pie in shall-issue states. I think maybe lately they've been getting their $ butt kicked compared to Ruger... Looks like they're drawing a line in the sand now. The competition is all better for us as long as they're not cutting too many quality control corners, eh?

I had heard some negative things on the bodyguard comared to the Sig P238 and the Ruger LCP. Is that what is driving the price down?

I would like to think that competitiion is driving the price down. $200 above an LCP is hard to overcome even if the features and ergonomics are better. Sig 238 is even higher though but it is sweet. The dealers that had Bodyguards in stock were stuck with the old price and will have to eat the difference. They are not too happy about selling their inventory below cost. I am still seeing the ones in the store marked $550.
Any new gun can have teething problems. Ruger recalled a lot of LCP's. I have found that the people who have a problem are a lot more vocal than the ones that dont. I know I would be vocal if I had a problem and the mfg was not cooperating.