My daughter bought a BG 38 on my advice. I was thinking, S&W - you can't go too far wrong. I was wrong. IMO the gun is inadequate for SD purposes. The laser was very far off the POI and it was all but impossible to get it adjusted correctly. The gun is far too snappy especially for a female which is likely the target customer. My daughter wanted something small and light to carry in her purse. It's too small and too light for anything but one shot unless you have several seconds to line up for subsequent shots. Compared to better quality revolvers made by S&W that can be fired repeatedly with very little need to reacquire the target for follow up shots. And those follow up shots can be very important especially for a lighter caliber like the .38.

I just think there are better options mainly. They may weigh a little more but we aren't looking at purse accessories here. SD requires a better gun. It's not terrible. It just isn't good enough IMO.