I have a S&W Bodyguard .38 on its way and was curious if anyone had any practical suggestions for particular ammo choices for it. Looking at .38 standard pressure Hornady Critical Defense 110gr and Winchester W Defend 130 gr.
Also curious any holsters pocket or ankle that work well since it seems a bit harder to find holsters for it versus the LCR or 642. I want a holster that would be easy to hide in business casual for a bigger guy in a non-permissive environment.
In regards to training, for someone who has always run Semi-Autos, any good training resources for getting familiar with running a revolver?
Thanks!

The Speer Gold Dot 135 grain .38 +P is designed for short barrels like yours and has an excellent reputation. I carry it whenever I carry a J frame.

This is what I carry in my 442, seems to work well.

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John

i prefer the Hornady XTP 158 gr. non +p. i love my galco horse hide front pocket holster. the same one that fits my 442 should work for the BG38. nice choice by the way...

Two excellent choices! I've tested both in my BG38 and they are very accurate; POA=POI. As for holster I use a DeSantis® 001 thumb break for OWB; and a Sticky Holster® #MD-5 for IWB or pocket carry.

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David
CW3 USA (Ret) 1968-1990

My thoughts, for what they're worth.

Ammo:

My first choice is Speer 135gr Short Barrel Gold Dot +P, but it can be hard to find.

Second choice would be Federal 125gr Nyclad HP, especially if +P loads prove to be too difficult to manage. Last time I looked they were difficult to find.

The Winchester 130gr Defend load looks promising and is one I'd like to try at some point.

158gr LSWCHP +P are generally good loads. My preference is for Buffalo Bore's Std. Pressure loading (actually exceeds velocity of other manufacturers' +P loadings); they can be a bit of a handful in a snub .38, though.

I'm generally not a fan of light weight loads for a snub (i.e., less than ~125gr). I prefer medium to heavy bullet weights in either standard pressure or +P. But the most important things are that the rounds work well in your gun and that you can shoot them quickly and accurately. If 110gr loads work well in your gun and they're what you shoot best, that'd be good enough as far as I'm concerned.

Holsters:

I rarely pocket carry my 642, but when I do it's in a DeSantis Nemesis pocket holster. I don't ankle carry so I can't help you there.

Side Guard Holsters makes excellent holsters and are a great value. They may offer something that'll work for you.

Training resources:

Michael DeBethencourt's site, snubtraining.com, is a good starting point. Even if you can't take a training course with him (I haven't...yet) he offers some good snub-specific information. You can also look him up on YouTube; I use his reloading technique.

Another good source is Grant Cunningham's website, grantcunningham.com. While not snub-specific, he provides excellent information on running and maintaining revolvers. He also has a book, Gun Digest Book of the Revolver, that is a very good guide to revolvers. He has a second book, Defensive Revolver Fundamentals, but I don't have it (yet) so I can't comment on it.

One of the best books available on snubs is The Snubby Revolver by Ed Lovette. He also wrote a book with Dave Spaulding called Defensive Living, which is a good general purpose personal security book.

Also, anything by Massad Ayoob is worth a look.

Buffalo Bore!

Thanks ContinentalOp for typing all that up so I didn't have to!

Joking aside, other than Mr. Cunningham's work (which I've been meaning to read.) and the pocket holster (I prefer a leather holster like the Galco horsehide, but I've heard good things about the Nemesis.) ContinentalOp took the words out of my mouth.

I would actually like to try a leather pocket holster as the Nemesis can be a bit on the bulky side for pocket carry, especially in jeans, but I don't pocket carry enough to really justify it. Someday, though.

I lucked out that where I work is a S&W dealer and one of the incentive programs rewards you with a selection of firearms based on your reward level. I had the choice between the bodyguards, the shields and a 642. I opted for the 38 BG since I don't really care for the shield and between the 642 and the BG, the trigger felt better on the BG we have in store. So I just have to wait for them to ship it (which can take months I've heard).