I am referring in this post to the new Bodyguard Series Centennial type revolver, not to the Bodyguard Model 49, 38, 438, 638, 649, etc.

I just read in the pistols forum a problem with the new Bodyguard 380 ejecting its disassembly pin every few rounds.

Now, we will undoubtedly read a stream of issues with the new Bodyguard Series guns as loyal S&W customers get used as the test market to sort out problems that should have surfaced during design and testing.

Speaking of, have any of you experienced the annoying little problem with your Bodyguard revolver NOT rotating its cylinder when you pull the trigger UNLESS you are very careful to close the cylinder "just so" in order for the little wheels on the breech face and the cylinder to properly interface "just so?"

I "discovered" this upon playing with the revolver for about 10 minutes upon receipt. It is difficult for me to understand how this problem has not been observed at the factory.

Shawn, I bought both of the new Bodyguards and have yet to encounter any problems. If your cylinder fails to rotate I would send it back to the factory and I'm sure they make it right. Perhaps it only requires a slight adjustment. These guns are in high demand and if they crank them out to fast a few bad ones will get out the door. I haven't shot my 38 yet but have handled it a lot. My 380 has been flawless with over 400 rounds thru it so far.
I have a habit taught to me by a S&W collector years ago helping to avoid the cylinder drag line. You close the cylinder indexing it to the bore thus avoiding having to turn the cylinder to engage the bolt. I have a heavily used 686 and 66 with absolutely no drag lines even after years of use. With my new BG 38 the way the star engages the cylinder, doing the above ensures the proper fit. Interesting design they have in this new revolver.

"I have a habit taught to me by a S&W collector years ago helping to avoid the cylinder drag line. You close the cylinder indexing it to the bore thus avoiding having to turn the cylinder to engage the bolt. I have a heavily used 686 and 66 with absolutely no drag lines even after years of use."

Tell/show us more please, confuses minds want to know.

My FFL showed me this trick a few weeks ago!

It's really quite simple and after you do it awhile it becomes second nature. When closing the cylinder align the top chamber with the barrel then push it straight in. The cylinder should be perfectly aligned so that that bolt engages the bolt cutout at the bottom of the cylinder. Using this method you don't have to turn the cylinder to engage the bolt and thus you avoid scratching a drag line into the cylinder. Now these days it's hard to even find a new S&W without a drag line even from the factory. But years ago when most assemblers at the factory were true artesians, a new revolver came with no drag line.
The drag line is caused solely by the bolt when someone hand turns the cylinder. Cocking the revolver will never cause a drag line as the bolt is retracted during this operation.

Your revolver needs cleaned and lubed and used and cleaned and lubed and......you get the idea. In spite of the problems we still encounter these new guns are generally fitted so tightly that the problem you describe happens. It'll wear in.

Folks, while I appreciate your comments on "drag lines," I wish to assure you that "drag lines" on S&W cylinders do not bother me in the least.

What bothers me is when a brand new gun doesn't work correctly from the factory, a problem that seems to have reached a frenzy equivalent to the percentage of returns of brand new guns experienced in the early 80s.

Thus, I am sending this thread to the top, and asking again: Have any of you experienced the problem of the cylinder not rotating on the first pull of the trigger after the cylinder is closed on these new Bodyguard 38 revolvers (Model BG 38)?

If you have not, then open and close and dry fire for a few minutes, but remember to carefully watch the cylinder. It seems that this strange little phenomenon occurs ONLY if the two little wheels do not mate up correctly upon closing the cylinder. I have gotten good enough at being able to "feel" it that I can make it happen pretty much at will.

Again, the issue is not so much that it happens (yes, that is disturbing), but that the people at the factory do not know about it.

They cannot be unaware of the problem, which means they do not care. Is it possible they feel it will not matter as the hammer rises and falls and therefore the round under the firing pin will fire, so "no harm no foul."

That is all well and good until someone checks his remaining rounds before a fight, puts the spent one under the hammer so the good one will rotate up, and then it doesn't and the good guy gets whacked when his BG 38 went click instead of bang.

Now, you might say it is my fault for buying one before all the bugs are worked out. Or, you might say, as some have already, that S&W's excellent customer service will make it right.

Basically, I am having to send back a huge percentage of S&Ws for all sorts of reasons, and it is really getting old, even though S&W pays the tab.

A brand new 1911PD has to go back because the thumb safety was so difficult to engage it had to be done with the thumb of the non-shooting hand, and when working it back and forth to see if it would loosen up, it locked in the up position and now will not disengage. This is a problem that should have been spotted during a simple inspection.

By the way, the friendly customer service guy (Jeffrey, I believe) said it should go back to the dealer because the dealer must have caused it. He changed his tone right away when I said I was the dealer and it was this way upon receipt from the distributor.

Anyway, two brand new ones go back to be properly finished and inspected.

By the way, the CS guy looked up the serial number, explained that the 1911PD was one that had been fired, so he also did not understand how it was not noticed. I asked if all of the guns were fired since there was a fired case with each one. He stammered around and then said no - they did not all go to the range.

This pretty well mirrors a statement made to me by an "insider" at another handgun company a few years ago that the fired cartridges in the little envelope are just picked at random from a barrel.

Shawn,
I was playing with my Bodyguard to see if I could duplicate what happened to you. And yes I could if the star in the receiver wasn't mated into the extractor star on the cylinder. I don't think this is a defect but more a quirk of the new system for turning the cylinder. But to achieve this I had to close the cylinder slowly and purposely misaligning the star. I'm going to the range this afternoon and will see if this happens just loading and shooting the BG. I'll post again later tonight and let you know.

That is troubling........not ALL of the revolvers and pistols are test fired? How the heck do they sight them in, especially the fixed sight revolvers?

I can believe it, though......with gun makers cutting corners to save pennies per gun to improve the bottom line, unfortunately it is cheaper to use the customer as final QC and just pay to fix "failed" guns hoping most of them "slip through the net" and happen to work.......This is a POOR policy, does S&W know that many of us actually trust our lives to their products? Not everyone who buys a S&W is an avid shooter and will discover the bad QC at the range. When an intruder is in the house, or a CCW gun is needed to defend lives, that would be a very bad time to discover the cylinder of a revolver fails to rotate

I put 200 rounds thru my Bodyguard this afternoon and did not experience the condition you described. The revolver functioned 100% without the slightest bit of cylinder misalignment, at no time did I pull the trigger and had the cylinder not rotate. If your BG38 does this at the range I would definately send it back. My experience this aftrenoon will be posted in a range report.

We took the BG38 to the range this afternoon as well, and three of us shot it quite a bit. We also had no issues.

Ah, yes. The new feature in S&W revolvers.

Last year, I bought a new 642 that had a pretty heavy trigger pull. After taking it home and cleaning/lubing it, the cylinder stopped rotating. The revolver had the silly internal lock--a feature I had never used in any of my previous S&W revolvers that had this wonderous feature. I found the keys and gave the lock a few turns and viola! the cylinder started rotating.

The next day, I took the gun to a local gunsmith with a national rep for knowing what he is doing and had an action job done and asked for the innards of the gun to be cleaned up. After this was accomplished, I now carry this gun regularly as a primary SD weapon. I consider the hundred bucks I paid for the action job to be some of the best money I've ever spent.

And, yes, it is beyond me how S&W sometimes lets guns get out of the factory with cylinders that do not revolve, cylinders that bind and with triggers that are not set straight into the firing mechanism. I've had those three problems with three different S&Ws. And I still buy the damn things because I still like them.

Shawn, good to hear the problem didn't occur during actual firing. I think it is just a quirk of the new rachet system and nothing to worry about. What did you and your friends think of the new BG 38? I was amazed at how comfortable it was to shoot, even with hot +P ammo.

yeap sure nough got one last nite shot today it sure will and not only will it not rotate at times , It also will stack up the trigger one time mine fired about a goo 3or4 seconds after afull trigger pull Yeap S&W gets this one back try explaining to your wife why her brand new handgun has go back to S&W the same handgun You said might save her life now is the handgun that might just get her dead

This morning my wife and I stopped in at out local gun store to take a look at the new Bodyguard Revolver and we both experienced the cylinder lock up problem. It is easy to make the gun lock up and very repeatable. Try this procedure and I think you will find that all of the new guns will lock up to the point the trigger cannot be pulled, not something I would want to have happen during an encounter with a BG.

First close the cylinder normally, you do not need to do any special alignment of the star feature, now squeeze the trigger about half way through the pull and then let off , if you do this several times the cylinder will actually rotate backwards a bit, and the cylinder and trigger will lock up solid. I do understand this in not common practice but if someone is stressed during an encounter and begin a trigger pull , lets off and then pulls it again may have this issue. IMHO, there is a problem with the new design. No matter how may times I tried this scenario at home with our 642, my 629 or my 686 can I duplicate this issue as the paw will not allow the cylinder to rotate backward out of sync with the cylinder.

I know this thread is old, but I just joined the forum to find out about this very problem. I have owned 2 642's a 60, a 64 and a 67 and never had this happen. It happens alot when I dry fire. It also short strokes alot. Has there been any new information on this problem? Has anyone returned their BG38 and the problem was resolved?

When the BG38 first came out a clerk I know at a large, local gun shop made it a point to show me what many have described here regarding the cylinder. I won't repeat his opinion of the new design, let's just say it was less than positive.

I have well over 1K rounds thru mine now and carry it with complete confidence. It has been 100% reliable, very accurate and fun to shoot. The laser is frosting on the cake, being not only a great training aid but makes accurate shooting without using the sights very easy. I like this revolver.

There is no disassembly of the BG38. Some problems don't sort out when you want them to. S&W will make it right for the ones that do happen.

The cylinder failure to rotate is addressed indirectly in the manual. You have to allow the trigger to fully reset, last paragraph.

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Bob

got the bodyguard 38. my ffl put in a fake round and pulled the trigger to see the cylinder rotate. however, it did not rotate on the first pull. on the second pull it rotates.

most revolvers do not do this. most revolvers rotate on the first pull.

i think the bodyguard 38 is doing this because of the star design.

i started playing with it more and it seems like i can get it to lock sometimes by wiggling the cylinder. once lock it will rotate on the first pull.

i think what is happening is when you push the cylinder in it pushes the star rotating it slightly. this will not align the star with the cylinder.

i have a fix for this although i do not like it. when i load a round and push the cylinder back in, i push the switch forward. that way the star does not move while the cylinder is being pushed in.

I could occasionally get my BG38 Bodyguard to "not rotate" upon closing the cylinder, but found if I twisted the cylinder after I closed it the problem would not show up. My revolver would alway align a cylinder hole with the bore, it just might not be the next one!

However, after just one month my gun totally locked up on me... The trigger stuck to the rear and cylinder would neither turn or swing out. Now my brand new revolver is back at S&W for repairs.

I'll never be able to carry this handgun again in a self-defense role. I just cannot bet my life that it will work if called on. The most important aspect of a self-defense handgun is that IT WORKS! I guess the paradigm of "revolvers always work" has been broken for me with this one.

We'll see what S&W does with my revolver, but at this point I'd just like my $$$ back. There are plenty of other guns out there which actually work as advertised... I think I'll stick with them for my self-defense gun.

Edmo

I recently purchased a used bodyguard and took it to the range yesterday. It misfired 10% of the time, pin failing to strike the center of the bullet and some not striking at all.

After getting my Bodyguard back from the S&W repair shop, it seemed to work fine. The enclosed message said they replaced the firing pin.

I took it to the range and got light primer strikes and misfires. It is back at S&W now for the second time in the two months I've owned it. We'll see what they replace next.

Oops! I forgot! I can't talk bad about this S&W gun on the forum or someone will accuse me of being a troll! Long Live S&W!!

Edmo

Here's a thread anyone who owns a new Bodyguard should read......

2nd bodyguard 380 broken firing pin DONT DRYFIRE

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Ogy