S&W Bodyguard BG38 FAIL!!! Update

[Edmo]

This is an update on my original thread on this topic...

Background: My new (less than a month old) BG38 Bodyguard 38 Special snubbie's action totally locked up. The trigger was stuck to the rear and the cylinder would neither turn, nor swing out.

Current: The revolver was repaired by S&W and they only took a total of 16 days from FedEx pickup to delivery at my house. Cudos to S&W's customer service on the quick turn-around time. What did they fix? The enclosed paper work said they replaced the firing pin. I haven't had a chance to fire it with live ammo, however I have been dry firing the **** out of it and it seems to work as advertised. This gun is currently on the "I'll never trust my life to it" list due to this reliability issue. More to come on that.

Questions I have for S&W (phone call scheduled for next week):
- What was wrong with the firing pin which caused you to change it?
- Was this an isolated problem with my firing pin or is it a design flaw with all of the firing pins in this model?
- Did you replace it with an identical part or has there been an upgraded version to prevent this problem from happening again?
- What can you tell me about this repair which will instill confidence and allow me to remove this gun from the "I don't trust my life to it" list.

Bottom line: It really sucks to spend hard earned money on a presumed "high quality" and "always reliable" S&W revolver only to have it totally fail at such a low round count... Now I have a two month old S&W snubbie I bought for self-defense carry, yet I'll can't trust it will always work if I need it. For now, I'm carrying one of my sub-compact "tupperware" guns for my "light gun" carry duties.

Original thread:

New S&W Revolver FAIL!!!

Edmo

[stuch77]

funny i was talking to smith about my 29-2 i had there for repair over the last month. and one of the tech guys was a real smith gun head and i talked to him for like an hour on the ph. we talked from ak47's to pre lock smiths to lock smiths. and what i said is i don't buy lock guns because of the lock of course but the fact that the old guns are built much better.


then i said like the bg38 that thing locks up i would never trust it. he said its an easy fix. we change out the firing pin. moral of the story i think your repair is very common fix for the lock up issue. and they've fixed alot of them for him to come right out and say the fix for it.

[Edmo]

I dry fired this revolver 800+ times this weekend without lock up and things seemed to be going good. The fix seems to have worked with regards to the lockup problem.

I was able to get out to the range with it yesterday. So far so good, but at the range the gun was having fairly light primer strikes. These were noticeably lighter than you expect to see, and much lighter than the Model 60 I took also. The primer strikes were enough to fire most of the rounds, but I did have one failure to fire. I checked the primer and sure enough the firing pin had dented this primer even less than the rest of the batch. I re-indexed it and the round fired, again with a light primer strike.

For a handgun named "Bodyguard" I would hate to have it as the only thing between me and a bad guy. Maybe these malfunctions are designed to guard the body of the bad guys and not me!

I guess it is round two with S&W customer service. I'll call and see how many times they want me to send this thing back before they make a two month old revolver work as advertised. Maybe I should ask which lake they want me to pitch this thing into and be done with it!

I own three other Smith and Wesson revolvers and have trusted (read: expected) them to work everytime and they have. I carried a Smith and Wesson revolver while in the Air Force. However, the problems I'm having with this revolver are about to end any loyalty I have to Smith and Wesson products. I'll give Smith and Wesson one more chance to make this right and then I'll move on.

Edmo

[photoman]

Don't give up on Smith & Wesson, just give up on the BG38. There are lots of good old J frames out there that will give you a lifetime of reliable service.

[kennyb]

i would imagine there are some deep lakes nearby for tossing purposes

[David Sinko]

I agree that there are plenty of excellent older J Frames out there. I prefer a steel frame and a hammer mounted firing pin. The benefit of that coil mainspring is there is no strain screw to loosen, so you should never have to worry about light hits.

Dave Sinko

[Sportsterguy]

Originally Posted by Edmo

I dry fired this revolver 800+ times this weekend without lock up and things seemed to be going good. The fix seems to have worked with regards to the lockup problem.

I was able to get out to the range with it yesterday. So far so good, but at the range the gun was having fairly light primer strikes. These were noticeably lighter than you expect to see, and much lighter than the Model 60 I took also. The primer strikes were enough to fire most of the rounds, but I did have one failure to fire. I checked the primer and sure enough the firing pin had dented this primer even less than the rest of the batch. I re-indexed it and the round fired, again with a light primer strike.

For a handgun named "Bodyguard" I would hate to have it as the only thing between me and a bad guy. Maybe these malfunctions are designed to guard the body of the bad guys and not me!

I guess it is round two with S&W customer service. I'll call and see how many times they want me to send this thing back before they make a two month old revolver work as advertised. Maybe I should ask which lake they want me to pitch this thing into and be done with it!

I own three other Smith and Wesson revolvers and have trusted (read: expected) them to work everytime and they have. I carried a Smith and Wesson revolver while in the Air Force. However, the problems I'm having with this revolver are about to end any loyalty I have to Smith and Wesson products. I'll give Smith and Wesson one more chance to make this right and then I'll move on.

Edmo

Sir,

Sorry for your problem but I would never trust it again. The more I read on these newer model revolvers, the more problems I hear. Have my Mom's ancient model 36 that missing 30% of it's nickel with the firing pin and no IL and it's been going bang for 40+ years. I would and do trust my life with it. The only S&W revolver that acted up on me was a no dash .41 mag I shot loose. All the others are pre lock, pre MIM also and shoot very well. I haven't bought a new S&W since I saw a 686 lock itself up at a match 5 or 6 years ago. Made a total non believer concerning their IL's with me.

I had a Springer Champion that would not run 100%, but was lazer accurate. Tried everything I knew to do to fix it but no luck. After 5 trips to SA on their dime it finally ran as advertised with a new barrel but I just couldn't trust it again as my SD weapon and sold it. Did end up with ten primo .45 mags from Wilson and Chip McCormick for my 5" Springer and Colt Commander.

Guns are kinda like cars. Once they leave ya stranded 2 or 3 times it's a bad feeling just getting behind the wheel and going on a long drive. If it's a weapon for SD it has to run or your stuck holding your weapon as a club and in a worse condition.

JMHO and best of luck!

[mag318]

I hope they fixed it right for you. I have an early Bodyguard 38 and it has been a great carry gun. It has a lot of troublefree rounds through it and I feel very confident with it. The more you shoot it, the more you will like it.
The polymer subframe soaks up recoil making even hot +P rounds a lot better than my older J frames. My dealer can't keep them in stock.

[Old cop]

Sorry for your problem and wish you the best. My two week old M&P 340 went back b/c the cylinder came off the yoke when opened for cleaning (the sideplate screw is plenty tight).

This is disappointing to say the least. The M&P 340 .357 is a very expensive revolver and should have been 100% right out of th box. I guess we'll both see if S&W comes through the way they should.

[Edmo]

Originally Posted by Edmo

...Questions I have for S&W (phone call scheduled for next week):
- What was wrong with the firing pin which caused you to change it?
- Was this an isolated problem with my firing pin or is it a design flaw with all of the firing pins in this model?
- Did you replace it with an identical part or has there been an upgraded version to prevent this problem from happening again?
- What can you tell me about this repair which will instill confidence and allow me to remove this gun from the "I don't trust my life to it" list.
...

I talked with the S&W Customer Service guy after sitting on hold for over 15 minutes and basically got short, curt, and incomplete answers to all of my questions. It was almost as if he was being inconvienced when I asked about their first repair and about the new problem which has cropped up with this revolver. Oh well...

He is sending another FEDEX shipping label so I can start the warranty return process again. When I asked if they were having problems with this new model (BG38) he said it rarely gets returned!

I do have another snubbie (mid '80s model 60) I can carry, but I wanted the uber-light, hammerless, laser version the Bodyguard gave me. I actually carry one of six Tupperware guns most of the time and this revolver was going to be a backup to the backup.

More to come... What's a two month old, slightly used BG38 Bodyguard with the box and all paperwork worth on the open market?

Edmo

[photoman]

Originally Posted by mag318

The polymer subframe soaks up recoil making even hot +P rounds a lot better than my older J frames. My dealer can't keep them in stock.

This is what burns me the most. The polymer frame is a huge step in the right direction (because of recoil reduction). I just wish S&W would have built a standard J frame with a polymer frame instead of branching off into left field with the new wacky design.

[mag318]

Originally Posted by Photoman44

This is what burns me the most. The polymer frame is a huge step in the right direction (because of recoil reduction). I just wish S&W would have built a standard J frame with a polymer frame instead of branching off into left field with the new wacky design.

Good point.