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I'll be d***ed if I start rebuilding my defective brand new pistol with aftermarket parts at my own expense to try to achieve what the S&W experts can't do.
And, no, I don't think sticky mags are causing it to stovepipe or light strike....
David
OP: I have had all the same problems as you - I never posted about them, and bought the gun based on glowing internet reviews, so the theories about only people with problems posting is bull. Otoh, on recent more specifically worded google searches the light primer strike issue with this gun is all over the web.
I unfortunately went down the path you wisely rejected, and had a reputable armorer do some work, primarily because I wanted to change out the sites and trigger set anyway. I had to bring it back to him after testing, because the problems remained, and he said he has found that often times the firing pin block is not adequately cleared by the striker, and he retouched those parts, and I believe the light striker issue is now solved. This was covered under warranty.
Now the other issues, ftf, stovepipe, slide autoforward had to be fixed separately, at my expense, because they are things S&W will not address under the warranty. They are indeed ammo dependent, which does not excuse the issue. My armorer offers a "performance package" which is $110, and includes throating the barrel and a couple of other adjustments, and results in pretty much 100% reliability with regard to cycling (they tested it with a variety of crappy ammo, including some with known hard primer issues, and claim it is good now -- I have yet to get it to the range to confirm).
There are two excellent and experienced armorers at this shop, and they have a lot of knowledge about the SW BG380. They say it is BS that this performance package is frequently needed on this gun, but that is the state of things in the production gun world these days. While it is not unique to S&W, this model has more problems then many others. Especially, according to them, LPS, and it has to do with the design of the gun, being very light, with a tiny hammer, it just does not have the physics to perform reliably without aftermarket adjustments in many cases. Just replacing the springs does not always work, because the design of the firing pin block and associated parts is faulty.
My experience with this gun was so annoying that I will never buy another S&W. I know these types of problems are not unique to S&W, but I also have and S&W 1911 that has a minor issue (won't cycle properly with 7+1 - only 7 in the mag and 0 in the chamber), and I have so many other guns that perform 100% out of the box.
As far as 380's, my sig p238 is a much better shooter, eats all ammo and is 100% reliable, out of the box. More expensive (but not after all the work I did to the BG) and a bit heavier, but a MUCH better gun in all other ways.
After my own experiences and a bit of google-fu, I conclude the SW BG380 sucks. It does not matter that it works well for most people, because it is completely unreliable for many, many people, even after sending it back to S&W for warranty service. Sure, the issues are fixable, at considerable time and expense to the consumer. S&W is not the great company it once was, and should not be selling this gun in it's current configuration, without addressing these issues in a more competent manner - particularly in a gun that is so specifically meant to be a SD carry gun (not a range or competition piece).
