Just bought a BG38 for a CCW. I went and shot it yesterday. Seems like a real nice gun. Shoot pretty decent group for a snub nose out fit. Problem was I kept hitting to the the left of the target. Now at home I see when pull the trigger I pull it to the left just a hair at the end of the pull. I dont do that while shooting my 686 double action. Most be something differnt about how the gun are made. Any J frame shooting experts out there that can give me some tips on how to over come this poblem?

Different grip on the revolver may help you immensely. If you're using the stock grip, particularly if it is that skinny little banana grip which the first editions came with, moving to that from a full-sized revolver will change your grip immensely.

Beyond that - shoot it SLOWLY, work on indexing the cylinder and then dropping the hammer as independent steps before trying to flow them into one seamless movement. You'll soon enough find out where you are pulling left and be able to work on correcting it.

"J" frame revolvers are smaller than your "L" frame model 686. if your pulling to the left and shooting right handed, you may have too much trigger finger on the trigger. try using just the "pad" of the first joint to pull the trigger. if this proves too difficult, a larger grip, like the pachmayr presentation, may help

Good advice so far. The extra-small grip on the BG38 will make matters worse as far as trigger control goes. Just take your time and go slow. I think the Hogue grip for the BG38 is out now and that might help.

p.s. The BG38 is not a J frame, technically speaking. I'm not sure what S&W is calling it...

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I think you hit it, the BG38 isn't a J-frame and when I owned mine there were no aftermarket grips out there yet.

To the OP: When you get home do the following to improve your trigger control:

1) empty the gun (safety check)
2) load snap caps (if you have them)
3) turn on the laser and while watching TV aim at something small across the room... You can use the laser as an indicator of how your trigger pull is moving the gun around. Get the feel for when the cylinder is moving versus when the shot is about to break. You will feel a small "clunk" just prior to the break.

After some practice, you will soon get the feel of the trigger and as a bonus the dry-firing will smooth the action.

Make sure you run enough ammo though this little revolver to verify function. Mine was declared "unrepairable" by S&W after I sent it back to them twice in the two months I owned it. I had them send me a 642CT J-frame as the replacement.

Edmo

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Find yourself a "coach" to watch every move you make. I use to have a bad habit of shooting low. I had a complete stranger tell me..."i been watching you and you are pulling the nose down every time you shoot the gun". I was not even aware of it.

And have your coach load the gun with a couple of live rounds, the rest snap caps, and return it to you. Every time you pull the trigger you won't know if there's a live round or snap cap. Great way to test for flinching with any revolver.

I load them myself, then spin the cylinder without looking at it before finally closing it. I've discovered many flinches in myself. There have to be some live rounds in there- snap caps alone won't have the same effect.

Chuck

PRO TIPS with JERRY MICULEK, shootingusa.com/, sixth panel down - j-frame grip

Thanks for all your suggestions. I will try them all. So regular J frame doesn't fit the BG?

With reference to grips, that is correct. J-frame grips will not fit the BG38. It is a totally different design - Inside and out.

For holsters, this gun is so close to the J-frame in size/shape that J-frame holsters work. Also, the standard J-frame speed loaders work.

Edmo

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So Edmo......About how many rounds did it take for your BG to brake?

DISCLAIMER: For those S&W lovers who can't stand to read bad things about S&W firearms or their repair facility, please look away now... Otherwise, you will get upset and someone might delete one of my replies or posts...

Now,

I owned it for just over two months and in that time I would guess I fired 200ish rounds through it... Maybe more. They were mostly WWB, Remington target fodder, and a mix of my light handloads. I did also fire 20 or so +P rounds through it.

In addition to the live rounds, i also dry fired it 700ish times with snap caps. So to answer you question, it had been "fired" around 1,000 times (give or take) before it was destroyed by S&W.

The first problem at one month old was the action locked up during dry firing with the trigger stuck to the rear. I couldn't get it to open or release. They promptly "fixed" it and sent it back.

The second problem was light primer strikes and misfires which were quickly evident the first time to the range after it was "repaired". It would just barely hit the primer and various types of ammo which functioned perfectly through both a model 686 and a model 60 would barely get a dent from the BG38. OBTW, it had great primer strikes prior to the first trip to S&W!!

When it was at S&W the second time they called and said it was unrepairable and they would ship me another one. Instead I asked for a 642CT as the replacement and so far it is functioning like a new gun should.

To be honest, until I can get many, many, many more rounds through the new 642, I'll stick to one of my proven Glocks for CCW (listen closely and you can hear the true S&W fans spit out their coffee).

My BG38 experience broke one of my two "it always happens" rules. The sun always rises in the east and revolvers always go bang. Every morning now I get up and watch to the east to make sure my second "always" is going to work this time!

Edmo

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have someone with a digital movie camera film you shooting the gun. Playback in slow motion to dsicover your problem. Film from side and from behind. or with Snap caps, from in front, BUT check that you have snap caps and not live ammo!!

My experience is almost identical to
edmo's and I also replaced my BG38 with a 642CT. Guess what? It doesn't shoot to the left and it always goes BANG. YMMV.

RG, congrats on your replacement 642... If you were like me, it brought an end to a bad S&W experience.

If you new revolver is like mine it is running great (so far). Maybe one day I'll trust it, and my other S&W products to work everytime.

Edmo

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