Is dry-shooting bad for my Bodyguard 380?

[Codinqueen]

I am a newbie & female. Took my new BG 380 out to shoot it for 1st time yesterday. The trigger pull tired my trigger-finger after shooting only 19 rounds, and I had to quit shooting for the day. I have been trying to exercise my trigger finger with a hand exerciser 10 times an hour every time I think of it (that is like a tightly-wound A-frame spring that my husband uses), but it doesn't seem to strengthen my trigger-finger much. I am beginning to wonder why I didn't look for a weapon with a lighter trigger pull, but my goal is concealed carry and thus something very small. I am hoping to get more strength in my finger & less hardness in the trigger after the gun breaks in some more, but still looking for any suggestions to strengthen my hand. I have seen where people say to dry-fire but I don't want to hurt my gun. I have invested all the money I can in this new quest for personal protection at this point and just cant afford to have a gunsmith swap the trigger out right now. Any suggestions please? Thanks.

 

[Arik]

No its fine.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[Magload]

I doth you will need that many shots for SD and if you do your finger probably will never know it's tired. I bet you are not carrying that many extra mags anyway.

BTW dry fire that BG a lot just make sure you use the proper safety procedures for dry fireing.

 

[oldsman70]

I would use snap caps for Dry Fire . After couple hundred dry fire should get better.

 

[Rpg]

Dry fire is essential to learning to handle and shoot your pistol.

Do lots of it! Won't hurt your gun.

You don't need snap caps: they are a fussy, unnecessary accessory.

 

[Magload]

I would use snap caps for Dry Fire . After couple hundred dry fire should get better.

Snap caps only needed for rim fire. They can make a good training aid for people to learn loading a clearing a gun but are a pain if you are going to do a lot of dry firing. Not so much in a BG as you don't have to rack the slide and chase down the snap cap just keep pulling the trigger.

 

[OKFC05]

just cant afford to have a gunsmith swap the trigger out right now

As an instructor, I deal with this kind of student problem often, and offer some comments.
1. Learning on a small carry pistol is a real challenge. It is much easier to learn on a medium size and then tackle the small experts gun.
2. If you are going to use the BG 380 for personal defense, forget about "having the gunsmith swap the trigger" . That opens a can of worms on reliability, and the BG380 does not lend itself to modifications; it is a cheap gun, reliable but it is what it is, and don't try to "improve" it.
3. Trying to exercise your hand every hour will make it tired, not stronger. Maybe twice a day, dry fire the gun; every day for sure. A month from now it will be easier. Make sure there is NO ammunition in the room, and I recommend aiming into a 5 gal bucket of sand, just for extra safety.

 

[Jeffytune]

I would like to offer you a nickles worth of free advice.

1) Snap caps, yes do get some. They will protect the pistol from any possibility of damage, and once you get used to shooting this pistol and start to train with it, you can have a friend load one into a magazine while training to simulate a stoppage, this will give you the chance to learn to "Tap, rack and clear" a malfunction.
2) Dry firing is the best exercise, I suggest you use only your trigger finger and thumb. This will build up the memory to only use those two fingers, avoiding learning to squeeze with all your fingers and pulling your shots off target.
3) As to your choice of firearm, while I would never volunteer to let someone shoot me with a short barreled 380, it is not the best choice. And I have shot one of those body guards, and again, there are far better pistols made by S&W.
If money is a concern (And for most people it is) you can watch Gun Broker and look for a 3953, this is a 3 inch barreled 9mm, 7 shot double action only pistol that holds 7+1 shots. The trigger is easier to learn and there is no safety need on this pistol. There are quite a few police trade ins in GB, and you can usually get for 300ish.
The nice thing about the Third Generation S&W's are, they are very durable and will last you your lifetime.

I hope this helps and good luck with your training.

 

[johnmik1]

As an instructor, I deal with this kind of student problem often, and offer some comments.
1. Learning on a small carry pistol is a real challenge. It is much easier to learn on a medium size and then tackle the small experts gun.
2. If you are going to use the BG 380 for personal defense, forget about "having the gunsmith swap the trigger" . That opens a can of worms on reliability, and the BG380 does not lend itself to modifications; it is a cheap gun, reliable but it is what it is, and don't try to "improve" it.
3. Trying to exercise your hand every hour will make it tired, not stronger. Maybe twice a day, dry fire the gun; every day for sure. A month from now it will be easier. Make sure there is NO ammunition in the room, and I recommend aiming into a 5 gal bucket of sand, just for extra safety.

I did a trigger exchange and put a new trigger bar in my Body Guard and the trigger pull is much better and the trigger is substantially better than the original.I am not a gunsmith and the changes took 15 minutes.That was 2 years ago and I haven never had any problems.

 

[Barrie]

Keep the gun well lubed and dry fire away with it. You will not hurt this gun and you will break the trigger in as well as train your hand to it better as well. I actually used a BB pistol to do my training with as it was reliable and cheap to buy also. The trigger was veery similar to the weight of pull on the 380 as well.

 

[Codinqueen]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I appreciate all your ideas and also plan to exercise hand with a rubberband, like they do in the army according to my veteran brother, if I can figure out how to do it from his long-distance directions. via telephone. He is in PA and I am in FL so is difficult to understand what I must do. Also, the BB pistol for training is a good idea, & I will look into it. Just don't know if it is legal to fire a BB pistol in my back yard, although I am not inside city limits, so will check with the sheriff. It would be a lot cheaper than going to the range if I could do some target practice in the back yard, and exercise my finger at the same time. I understand BB ammo is a lot cheaper too.

 

[Magload]

It will cost you more then a BB pistol but you could get a laser trainer and the laser cartridge off Amazon for you gun then you can shoot the target in the house. I like mine and have it in the hallway. You can see where you are hitting and the group you are getting. That and it is practicing with the gun you are going to be using. I have the cartridges for 9mm and 40 S&W.

 

[Rpg]

The problem with these laser thingies is that they have the shooter looking for the laser on the target instead of the front sight. Creates bad habits.

Remember: Front Sight, Front Sight, Front Sight!!!!

 

[KSDeputy]

I bought one, dry fired it three times, and sold it unfired. I then went to the gun store, tested every pocket .380 in the case, the only one acceptable was the new Ruger Custom LCP. I bought one and am happy. Your fingers and hand will be too.