S&W .38 Body Guard. Harmless quirk, or real problem.

[gottabkiddin]

Noticed something while cleaning the BG revolver. After cleaning it up and closing the cylinder and squeezing the trigger and cycling the cylinder I noticed that the first trigger pull did not advance the rotation to the next chamber. I tried the process again. Normal rotation of the cylinder; well normal like a "Colt" anyway. (The cylinder on the BG rotates CW and not CCW). Anyway, I tried it several more times and the same thing, everything normal. Then one more time of opening and closing the cylinder, and the thing does it again, but this time I pull the trigger again and it advances to the next chamber and so on for a few more trigger pulls. I open the cylinder up and put my finger over the firing pin and squeeze the trigger, the sting is quite unmistakeable, it's working just fine.. I did this several times with the same result. Which brings me to my question.

If ya load the revolver up and it closes on a live round, but when you squeeze the trigger the cylinder doesn't rotate, although it does fire the round already chambered, would that bother you? Again, like I said, it never fails to rotate the cylinder on the second trigger pull, and to the best of my knowledge, it still strikes the the firing pin and would fire the round in the chamber at the time of the trigger pull.

I've put 250 rounds through it in the last week and it never had a light strike or misfire, yet I was easily able to mimic the static cylinder several times in dry fire. I guess my biggest question/concern on it is this. The couple of searches I found on anything remotely similar to it where folks called S&W. The folks were told it was normal for it to work that way.

Personally, I can get passed the static cylinder on trigger pull, provided it does fire the round, but it's the thought that what if it fails to strike the firing pin too and nothing happens. Sure would hang to look like "Barney Fife" during a gunfight.

I really like this revolver and I hope it doesn't need a trip back to the mother ship. It's a nice light little powerhouse of a pocket option, but for now, it sits in the safe until I can get some more facts on the situation.

I guess I'll move back to my 638 for that role; no big deal cause I put a laser on that sucker too..

Your thoughts, are welcome...

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[INccwchris]

Time to send it back, that is not a bodyguard quirk, its a malfunction

[ctr]

That does not sound like normal operation to me. I would send the revolver in for service.

[wdp]

I tried to duplicate your problem with a brand new BG38. I have not even had the chance to fire it yet. After several attempts I was able to duplicate your problem but then quickly noticed that the cylinder was not completely latched. Not the gun's fault, I just closed the cylinder softly trying to test your issue. I'll bet the advancing starr wheel is not fully engaging the cylinder. Just my .02 FWIW.

[gasmitty]

Clockwise rotation on a S&W cylinder? Sounds strange already.

You're not doing this in the southern hemisphere, are you?

[gottabkiddin]

I tried to duplicate your problem with a brand new BG38. I have not even had the chance to fire it yet. After several attempts I was able to duplicate your problem but then quickly noticed that the cylinder was not completely latched. Not the gun's fault, I just closed the cylinder softly trying to test your issue. I'll bet the advancing starr wheel is not fully engaging the cylinder. Just my .02 FWIW.

Yup, I noticed that too.. However, none of mine were a result of poor lockup. I took that in to account during my thirty minute assessment of the testing. Mine will still do it if I fully close it and actually try to twist the cylinder to make sure it's got a good lockup. I wish it was only that...

[Pistology]

Noticed something while cleaning the BG revolver. After cleaning it up and closing the cylinder and squeezing the trigger and cycling the cylinder I noticed that the first trigger pull did not advance the rotation to the next chamber. I tried the process again. Normal rotation of the cylinder; well normal like a "Colt" anyway. (The cylinder on the BG rotates CW and not CCW). Anyway, I tried it several more times and the same thing, everything normal. Then one more time of opening and closing the cylinder, and the thing does it again, but this time I pull the trigger again and it advances to the next chamber and so on for a few more trigger pulls.

Not able to duplicate.

If ya load the revolver up and it closes on a live round, but when you squeeze the trigger the cylinder doesn't rotate, although it does fire the round already chambered, would that bother you?

Very much. Especially with S&W's customer service reputation, I'd immediately call for RMA and expect complete satisfaction.

I've put 250 rounds through it in the last week and it never had a light strike or misfire, yet I was easily able to mimic the static cylinder several times in dry fire. I guess my biggest question/concern on it is this. The couple of searches I found on anything remotely similar to it where folks called S&W. The folks were told it was normal for it to work that way.

Personally, I can get passed the static cylinder on trigger pull, provided it does fire the round, but it's the thought that what if it fails to strike the firing pin too and nothing happens. Sure would hang to look like "Barney Fife" during a gunfight.

I really like this revolver and I hope it doesn't need a trip back to the mother ship. It's a nice light little powerhouse of a pocket option, but for now, it sits in the safe until I can get some more facts on the situation.

I'm not a revolverologist, but even for dry fire, let us know if S&W says, "Oh, that's how it's suppossed to work."

[wdp]

OK try this...
It looks like the bolt is engaging your cylinder as you mentioned earlier, but see if the cylinder latch comes back to locked position with the cylinder fully closed. If forward the star will not engage the cylinder. This thing is driving me crazy to duplicate your problem on my gun, but I'm still advocating the star wheel isn't engaged properly.

[kmagnuss]

My 642 does that once in awhile... it's most likely because the cylinder wasn't times into the groove yet (I have no idea what the technical term is). For instance I ALWAYS rotate mine until it locks after every time I open the cylinder... if I don't it will sometimes be in between the chambers and either won't rotate fully or sometimes not at all (because it doesn't have to in either case). Give it a try and try to find that sweet spot... you might be surprised how frequently you can duplicate it.

[Smitty901]

Shot the heck out of the wifes new BodyGuard 38 not a hint of a problem

[multistage]

Yikes. Best call Smith. They'll get it ironed out. That would scare the heck out of me.

[virgilj]

My Bodyguard did the same thing first time I took it to the range. On the first trigger pull nothing happened. Every trigger pull after that it would fire normally. Tried to duplicate it at home and was able to if I didn't close the cylinder firmly. I found the best was to snap it shut with my thumb not just until the cylinder clicked but you also have to let the cylinder rotate until you hear it click. Had no more failures doing it that way. It must need that little extra rotation to fully engage the star wheel.

[INccwchris]

Most revolvers need to be turned a little bit once closed to lock them, at least all of mine have that.

[cheezy]

my brothers did the same thing. you had to rotate the cyl a little by hand after latching. had other issues and sold it. not an impressive revolver by any means, imo.

[protek]

I've never had any problems with mine at the range. I've never dry-fired it, though. My guess is that once you close the cylinder, you need to turn it slightly until it clicks fully into place.

I've got to rush off to work right now or I'd see if I could duplicate your problem. Maybe tonight if I remember....