Browning BDA .380 Accuracy

[cordell]

Hello all,
Just picked up a Browning BDA .380 in "mint" condition. The fellow said he shot it 6 times and there were 4 left in the magazine (that was in the gun) so I have no reason not to believe him. It came with a Bianchi 19L tan holster and an extra magazine and I couldn't pass on it for the price.

I have test fired it and it appears to be very accurate, however it could have been a bit smaller overall, with thinner grips. Again for the price I have no complaints.

Anyway give me some input on this rascal and let's see where this thread goes. Take care and God bless. cordell

 

[REAPER4206969]

The BDA is arguably the best .380 pistol in history.

There is an epic thread on here somewhere. http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=13110&highlight=BDA

 

[AJChenMPH]

I was just about to link that thread as well.

The BDA-380 I inherited from my father is very accurate, and it shoots extremely softly. However, the sights are absolutely terrible, and despite there being almost no recoil, the "beavertail" tears in the web of my hand something fierce...I can only shoot about 50-75 rounds before the skin on the webbing of my hand gets torn open.

I've put Beretta 81/84 plastic grips on my BDA and it slims it down a bit for carry, but the cutout for the frame-mounted safety of the 81/84 allows the pin that the hammer pivots on to work itself out. (I have pictures of that in that epic thread that Reaper linked above.) And since I tend to carry IWB almost exclusively, the spur hammer digs into my side pretty badly as well.

Basically a BBQ gun for me...if I were ever to go to a BBQ gun event.

 

[usp9]

The BDA is arguably the best .380 pistol in history.

Second best. We all know who made the best.

 

[cordell]

Hello all,
Thanks for the input and the thread. I read it start to finish and the associated threads it listed, not allot of bad stuff about the BDA....... I am looking forward to wringing this rascal out a bit and seeing what it will do on some paper.

At this point my personal favorite CCW is my Kimber Ultra Carry II, but if the BDA turns out to be a real tack driver it may stay out of the "Safe Queen" category for a while ;-)..

AJchenMPH, I have a fellow who does some stock work for me, and if I do fall in love with this BDA I will have him make a set of grips that will fit my hand. He made a set for my friends S&W and they turned out beautiful!!

REEPER4206969, Texas Ranger Miller says it all, my Kimber .45 is carried locked and cocked with one in the tube..............Dangerous??? I would hope so ;-)...

usp9, Of all the quotes you listed "Let's Roll" is my favoeite. Walking into the face of death is indeed "above the expectation of normal men"........ God bless them all....... cordell

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

my BDA was my carry until I got apprehensive about messing up such a classic, smooth pistol and fouind a good deal on a Makarov 9mm.
my BDA is now my 'BBQ' gun. fun to practice with though, as said accurate.
in spite of the barely adequate sights

 

[REAPER4206969]

We all know who made the best.

Jimenez?

 

[cordell]

Hello all,
I honestly don't know who made the best .380, however one thing I have learned over the close to 50 years I have been shooting, and the 45 years that I have been collecting is "Find what you can shoot, find out what it likes to shoot, and then don't sell it for love nor money".

I took a trip to the local gun shop today and picked up a box of .380's, I am going to try to attach the group I got at 22ft. I took a butter container and put it on the side of a box I keep for the kids to shoot at, and did fairly well (IMHO) for a blind man shooting through bi-focals and with those tiny sights!!!!!!!!!!!!.... This 10 shot group looks like 8 holes but if you look close it is 10.

I think with a little practice with this little fella I can close this up to 1" and then move to 30ft. Take care and God bless. cordell

 

[jbkebert]

I bought a nickel BDA a little over a year ago. since then i have fired approx 2,000 rounds through it. No I am not kidding. It took me a little while to get used to those tiny sights but now. I can honestly hit a ritz cracker at 17 yards each and every time firing in a fairly rapid sequence. The gun is accurate and i carry mine IWB 5 o'clock with no problems with printing or digging into my back while driving. Driving my wifes car bothers me a little bit but my truck is just fine.

You picked a fine gun

 

[cordell]

jbkebert,
Sounds like some fine shooting to me!! I don't expect to get to your level anytime soon with this fella although it would be a hoot to be able to do that in semi rapid fire. What ammo are you using????????

I do have a PPC slab side that will do an inch at 25 yards (well it did 25 years ago) and a K38 that belonged to the Maryland state police champion (35 years ago), and has taken (by others) a few trophy's in it's day.

But I like the BDA and will probably shoot a few more rounds through it today after Church, and if I can close the group up a bit I will update this thread. I will try to get a target up and see what can be done with this little fella from a rest.

Thank you for the compliment on the choice, but in reality I bought the BDA because I couldn't pass it up due to the price.........................and lucked out with a winner. Take care and God bless. cordell

 

[george29]

BDA is a super pistol, I tried one out many years ago and couldn't get my finger in the trigger guard which saddened me. The CZ83 fits me better but I went with revolvers.

 

[jbkebert]

I have really good luck with the 95 gr FMJ from Fiocchi. Graf and sons sells for around $15 per box. I found it once at Cabela's in store for $10.50 I was so happy I bought 20 boxes or so. For carry I have been using Winchester PDX1 they seem to cycle well and are very accurate.

The remington bulk pack ammo or 100 round value pack while being plenty accurate is DIRTY to shoot. The nickel gun shows the crud awful quick. Winchester white box 100 round is not as accurate in my gun but is alot cleaner to shoot IMHO.

IF I have enough brass around to load a batch I have been using a 100gr FMJ from Berry's bullets on top of 3.2 grains of Unique. In my gun it shows no signs of pressure and has less muzzle flip than the Fiocchi which is usually loaded hot from the factory.

 

[jbkebert]

Every once and a while CDNN sports runs factory mags on sale for $12 each or I want to say $14.50 for stainless in 10 round. The local shops if they have one want at least $35-40 for 10 rounds and more for the 13 rounders.

 

[rellascout]

Get Mecgars if you are looking for mags. $19.99 for 13 rounders.

http://gregcotellc.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=97_121&products_id=578

 

[Redlegvzv]

I've got the model 84 Beretta which I believe is the same pistol. God-awful good accuracy, beautifully built, and fun as heck to shoot. As someone else in this thread said, probably the finest 380 pistol of all time.

 

[Jurist]

Browning accuracy

I am shooting Remington 95grn fmj over 3.1 grns Red Dot or 4.1 grns Unique with very good results.Here are a couple of pics.

 

[cordell]

O.K. can't sleep so here is the range report on the BDA. I am fortunate enough to have a friend on the SWAT team who is a competitive shooter who came by yesterday afternoon and we wrung out a few handguns and rifles. We moved the target to 10 yards (measured) and I was able to close the 10 shot group to 1 1/2 inches. However my friend was able to make one ragged hole with the BDA and was very impressed with the accuracy. He did note the fact that it was a bit rough on the webbing (as AJChenMPH mentioned earlier)....

I also have a correction to make regarding the PPC S&W slabside that I mentioned earlier. I have not had the weapon for 25 years, I bought it 21 years ago from this same friend/SWAT team member.... Did I mention I was senile?????....

Anyway jbkebert, thank you for the heads up on the Fiochi and PDX1 ammo. I will pick up a box of each next weekend. Who made your skinner? it is very nice, I am particularly fond of the pins!!!! I have noticed that many of the knife makers have gone to making knives without guards, mine is a no nonsense working knife, that I picked up a few years ago. The rascal will cut you just looking at it!!!!

Jurist.. Very nice, very nice indeed!!!. I am slowly falling in love with my blued BDA, and a nickel plated one may be in the near future!!!

We moved the target to 100 yards and sighted in a .243 built on a large ring Mauser action that I purchaed recently. After a few adjustments I got it down to a 1" group.... Now for the fun part, another friend dropped by with his M-14 and I am back in love again. I carried one of these off and on for 4 years in the Marines, and haven't had my hands on one in 44 years................. good grief it felt good and shot great.......... I may be in financial trouble here!!!!!! Take care and God bless. cordell

 

[makarovnik]

Nice guns along with the Beretta models.

 

[jbkebert]

Thanks for the compliment on the knife. It was made by Harvey King in Alta Vista, KS. This model is called the three finger and has ironwood handles and rosette pins. I have used it for everything from cutting carpet, sheetrock, onyx, shingels, deer, hogs and everything in between.

 

[Davejb]

I CCW'd an 84f back in the early 90's when I repo'd cars in Norfolk, used it for trade on a Sig P239, been kickin myself in the rear for doing that for years

 

[gc4x4]

I wanted to buy a Galco Miami Classic rig to carry my BDA but they don't offer one according to their customer service.

Have any other BDA owners bought a shoulder holster for their BDA?

Has any other reader put a BDA side by side with a contemporary small frame semi-auto and found one that is about the same size? I'd appreciate hearing about it since I might be able to buy a Glaco for the contemporary gun and use it for my BDA.

Thanks.

 

[usp9]

Has any other reader put a BDA side by side with a contemporary small frame semi-auto and found one that is about the same size?

That pistol would be the Beretta 84. Your BDA should fit in a Galco holster made for the Beretta.

 

[gc4x4]

Thanks usp9. Yep, the problem is that Galco doesn't offer the shoulder rig for the BDA because its been out of production for so long. I looked and did not see a Beretta 84 on their list either. That's why I was interested in any guns that are currently in production that are about the same size and shape as the BDA. Guess I'll have to take my BDA down to Gander Mountain and put it side-by-side with newer guns that are still in production to see if I can find a match.