Browning BDA-380 Help

[AJChenMPH]

The half-cock failed on me (fortunately, not when there was a live round in the chamber ). So when the safety is engaged, the hammer is fully down, and if I flip the safety on from a fully cocked position, it actually drops the hammer all the way down onto the firing pin instead of just dropping it to the half-cock position.

I'm guessing it's time for its trip to Browning for repair, but just wanted to make sure there wasn't a simple fix I could do...? Thanks in advance for any assistance...

 

[David E]

It doesn't sound like a failure.

The Browning BDA utilizes a decocking lever very similar to the one used in the Beretta 92. (Not surprising, as Beretta made the BDA for Browning)

It does not drop it to 1/2 cock, it drops it, as you noted, "all the way down." The firing pin is blocked and locked in place during this procedure.

Do this: triple check to make sure the gun is empty. Put a #2 pencil with good eraser on it in the muzzle and point the gun upward. Eraser should rest against the breach. Cock hammer, then decock the gun. The pencil might rattle around in the muzzle due to vibration, but it won't lift out of the muzzle one iota. This means the decocking system is working as designed.

 

[AJChenMPH]

No, this is a BDA-380 (i.e., Beretta 84B), so it does have that half-cock feature. The owner's manual even talks about it and recommends carry in that position. I can even see it myself -- when I dry fire from a full hammer-down position, as I slowly pull the trigger, it "clicks" as it passes the half-cock position, and if I were to stop pulling on the trigger, it rests against that lock in the half-cock position. If the hammer is fully back and I engage the safety to decock the hammer, it comes to rest in the half-cock position, not the full hammer down position.

I even asked about carrying in the full-down position in this thread:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=472458

FWIW, it seems to be working again...for kicks, before I left for work, I racked a snap-cap into it and now it seems to fully functional again. But it still has me rattled, so I'm placing a call into Browning later this morning to see what they recommend...

 

[dogtown tom]

AJChenMPH: No, this is a BDA-380 (i.e., Beretta 84B), so it does have that half-cock feature. The owner's manual even talks about it and recommends carry in that position. I can even see it myself -- when I dry fire from a full hammer-down position, as I slowly pull the trigger, it "clicks" as it passes the half-cock position, and if I were to stop pulling on the trigger, it rests against that lock in the half-cock position. If the hammer is fully back and I engage the safety to decock the hammer, it comes to rest in the half-cock position, not the full hammer down position.

Your BDA is working fine.

I think the highlighted text above explains what you are experiencing. This should only occur while dry firing.

FWIW, the OM does not refer to "half cock", but to "de-cocked". (see below for the three BDA hammer positions:
http://media.browning.com/pdf/om/04426_bda_om.pdf

O P E R AT I O N O F T H E H A M M E R
The Browning BDA 380 has an exposed hammer with dropped,
decocked, and full cock positions.
DROPPED POSITION.
This is the momentary position of the hammer after the trigger is
pulled (Figure 4) when dry firing or if a round failed to fire in the
chamber. In the dropped position, the hammer is fully fallen and resting
against the inertia firing pin, but the firing pin is not in contact with
the cartridge primer. (The firing pin must be struck forcefully by the
hammer in order to achieve enough momentum to contact and
indent the primer, causing cartridge ignitions.)
DECOCKED POSITION.
The decocked hammer position is between the dropped and full cock
position (Figure 4). This is the position the hammer should be located
in at all times when carrying or storing your pistol. The decocked
position is provided as the primary, safest location of the hammer at
any time the slide is closed.
FULL COCK POSITION.
When at full cock, the hammer is all the way to the rear (Figure 4). In
the full cock position, with the “safety”/decocking lever in the “off safe”
position, and with a cartridge in the chamber, the pistol is ready to fire
by pulling the trigger.

 

[AJChenMPH]

Thanks -- may have gotten my terminology incorrect, but my problem still stands.

I am (or rather, was) unable to have the pistol stay in the decocked position. It would only stay in the dropped position if the safety was engaged, or only the dropped position or the full cock position if the safety was off.

When in the full cock position, and then engaging the safety (effectively the decocking lever), it would drop all the way to the dropped position, not the decocked position.

No, I wasn't imagining things, nor could I have been mistaken. I could not get the pistol to stay in the decocked position nor decock the pistol from the full cock position to the decocked position. It would drop the hammer all the way to the dropped position!

 

[1911 Operator]

The half-cock failed on me (fortunately, not when there was a live round in the chamber ).

ha,when half cock failed me, i shot a hole in my dresser lol

 

[bdb benzino]

DUDE your gun is fine, why ask a question if you won't listen to the answer!! After you decock, you are supposed to thumb the hammer to half cock manually!!! That's how you carry it, I don't know of any pistol that drops to half cock with the decock.

This is a forum with many knowledgable people, the nice man even posted part of your maual and you are still bickering. Go ahead and call Browning, they will get a kick out of this like I did.

 

[David E]

No, this is a BDA-380 (i.e., Beretta 84B),

These are two similar, yet different gun models.

The BDA, made by Beretta, has slide mounted safety/decocker while the Beretta 84 has a frame mounted safety/decocker.

Contact Browning, Beretta or a qualified gunsmith and show/explain your "problem."

 

[AJChenMPH]

DUDE your gun is fine, why ask a question if you won't listen to the answer!!

Because the gun was doing something completely DIFFERENT from the way it was operating prior to me posting. And, to date, no one here has told me WHY it's doing that. Everyone else is telling me that it's operating normally without having seen it (admittedly, I'm probably not doing a good job describing the problem). Meanwhile, I (as the gun owner) knows exactly what it is and what it's not doing because I'm holding the thing in my hand.

FWIW, I did call Browning. They told me to send it in. So that's-a what I'm-a-gonna do.

 

[HammerBite]

AJChenMPH

I sent you a PM.

I think you have made the correct decision.

 

[Fastcast]

On my Beretta 84 the decocker/safety does not put the hammer all the way down but somewhere in between like the OP said.

 

[bdb benzino]

If its doing something different than it did before then you made the right choice in contacting Browning. I thought you were misunderstanding the operation of a decock, I didnt realize it was functioning in two different ways, so sorry if I came across as an ass. Good luck with their CS and let us know how they treat you.

 

[AJChenMPH]

HammerBite: received and replied. Thanks for the info.

bdb benzino: no problem. It's not the easiest problem to describe, so I probably wasn't getting my point across the right way.

Will let you all know once this whole thing gets figured out...

 

[huntsman]

Will let you all know once this whole thing gets figured out...

yes please update when you can.

 

[Byron]

AJ, please keep us posted as to the result. I have two BDA's and when I put on safety, the hammer falls. The hammer does not stay in the cocked position when put on safety. Byron

 

[Safetychain]

Have you noticed http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=474337 reply no.26? Seams that somebody else has your same problem caused by a broken safety.

 

[AJChenMPH]

Uh, that was me.

The strange thing is that the hammer block appears to be engaging now, so I can drop to the decocked position. I'm still sending it in...

 

[Byron]

AJ, Please give a follow-up report. Thanks, Byron

 

[DPris]

On the BROWNING BDA (not the Beretta-branded version) I have right here, the cocked hammer drops to the half-cock notch when I activate the decocker/safety.
The hammer SHOULD drop to the half-cock notch & it SHOULD stay there (NOT in the fully-down position resting against the firing pin) when the de-cocker is activated to lower a fully cocked hammer.

BDB,
Sorry, but you're totally wrong.

Denis

 

[AJChenMPH]

AJ, Please give a follow-up report. Thanks, Byron

Sorry, between moving and then traveling for work, etc., I forgot about this thread.

I wound up asking the gunsmith at my range to work on it -- I can't remember exactly what the problem was, but it had to do with the trigger system. Basically, it had gotten dry and sticky, and causing the hammer block to not "rise" into position to allow the hammer to fall back into the half-cock position. I've since shot about 100 rounds through it with no further issues.