Picked up a Browning BDM this weekend

[wbwanzer]

I went to a gun show on Sunday not planning to buy anything except lunch and maybe some targets. I played with a few guns but wasn't moved by anything until I saw a Browning BDM. I don't know what year it was made, but I figure it's probably around 25 years old. I've been to the Browning website and don't see the BDM listed in the 'Date your Firearm' section. The guy who owned it was working the booth so I talked with him for a while. He told me to clean it before shooting so I figured it would be dirty but it wasn't. Very clean. Everything works slickly and smoothly, maybe because it was used some in 25 years. And yes, it's got the backward safety and decocker. Anyway, I was excited about my purchase.

I took it to the range yesterday and ran 70 rounds through it flawlessly. It's a nice gun. The bad news is that it didn't instantly turn me into a great shooter. Who would have guessed that. I used to shoot better than I do now and it's bugging me. Maybe it's vision. More likely I'm anticipating the shot and pushing the gun. I'm right handed and most of my shots are low left. And getting lower. And that is with all of my pistols, not just this Browning. I've contacted an instructor at my club and will meet with him in a few weeks. Hopefully he can get me straightened out. I've started dry firing in the evenings now but it hasn't been enough to help yet.

I don't usually make spur of the moment purchases (I usually research the hell out of everything before I buy) but this Browning caught my eye and I'm liking it so far.

 

[wbwanzer]

Sorry this is a second post. Was trying to add the picture to the original post.

 

[Reinz]

Congrats on your BDM.

I bought one just like yours in the 90’s. What I like about is that it is the thinnest 9mm full size, hi cap pistol ever.

Did you get a manual? Did the seller explain to you about changing the action with that screw on the left side of the slide? You can change it from revolver to pistol mode. I believe revolver mode is DAO.

It just hit me that I have never even shot it. Probably because if memory serves me, it has a most craptacular trigger.

Now I’m curious, I need to dig it out.

Hope that instructor helps you.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I always thought they were neato and would still snatch one up if I came across a nice one. Been a while since Ive seen one in this neck of the woods, though.

But then, I still kinda want a Colt All American 2000 too, so I may not be all there upstairs......

 

[jar]

Love my BDM and the trigger as well. And yup, it really is one skinny pistola. They were only made for a few years between 1991 and 1997 or 1978.

 

[Jim Watson]

There was a guy here who loved them. Wore out three. I think he went CZ when they were beyond repair and out of production.

 

[bannockburn]

wbwanzer

Nice random score!

I remember seeing a BDM at a gun shop I use to frequent. Think it was back in the early '90s. Loved the grip frame on it as it reminded me of a Browning Hi-Power.

 

[Reinz]

wbwanzer

Nice random score!

I remember seeing a BDM at a gun shop I use to frequent. Think it was back in the early '90s. Loved the grip frame on it as it reminded me of a Browning Hi-Power.

Yes, it’s like an ultra thin BHP while retaining the hi capacity.

 

[wbwanzer]

Congrats on your BDM.

I bought one just like yours in the 90’s. What I like about is that it is the thinnest 9mm full size, hi cap pistol ever.

Did you get a manual? Did the seller explain to you about changing the action with that screw on the left side of the slide? You can change it from revolver to pistol mode. I believe revolver mode is DAO.

It just hit me that I have never even shot it. Probably because if memory serves me, it has a most craptacular trigger.

Now I’m curious, I need to dig it out.

Hope that instructor helps you.

There is no manual, but the owner did go over the gun with me.

 

[Monac]

I have a BDM. I bought it because of the unique trigger mechanism. The "Revolver Trigger" setting was interesting, but it turned out to be just another also-ran that got buried by the Glock-type trigger, along with the FN/Daewoo "Fast Action" or whatever it was called. I guess people wanted to get away from triggers that involved making choices.

My BDM was not a good gun. I felt that its accuracy was not as good as any other 9mm pistol I had, it did not seem to feed reliably, and some kinds of 147 grain ammo (which was going through its initial burst of popularity for pistols then) would not even chamber. To give you some idea, I thought my Colt 2000 9mm was a MUCH better gun, and I could shoot better with it too. It also had a better shaped grip - I think the grip shape was the one thing nobody complained about on the Colt 2000.

I am glad the OP got a good BDM. Mine had the makings of a nice gun, but just didn't get there. I forget, are the guns like that made on Hangover Monday or Get-Out-Early Friday?

PS - thanks for putting up a really good photo, wbwanzer. They are a seldom seen gun any more.

 

[ozarkhillbilly]

I purchased one in the mid 90s, a two tone just like yours. Traded it off in the early 2000s, here is what I remember, it didn’t like Winchester white box ammo but feed everything thing else out of the 10round mags you could get at the time. Fifteen round mags were selling for over $100. When the ban ended I finally purchased 3 or 4 15 rounders but I never could get them to feed reliably.

 

[eddiememphis]

I bought one yesterday. Going by the Hi-Power and Buckmark date codes, it's a '93.

It fits my hand very well. As others have said it is very thin.

Haven't shot it yet but took it apart to clean it.

Something that I have not read anywhere is that the magazine release can be switched to the right side for a southpaw shooter. I removed the spring and installed the latch from the other side and I can drop the magazine with my left thumb.