The Greatest Pistol of all time was a FLOP???

[Handy]

I have a BDM. I have several other goofy guns, like a P7 and P9S. There is nothing "natural" about any safety or trigger system: Give a 1911 to a newbie and they WILL NOT put their thumb up high on the safety. I've shot just about every possible system of trigger/cocker/decocker/mag release in competition and have yet to confuse myself. The BDM system is as good (or bad) as any other.

If the BDM failed because of the safety, the failure was in the minds of consumers who couldn't fathom doing anything different than what they know. The BDM offers the traditional decocker/safety found on the majority of DA/SA guns but makes it easy to reach. It is also an exceptionally ambidextrous weapon with safety/slide release located on both sides.

The main death was probably the high cap issue. You can still buy Glock, Sig and Beretta mags at decent prices, but the BDM was introduced with too few available to make a fairly traditional gun attractive. Polymer and CCW weapons were the big sellers in the mid '90s.

If the BDM were reintroduced and sold on it's merits, rather than goofy features, it might survive.

FN seems to screw up it's timing every so often. The FNC rifle was another excellent weapon that showed up too late to make an impact.

 

[jar]

The reason that the safety was up to fire was that it was primarily a decocker. A decocker natural motion is to pull down to decock. That was the way this was designed.

The lever was never really meant to be a sefety. That is a pure American point of view. The idea was that it was used in DA/SA mode to decock and then pushed up to the fire position when you holstered. In DAO mode you would normally never use it.

It did have an issue during the military trials. One unit did show a frame crack but that was also a preproduction run and was changed before they went into full production.

Now I would never recommend this, but the difference between the BDM mags and the BHP hicap mags, is the shape of the hole that locks the mag in place. Someone with a Dremel might, I say Might, just take a second or two and modify the locking holes and then...

 

[James K]

I agree with Ayoob, and will go still further in saying that one who carries for serious purposes had best carry only one gun, or at least similar guns. Forgetting which way the safety works or whether the gun is DA or SA in the middle of a gunfight could have adverse consequences.

I also note that pistols that get too gadgety don't catch on well. Seventeen position safeties and dial-an-action adjustments might work in the lab and sound great in the gunzines, but folks whose life might depend on their gun like to go with the KISS principle.

Once more, a product designed to satisfy all people, satisfies none.

Jim

 

[blades67]

I think it was the fact that Browning has introduced different pistols using the BDA moniker. The first BDA was the imported SIG Sauer P220. After they lost the P220 they tried selling the "new" BDA with a trigger action selector switch. That in and of itself isn't so bad, but the gun was an unreliable POS for the most part. Most manufacturers will let a lemon out the door once in a while, but Browning will let a pistol that works out the door once in a great while.

 

[Ed2]

Those pics make me wish I still had mine. I traded mine in as a down payment on a P7. I wasnt crazy about the trigger in double-action. It was smooth but heavy -- and it got heavier the closer it got to the let-off point. The first time I shot my Kel Tec 9mm I remember thinking it had the same kind of feel as the BDM . (The Kel Tec's trigger is FAR worse of course). I also wasnt impressed with the finish -- it scratched easily. Otherwise I loved it. I put a couple thousand rounds through it with various ammo and not one problem. Thanks for the great pictures (wish mine had been two-tone, I'd probably still have it).
Ed

 

[Skorzeny]

George Hill:

Sorry, Skorzeny, I wasn't slamming your post..

No problem!

I passed on the BDM for the following reasons:

1. Lack of "cocked & locked" capability. For the life of me, I coud not understand why Browning designed the BDM (Browning Double Mode) to operate in selectable DA or DAO format instead of allowing for DA or cocked & locked (like H&K USP or CZ-75). Perhaps Browning thought that the selectable DA-DAO would attract police sales, but in that case, producing separate DA and DAO versions would have made more sense, instead of building in that complexity. I supposed that's what the BPM (Browning Pistol Mode) was all about.

2. Poor support from Browning. There were some sticky issues with the safety/decocker and the trigger on mine, but the manufacturer was NOT interested in taking the pistol back for repair! This wasn't the first such incident I had with Browning. It also refused to take back my Micro Buckmark - the latter had such a stiff safety that I could not flick up the safety with my thumb (nor could anyone else, for that matter). The factory rep told me to just "use it more and break it in."

BTW, the BDM initially failed the +p+ test. The revised production model did pass and in fact passed with flying colors. The final production model of the BDM was a very strong gun, yet amazingly light and slim. It really had a great potential if only a few things were different.

Skorzeny

 

[George Hill]

Man... you guys are making me want one even more. Thanks. That's all I need.

 

[dinosaur]

I own one, carry it all the time. The safety is a non issue for those who are used to revolvers. It`s just a decocker and I flip it back up after the hammer is lowered. I carry it in the single action mode. The hammer`s down first shot so we don need no steenking safety.

The mags are expensive but the 10 rounders are cheap. I think one reason it failed here in the U.S. was it didn`t come in .40 and most P.D.s don`t use nines.

The NYPD tested the Colt 2000 and deemed it a POS. I guess Giuliani`s brother in law doesn`t work for Colt.

 

[Richard]

I'm With Skorz

I agree with most of what Skorzeny posted. The lack of a cocked and locked mode doesn't bother me. I guess I shoot so many types of handguns that I am versatile. A Finn that used to post on another board said the BDM doesn't hold up to heavy loads well, read sub-machinegun loads, but I suspect that it was a 9mm when law enforcement was looking for 40 S&W pistols. Anyway, These are supurbly accurate pistols. Regards, Richard

PS The greatest pistol flop of all time is the full sized Walther P88 and it is a great pistol. Why did it flop? The Walther P88 was too expensive to manufacture.