A BUG is a compromise. The bigger/bulkier they are, the harder they are to carry.
Most lights and lasers are gonna make the gun too big/bulky. In the case of the LG on my j-frame, no bulk added, so IMO a good addition. Esp since if having to take a shot at any distance, the sights on that gun are so poor, the laser is a good addition.
Ref contact shots and BUGs. I have no direct experience and don't know of any, so maybe someone else does. However, I once experienced the cylinder of my j-frame locking up from a very, very small piece of I don't even know what it was. It was so small that I couldn't detect it, and brushing the cylinder/frame area out solved it, but it was very disconcerting that something so small could have such an effect. Not soon after I ditched the j-frame for a G42.
When you contact shoot someone, you are gonna get blowback/debris into the gun, the cylinder, etc. and I could see how you might only get the 1 shot off due to debris preventing the cylinder from moving.
With a semi auto, if you push the slide out of battery when contact shooting and you get a dead trigger, just pull the gun back ever so slightly and the gun will work just fine. I have contact shot lots of targets with clothing on them with a semi auto and never had a problem with the gun not working. I need to replicate this with the j-frame and see what happens. I have shot the j frame with hand and gun in a pocket, and it worked just fine, so there's that.
I have long subscribed to the idea that a BUG should be carried on the support side or centerline, as when someone tries to get your duty pistol out of the holster, you can tie them up with the strong hand and then use the support hand to access the BUG.
When this actually happened to me, I had this as an option. I didn't have to solve it with deadly force, but I had the ability to do so just like I had prepared to.
Having to reach the BUG tucked under the armpit always seemed like a much more difficult proposition to me, so after trying it for a short time, I abandoned it.
Thanks for all the input everyone!
I have found a bunch of folks who like J frames for back up guns. Usually mentioning something about reliability and contact shots not fouling the gun like an auto. Personally, I shoot my J frame worse than about anything else I have ever tried and I am not sure it’s really any smaller than a G26. I shot a friend’s G26 out to 25 yards and although there was no time constraint, I shot it damn near as well as my 17. Is there an actual history of autos getting fouled in ground fights?
I guess this brings up the purpose or role of backup guns. I know of two examples where the primary gun was shot or what lost when the officer was shot. Leaving them with just the backup gun. Come to think of it, we had a couple guns get shot the last time we did force on force too.
I could see a backup gun getting employed while trying to stop a gun grab, which would lead to support side access.
For those of you who have carried a backup under the support side armpit, how accessible is it with the support hand?
What is the value of a light or dare I say laser on a backup gun?
Is the size thing something that folks can deal with like the size of a concealed carry gun? When I worked in a gun shop a lot of people felt like the glock 19 was too big to conceal or carry daily. I used to carry a 19 all the time, now I carry a 17 with a TLR1 in a JMCK wing claw most of the time, with the 19 in the remainder. I never would have that that was doable for me a year ago.