Hi All,
I just wanted to get the word out on a revolver that I just got. I ordered a Charter Arms .44 Special from my FFL dealer a while back. It came in and when I got there to pick it up I was very disappointed. The gun was full of machining marks and there were burrs on the cylinder flutes, the grip frame was loose, the cylinder would not carry up on one of the chambers, and the upper portion of the frame had not been machined evenly and looked terrible. I told my dealer that I could not accept it. He tried to send it back to the wholesaler and they gave him a hard time about it and it started quite a problem.
At any rate, I sent an E-Mail off to Charter Arms then I placed a phone call and spoke with Kelly Walton of MKS. He told me that he had gotten my E-Mail and after a run down with him of what had taken place, he told me that he would check into the matter and get back with me. I told where the gun had been sent back to and gave him my phone number and after hanging up never expected to hear from him again.
I then got a call back a very short time later (same day) and he told me that the gun was coming back to him and he was going to check it over when it got there. A few days after that conversation, I got another call from Kelly who said that the gun was back at MKS and that he was looking at it as we spoke. We went over the problems with the gun and he agreed that it was lacking in many areas. He advised that he had provided my complaint to the Charter Arms company and that he would return the gun to the factory for repair or replacement and asked me if I was still willing to give Charter Arms a chance. I told him that I was but in my mind I figured that the gun would still be a mess.
A few days after speaking with Kelly on the phone, I received another phone call and this time from Nick Ecker the President/Owner of Charter Arms. I spoke with him and again we went over some of the problems with the gun and he assured me that it would be corrected when the gun made it back to the factory. By this time I was impressed at least by the time I had been given by both Kelly Walton and Mr. Ecker. I thought to myself that even if the gun is not up to par I had gotten a little satisfaction by getting to speak with these people about their product which is more than I can say about other companies that I have tried to deal with.
My dealer called me a few weeks after speaking with Mr. Ecker and said the gun was back. I arrived and held my breath. I had to check the serial number to believe it was the same gun! What I received back from Charter Arms was a very smooth, clean, good looking and very functional revolver. All of the problems that I had found on the gun had been addressed and then some. In addition to taking care of the problems with the gun Charter Arms returned it with a set of their wooden grips which to me are very comfortable. My dealer also handed me two tee shirts that had been sent along with the gun one of which he now has. Beyond this, Kelly turned my dealer on to some other distributors that he could use for the things he needs and not have to jump through the hoops that he had to before.
I just wanted to get the word out that although many think that the Charter Arms guns are junk, I know better. The company was a joy to deal with and stands behind their products. Their guns may not be quite as pretty as some of their competitors products but they are built well and functions as good or better than revolvers that carry a much higher price. And by the way it shoots very well!