Charter Arms Undercover (New Ones)

[35Rem]

Anyone have any experience with the newer Undercover from Charter Arms?

This is the 38 special snub nose. I'm not sold on it, yet.

Is Charter Arms a good company to deal with?

[Cottonwood]

I held one today, and compared it to the S&W 637



The S&W 637 won hands down.  The guy behind the counter said, "It's only in .38 spl"  I said, would you stand in front of it.... he looked at me with the funniest look, like are you kidding.  I told him, that its shot placement that counts in the end anyway and it can still use .38 Plus P loads.  But the Charter Arms was a quick put me down for me.

[35Rem]

OK, I understand the Smith is a MUCH better finished gun.

BUT, the CA is about $240, the S&W is more like $400.

Is the Smith worth $160 more? Should I just save my pennies?

Will the CA be a reliable and dependable piece? (My wife has a S&W 642, so I'm familiar with them)

[Old Griz]

Is the Smith worth $160 more? Should I just save my pennies?

How much is your life worth?

Charter Arms has been bought and sold, gone outta business, come back, quality up, quality down . . . Some people swear by their guns, other folks have bought junk, I just don't know. I'm gonna put my money on something I KNOW I can depend on. Heck, I found a beautiful S&W 10 for $175, and it's one of the best guns I have ever owned. There are enough fine used S&W .38s out there if you don't want to buy a new one, however, I did just buy a 638 and I love it. Yes, it was $400, but you'll never hear me complaining about how much it cost. My life is worth every penny. (At least that's what little Sugar Bear says!)

[35Rem]

How much is your life worth?

I am getting tired of this statement. Everyone likes to pull it out when someone mentions cost. (Please don't take this as a personal attack, it's just that it gets over used)

Keep in mind we are also talking about the Low End S&W. I do know there have been problems with the "Coating" on the outside of the aluminum frame coming off with certain solvents, so the Smith ain't totally Wonderful. At least the Charter Arms is stainless, through and through.

I guess I was asking if the 2 will function the same, keeping in mind that S&W can screw up, and they have, just as good as anyone else.

By the way, I'm not sure why, but I bought my wife a 642 a couple years ago for $330, OTD,the price has really shot up on the Smith. I'm sure it's due to demand, at least more than increased quality. The point being that the Smith wasn't much more than a CA not long ago.

[Joel]

I just bought one of the new Charter Arms Bulldog Pugs in 44 Special. 2.5 inch barrel.  Not an undercover, but it's the same frame.  Put 80 rounds of various 200 gr HP's through it; 70 of which were max loads for this model( according to my Speer Manual). I bought mine mainly to carry while hiking in these Central PA mountains.  Had a close encounter of the black bear variety a week ago, and decided on a small pistol vs bear spray.
Postive comments:  Nice overall finish, the edges are slightly rounded overall, and the back of the hammer and rear of the grip are well rounded.  The black grips are absolutely fantastic; fit my hand like a glove.  After shooting all those rounds in one session, no soreness at all. In 38 spcl, this out to be a nice little revolver. The lockup was tight, the cylinder gap was minimal and the trigger pull(single and double action) was light and controllable. The single action had a bit of initial creep, but then settled in.  The double was light, to me anyway, and smooth.
Negative comments:  The interior finish on parts(except the trigger) is a bit "rough".  Mainly the chambers had machine marks(but ejected all the cases with no problems),the ejector rod was "gritty" at first but smoothed out pretty quick.  The cylinder latch was a bit "Gritty" also.  Those are minimal things in my mind, and everyday friction will polish them out....they weren't THAT gritty.  Considering you're getting an all steel frame and the fact that the new CA's barrel/sight/shroud is now all one piece; and screwed into the frame to boot; you get a decent quality pistol for the $343.00 mine cost.  I did handle a couple of the "New" Smiths, and I suspect that you might be paying for the name some.  They didn't appear to be that much better.

[44 Man]

Well put Joel.  I have had several Charters (three .44's, two .38's and a Pathfinder .22) and all have preformed well.  I still often carry a .44 3" that I love and my son's main 'house gun' is an old 3" undercover that he talked me out of (it had a low four-diget serial number and I really wanted to keep it).  I have been well pleased by Charter guns and as you said, you still have a steel frame gun in a compact, lightwt package.  44 Man. 

[coyotejoe]

I've owned several Charters over the past 30 years and I'd have to say all were sketchy, I was constantly tinkering and working on them.  I loved the idea of the bulldog .44 as no other maker produces a .44 as small and light, BUT, none were really reliable.  The last bulldog I owned, a "Charter 2000" in stainless, developed a growing cylinder gap. I discovered the barrel was not threaded to the frame but just knurled and pressed in, that's no way to build a gun.  All of the Charters I've owned were prone to misfires in double action mode and the double action triggers were terrible. There is no comparing a Charter Arms gun to a Ruger or S&W. If cost is a concern, and for me it always is, I'd take a Rossi over a Charter and I do know that Rossi has had some problems too.  In a compact double action revolver all parts are scaled down and that makes it more difficult to maintain reliable function, thus quality of materials, heat treatment, fit and smoothness of all parts becomes critical. That is what you pay for in a Smith and that is what is lacking in a Charter.
 My Ruger SP-101 is 100% reliable and while the double action trigger is not so smooth as a Smith it is way better than a Charter. Reliability is the paramount requirement for any defensive gun, accuracy and power don't mean much if the durn thing don't work.

[urbaneruralite]

I got one of the lefthanded ones, well, because it was lefthanded. Nothing negative to say for the price except the hammer block broke last nite. If I'd have looked at it before doing it, I wouldn't have been dryfiring it without caps. Never occurred to me it would harm it b/c all my other revolver have survived tons of dry fires. 

[totallycustom]

I like the Charter lineup and it sounds to me from some dealers I know that they have fixed many of their past quality control problems, they are still no smith when it comes to overall fit and finish but I think they function fine. 

I do have to say that I wish they would at least make some of their guns in a 4" model like they used to, seems some what limiting their sales to only have 2.5" guns.

-TC-

[His lordship.]

Do they still make their revolvers with pressed in barrels?  How are they on warranty work?  I have heard that Smith and Wesson are good about dealing with problems.