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Offline Mike in Virginia

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Charter Arms
« on: March 09, 2010, 03:17:10 PM »
Does anyone else carry a Charter Arms Bulldog?  I've heard so much negative chatter about Charter Arms, I'm wondering if mine is a fluke.  I bought it new 2 years ago, and have since fired lots of factory ammo and stout 240 grn. handloads.  It's still as tight and accurate as the day I bought it.  It came "zeroed" for 240 grain ammo, but I filed the front sight down to have it print to center with 200 grain Speer HP's.  It's dead on with that load.  I've experienced no trouble with it whatsoever. Even though I have Sigs, Kimbers, Rugers, and Smiths, I have come to carry the Bulldog almost exclusively.  It's light, accurate, dependable, and best of all, it's .44 Special!  It's the only gun I've ever owned that I considered buying a duplicate, just to make sure I've always got one. 

Anybody else fond of Charter Arms?
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Offline Brett

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Re: Charter Arms
« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2010, 03:37:03 PM »
Yep, I picked up a CA Undercover, bobbed hammer, .38 snubby for my honey.  Goes bang every time the trigger is pulled and is amazingly accurate to boot.  Their customer service is top notch as well. 
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Offline gwhilikerz

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Re: Charter Arms
« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2010, 02:44:35 AM »
Right this moment I am carrying a Charter Arms Undercover. This gun has been carried daily and is shot 50 times a month. I put several boxes of ammo down range before feeling comfortable with it. Never any problems. I think many people feel that if it ain't a S&W, Ruger, Colt revolver it ain't worth carrying. This has been repeated so much that it is now just accepted as fact. I trust my Charter.
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Offline spruce

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Re: Charter Arms
« Reply #3 on: March 10, 2010, 11:15:39 AM »
I bought a Mag Pug about a year ago.  It shoots every time I pull the trigger, is more accurate than I am, and I didn't have to mortgage the house to pay for it.

I consider it good value for the money and wouldn't be afraid to buy another of their products.
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Offline canon6

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Re: Charter Arms
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2010, 12:10:40 PM »
I bought my first Charter Arms (44 Special) in 1974. I have had at least one ever since.I have never had one that did not go bang.  ;)     Doug
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Offline coyotejoe

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Re: Charter Arms
« Reply #5 on: March 10, 2010, 12:33:07 PM »
I have a Bulldog as a carry gun also and it works and is as accurate as any snubby I've ever owned. But I've also owned two Bulldog .44s and a police bulldog .357 that were total crap. On one bulldog after about 100 rounds it began to misfire. I found that was due to excessive cylinder end play and the end play was due to the barrel having moved forward out of the frame by about .075". And I load light.
 The distrust of Charter Arms is not due to snobbery but due to many failures of Charter Arms Revolvers. The bulldog I now have is one of the early versions and is OK but I'd swap it in a heart beat for a Rossi M720 if I could find one at an affordable price. I keep a search on Gunbroker and as soon as I can get a Rossi the Charter is gone, and Rossi is not exactly a prestige gun.
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The story of David & Goliath only demonstrates the superiority of ballistic projectiles over hand weapons, poor old Goliath never had a chance.

Offline gwhilikerz

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Re: Charter Arms
« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2010, 12:59:47 PM »
coyotejoe, did you send those faulty guns back to Charter for repair and give them a chance to make it right and find the problem?
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Offline coyotejoe

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Re: Charter Arms
« Reply #7 on: March 10, 2010, 08:44:11 PM »
Well that is the other shoe. There have been several Charter Arms companies over the years and the "new" company would never work on guns made by any of the older companies. My current bulldog is one of the early versions with a 3" barrel and those are said to be the best but it is loose and sloppy. It works but I don't feel good about it, it just seems a bit  "sketchy", you know, not the bank vault solid feel of a good revolver.
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The story of David & Goliath only demonstrates the superiority of ballistic projectiles over hand weapons, poor old Goliath never had a chance.

Offline Savage

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Re: Charter Arms
« Reply #8 on: March 11, 2010, 02:58:52 AM »
coyotejoe,
I had exactly the same experience with a Police Bulldog back in the early 80s. A couple thousand wadcutters shook it apart! The cylinder had so much end shake it was totally unreliable. Not to mention that it wouldn't always index either. I have an undercover in SS from the same time period that needs a new pawl, and the front sight ramp fell off years ago. Lost the sight, and just haven't gotten around to trying to find a pawl for it. I hear the newer ones are much improved, but have no need for another revolver, so guess I'll never know.
Savage
edit: On second thought: It might have been a Target Bulldog I had. I remember it was .357 and had a 4" barrel and adjustable sights.
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Offline coyotejoe

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Re: Charter Arms
« Reply #9 on: March 11, 2010, 04:51:38 AM »
Now that you mention it I don't recall if my .357 was called a Police Bulldog or a Target Bulldog. It had an aluminum barrel shroud around a thin steel tube. It had adjustable sights but they kept adjusting themselves so I finally zeroed it and poured the rear sight full of Loctite. Then the biggest problem was that the barrel shroud would twist, moving the front sight. The other problem was that when I pushed the ejector rod the whole cylinder would sometimes slide to the rear. That was also one of the early and supposedly "good" ones. The problems were not so much workmanship as just flaws inherent to the design. They may indeed take more care in manufacturing them today but they are still the same flawed design.
You'll hear from lots of folks who just love their Charter revolvers but it seems to be pretty much a crap shoot and I just don't like shooting crap, although I once shot a carp with the ramrod of a muzzloader.
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The story of David & Goliath only demonstrates the superiority of ballistic projectiles over hand weapons, poor old Goliath never had a chance.

Offline Merle

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Re: Charter Arms
« Reply #10 on: March 11, 2010, 08:08:41 AM »
Quote from: Mike in Virginia on March 09, 2010, 03:17:10 PM
Does anyone else carry a Charter Arms Bulldog?  I've heard so much negative chatter about Charter Arms, I'm wondering if mine is a fluke.  I bought it new 2 years ago, and have since fired lots of factory ammo and stout 240 grn. handloads.  It's still as tight and accurate as the day I bought it.  It came "zeroed" for 240 grain ammo, but I filed the front sight down to have it print to center with 200 grain Speer HP's.  It's dead on with that load.  I've experienced no trouble with it whatsoever. Even though I have Sigs, Kimbers, Rugers, and Smiths, I have come to carry the Bulldog almost exclusively.  It's light, accurate, dependable, and best of all, it's .44 Special!  It's the only gun I've ever owned that I considered buying a duplicate, just to make sure I've always got one.  

Anybody else fond of Charter Arms?



I have a 4" Target Bulldog in 44 SPL that I bought about 1979.
It is the one that always goes along, even if I am carrying a 1911 or other pistol.
It is light & compact, even with Pachymeyer grips.
As for accuracy, I once shot it in an IHMSA silhouette clear out to 200 meters, using factory ammo.
The other attendees were ragging on me at the beginning, but were pretty amazed at the end.

 ;D ;D ;D
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Offline blaze

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Re: Charter Arms
« Reply #11 on: March 12, 2010, 01:38:59 PM »
I've had three Charter Undercovers (38Spl 2") and  a 6" Pathfinder 22LR, all early guns (1970 thru early 1980's).  All have been reliable  and quite accurate.  I also own a Ruger and several S&W (all older guns) but seem to pick up my current Undercover when walking in the woods or fishing.  Mine have all been great guns.
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Offline fatoldfool

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Re: Charter Arms
« Reply #12 on: March 21, 2010, 04:44:09 AM »
I have had an undercover since back in the 70's, never a problem.
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Offline Savage

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Re: Charter Arms
« Reply #13 on: March 21, 2010, 05:31:03 AM »
Looks like for the majority of people who won't shoot a thousand rds through one in a lifetime, the Charters hold up well. The ones I owned were shot on an average of 200-300 rds a week for almost two years. Most of the ammo was light loaded wad cutters, but that's still a lot for such a lightly built gun that's built for carry and not heavy use.
Savage
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Offline Merle

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Re: Charter Arms
« Reply #14 on: March 21, 2010, 02:21:36 PM »
Quote from: Savage on March 21, 2010, 05:31:03 AM
Looks like for the majority of people who won't shoot a thousand rds through one in a lifetime, the Charters hold up well. The ones I owned were shot on an average of 200-300 rds a week for almost two years. Most of the ammo was light loaded wad cutters, but that's still a lot for such a lightly built gun that's built for carry and not heavy use.
Savage


Yep - carried a lot & shot very little & they will last.
They are a pretty good night stand gun for my money.

 ;D ;D ;D
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