Charter Arms 44

[Navarone]

I have a Charter Arms Bulldog and the cylinder lock doesn't hold firm. You can easily spin the cylinder when it's cocked or the hammer is down. I sent it back twice, it was returned both times claiming it was repaired. I don't trust it enough to carry it so it sits on a closet shelf.

 

[OMCHamlin]

This one was pretty, but it hit the primers so far off to the side, I never could quite trust it enough to... trust it...

 

[Jeepnik]

Like anything made by man some examples are faulty. But others function perfectly. The problem with the internet is that you only hear the squeaky wheel.

Many folks, myself included have multiple Charter Arms firearms that fall into the perfect category. We don't say much because, well, there's nothing to say.

Also we never hear the entire story on the hows and whys of a malfunctioning firearm. I often wonder why firearms folks use hand loaded ammo in 44 spl that approaches 44 mag levels then blame the firearm.

 

[greenmtnguy]

I bought a CA Bulldog XL in 45 Colt about 5 years ago - the prospect of a snubby in 45 Colt was appealing. IT goes BANG every time and is reasonably accurate, especially with 225-230 grain loads. Running std pressure loads with 265 grain bullets gets to be more challenging. It is solid, locks up well, but it isn't as nicely finished as a Ruger or S&W. Makes a handy backpacking or trout fishing pocket gun.

 

[diyj98]

Don't overlook the fact that Charter Arms is currently on it's third life. From my understanding, the first generation of guns were Good-Poor; the second Poor-Abysmal; and the third generation are supposed to be pretty good guns. If it's been a while since you examined a new Charter Arms revolver, it might be worth a look.

I'll pretty much go along with that. We had two of the original Bulldogs as well as one of the 38 specials. They were decent guns, but the 44's both worked loose from hot handloads. Not the fault of the guns since we used them as "light magnums" which they were never intended to be. I ordered a couple of the second gen Bulldogs and both were pretty much junk. The later guns I've shot or examined seem to be decent guns for the money.

 

[buckeyeshooter]

I carry a 3 inch nickel Smith and Wesson 29. Bigger and heavier, but packs a real punch.

 

[DGW1949]

Once upon a time, I owned a 4", 5-shot Charter Arms 44-Spl revolver. I don't remember if they called that model a "Bull Dog" or not but I do remember that it wasn't as common as the 3" versions. At any rate, as it turned out, I never really found a real use for it...The gun itself was too weak to pistol whip someone with, too weak to handle a serious hand-load over the long term, and I always thought that it kicked way-more than it had any right to when used with the relatively weak SAAMI-spec loads which were available back then....Plus, it had a bad habit of shaking both the barrel shroud screw and the little screw in the recoil shield loose. One condition caused the front sight to move around and the other would prevent to cylinder from unlatching......So, I was "one and done" on the Charter Arms thing.