Charter Arms 41 bulldog as a CCW ?

[Georg of Ohio]

I have been carrying my dad’s old 38 chief special , but when I go up to the big city (Cleveland) I have not been felling right with the short barrel 38 , so I have been carrying my 1911 45. But when I carry the 45 I have to watch that I do show the weapon ( in Ohio you must keep it concealed ). I like the large heavy bullet of the 45, but the gun is just to large to carry every day,and I always trust a revolver over a auto-pistol. The other day I was at the range and one of the guys had a Charter Arm 41 bulldog. It is not as smooth as the Chief Special, but it fit my hand, and At 25 feet I hit what I was aiming at. Have any one carried this gun for CCW, and if so what do you think about it?

 

[Georg of Ohio]

I mess up it is not a 41 but a 44 Special

Sorry about that but after I post the message I notice that I should have made it a 44 Special, and I could not make the change-

 

[FireBreather01]

Georg, I've had a Bulldog Pug in .44spl for years. I love the gun, mine is quite accurate out to 15 yards - I can hit 2" groups if I do my part. I find that the recoil is no problem, the gun has needed no serious manitenance over the years, it carries well, and even hides in my pocket on occasion. Nothing but good from where I sit!

 

[joneb]

Hi Georg, I've never owned one, but those with the older ones seem happy with it. Of the Charter 2000 Bulldogs I've seen, they appear to be quite crude.
Here's a write up from Gunblast, http://www.gunblast.com/Bulldog_Pug.htm

 

[jondar]

I have a Charter Arms Target Bulldog with 4" barrell and adjustable sights. It has the Stratford, CT address which, according to those smarter than me, puts its manufacture at 1970 - 1980. I bought it used about eight years ago and soon after I acquired it the cylinder locked up. I think the problem was the hand. I sent it back to the factory and they fixed it and sent it back no charges. It is my nightstand gun at this time. It is comfortable to shoot with all the commercial loads and I've even shot it with my handloaded Keith loads, but recommend that you wear gloves if you must do this.

 

[bpisler]

If you have one in decent shape that shoots
well i would carry it,in fact i do.I've got a
3" bulldog that i carry every now and then
and keep it loaded with 240gr LSWC's.

This one was also built in 1970-80 and seems
to be holding up well to my reloads,240gr
LSWC at 750fps.I've run close to 1,000 thru
it and it's still tight and in time as it should
be.

 

[obiwan1]

I have a 4" Target Bulldog and a 3" standard model, both made in the 70s. The 4" had some binding in DA mode that the factory repaired for me. They're my house guns loaded with Glasers!

 

[formerflyer]

I carried a nickle (or stainless, I don't remember which) Bulldog Pug (late '80's to early 90's manufacture) for about 3 years. I was in college at the time, and managed a restaurant, and didn't have money for gun purchases. It was my only carry gun, and I lived with it 24/7. Carried it with Winchester Silvertips, used it for everything. Finished off countless coyotes and a couple of deer and the combo always worked.

I don't know anything about current production standards on these, but the platform is viable and can be a great choice. Recoil is not for the faint of heart, but can be controlled. Only had to point it at a 2-legged predator once, and intimidation factor was off the charts. (He complained to the officer that was taking him away that, "That guy pointed a cannon at me, aren't you going to arrest him?")

Buy one, shoot the heck out of it to make sure it is reliable enough to stake your life on, and then use it with confidence.