Do a Search on this and other firearms forums for Charter Arms Bulldog revolvers ...
I generally don't have strong feelings when it comes to handguns, especially defensive or 'service' handguns. They're just tools to my thinking. It takes a nicely made SA revolver to get my juices flowing.
Aesthetics and nostalgia come into play when SA revolvers are the subject.
Anyway ...
I've owned a couple of the .44 Bulldogs. 1 blued & 1 stainless. Mine were both from the end of the 80's, as I recall.
The Blued one was so-so. I once sold it to a friend, who was also a cop. He soon asked for his money returned because of the poor, inconsistent accuracy. He had been using W-W 200gr STHP's, and I remember learning that W-W later revised that bullet's bearing surface to resolve reported stabilization complaints. Maybe that was the problem for my friend. I hadn't experienced any real accuracy issues with the Federal 200gr LHP or the standard 246gr LRN loads in that pistol. The functioning was rough and gritty, though.
The stainless one, however, wouldn't reliably function, even when dry-fired, and even after 2 or 3 trips back to the factory for repair (it's been so long I can't remember whether I put up with it for 2 or 3 trips back to the factory). Our agency's experienced Colt and S&W revolver armorer tried to figure out what was wrong with the Bulldog (he'd cleaned up the action for another Bulldog owner previously), but was unsuccessful in figuring out what was wrong with mine. He finally told me to send it back to the factory. After the frustrating experiences attempting to get the factory to correct whatever was wrong with it, I finally traded it in to the gunstore who had been handling the shipping & receiving while I was trying to get it repaired. They were aware of my problems with the gun, and were still willing to take the gun in on trade. They said they had a bored gunsmith who was willing to fiddle with it, and I just wanted rid of the gun at that point.
I mean, after the last trip back to the factory, I unpacked the box and removed the Bulldog there at the gunstore counter to inspect it. I tried cycling the trigger DA with the EMPTY 'repaired' Bulldog, and was unable to make it all the way around the empty cylinder before the gun seized up ... just like it had consistently done during both live and dry-fire since it was NIB. Once again, the factory letter was lacking in details, and only mentioned the gun had been repaired.
That was the last straw for me.
Naturally, other folks have had better experiences than mine. I, however, have little interest in ever trying another one. Maybe if they change their lockwork design. Probably not, though. Too many other revolvers available.
FWIW, the .38 Undercover model seemed to earn a better reputation from the folks I knew who owned them, but none of them shot them very often, either.
I'd sooner own a Taurus than another Charter Arms.
Luck to you.
