charter arms bulldog

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I would stay away from anything from Charter Arms. They are POS, in MHO
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:rolleyes:

Welcome to THR swede69. Don't mind the lame reply by someone who should know better. Seems to be an epidemic around here lately.

The early CA's were great shooters. (I love my Undercover). Some Charter 2000, Charco stuff, some ok, some not so good. The new incarnation of Charter Arms seems to be putting out some decent product. Some folks like them, some don't. I'd shoot 'em.

rd
 
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I have a later stainless Undercover, and I have no complaints. It's a nice accurate gun and very comfortable to carry.

gcrookston, could you elaborate on that opinion?
 
I have a old one . Its nice to carry but a little much to shoot . Reminds you that light equals recoil. . I carry at times But perfer my Colt compacts. But just something about a 44 snub.
 
I have an early model 44 Bulldog.been beat up and banged around,still goes bang when I pull the trigger.with what I would call defense loads,it's a hand full.but I'm sure that in a "shoot back situation" it wouldn't be noticed. and it does put a bigger hole than a 9mm. jwr
 
I have one of the current incarnations.

It has it's uses. It's not the high quality you would get from a S&W, so if you think that's what you're getting at the low, low price the Bulldogs are going for, you're mistaken and apt to be disappointed.

Are you looking for a reasonably inexpensive gun to fire a potent manstopping round, that handles and conceals quite well? A gun that you won't cry a river over if it is damaged, lost, stolen or confiscated? Something pretty darn dependable and one that with reasonable care and modest shooting (no "keith" rounds, and keep the anual round count down to a few boxes) will last for many years? Something that is good to minute of badguy but not something you expect to get 1" groups at 50 yards?

If the above sounds like it describes your shooting needs, then the Charter Arms Bulldog .44 should definitely be one of the handguns on your list to consider. No, it's not a deep magazine. It's not designed to fend off the local motorcycle club who burst into your home one night. Isn't that what your shotgun or your AR or AK is for? It's designed to stop one or two bad guys if your shooting is up to it, no more. It's a question of what you think is necessary. It is not my only handgun nor my best handgun by a long shot - I have handguns I have paid 4x as much for. But honestly it has acompanied me more times than any other when I felt that having a firearm handy might be a good thing. I'm not afraid to lose it, damage it, sweat on it, bleed on it and have it taken into evidence. Because I can "live without it" it's become the handgun I depend on most in a practical sense.
 
still have my dads old undercover, about 3 yrs ago sent it to charter and they returned with new springs etc keep it in the console of the truck shoot it monthly good gun if you can find one
 
Can't speak for the new generation Charters, but I had a couple of the old .44 Bulldogs. Pretty decent revolvers for the money. Not a pre-Bangor Punta Smith by any stretch...bot not bad. Not a gun that you'd want to shoot a lot, and not just because of the recoil. Under hard use, the ones that I've owned and known of didn't hold up well. The .38 Special Undercovers, fired 95% of the time with target wadcutters did fine...but the stresses generated even by the light factory .44 246 LRN offering is a bit much....if you can even find it any more. I haven't seen any on the shelves in several years.

Fits into the "Carried a lot and seldom shot" category, IMHO.
 
Anybody that says the 1st Generation Charter Arms revolvers are POS, has obviously never seen, held or fired one. Inexpensive - yes! Cheaply made - absolutely NOT! Accurate - put them up against any revolver that cost twice as much. Reliable - put them up against any revolver that cost twice as much. Fit and finish - OK for a midcost, accurate, reliable self defense weapon - can't match the top end S&W revolvers for finish - but strength - got the S&Ws beat - action and trigger pull- as good as the Colt target revolvers - modeled after them. Safe? - patented transfer bar safety system, and fewer parts to it and the rest of the action than any other manufacturer. Accuracy - try 8 groove button rifling vs. 6 groove for all the other revolver manufacturers. Coil main spring, either Chrome-Moly Steel blued frames, barrels and cylinders or SS 440 steel - top of the line ordnance steel - all machined from billet - not cast. How about unbreakable beryllium-copper spring loaded firing pins - good for 100 thousand dry fires...anybody else make anything like that? As I said, anybody that says that the 1st Generation Charter Arms are POS, is woefully mistaken and easily mislead.
 
Good guns.

Hey there.
Can't say why anyone would bad this one. They shoot well. Carry OK.
Good feeling if you think you need the extra bang.
Got rid of mine cause recoil was more then I wanted.
You will have to learn to shoot this one. Other then that they are good guns.
 
My 44 Bulldog Pug is new, about 2 months old.

I've heard all of the various crappings about Charter Arms, along with Kel-Tec, S&W Sigmas, Taurus, etc.

You need to be aware that a lot of people have had a lot of problems with a lot of different guns, from all sorts of manufacturers. No brand is immune to occassional errors, and some have had extended runs of products that were either poorly designed or shoddily constructed.

I read that Charter made good guns some time ago, slumped terribly, but then got back on track. I can only report that my Bulldog had a burr on the ejector that wouldn't allow a casing to seat properly; this kept me from being able to close the cylinder. I toook it home and knocked the burr off with a file, and it's been flawless ever since.

I like the way it fits me, and I'm more accurate with it than most of my other guns. For the price, I'd say it's a real bargain.
 
My First Generation 3" Bulldog has been with me 28 years and while not shot a lot it does have in excess of 2000 rounds through it these days. I carry my CA Bulldog for CCW, most of the time loaded with Georgia Arms 200 gr HP ammo in a Bianchi #5. The CA Bulldog is my go everywhere CCW. :)


:evil:
 
I had three Charter 2000 handguns, a Bulldog Pug, Undercover and an Offduty. I also have an original Charter Arms 3" blued Bulldog i bought nib in 1980.

Both the Undercover and Offduty (both bought nib from a dealer) failed right out of the box. Both had three misfires (light firing pin hits) on the first cylinder full. Both were fixed under warranty. Both went through 250 rounds each without any further issues. My buddy's Undercover (bought nib from a dealer) locked up after the second round. It was fixed under warranty. It's been through about 50 rounds without any further issues.

My Bulldog Pug (bought nib from a dealer) went through 250 rounds without any problems.

Between my dad and myself we had several original Charter Arms handguns. While not S&W quality, they were some good little guns. The Bulldog was one of our favorite plinkers.

I sold the Bulldog and the Undercover when i decided to sell off some of my seldom used guns. I'll most likely sell the Offduty also.

If Charter would get on top of their quality issues (or lack of) they would be great little guns.
 
late 80's manif bulldog here. Actually, its a friends.

It is definitely a handful. Probably would benifit from other grips. Trigger pull isn't stellar, recoil is annoying and accuracy was so - so. But, with the right load it should produce minute of pie-plate at 8-10 yards.

For beating some one over the head or contact distance use, it more than meets the mission. Just don't expect to do head shots on evil ninjas all the way across the food court.
 
I have and carry a 1st gen 3"....very accurate and well built.I use the "combat grips" and pocket carry it.if I'm going to shoot more than a few rounds,I switch back to the full size grips....w/ the combat grips,it's kind of like shooting a j frame w/ hot loads....doable ,but not fun.w/ the full size no problem.I understand some later models had problems,but I've actually had MORE problems w/ smith and wessons,than any Taurus or Charter Arms,or Rugers..YMMV
but all in all I like the bulldog....and do trust my life to one daily.
 
wish i could same something positive about them because i like the concept, but i cant.

i had two bulldogs in the 80's, one blued, was a pice of junk, sold it at a big lose, bought a stainless version, it too turned into a piece of junk.....but the 3" pathfinder .22lr i had was a great gun.
 
I have an older model in SS that I have been carrying off and on for the last ten years or so. These days it spends a lot of time in my glove compartment. I've put about 500 rounds through mine without a problem. I think they are well made, good concept revolvers (small package big bullet). But I suspect that the guys that are telling you that it is not a gun to be shot on a constant basis are correct. The lockwork strikes me as being a bit delicate. But then, its a belly gun designed for a specific purpose. I would reccomend one. Shoot it, familiarize youself with it, practice periodically and keep it where you need it. If you do break it, the new Charter Arms claims that it will work on and repair even the earlier models and they seem to have reasonable rates according to their web site.
 
Charter? Utter bile.
Some of you guys can say they are just fine... but I beg to differ.
Take a close look at these photos.
These are two guns Charter sent me to review. The grips didn't match one panel to the next... and one of them had a weird frame thing going on where you can see the panels scraped against the frame because the frame was bending or something? I don't know. The functioned fine and shot every time... but were less than accurate. Ugly. And they are not cheap. The dealer cost was 20 bucks more than what we retail Rossi revolvers for. And the Rossi's are twice the gun. So you could buy a Taurus for the same money at retail, and the Taurus has a life time warranty.
The only way you could look at the Charter and say "Yeah, I'll buy one" would be if you were either dense, or insisted on the Made In The USA thing.
They make Hi-Points, RG's, and Liberals look good.
DSCF0587.JPG

I'm not liking the weird and cheap cylinder latch and standard head screws that look like they came out of ACE HARDWARE. The latch actually extends through the frame. Very weird. Very Chinsey. Gaps where the cylinder crane meets the frame.
DSCF0588.JPG

Two different guns, two different models, same problem... random grip selections. It's like the left side is a different size than the right side. This made the guns uncomfortable to shoot.
What I don't get is why they sent two total chunks of crap to a magazine for an honest review... unless they were giving the magazine the middle finger. I was pissed. This pretty much answers the question of if companies send ringers to gun writers. No, no they don't. They just expect gun writers to put lipstick on pigs.
 
um, George,

Is there something those of us with inquiring minds have to do to get the pictures to show? All I get is "invalid attachment" when I click on them.

I've considered getting a Bulldog from time to time, but I always convince myself not to risk it.
 
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