how is the charter arms .32 H&R Mag?

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scythefwd

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More specifically, how is it's size and shape compared to the charter arms undercover .38 sp? My wife likes my six single in .32 mag, but she has only shot .32 longs out of it. She doesn't think she can safely handle the 9mm or the .38 sp I have. IF we do end up getting her a firearm, I would like for it to be concealable if she decides to carry. I have access to the .38 at a local shop carries them so we can try for fit if they use the same frame / handle (I traded my undercover for a rossi that I like better) My six single is way to long for that (4 inch barrel + a lot of handle sticking out).

I have held the charter arms undercover .38 sp, does the .32 us the same frame with a different cyl / barrel on it or is it a wholly different beast. My plan is to start the wife on .32 longs, and progressively load hotter until the .32 mags are comfortable (I plan on doing the same with the .38 and .38 +P for me).
 
XD,
Would you mind elaborating on why? Has there been quality control issues? Do you not like the company? Is there a specific reason you would not choose a charter for SD?

Like I said in my post earlier, I had a Charter Arms undercover .38 sp and it always went boom when I wanted it to. I didn't personally like the feel of the gun in my hand, but my brother in law never had a problem with it after I traded with him. I am one of the many people who would trust the .38 to do the job in a SD situation, so your problem has to be with the manufacturing quality or with the company. Which would it be, and please, be specific. I also notice that you didn't say you wouldn't trust the .32 mag, but charter in specific, so I have to assume that you find the caliber acceptable as a last resort. If the wife is firing a shot in the house, it will be because my 9mm and my .38 are out of ammo already and I can't get to the shotgun. If it is in public, anything is better than nothing. Even the .22lr has taken a lot of lives.

I take any statement with a grain of salt, but your comment is a little too vague to take seriously. It's like saying the .30-30 isn't suitable for hunting (without any mention as to what they are hunting).
 
I would never even consider a charter for any kind of self defense.
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and

Would you mind elaborating on why? Has there been quality control issues? Do you not like the company? Is there a specific reason you would not choose a charter for SD?
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Certain brands get pooh-poohed by a lot of people regardless of whether they have any personal experience or not. That's not to say that CA does or doesn't have issues. I have no experience with CA, therefore, I will not extend any opinions. I would like to try one of CA new 9mm wheelguns myself regardless of what the pooh-poohers say.
 
Have you considered .38 Special 148 grain wad-cutters for your wife?

They don't kick much more then a .22, and a .36" hole is always better then a .31" hole.

I know where XD9WBT is coming from.

I have owned two Charters and both were unreliable at best in double-action.

And both shot loose in very short order.

I will never own another one.

rc
 
I'm currently on the lookout for a good deal on a Charter Undercoverette, and am willing to pay around $300 or so, but the suppliers who list them that low are currently out, and those that have them are asking closer to $400.

I don't think it's so much Obamanoia (since revolvers don't seem anywhere near as affected) so much as that Charter just doesn't make as many of them, and the high markup sellers can't sell out of them as fast as the reasonable sellers.

I hope to have one in the next month or two and report then.
 
RCmodel,
Ill have to disagree about the .38 wadcutters being not much worse than the .22. I notice an appreciable difference between the .38 that I have and the .22lr I have. Once I get my reloading bench up, I will be working on some very reduced recoil rounds for the .38 but until then I need to find something that the wife can keep (I am not giving up my .38). She can use the .38 at the range, but she will have to get her own if she wants to carry.

My .38 is a couple of lbs, not the lightweight 19 ounces that the charters are, which is why I was looking at the .32 mag with .32 longs in it to start with.

Do you guys suggest another brand of .32 mag in a short barrel and does anyone else make one?
 
XD,
Would you mind elaborating on why? Has there been quality control issues? Do you not like the company? Is there a specific reason you would not choose a charter for SD?

Like I said in my post earlier, I had a Charter Arms undercover .38 sp and it always went boom when I wanted it to. I didn't personally like the feel of the gun in my hand, but my brother in law never had a problem with it after I traded with him. I am one of the many people who would trust the .38 to do the job in a SD situation, so your problem has to be with the manufacturing quality or with the company. Which would it be, and please, be specific. I also notice that you didn't say you wouldn't trust the .32 mag, but charter in specific, so I have to assume that you find the caliber acceptable as a last resort. If the wife is firing a shot in the house, it will be because my 9mm and my .38 are out of ammo already and I can't get to the shotgun. If it is in public, anything is better than nothing. Even the .22lr has taken a lot of lives.

I take any statement with a grain of salt, but your comment is a little too vague to take seriously. It's like saying the .30-30 isn't suitable for hunting (without any mention as to what they are hunting).
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I don't care if you take it seriously or find it a bit vague. I have owned one of them and it was a sub-par piece of crap. I have held others and they were crap.

If you cannot tell the difference between quality and crap then that is not my problem.

I suggest you buy the tried and proved models to make sure your family is safe. Then if you want to come back and flex your writting muscles by arguing tit for tat about crap then do so but first make sure your family is safe by buying guns that go bang all the time.

But remember this, I don't care if you die, or your wife dies. They mean nothing to me, I am just saying that if YOU want to make sure your family stays alive then make sure you give them an edge. In this case the edge is quality. Quality guns, quality ammo, quality training, quality out the wazoo. If you scrimp on just one someone can die. Go for quality and always have and edge.
 
I don't care if you take it seriously or find it a bit vague. I have owned one of them and it was a sub-par piece of crap. I have held others and they were crap.

If you cannot tell the difference between quality and crap then that is not my problem.

I suggest you buy the tried and proved models to make sure your family is safe. Then if you want to come back and flex your writting muscles by arguing tit for tat about crap then do so but first make sure your family is safe by buying guns that go bang all the time.

But remember this, I don't care if you die, or your wife dies. They mean nothing to me, I am just saying that if YOU want to make sure your family stays alive then make sure you give them an edge. In this case the edge is quality. Quality guns, quality ammo, quality training, quality out the wazoo. If you scrimp on just one someone can die. Go for quality and always have and edge.
Click to expand...

Very High Road.
 
I don't like CA anymore I was very disapointed with there quality control. I bought one of the Pink .38's for my girl, and when we took it to the range there was two cylinders that I could not get a .38 to go into I called and they had me send the gun back to be re-drilled and when I got it back the .38's fit but I was kinda soured that they let a gun like that leave the factory I sold it and got my girl a Taurus ultralite in .38 not to bad of a little gun for her so far.
 
Quote:
I don't care if you take it seriously or find it a bit vague. I have owned one of them and it was a sub-par piece of crap. I have held others and they were crap.

If you cannot tell the difference between quality and crap then that is not my problem.

I suggest you buy the tried and proved models to make sure your family is safe. Then if you want to come back and flex your writting muscles by arguing tit for tat about crap then do so but first make sure your family is safe by buying guns that go bang all the time.

But remember this, I don't care if you die, or your wife dies. They mean nothing to me, I am just saying that if YOU want to make sure your family stays alive then make sure you give them an edge. In this case the edge is quality. Quality guns, quality ammo, quality training, quality out the wazoo. If you scrimp on just one someone can die. Go for quality and always have and edge.

Very High Road.
Very High Road.
Click to expand...
I don't know if you mean that in a good or a bad way. I probably would not have said it a year ago. Times are changing. It's time for some hard truth.
 
Scythefwd
I would recommend something a bit bigger than a 32 for self-defense. A 38 special is an easy to control round that is forgiving on new shooters. Charter arms seems to be hit or miss quality wise ( or so I've heard), but ruger has never let me down.
 
Action to do,
If my wife felt comfortable with the .38, that is what she would be firing. She isn't comfortable with even light .38's. The .32 mag will be the third gun brought into our side of the fight if it gets used at home. That means the person is still engaging after I have put 20+ rounds his direction with a 9mm and .38 sp which means I missed a lot or he is high on drugs. On the road, I'd rather have a gun she is confident using instead of a gun she is afraid of. I am a firm believer of shoot what you can handle. That said, they also have three dogs to get through, one being 85lbs and very serious about protecting my wife if an intruder attempts to make it into the house.

XD,
What about the gun was subpar? Was the timing sloppy? Were the machining tolerances noticeably off? Where there wear marks on the cyl. way too early? Was there a catch on the trigger? I have only messed with one example, and it shot fine, but I didn't like how it fit my hand. I also didn't shoot it much. There was no play in the cyl. It didn't feel much different from other ultralights I had handled. I don't question your opinion, I just want to understand it. Comments like it is a subpar piece of crap is full of invective, but short on details that I can use in my purchasing decisions.

RC,
What did you mean "shot themselves loose"? I haven't been around revolvers much, and of the ones I do own, they all feel like the day I bought them (except for the Heritage arms .22 I got as a gift whose timing is a bit off). How were they unreliable in da? What weren't they doing that they were supposed to? Cyl. not turning, failure to fire (if so, what caused this... weak hammer strike, etc.), what was the problem?

TT,
Thanks for the recommendations.

BDG,
How has it shot since you got the gun back? It is a horror story to get a gun that hasn't had the chambers reamed out right but it sounds like they tried to make it right. In your opinion, did they?
 
When you say she doesn't think she can handle the .38, does that mean she has never tried?
I have shoot a lot of .38 and .32 H & R and I'm not sure but I think the .32 is loader and throws more flash out.
My wife has shot heavy loads out of my .45. She doesn't like it but can do it.
Get some cowboy action rounds for the .38 and have her try it. If she doesn't even want to try then you may look at going way down on caliber.
I know people will say the small calibers like .22 don't work but if she can shoot it well and more importantly feels confident with it, it will work out much better.

Back to your question.
All the new .327 Magnum revolvers will shoot that .32 caliber family.
 
Jim,
My .38 kicks like my 9mm. The .32 she can keep on paper, the 9mm she cant keep on the 2ft x 2ft backstop at 15y. I do intend on trying other calibers with her, but the .32 appears to be the heaviest kick she can manage right now.
 
I've been meaning to get one, and this has pushed me over, so I'll probably call and order one tomorrow. There's a guy on Gunbroker asking $330 for them, which is $30 more than the cheapest sellers, but I am pretty curious and have some fun money to mess with.

Before anyone complains, yes I'm totally aware that you can find old S&Ws cheaper. I actually got a S&W 49 for $199 last year. However, I'm curious about the new Charter, and I reload .32 H&R, so I'll give it a shot.

Now I just need to find some old wooden Charter grips to replace that rubber monstrosity, and figure out which Tyler T-grip fits it.
 
If you have a revolver, you can download the 38 to 32 recoil levels. The caliber doesn't matter, it is the bullet weight times velocity and the weight of the gun that determine recoil. You can get 38 wadcutters that are 100 grains. Most of your 32 loads will be 90 to 100 grain.

If she can take a 100gr 32 S&W Long at 800 fps, then a 100gr 38WC at 800 fps would recoil the same if the guns weigh the same. If you're not willing to handload, then that does make things a bit tougher (because I've never see 100gr 38 special cartridges to buy, just the bullets). But at least saying you handloaded to make the cartridge weaker because normal ones are too powerful sounds much better than making +P+ loads.

Typical 38 WC loads are 148 grains at about 700 fps. A 110gr lead HP load at 940 fps has the same recoil impulse and is probably more effective. But if 110gr at 940 fps is too much, then start at 700 fps until she's comfortable (as that combination is the same recoil as a 100gr 32 bullet at 800 fps). Factory 38 special loads with 110gr bullets are about 980 fps. A 38 hole is always larger than a 32 hole at these low velocities.
 
sue,
I do intend on handloading, I just have to finish my setup. I still need... a laundry list of things like a tumbler, scale, powder measure, primer pocket reamer, decanter (I want to deprime before I tumble, not during shaping), case trimmers, etc...

I only have a press, two dies (neither are for handguns, one .30-30 the other .30-06) and a hand primer right now. Still working on the rest of the setup.
 
I carry a Taurus 731 in .32 Mag. As far as I know they are still being produced . This is a small frame 2 inch barreled 6 shot revolver in a light weight 17oz gun. (current production is alloy frame with stainless cylinder and barrel)

Recoil is very managable, as your wife has already discovered, and I own and shoot enough Taurus revolvers to not hesitate a recommendation for you to look at ,and consider it as a choice. Mine has been serving me very well .

The S&W guns of this type are discontinued, but you can find used or old stock ones on occasion. I believe they were the Models 431 & 432(shrouded hammer).

I have no experience with the Charter Arms other than the one my brother has carried for a number of years. It did not fail him in any way, and his daughter now has it for self protection. It is an older gun, perhaps the quality has slid downhill on later msnufactured guns, just like it has for S&W and others.
 
I've had two Ruger .32 H&RMs - don't miss them now. My wife didn't like my 642 and the 'FBI load' - 158gr LHPSWC - one bit. In my 30 oz 2" 10, it's bearable - but way too big for anything but her car carry. For a CCW, she opted for a .32 Seecamp - not ny choice, but she feels confident with it - and will carry it, so I approve (As if that mattered...).

BTW, my 642 - loaded with target shooter 148gr full wadcutters - puts the rebounding steel plates down with authority, while the 98-115gr LRNFP loads I made up for those 4-4.6" Ruger .32s I had wouldn't. The 642 so loaded was fine for my wife - just too thick a package for jeans CCW carry. A new 642 would have saved me moola over that LN Seecamp.

Whatever you buy, it is a dedicated protect-your-bacon firearm - not a plinker. Buy it with that in mind. No, a Charter Arms won't likely have the round count life of a S&W - but it doesn't need it - it's for defending your life and won't get shot much.

I agree re buying the best you can afford. Charter Arms guns can be found as backup pieces with many LEOs - and have a reputation for saving many a LEO, as well as dispatching many folks in the hands of civilians, good and bad. They wouldn't still be selling so well if they were as poor as some suggest... same for Taurus. Yeah, I - a true S&W-nut - said that!

Stainz
 
RC,
What did you mean "shot themselves loose"? what was the problem?
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Both mine (.38 Special) would mis-fire a lot in DA. First, I traded the first one in on another one just like it. But it didn't work reliably DA either.

Then I replaced the hammer spring with a heavier Wolff spring, but the DA pull was already way heavier then I would have liked with the factory spring.

After I got that one shooting reliably DA, I kept after it for about a year, and by then it was getting loose, starting to spit lead, and timing starting to go south.

rc
 
I believe they're offering a model in .327 Federal Magnum, which would bridge the gap significantly between the .32 H&R Long that she can shoot proficiently, and the .38 Spl +P that is a standard for carry, as generally acknowledged.

Charter has made great strides over the last few years, and I've been impressed with the MECHANICAL function of their recent products. Fit and Finish are still not quite there, but certainly acceptable for the price range.

I'd look into that .327 Federal Magnum chambering, since it still allows for .32 H&R Magnum (not really very magnum) and .32 H&R Long. Might be a nice piece to work up recoil tolerance with in a manageable package.

And XD: Please, mellow out and use proper, civil English to convey the points you're trying to make. I'm sure they're lucid and valid, but they're being drowned out by your mannerism.
 
Ordered the Undercoverette today ($339 plus $15 shipping), should be able to post at least initial impressions in a couple weeks.
 
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