Thanks!
I got the gun back today, the cylinder release latch was back LOL and smoother than it originally was. They replaced all the missing parts for free, labor was free, return shipping was free, turnaround of 3 days once the gun got to them. Spectacular is the best way to describe Charter Arms customer service, of that I am sure.
I also got the gun to the range, shot about 35 rounds of Blazer 200 grain Gold Dots (they stick badly in my gun, decided to use as target ammo) and a 20 round box of Corbon 200 grain DPX loads.
The Blazer load was highly accurate in the gun. It's a shame that Speer doesn't load these to have a bit more velocity. I spoke with a customer service rep from Speer who told be this load most likely won't expand, at least not very well, from my particular 2.5" bbl revolver. Chronograph tests and various media tests confirm this. An oft recommended defense load for the Bulldogs, but with suspect "real world" performance from these guns.
The Corbon load by all accounts should expand and penetrate nicely. I recently read an article where It did supremely well in a denim/ballistic gelatin test from a 2" Taurus .44 special snub. It got about 13" penetration and expanded to over .70 caliber. It's warm ammo, full power, but my Bulldog ate it up. Accuracy though, was less than the Blazer Gold Dots. I was shooting it off the elbows in single action mode, I was wanting to test how accurate it was under ideal conditions. Was printing about 3-4" groups at 7 yards. The Blazers grouped half that size. I checked the holes in the paper target, and they were all perfectly centered so I'm pretty sure the bullets aren't keyholing, just not sure why this load wasn't as accurate...
OP: Still looking forward to how your Pitbull turns out. Keep us informed. I think Charter will take good care of you.