.44 spl

[Rockhanger]

For some reason I have got an urge for a .44spl truck gun.
Charter arms seems to be the most available .
Not sure about their quality. Anyone have experience with new Charter arms??

[44caliberkid]

I have a 50 year old Charter Bulldog that is still in my carry rotation and is most often in the car for vacations/ trips. I don’t have personal experience with new Charters but in my conversations with them at Shot Show or NRA Exhibits, they are really dedicated to making a good product. I like the Pitbull 45 acp, but can’t justify the buy because the Bulldog fills the same niche.

[mk70ss]

I have a bunch of Charter Arms revolvers, including a stainless Bulldog .44. The Charter Arms revolvers made in Stratford CT were about the highest quality guns, both in fit/finish and overall quality.

[Super Sneaky Steve]

The Tracker weighs 35oz and only comes in a 4inch barrel.

The Charter comes in a 2.5" or 3" and weight 19oz and 20oz respectively.

They both seem like good guns but with two very different missions. The Bulldog is way lighter and smaller and the Taurus is longer and more heavily built for full power magnums.

[The Happy kaboomer]

Personally........I'd run from a Charter Arms gun of any caliber......Take advice from above.....By a S&W.

[rclark]

Personally..... I am satisfied with my CA Bulldog. Doesn't get shot often, but its there when I may need it. House gun, truck gun, car gun, CC, etc. I have other .44 Specials when I go to the range for extended shooting sessions.

[gnappi]

"Personally........I'd run from a Charter Arms gun of any caliber......Take advice from above.....By a S&W."

Agreed, in the 80's mine had its "unbreakable" beryllium copper firing pin break and it took over a year to get a replacement. Nevermore.

[Algunner]

Originally Posted by gnappi

"Personally........I'd run from a Charter Arms gun of any caliber......Take advice from above.....By a S&W."

Agreed, in the 80's mine had its "unbreakable" beryllium copper firing pin break and it took over a year to get a replacement. Nevermore.

In the 80’s the company was devolving towards bankruptcy. It is not even the same company anymore. Love my Mag Pug. The polished SS with 3” barrel and no ports! Polished hammer and trigger makes the trigger light and smooth! Only problem is you have to tighten the hammer screw after 50 rounds of 357 mags.

[51cskipper]

I have 3 Charters and a Lipsey's Ruger.

Get the Ruger:

https://www.lipseys.com/itemfinder?p...1&sort=default

[Algunner]

Only if you want to play cowboy. Take a double action even Charter Arms over that.

[Shoots Left]

Originally Posted by Rockhanger

For some reason I have got an urge for a .44spl truck gun.
Charter arms seems to be the most available .
Not sure about their quality. Anyone have experience with new Charter arms??

I’ve a couple of apples to oranges comparisons which may be of help.

I have a 44 spl Bulldog Pug but it’s from the Charco era, not the offspring of the current company. It shoots where you point it but it did have to go back to the gun hospital due to apparently running some “hot” loads through it. I sent it to Charter Arms (the current company) for repairs and so far the gun seems good as new. If I go traipsing around the East Texas woods or the coastal plains it goes with me loaded with three rounds of rat shot and two rounds of 240gr JSP. That makes me feel good out there.

I also have a Pathfinder in 22 WMR which was made by the current company. It too pretty much shoots where you point it but being such a short barrel it is somewhat picky to which ammo you feed it. Overall it works, what can else I say.

For the money the current crop of Charter Arms revolvers seem to be worth it based on my limited experience and the various reviews I’ve seen.

[Unclenick]

Interesting that the OP specifies interest in the Bulldog, and so many come back suggesting alternatives that weigh almost twice as much.

I have an early '80s 3" Bulldog that holds under 2" at 25 yards. No plans to part with it. But how the current company's work compares, I don't know. I looked at a number of them at the last NRA Annual Meeting's gun show, and the line seems to be going strong. It's still an economical gun, and if you think it's what you want, buy one with the idea that if it's not satisfactory and you sell it, you won't lose a lot of money. That's better than dropping two or three times as much on something you later decide isn't as good a fit for your purposes and costs you more to make a switch.

Jelly Bryce said the secret of his shooting ability came from being able to make out the gray streak from muzzle to target of the modestly paced 44 Special and used that as feedback for his style of point shooting. I'm now pretty well glued to Cooper's Modern Technique, but back before I first went to Gunsite, I played a little with point shooting just to see what's what. For that purpose, I used a very light load consisting of Hornady 240-grain SWCs driven by 3.9 grains of Bullseye that loafed along at something just over 500 fps, IIRC. But you could glimpse the flight path of these airgun velocity rounds. These days, you could give some cast bullets a fluorescent yellow powder coat so you could see them going faster than that. It might be fun just to try if I ever got some time to kill.

[Name of One Who Uses]

I’d just rather go bambambambambambam, than bam… click.. bam… click.. bam… click.. bam… click.. bam… click.. bam.

And I'd rather hit what I'm shooting at than worry about how fast a gun can be emptied. And FWIW you have one too many "bams" in your post. The CA .44 Special is a 5-shot revolver.

Speaking from first-hand experience, I own a Charter Arms Bulldog and it is what it is; a powerful short range revolver that is easily concealed.



As far as accuracy and for use in the field, it's not even close to a Ruger Blackhawk or one of the Italian single actions, of which I own well over a dozen.

[lee n. field]

Originally Posted by Rockhanger

For some reason I have got an urge for a .44spl truck gun.
Charter arms seems to be the most available .
Not sure about their quality. Anyone have experience with new Charter arms??

I have a Bulldog, made around 2010, I think. It's "OK, I guess". Would not want it to be my only gun.

Charters, in my experience, have a weak transfer bar. (I've had 3, two Undercover's a decade ago, Bulldog now. All have broken the transfer bar multiple times.)

I'm going to echo a recommendation above: If you want a (relatively) inexpensive .44, get a Taurus Tracker, and dedicate it to Specials. (Bring a feeler gauge to check cylinder gap.)

[Algunner]

“And FWIW you have one too many "bams" in your post. The CA .44 Special is a 5-shot revolver.”

No, he was referring to a Ruger Blackhawk which is 6 rounds. I own a CA MagPug and I do shoot it SA if trying for more accuracy. And when shooting DA as fast as possible I can hit 4 of 5 almost as well as shooting SA. But I seem to pull one of 5 rounds low right somehow. And please don’t take humor seriously!

[Unclenick]

Broken transfer bars may be partly alloy choice, but are most likely a heat treating issue. I've got four CAs altogether with no such problem, but all from the 1980s.

[rclark]

My 15 Yard target off-hand with .44 Special Bulldog. Short guns are just harder to get a good group. Still this will do the intended job.

[bamaranger]

I had an "old" likely Stratford (?) Bulldog that I shot the snot out of that I really liked. A lot of horsepower for such a compact, light package. Unfortunately, in my youthful enthusiasm, my reloads were far too stout for the little gun and I shot it out of time.

But the little gun was accurate, easy to carry, and I've always regretted my misuse and foolishness. More than once I've thought of replacing it with one of the new versions, in the "classic" line.

[Webleymkv]

I've never personally had a Charter Arms, but I know a couple of people who have newer ones that they've been happy with (a Mag Pug .357 and a Professional .32 H&R). I have toyed with the idea of one of the newer Bulldogs as a backup to my current primary carry gun (Ruger SP101 .357) as I've taken to carrying a pair of revolvers over the last year or so (current BUG is a S&W 442). If I ever do get a Bulldog or other small frame .44 Special, I'd probably load with with the same Hornady or Underwood ammo I keep around for my Blackhawk. It would get lighter practice ammo, however, as the Skeeter load is, as I understand it, a bit too warm for Charters.

[Edited by staff to remove off-topic content]

[The Happy kaboomer]

I fail to understand "truck gun" is one you gonna leave unsecured in ya truck?..........I carry daily a handgun of some sort.........When I'm on the tractor is a tractor gun? or riding my JD GATOR............Does that make it a gator gun?..........Or in my boat......a boat gun?.....I carry all the time......QUALITY guns not cheap junk.........NONE stay in the above rides when I"m not there......They are in the safe.

[Name of One Who Uses]

I fail to understand "truck gun" is one you gonna leave unsecured in ya truck?..........I carry daily a handgun of some sort.........When I'm on the tractor is a tractor gun? or riding my JD GATOR............Does that make it a gator gun?..........Or in my boat......a boat gun?.....I carry all the time......QUALITY guns not cheap junk.........NONE stay in the above rides when I"m not there......They are in the safe.

A truck gun is a gun that is generally left in a...truck, but nobody said anything about unsecured. Lock the truck, and the gun is secured.
My wife and I own three vehicles and everyone of them have at least one handgun in them. My wife is in education and cannot carry her handgun everywhere. So when she can't carry, the gun comes out of her purse and is left in her car. I have a 1911 that never leaves my truck unless I get it out to carry it. Same with my little Honda that's my daily driver. There's really nothing unusual or egregious about this.
{Edit to remove violation of forum rule 3}

[Capt Jack]

I have Charter Arms in 45acp and 9mm, both are wonderful guns
I did have a problem with light strikes on the 45acp, CA customer service was great
I could either send the gun back on their dime or they would send me the new hammer spring….I opted for the hammer spring, got it less than a week…problem solved.
Hundreds of rounds thru both….what great guns shooting 45acp & 9mm without moon clips.

[oldmanFCSA]

When I lived in Northern Wisconsin, I concealed carried a lot due to 4 legged and occasionally 2-legged predators. However, when in or on a vehicle large enough to properly contain or conceal, I carried a "Truck gun" whether it was a 12 gage Ithaca 20" DeerSlayer shotgun, or my 18" AR-10 308WIN. My local sheriff deputy was informed and knew of my Truck guns and on occasion helped me with de-escalating situations with other types of officers. (My wife's background caused me to be very careful with her stalker ex-boyfriend who attempted killing her or me on several occasions - he's no longer a problem as he died a drug overdose.) Y.M.M.V.