Charter Arms Bulldog

[ThomasT]

I really enjoy my old 3" Bulldog. I finally got it back from Charter Arms after they replaced the Stratford barrel with a Shelton barrel. It went from shooting 3 1/2" left at 20 yards to only 1 1/2" left at 20 yards; with 15 yards 1" left and everything closer hitting center of target. Both barrels seem to like my 215 gr wc, as they hit right in the center of the target elevation wise.

Thanks for your post. I have had 3 fixed sight guns that shot left me. Two Taurus model 82s 38 Specials and an original H&R 32 mag revolver that shot about 10" left.

All I did was very slightly widen the rear site notch by filing a little on the right side of the sight groove. Then test fire. File more if needed. Just go slow. Then once you are centered and happy use a little touch up blue where you did your work. It also for me at least gives a better sight picture I can pick up faster.

[Grizzly2]

Thanks for the suggestion.

The older 3" Bulldog went to CA 3x. The first two were for some repairs and to adjust poa/poi. The filed the left side of the front sight twice. I intend to go back and look over the targets I saved as all this adjusting progressed. I don't remember seeing any significant changes, though the light bars were opening up nicely. Any further filling thought, would have started to give too much light and would actually start hurting accuracy. For some reason CA will only file front sights. The will not open the rear and I don't know why. I had to send them a waiver before they would change the barrel. I guess occassionaly things go wrong and they wanted it on my dime since it was not of current production and was from an earlier company. All in all, I'm satisfied with what they have done. I came away with virtually a rebuild, a nice high luster blueing and so far, it hasn't shot itself loose after one box of shells as it had been doing before. I've also been given a set of rubber grips and a set of Classic grips from their used pile.

Now if only it's double action were as smooth as my old pinned K frame model 14.

[HighValleyRanch]

what distance were you shooting at?

[Grizzly2]

The old barrel was 3 1/2'' left at 20 yards; 2 1/4" left at 15 yards; and 3/4" left at 5 yards.

The new barrel is 1 1/2" left at 20 yards; 1" left at 15 yards; and 0 at 8 yards.

I was thinking of slowly working the left side of the front sight to 0 first at 15 and then maybe 20 yards so long as it holds its 0 at 8 yards.

[JERRYS.]

Originally Posted by Grizzly2

The old barrel was 3 1/2'' left at 20 yards; 2 1/4" left at 15 yards; and 3/4" left at 5 yards.

The new barrel is 1 1/2" left at 20 yards; 1" left at 15 yards; and 0 at 8 yards.

I was thinking of slowly working the left side of the front sight to 0 first at 15 and then maybe 20 yards so long as it holds its 0 at 8 yards.

no disrespect meant, but 3.5"left at 20 yards could be you. please let another experienced shooter bench rest shoot your gun before you start removing metal.

[44caliberkid]

I was in Federal law enforcement service in 1975 when I bought my 44 Bulldog and never heard about the Sky Marshall thing. I think maybe it was some gun writers saying it would be great for Sky Marshalls with specialized ammunition. I think if it were designed as a Sky Marshall gun it would have come with a bobbed or shielded hammer.

[JERRYS.]

Originally Posted by 44caliberkid

I was in Federal law enforcement service in 1975 when I bought my 44 Bulldog and never heard about the Sky Marshall thing. I think maybe it was some gun writers saying it would be great for Sky Marshalls with specialized ammunition. I think if it were designed as a Sky Marshall gun it would have come with a bobbed or shielded hammer.

I've been saying this from the start.... this is what Leroy Thompson has spoken of as well.

[Cheapshooter]

no disrespect meant, but 3.5"left at 20 yards could be you. please let another experienced shooter bench rest shoot your gun before you start removing metal.

Exactly. It isn't always the gun.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T7xGDNNKrpc

[mk70ss]

Bobbed hammer like this from Charter Arms?

[44 AMP]

I agree that "made for it" is most likely someone's opinion, overheard and repeated as fact. Someone saying "it works like it was made for it" could easily be misunderstood to mean the MAKER designed it with that specific use in mind.

Had the original phrase been something like "fits the role like a glove", no one would actually think the pistol has 4 fingers and a thumb...such are the pitfalls of English...

They apparently used a load that would effectively stop hijackers without punching through them and hitting a bystander.

This is the understated, and important reason about using low penetrating ammo on a plane. It is NOT about the risk from shooting a hole in the plane. It is about the risk of shooting people behind the bad guy. In an aircraft, people are lined up one behind another from about every possible angle. There is NO cover, to speak of and rows of people in their seats are the most likely "backstop".

People THINK that shooting holes in the plane is the big risk, (there is some risk, from the possibility of hitting a control run or other important mechanism, but this is a very small risk) usually getting the idea that a bullet hole will cause explosive decompression at high altitude.

Oddjob getting sucked out a (really small) window blown out during the fight with James Bond is MOVIE FANTASY. That idea has been repeated and amplified on in some other movies, but it is total fantasy. Even if you blow out an entire window, people will not be "sucked out". Papers and empty plastic cups, yes, a human body? no.

There was one tragic incident of a flight attendant being sucked out of a plane, but not through one of the windows. A 10x12 FOOT section of the cabin roof came off, and they were underneath it when it happened. The plane did not crash, and no one else was sucked out.

The idea of a window being blow out by a bullet and people being sucked out and/or the plane going into uncontrollable dive because of the pressure drop is Hollywood fantasy. Airliners are pressurized, they are not pressure vessels. They leak air like a sieve. They are pressurized by having air constantly pumped in faster than it leaks out, to roughly maintain ground level air pressure, and a small hole (like a bullet hole) may not even make a noticeable difference in cabin air pressure.

[HighValleyRanch]

Oddjob getting sucked out a (really small) window blown out during the fight with James Bond is MOVIE FANTASY. That idea has been repeated and amplified on in some other movies, but it is total fantasy. Even if you blow out an entire window, people will not be "sucked out". Papers and empty plastic cups, yes, a human body? no.

Actually, in 2018 a woman was sucked out the window in a Southwest airline according to the following article:
https://www.theguardian.com/business...plosion-latest

Other people pulled her back in, but she died from her injuries.

[ThomasT]

I think aircraft are pressurized to have a 10,000 ft air pressure which is fine since you are not up running around needing extra oxygen. In an article by Tony Lescee he stated the Air Marshals were disbanded because they decided a shoot out was a bad thing and prevention on the ground was a better idea. Didn't work for 911 did it?

[Grizzly2]

Originally Posted by Cheapshooter

Exactly. It isn't always the gun.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T7xGDNNKrpc

Charter Arms replaced the barrel that was shooting 3 1/2 " left at 20 yards. They wouldn't replace a barrel for no reason. They tried filing the front sight twice, which wasn't helping much, other than putting alot of light into the sight picture.

The new Charter Arms barrel is much closer at only 1 1/2" left at 20 yards off a bench, with a rest, using single action and light target loads, outdoors, with no wind, at a range with protection barriers on the left and right side of the range to cut down on any wind if there were any. If this were double action, I would agree it could be me as it is easy to pull shots right. But with a firm rest and shooting sa with a good sight picture and consistent groups, I don't think it was me.

[Buckeye!]

I really like my Charter Arms Bulldog 44spl I have owned it over a dozen years ...

[458winshooter]

I have heard this before but never gave it much thought. I and a few others have stood up for Charter Arms more than once on this forum to the bad-mouthers ,haters and just get a Smith crowd. But as another poster said why don't they use that in advertising? I mean when I was growing up every Jeep commercial reminded us of how it did so much for our military! Seems like it would do the same thing for marketing. I know because of son of Sam it took a beating. I still love mine so say what you will about it, it's my carry gun of choice.

[Buckeye!]

Charter Boomer 17oz 44spl ,, pocket carry

[Lightning Ross]

I just picked one up 45 colt used $300 out the door. Had a box of 180 lead cast 452 diameter rnfp.Loaded 8 grains of unique. Alot more fun to shoot than full bore 250 grainers

[Buckeye!]

Originally Posted by Lightning Ross

I just picked one up 45 colt used $300 out the door. Had a box of 180 lead cast 452 diameter rnfp.Loaded 8 grains of unique. Alot more fun to shoot than full bore 250 grainers

Great find .... I would have been all over that also !!!!

The Winchester PDX1 45 Colt is a perfect SD load .. It is a standard pressure load that according to gel tests performed perfect

[the Black Spot]

Good score on the 45 colt.
I use these for cc
https://www.mattsbullets.com/index.p...a9g15gr4mcaa91

[bamaranger]

I had a .44 Bulldog back in the mid 80's, liked it a lot, shot it a fair amount with both reloads and what factory ammo( Fed LSWC and Win Silvertip) I could find. It was accurate and very portable, but it shot "out of time" in short order. My reloads were not all that hot, but did use the 250 gr Keith bullet. I cannot imagine a Charter .44 holding up to a career worth of training, qualifying and shooting for a sworn officer. I'll add that I had a .38 Undercover as well, and it went out of time too, with absolutely no hot loads at all.

Never heard of the Charter .44 intended for the Sky Marshals, nor the revolver approved by any agency in .38 or .44. I was in and out of FLETC on multiple occassions in the mid 80's and early 90's, never heard that discussed by other staff either.

Sounds very much like the documentary misinterpreted/poorly researched Thompson's comments on the revolver.

[Buckeye!]

Originally Posted by Stargater53

Charter Arms may have rescued the .44 Special from obscurity, but its Bulldog made the gun a highly concealable, large caliber package that was highly desired for off-duty cops and for homeowners. The large gaping hole in the barrel also was a good psychological deterrent.

That said, when the folks at COMBAT HANDGUNS converted a Ruger Speed-Six from a .357 to a .44 Special, I felt it was more an act of a mutilation then anything else. I mean, why would anyone want to take a 6-shot flat-shooting powerhouse and turn it into a 5-shot .44 that had the trajectory of a bowling ball? I couldn't understand it. Since then, I've mellowed out somewhat, and I can see why someone might want to do this; however, if I had to choose one for defense, I'd still choose the .357. Even if limited to the use of .38 +P, I'd still rather have the extra shot. And if I could use the .357, I'd have more faith in stopping someone with that caliber then the .44 Special.


Ruger Speed-Six...6-shot .357 or 5-shot .44
Special. Which would you choose?

The .44 still is a powerhouse, and it doesn't suffer from over-penetration; and there's s still the psychological angle. A big hole looks intimidating.

I doubt I'd ever have a use for the .44 Special, and don't know how great the cartridge being rescued from obscurity really was. Like the .41 Magnum, I think the world would continue spinning just fine if it vanished from the earth entirely. Like that Ruger Speed-Six, would there be any advantage to having it in a .44 Special in today's world? The .38 Special has excellent stopping power and the .357 has astronomical stopping power. And there's the fact that it holds one less round. Finally, there's the issue of cleaning. Most .44 Special loads are lead hollowpoints. Shoot a box of those and there will be enough lead in your barrel to make cleaning a real chore (just like the. .38 Special +P FBI load).

Having a .44 Special is nice for those who want it. But there are probably better choices.
--

44spl ,357mag & 38Spl are my favorite revovler cartridges... I have two Charter Arms in 44spl one a 2.5 in h barrel other being a Boomer , Three 357mag revovlers , Ruger Security Six 4 inch barrel , Ruger LCR357 & a Charter Arms 4inch barrel 21.5 oz , three 38spl ,Charter aluminum framed 11.5 oz ,Charter Police Six 2.2 inch barrel 19oz & a S&W 36 3inch barrel ..

I find them all versitile..357 mag being the most .. To me the 44spl gives you energy without muss or fuss ... Even in my small lightweight Charters ... I look at my Ruger LCR357 as a 38spl +P being that I have the smaller boot grips ... My Security Six is my full power 357 Mag revovler.. My small 11.5 oz Charter is loaded with Hornady 110gr FTX standard pressure ..
My 21.5 oz Charter 4inch barreled 357 most likely gonna be a 38spl +P Remington 38Spl +P 158gr LSWCHP .... If it shoots them well thats what my S&W 36 3inch barrel

But I agree with you 357mag is king , very powerful and versatile..especially with a 4inch barrel
Charter Arms 357mag Target 21.5 oz