Bought this today

[Win73]

Hope it is satisfactory. It is my first Charter. I am basically a Ruger and S&W man.

[Budda]

I like a wheel gun....I own four. I never warmed up to charter. Their fit and finish were always off putting......but it will shoot forever and carry well.

[Wheelie_Fan]

Nice Undercover, best of luck with it! I picked up an Off Duty a couple of years ago ( theres an early review on here somewhere ). To be honest, it's been flawless. Not a ton of rounds through it, maybe 500-600 at this point, but it's accurate, easy to carry and locks up as tight as it was when new.

Honestly, I was a little leery of purchasing the Off Duty, having read mixed reviews, but decided to give it a try. (I also work just down the road from the factory, so dropping it off for any repairs needed wasn't going to be a chore) I'm happy to say, I haven't needed to contact the factory at all. Not quite as refined as my S&W's, but I have no complaints...

Based on the experience with the Off Duty, I went ahead and picked up a 4" Pathfinder in .22 LR a few months ago and so far, so good there as well. Not the lightest or smoothest of triggers in DA, but acceptable for me and it's getting better with use. SA is actually pretty good as-is. It was relatively inexpensive, and has been great to get my wife and kids familiarized with hand guns and shooting.

I know there are some out there who may not be the biggest fans of Charter - and that's fine, to each their own, but I haven't had any negative experiences to date.

Enjoy! And drop a range report once you get a chance.

[Win73]

I know there are some out there who may not be the biggest fans of Charter - and that's fine, to each their own, but I haven't had any negative experiences to date.

Enjoy! And drop a range report once you get a chance.

I will do that. I know it isn't up to the quality of my S&W 637 but I think it will be adequate. I had given my Smith to my daughter to carry. She has a shop and during the winter closes up after dark and is often there alone. I had been looking for something to replace it and took the plunge today.

[drail]

Here's a tip if you want your Charter to hold up- do not use any light bullet high velocity loads. Absolutely none of the Buffalo Bore/Corbon stuff. Use standard pressure standard velocity medium weight (140 to 158 gr. ammo.) Charters are a great design but very lightly built. FREQUENTLY check every screw on the gun for loosening - they will. Trust me.

[KenW.]

A grip that large kind of defeats the purpose of the snubbie: that being it is concealable.

[lowercase]

Nice Undercover! I've had no problems with the two Undercovers I own.

If the grip is too large for easy concealment, or the rubber grabs an overgarment, you might want to take a look at Altamont grips. They have some decent choices. Link: http://www.altamontco.com/experiment...istol/charter/

The good thing is that Charters all use the same grip frame, so you can swap grips between models. I currently am running older wood grips on my Bulldog that came off of a .38 "Police Bulldog" from the 70s. Much better for concealment than the rubber grips.

[OxyGuy]

I have an early Undercover from the 70's and an Off Duty that I've had about 3 years. Both have been very dependable, no issues at all. In my opinion, you got yourself a nice carry gun. Enjoy.

[Win73]

If the grip is too large for easy concealment, or the rubber grabs an overgarment, you might want to take a look at Altamont grips.

A grip that large kind of defeats the purpose of the snubbie: that being it is concealable.

Even with the larger grip, it still conceals well in my pocket.

Actually I bought this one because of the larger grip. The store had the identical gun with a smaller grip, very similar to the grip on my S&W 637. The grip on this Charter felt really good in my hand. You can get a full three fingered grip on it.

What I will probably do is give the Charter to my daughter since she carries in a pistol purse. The extra size of the grip wouldn't be a hindrance to her and might even work better. The Smith has more rounded edges than the Charter and works better in my pocket.

[Mystro]

I have a older one in my tackle box.

[tekarra]

The Charter Undercover has been tempting me. Waiting for your range report. I had not heard about the high velocity light bullet before and will keep it in mind if I buy a Charter.

[Win73]

The Charter Undercover has been tempting me. Waiting for your range report. I had not heard about the high velocity light bullet before and will keep it in mind if I buy a Charter.

I was just looking at the owner's manual that came with it. It states that the use of + P ammunition is not recommended. I have been thinking about using wad cutters in it for carry ammo. I have done some reading on the internet (yeah, I know) and they are highly recommended by some.

[lowercase]

I was just looking at the owner's manual that came with it. It states that the use of + P ammunition is not recommended. I have been thinking about using wad cutters in it for carry ammo. I have done some reading on the internet (yeah, I know) and they are highly recommended by some.

LOL. You just combined a Charter Arms thread with a "wadcutters for self-defense" question.

I think this was the event the Mayan calendar was predicting.

(Just for the record, I've carried my Charter with wadcutters.)

[Win73]

I was confused. I read in the owner's manual that came with the gun that the use of +P ammo was not recommended. Then I read on their website that the caliber of the gun was listed as .38 Special +P. I thought if the gun was +P rated, why was the use of +P not recommended?

Then I found this in their FAQ section.

Q.
Can I shoot +P in my .38 revolver?

A.
Charter .38's are among the smallest revolvers in this caliber. Yes they can handle +P but we do not recommend it for the following reasons:

+P ammo requires a four-inch minimum barrel to burn the extra powder. Therefore, in a two-inch barrel the extra powder is burned after the bullet leaves the barrel creating more recoil and making it harder to come back to target.

We recommend a standard velocity load and practice with round nose lead rounds which are the least expensive. When you load for protection, use a jacketed or hollow point in the same grain you practice with.

[shootniron]

I have this circa 1980 Offduty that has seen more than it's share of rounds and miles and it still shoots as it did when new. It was my first snubbie way back then and still sees use today, even though I went to the 642 yrs ago. If yours does as this one has, you will be pleased.

[dgludwig]

Concerning the use of wadcutter bullets, while they may be fine for the initial load, if you plan on carrying/using a speed loader I'd suggest filling it with bullets that have a round profile. The sharp edges on wadcutters make them a little more difficult to load a revolver's cylinder from a speed loader, at a time when a couple of extra seconds performing this task could have a fatal consequence.

[Win73]

Concerning the use of wadcutter bullets, while they may be fine for the initial load, if you plan on carrying/using a speed loader I'd suggest filling it with bullets that have a round profile. The sharp edges on wadcutters make them a little more difficult to load a revolver's cylinder from a speed loader, at a time when a couple of extra seconds performing this task could have a fatal consequence.

I agree with you. And that was indeed my plan. But reloading the .38 would be Plan C. Plan B would be my Ruger LCP .380 which I also carry. I find the New York reload pretty much beats any other reload.

[drail]

I have handloaded some full wadcutter rounds and shot them in my Charter. They were the most "snappy" loads I have ever fired in that gun. I would not fire very many of those in a Charter. On the older guns like mine the first thing that happens is the aluminum barrel shroud walks off the barrel and the screws start backing out. The bullets did terrible damage to targets though. If you want to practice a lot with a Charter use light loads and carry medium loads. If you can place them where they need to go you'll be fine.

[dgludwig]

I have handloaded some full wadcutter rounds and shot them in my Charter. They were the most "snappy" loads I have ever fired in that gun.

I don't know how you "handloaded" them, but factory-loaded wadcutters are some of the mildest .38 Special ammunition you can buy. And when handloaded (say 2.8 grains of Bullseye powder behind a 148 grain Speer HBWC bullet) to use for Bullseye competition (the true forte for wadcutter bullets), this load offers some of the softest recoiling, most accurate .38 Special ammunition you can shoot.

[shootniron]

I don't know how you "handloaded" them, but factory-loaded wadcutters are some of the mildest .38 Special ammunition you can buy. And when handloaded (say 2.8 grains of Bullseye powder behind a 148 grain Speer HBWC bullet) to use for Bullseye competition (the true forte for wadcutter bullets), this load offers some of the softest recoiling, most accurate .38 Special ammunition you can shoot.

X 2

They are about the mildest and best shooting rounds you can have.

[microman]

Win73, let us know how it shoots with a range report. Never owned a Charter Arms as of yet,

[Noreaster]

I like those grips. Never could get use to the boot grip on my 442. For standard velocity SD loads the Nyclad is a decent round.

[drail]

They were not intended to be the classic "target" loads with a swaged HB bullet. They were an experimental defense load using hard cast double ended wadcutters, not "max" loads in my manuals. And they were "snappy" in a Charter.