Charter Arms Bulldog

[Blue Brick]

Are the 44 specials models known to have thin cylinder walls? The picture here makes them look very thin.....

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=367601457

 

[silicosys4]

They are not meant for firing anything over standard pressure .44 special loads, and will stand up to limited shooting just fine, I'd imagine. They are pretty thin cylinder walls though. I have read online that people have gotten away with firing heavy loads through them without bursting a cylinder, but that the guns quickly shoot loose anyways. This is not a suggestion to fire heavy loads. They are definitely a "carry more than you shoot it" type of gun.

Edit: To the guy who posted below me, exactly how many rounds of those did you put through your gun? If you don't think a bulldog can shoot loose, mine would probably change your mind.

"This ammunition is for use in ALL 44 SPL and 44 MAG. firearms except the Charter Arms Bull Dog. No, this ammo won't blow up your Bull Dog, but if you shoot more than a few hundred rounds of this ammo in a Bull Dog, the gun will get looser than it already was, will go out of "time" and stop working." (lol, "than it already was")

https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=271

You "know several people" who shot "many" .44 mags through their Bulldog pug? And the OWNER of the company said"not to worry about how much 2400 powder you were using"? That seems to me to be about the WORST advice someone could give in that situation.... Honestly, I would hesitate to post that on here as it could be EXTREMELY dangerous if someone has an old bulldog that could actually chamber .44 magnum and decided to try.

Buffalo bore recommends their "heavy" .44 special loads NOT be fired in the Bulldog. NOT. for all other modern .44 special guns, fine....but NOT the bulldog pug. PLEASE DON'T TRY .44 MAGNUM LOADS EVEN IF THEY FIT.

 

[[email protected]]

Please note, I am NOT recommending this at all. This is just for your info.
I talked to a Dan McLean who was the president of Charter back in 1974. This
was in 1974 I had one and was doing lots of reloading at the time. I asked him
what it took to blow up a 44 Charter. I was using "2400" Powder and a 200 gr
bullet. He told me he didn't know because they tried to blow up one with a full
Case of "Bullseye" and couldn't do it. He said not to worry about how much
"2400" I was using, just shoot it and enjoy! I won't say how much I was using
let's just say the bullet was touching the powder when loaded. I never had any
problems, nor did my gun ever shoot loose. I still have it. I know when they first
came out they would chamber the 44 mag. I know that several people at the
time shot many many 44 mag factory thru their Charters. None ever blew up.
I think factory at the time was loaded to 38,000-40,000 psi. Charter soon fixed
it so the longer case 44 mag would not chamber. So the little revolvers were
plenty strong back in the middle 70's. Don't know anything about what's made
today. Look how thin the walls over the bolt cut is on a S&W 29 44 mag.
Remember this is just for your information, nothing more.!!

 

[lee n. field]

Pressure in the .44 Special is quite low, compared to others.

 

[Walkalong]

I really like my old SS Bulldog, but no way it's worth $500.

As others have said, a stout, but within pressure limits, load won't blow up the gun, but will shake it lose after awhile.

And whoever said you could put all the 2400 you want in one and be OK, was misquoted, or simply very wrong.

 

[Dframe]

Mine has digested many hundreds of low pressure cowboy loads and quite a few standard factory rounds with no ill effects at all. It still shoots well and is not loose. Before anyone tries shooting anything hot in it, you should remember that Mr. Newtons laws still apply. In a bulldog, firing hot loaded ammunition, the recoil would be unpleasant at best and brutal at worst.

 

[35 Whelen]

I want to say these can be loaded into the 20K PSI range, but don't hold me to that. Somewhere I have an issue of a Handloader magazine in which the author (Brian Pearce) lists loads into three catagories, 20K being the middle, and it seems like the Bulldog was in that catagory. I'll try to dig it out and confirm that.

A couple of loads from Handloader #161 in which they developed loads for/in a Bulldog:

Bullet Powder Chg. Vel.

170 HJ HP Alliant Unique 11.5 1,178

252 cast Alliant Unique 8.0 691

252 cast Alliant Unique 9.0 743 Back issues of this magazine are available and if you go here: http://www.riflemagazine.com/magazine/PDF/161.pdf There's actually a front-on picture of a Bulldog at the link and the cylinders do look thin. However, one of the determining factors with regards to cylinder strength is where where the notch in the cylinder is located; directly over the thinnest part of the chamber or off to the side. It's off to the side on a Bulldog.

I've loaded far more 44 Special cartridges than other, and 8.0 & 9.0 grs. are pretty hefty loads with 250 - 260 gr bullets. I kind of questions their chrono results as being a little low as I'm getting around 975 fps with 7.5 grs. of Unique out of a 4 5/8" Uberti. I loaded up to 8.5 grs. but don't recall the velocity off the top of my head.
My Dad has one of these on which I did a trigger/action job and shot some. I can tell you if you're like me, pain from shooting it will preceed reaching maximum loads!
35W

 

[[email protected]]

If your saying the man was wrong on the remark about "2400" powder, That
man was the CEO of Charter Arms on the 70's. They did a lot of testing back
in their lab. I did not mis-quote him. I was a gun writer for G&A back then.
I talked to him several times. I know lots of things I won't post on here. I don't
need the mis-quote remarks . It's nice to see all you arm chair experts still
know it all.

 

[Walkalong]

Since you say it is so, I believe you were told that, but I would have to see pressure results from a lab for a case full of 2400 under a 200 or 240 Gr bullet in .44 Spl to believe it, or use it in a .44 Spl.

 

[[email protected]]

Well, I have shot thousands of that load in my Bulldog. Have thousand loaded
up still. It is my carry load. The bullet is the 200 gr. JHP Hornandy. That told me
And Dick Casual you could not do what we were doing with the 45 Colt back in
the 60's. He proved them all wrong. We were shooting 300 grain bullets out of
4 inch barrels at 1350 fps back before most of you were born. Never blew up
a gun in my life. Had access to the lab at , back then , Hercules, now I think it
is called Alliant Powders. They ran psi test on all our loads . I know most folks
don't think we knew what we were doing, but really we did. We knew the pressures we were working with, and the pressures the guns would take. We
would heat treat the frames so they would not be beat up. Mebby someday I
will write a book.

 

[Walkalong]

Not blowing up a gun is one thing, and saying you can load a case full of 240 and stay under SAMMI max pressure for .44 Spl is another.

The caveat must be that if one wants to do this on the word of those who have they need to understand clearly they are over SAMMI pressure for the caliber. Then they take an informed risk.

So I guess we were talking about two different things. Going over the calibers "pressure limits" according to SAMMI, and loading over those limits in the understanding, true or false, that it will not blow up the gun in question regardless of the number of rounds fired.

 

[[email protected]]

All this went right over your head just like I thought it would. I will have to
repete it, This is for your information ONLY!!! DO NOT do this!!! Information
Only. Conversation over.

 

[Walkalong]

Thanks for the last insult. Sorry I upset you.

 

[Sam1911]

We would heat treat the frames so they would not be beat up.

Uh...you would? Really? Wow.

Having had an interesting detour into historic practices, never load anything that exceeds the published limits for the round your gun was chambered in.

If you know the CEO of the company and want to go blasting with him, you may surely disregard this advice.