Charter vs Taurus , snub .38

I had a taurus 85 that went through 6k rounds with no issues, Cant say the same for my J frame 36 that went out of time. I also had a few charter arms off duty both are good guns for the prices, but the Taurus can often times be cheaper, Id go with the taurus 85.

I've had a Taurus 85 for a few years. Mine is the Ultra Lite model which weighs right at 1 pound even with the Pachmayr grip. Its fairly easy to carry and I've had no problems with it whatsoever.
A year of 2 ago I was setting on my back deck when a ground hog appeared at the timber line behind my house. I would estimate a distance of about 30-35 yards. I happened to have the Taurus on me at the time so I drew it out and shot at the ground hog. I didn't hit him but I kicked up dirt just inches from him. I was amazed at the accuracy of the little gun. It is one gun I'm not sorry I bought.

I have a Taurus 85UL that sees more pocket time than shooting time. I've been curious about owning a Charter Arms over the years, but never saw one in person to handle when I had the cash.

One plus for the Taurus over the Charter Arms is that the side plate is easy to remove for deep cleaning and lubing, if that is something you see yourself doing in the future.

My "beater" snubnose 38 for the past 22+ years is a Taurus 85. No complaints.

i've been looking at the Taurus protector in .357 at Academy. It's got a kinda cool FDE polymer shroud like an LCR but costs $100 less. I was thinking about getting it for summer woods carry.

I have nearly picked up a bulldog in .357 several times. I almost get it, then hold off because I think about maybe grabbing the .44 special version instead...so i leave with neither

My wild card potential truck/woods buy: RIA .38 snub. Not pretty, not light, but priced low with a good warranty. 6 shots over 5 and should take a fair beating before giving up the ghost.

Fiv3r said:

I have nearly picked up a bulldog in .357 several times. I almost get it, then hold off because I think about maybe grabbing the .44 special version instead...so i leave with neither

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I have a bulldog in 44 spl that a gun smith cut the barrel down to 2". It is almost uncontrollable in DA mode and hurts my hand after just a few shots.

Worse, some internal parts broke and it took a long time for my gunsmith to get the repair parts and get it fixed. And this is probably with no more than a few hundred rounds thru it.

Mine is from the early 1980s when CA made some really good stuff, so I don't know if my experience is just that I got one that was the lemon of the bunch, or whether it represents the typical quality of CA bulldogs in 44 spl made back then.

I have no idea what you would be getting these days, but if you can I would strongly suggest shooting the thing before buying it if at all possible.

I have one Taurus 85, a stainless three-inch model made in 1995. It's a relatively rare version, but very well put together and seems solid and reliable. Its three-inch barrel probably puts it out of your consideration, though.

I also have three Charter Arms Undercover revolvers. However, none is newer than from 1987 (the oldest is from 1966.) One of them is stainless. These are all handy, solid shooters with surprisingly-tight cylinder lockup; the stainless one, made in around 1985, almost seems welded solid when doing the lockup check. I'm impressed with all of them, and that stainless one is on my hip now.

As far as the current new offerings from both companies, I have no first-hand experience or knowledge. Taurus is a bigger company and is able to hit the market more strongly, so there are a lot more 85s out there than Undercovers for the taking. I don't think you could go wrong either way.

Just for the customer service aspect,,,
I would advise you go with a Charter Arms.

I have had nothing but grief from Taurus customer dis-service,,,
But Charter Arms fixed a 20 year old Bulldog for free,,,
And did the job in record time.

Aarond

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IMO the Charter Arms guns are better than the Taurus guns. They are made in the USA too.

The Charter Arms Police Undercover model holds 6 rounds of .38 Special which is also nice.

The new Charter Arms all have shrouded ejector rods,,,
It's only the older ones (top gun) that don't.



Aarond

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I am sure one can find bad things about any gun manufacturer. I do not own Taurus but I do have a new Classic Bull Dog which is the 3" blue model reintroduce a couple of years ago. I have had 0 problems and load it with 215gr SWC and have put some 300 rounds down range [not for the recoil sensitive]. I have sent Charter Arms an email from time to time with questions like when will they have the 45lc. In one instance I asked about the gun and the owner called me back on a Saturday. I know there was a time when someone else owned the company and the quality went down hill but it is good now. Your are buying a modest priced gun not a S&W or a Ruger but then neither of them make 3" 19 oz 44 special.

I own both, and lately I've taken a shine to an old Charter Off-duty. It's very accurate and fun to shoot.

I have had 3 Taurus j frames and a couple of Charter UCs. The oldest Taurus is from 1988 and has had at least 10k rounds thru it with no issues.

The Charters get end shake issues and overall are sub par in quality, accuracy, and durability compared to the Taurus. Charters work but not as well IMO. My Charter U/C from the 60s is the best of what I've encountered but not as accurate as the Taurus. Good enough but not as good as the Taurus.

Just my experience.

Of the two I would pick Taurus. I have had several and they are good shooters
Honestly though. You can get a Smith and Wesson J frame for around ~$325. I would get one of those

JONWILL said:

Of the two I would pick Taurus. I have had several and they are good shooters
Honestly though. You can get a Smith and Wesson J frame for around ~$325. I would get one of those

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But for that price you get an alloy frame. Not as shootable as a steel frame Taurus for the same price or less. I can't understand how grown men can complain about carrying an extra 5-6 ounces.

GRIZ22 said:

I can't understand how grown men can complain about carrying an extra 5-6 ounces.

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I'm a very "grown man" and I find unnecessary extra ounces in a concealed carry handgun very unnecessary.

Charter still makes a 3”. Decision made, unless lcr variants become an option.

Windicator?

Thanks for posting this thread.

I picked up a used Ruger LCR-X with a 3" barrel as my return to revolvers gun. It is very light weight.

• I could not get 158 gr bullets to not shoot low. I ended up swapping the front sight with the sight for a 22 cal version to get my POA = POI.
• The Hogue grip is tremendous at absorbing recoil from 158 +P loadings

I then bought a 5" GP100. I really prefer the weight of a heavy gun for shooting. It just feels better to me.

So... I have been looking at the Ugly parkerized Armscor/ Rock Island Armory (6) shot 38 Special. It is all steel and heavy. You cannot do anything to the finish to damage it. This is not a show piece. You can modify a Pachmyer Colt grip to fit it according to YouTube.

So I am leaning that way.

SwampWolf said:

I'm a very "grown man" and I find unnecessary extra ounces in a concealed carry handgun very unnecessary.

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Okay

Waveski

If you're going by price on the economy scale Taurus has quite a few revolvers at or around the $300 level. There's the blued M605 .357 for $284; stainless for $296, the matte blued M85 .38 Special for $305, and the M85 UltraLite .38 Special for $331. Charter Arms has the stainless Undercover for $329 while you can get a S&W Model 637 for $403 or a Model 642 for $390. A Ruger LCR will set you back almost $450.

Waveski said:

I like the shrouded ejector rod of the Taurus. I am leery of the hammer lock safety...

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It just sits there. Throw away the key if you wish. I've never had them move on either of the two Taurus guns I have.

GRIZ22 said:

But for that price you get an alloy frame. Not as shootable as a steel frame Taurus for the same price or less. I can't understand how grown men can complain about carrying an extra 5-6 ounces.

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There's a weight threshold that gets annoying while pocket carrying. My pocket weight tolerance seems to be up to about 18 ounces including ammo.