Charter Bulldog Classic

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I’m kind of a sucker for .44 spls. I have a 6-1/2” 624, a Taurus 445, a Rossi 720, and a CA Bulldog. The Rossi is an Interarms gun from before Taurus married them. IMO for looks the 445 is the best of the snub .44s but the CA is easier on my hands when shooting. I have a set of the Herretts like C&L has but haven’t shot with the yet.
 
silicosys4 said:
View attachment 871280 I do miss mine, It was a beater but was fun to shoot and despite the "patina" looked all business. I'm not sure where on the timeline of CA's bulldog series it stands, probably not considered a classic, being a shrouded barrel, but I like the look.
I shot it loose and sold it before I knew about CA's willingness to fix even their vintage revolvers.
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Charters site says they’ll work on the older versions for $50+parts and I assume shipping.
 
.44 spl has been around for more than a century. I love the round and have 3 five shots, a Taurus 2", a S&W 3" and a S&W Airlite.

Clint Eastwood popularized the .44mag, but in my Marlin .44 I load one magnum and then follow up with .44spl
The magnum lets me know when I need to reload.

At my ranch I usually carry both the Marlin and the steel S&W.
 
Koroner said:
.44 spl has been around for more than a century. I love the round and have 3 five shots, a Taurus 2", a S&W 3" and a S&W Airlite.

Clint Eastwood popularized the .44mag, but in my Marlin .44 I load one magnum and then follow up with .44spl
The magnum lets me know when I need to reload.

At my ranch I usually carry both the Marlin and the steel S&W.
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Good idea!
 
Charlie, I do that with my riot guns that are chambered for 3" rounds also.
The last round kicks hard (I call it using an "indicator" round).

If you train with it often enough you get muscle memory and go right for the reload.

BTW I carry the S&W Airlite when backpacking in black bear country.
(For brown bear I switch to 10mm)
 
Koroner said:
Charlie, I do that with my riot guns that are chambered for 3" rounds also.
The last round kicks hard (I call it using an "indicator" round).

If you train with it often enough you get muscle memory and go right for the reload.

BTW I carry the S&W Airlite when backpacking in black bear country.
(For brown bear I switch to 10mm)
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In all the years I have been involved with firearms I've never heard anything as simple yet as effective as using a different feeling round to remind us in a crazy situation that we need to reload. Congratulations!
 
So, the Charter Arms Bulldog Classic (what a mouthful) will hold up to thousands of rounds of standard spec ammo ? Anyone here have a general idea of cost per round to reload ?
 
Mr. Mosin said:
So, the Charter Arms Bulldog Classic (what a mouthful) will hold up to thousands of rounds of standard spec ammo ? Anyone here have a general idea of cost per round to reload ?
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Cheap.

I'm loading mine with 240g Missouri Hi-Tek Cowboy #3 projectiles over 5-7g of Unique (I really like the 5g loads for the Bulldog). A pound of powder will net you 1000-1400 rounds. All things factored in (like tax, shipping, etc), I'm loading mine with used brass for 17 cents/rd ($8.50/box). The greatest cost being the projectile, which you can get far cheaper with different bullets or casting your own.

They shoot exceptionally well and after shooting $25/box factory ammo for years, the cost break is very welcome.
 
Typetwelve said:
Cheap.

I'm loading mine with 240g Missouri Hi-Tek Cowboy #3 projectiles over 5-7g of Unique (I really like the 5g loads for the Bulldog). A pound of powder will net you 1000-1400 rounds. All things factored in (like tax, shipping, etc), I'm loading mine with used brass for 17 cents/rd ($8.50/box). The greatest cost being the projectile, which you can get far cheaper with different bullets or casting your own.

They shoot exceptionally well and after shooting $25/box factory ammo for years, the cost break is very welcome.
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Do you buy in large bulk, or what ? I priced (for .45 Colt) was $0.68 per round, buying a pound of powder and 100 brass, bullets & 500 primers
 
Mr. Mosin said:
Do you buy in large bulk, or what ? I priced (for .45 Colt) was $0.68 per round, buying a pound of powder and 100 brass, bullets & 500 primers
Click to expand...

I'll just come right out and say that I'm a list maker...and I like to document price per round. Here's my numbers for 44 spcl, I'll focus on 1000 rds because it's easier math. These are real numbers, including all extra fees like shipping and tax:

1000 Missouri Cowboy #3- $119.50
1000 large pistol primers- $31
1lb Unique- $26
(I already have plenty of brass...a good 4-500 or so and re-re-reloading 44 special is easy and the brass lasts a very long time.)

That's $176.50/1000 = 17.65 cents per or $8.82/box.

Because primers are the most affordable at 1000ct and powder by the lb, the cheapest way to load them my way is planning for 1000 rd amounts.
 
Mr. Mosin said:
So, the Charter Arms Bulldog Classic (what a mouthful) will hold up to thousands of rounds of standard spec ammo ? Anyone here have a general idea of cost per round to reload ?
Click to expand...
In addition to what Typetwelve said, for any revolver cartridge over .357, you'll save a ton of money reloading it. Even something that's uncommon like .32, you can cut the cost by over half reloading it. Occasionally Midway will have a sale on .32 ACP bullets at 5 cents a bullet, so figure 4 cents a primer and a cent for powder and you're looking at a dime a round. Lowest factory ammo price I can find is 26 cents a round.

Something really uncommon like .32 H&R Magnum... the cheapest factory ammo I can find is weak cowboy ammo at 57 cents/round, but the cost to reload it with more power is 15 cents/rd.

They're called reloader's cartridges for a reason.
 
TTv2 said:
In addition to what Typetwelve said, for any revolver cartridge over .357, you'll save a ton of money reloading it. Even something that's uncommon like .32, you can cut the cost by over half reloading it. Occasionally Midway will have a sale on .32 ACP bullets at 5 cents a bullet, so figure 4 cents a primer and a cent for powder and you're looking at a dime a round. Lowest factory ammo price I can find is 26 cents a round.

Something really uncommon like .32 H&R Magnum... the cheapest factory ammo I can find is weak cowboy ammo at 57 cents/round, but the cost to reload it with more power is 15 cents/rd.

They're called reloader's cartridges for a reason.
Click to expand...

.44 Spl/Mag, .41 Mag, etc ?
 
Mr. Mosin said:
.44 Spl/Mag, .41 Mag, etc ?
Click to expand...
Yup, and .454, .460, .500... about the only one that you're not going to save much money reloading is .38 and .357.

Same goes for rimless pistol ammo. You can save a lot reloading 10mm, .357 Sig, but .380/9/40/45 you don't save as much.
 
TTv2 said:
Yup, and .454, .460, .500... about the only one that you're not going to save much money reloading is .38 and .357.

Same goes for rimless pistol ammo. You can save a lot reloading 10mm, .357 Sig, but .380/9/40/45 you don't save as much.
Click to expand...

I'll be honest, I save the most of anything I load making my own 38 spcl. Where I may shoot 25 or so 44 magnum during a range visit, I can shoot 100's of 38 through my 627. Factory 38 special is really expensive, even more so with wadcutters. On the absolute cheap end, Fiocchi wadcutters are $16/50 + shipping. A case of those + shipping is $315. I am currently loading them, all costs included, for $129/1000. With as many of those that I'll run in a single session, I'm saving a ton.
 
Typetwelve said:
I'll be honest, I save the most of anything I load making my own 38 spcl. Where I may shoot 25 or so 44 magnum during a range visit, I can shoot 100's of 38 through my 627. Factory 38 special is really expensive, even more so with wadcutters. On the absolute cheap end, Fiocchi wadcutters are $16/50 + shipping. A case of those + shipping is $315. I am currently loading them, all costs included, for $129/1000. With as many of those that I'll run in a single session, I'm saving a ton.
Click to expand...
For something like .44 Special or .45 Colt, non magnum big bore calibers, they're low recoil enough that people can shoot 100 or 200 rounds of them in a couple hours. 1000 rounds of factory .44 Special or .45 Colt is probably $500-600. Reloading cost is under $200 and you're not limited to weak cowboy ammo.

I'm not saying you can't save money reloading .38 or 9mm, but you save a lot more money reloading other calibers. The one good thing about .38 tho is the brass is free almost everywhere and I just cleaned about 300 cases of it this past week.
 
I like my Classic Bulldog. I have a grip assortment that I swap out from time to time. The rubber ones are easier on the hands and are for shooting. The wooden ones are more for looks. The current wooden ones are Charter Target grips that I stumbled upon on eBay.

The speed strip has Buffalo Bore 200 grain hard cast “Man Stopper” wadcutters that are engineered specifically for the Charter Bulldog and a snake shot. It is easy to load the wadcutters two at a time from the Quick Strip.

The speed loader has Hornady Critical Defense Ammunition loaded with 165 Grain FTX bullets. The round points go into the cylinder easier from a speed loader.

I usually carry a couple of speed loaders and a couple of Quick Strips in vest pockets and two additional Quick Strips of BB WC on my belt in coyote brown nylon Quick Strip carriers.

09265889-6E89-4CAE-B3AD-ED0EE05DC994.jpeg

Same gun but with Pachmayr grips installed.
5443B6F5-E11B-480D-92F8-013E10BA1D24.jpeg
 
@all interesting information and cool pictures. Gotta be a sponge, gotta be a sponge. Soak up all the info, lol.
 
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