40s&w snubby revolvers Taurus vs Charter arms

[R.W.Dale]

I'm thinking about adding one of these to my collection if for no other reason than I enjoy my little 9mm Taurus so much and I keep picking up these piles of FREE 40cal brass. Mainly a fun gun one might see ccw service if it prooves to be up to snuff.

Both seem to be priced similarly. The Taurus uses stellar clips for extraction the charter does not. IMO taurus revolvers are better finished than Charter but charter is made in USA and doesn't have the cs horror stories that comes w Taurus.


Anyone here own either and if so please feel free to comment. Lets forgo the usual anti all things Taurus banter. We've all covered it here ad nauseaum and get it, no need to hash it out yet AGAIN.

 

[Old judge creek]

IMO if you get a good Taurus, its VERY good. But get a bad one and you're SCREWED!!!

I have a Taurus cs horror story: Following my delight with my little Taurus M62 22LR pump carbine, I ordered their M72 pump carbine in 22 mag. It was completely un-shootable out of the box. Calls to Taurus Customer Service... anti Taurus CS banter removed here ...

I took the rifle back to my dealer who looked it over, took it in the back to the gunsmith, came back about 5 minutes later and walked straight past me without speaking. He picked up the phone and called his distributor (Davidsons in Reno) and demanded a new rifle be sent over night. It was and I was happy with the second rifle... and even happier with the service and support from my dealer.

I won't buy another Taurus - period!

YMMV

Taurus products are all well finished and very pretty on the outside. The flip side to that is the slap-dash really rough fit and finish on the inside where it really counts.

While many guns are purely for recreational use, it is my opinion that any and all of them should be capable of being relied upon in an emergency. When you 'need' a gun, you NEED a gun. I cannot see why anyone would "go cheap" buying any tool upon which your life itself could hang in the balance. What's your hide actually worth to you?

So there ya go... this old man's two cents' worth.

I'd go for the Charter Arms.

 

[R.W.Dale]

First off thank you for COMPLETELY ignoring my request in my OP

It doesn't matter if its a $900 h&k or a $200 used charter pug YOU DON'T KNOW if it can be depended on in a life or death situation till you shoot it enough to proove it.

Looking at a new gun in its box you're guaranteed absolutely NOTHING based on price as far as function until you shoot the thing A LOT!

I'm not saying expensive guns aren't better made. I am saying that guns like cars are complicated devices that no matter whose embelem is on the grill you have the potential to need service.

I have lots of guns that I have no need nor care to how they may or may not performed in a dire need. Its not like I'm gonna walk past my prooven defense guns get in the safe to fish out a 357 contender to defend myself. This isn't cheaping out its merely diversifying my collection.

 

[coop2564]

I have 2 Charters a 357 4" and 2.5" 44 spl. Both are very good guns and good accuracy. They are not guns that I would shoot hot loads with a lot due to there smaller frames and light weights. I have about 700 or so rds thru the 4" mostly 38 spl, I carry it at deer lease with 357 loads and have finished a lot of deer and shot several hogs with it. It will shoot 3" groups at 25yds. The bulldog is not that accurate but good for defense ranges, its a handful with just standard loads in 44spl.

I have a raging bull .41mag 6.5" thats been a great gun and is my serious hunting gun. 11yrs old hundreds of rds no problems. I do not have any of there snubs or light wieght models so cant comment for them.

 

[contender]

for a concealed carry weapon i'd go Charter.


While i really do like and can appreciate the use of the seperate component of the moon or stellar clips for speed reloading in competition, i can also look at the fact that this is a snub and carrying reloads may be problamatic on stellar clips. Snub firearms for me means concealed defensive carry.

Moon clips are actually rather fragile and prone to bending and warping which can interfere with cylinder rotation. Carrying concealed spare loaded moons loose without a dedicated speed loader barrel type pouch to protect them is asking for trouble.

if carry/competition is not even in the picture, then this perceived advantage/disadvantage about moons is moot and one can look at the other aspects from price to finishes and aftermarket grip options.

I as well would seriously consider the American made aspect.

 

[dashootist]

I got one of those really bad Taurus. I got my gunsmithing friend to help to fix the problems. And my Taurus became one of those really good ones! It's as good as any S&W or Ruger. And I occasionally win matches with my Taurus.

 

[theicemanmpls]

I have a charter bulldog .44 made in the 70's. It has always worked very well.

I have a Taurus in the safe.

The op asked for none of the usual bad comments about Tauri, so I will not say anything more.

 

[Soldiernurse]

Never owned Taurus. However, do own a CA .40 Pitbull revolver. Nothing but praises for my "no moon clips required" Pitbull.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Never owned Taurus. However, do own a CA .40 Pitbull revolver. Nothing but praises for my "no moon clips required" Pitbull.

Care to elaborate?

Hows recoil, accuracy, and overall function?

 

[TarDevil]

RWDale, correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand the 905 can be shot with or without stellar clips. Is the 405 capable of the same?

 

[R.W.Dale]

RWDale, correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand the 905 can be shot with or without stellar clips. Is the 405 capable of the same?

From what I've read it can. But don't take my word as absolute confirmation

 

[rswartsell]

If you are looking for someone to tell you to buy the Taurus someone will be along eventually. It aint me though, I also have good things to say about a '70's Charter .44 Bulldog and I would personally go Charter. If your ground rules are not to relate bad experiences with Taurus, I'm not convinced you are not already decided.

 

[wally]

I just got the Pitbul .40S&W. Function was fine although you have to briskly hit the ejector or a case will tend to hang between the star and the frame. Trigger needs work.

The trigger on my 9mm Taurus is much better. The Taurus "clips" act as a speed loader so reloads are faster. OTOH, removing the empties and reloading the clips is a PITA, so if you don't need speed reloads the Pitbull will be less hassle to load and unload.

 

[Carne Frio]

I got the Taurus 405. Haven't tried shooting
without the clips. The clips from TK Custom are
a huge improvement over the Taurus clips.

http://www.tkcustom.com/cart/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=208&cat=Taurus+40+S&W

 

[lowercase]

I think you should go for the Charter Pitbull.

Both Taurus AND Charter threads usually go downhill, but I've been reading the reviews of Charters, mainly because I've been looking at the Mag Pug .357 and the Bulldog .44 special.

 

[gamestalker]

Charter sold it's company some years back, and what questionable quality they had then, only got worse. Now they have bought the company back and have acknowledged the previous issues with QC to which they claim have improved their product. For me, I will pick a Taurus any day over a Charter. I have a number of Taurus pistols and revolvers and all have served me flawlessly for years.

GS

 

[Soldiernurse]

The ejector was tight out of the box. However, since several reloads the ejector is much better. Regards to the trigger, works great. The Pitbull is my first & only revolver and "aiming in" is a little tricky. After several trips to the Range I'm getting better at it. The recoil seems less than my XD40sc, but both are very doable. BTW, really like the fit of the grip in my hand.