Bulldog?
- Thread starter MinScout
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Nightcrawler
Member
The Bulldog is the one common .44 Special revolver that is NOT strong enough to handler the more powerful modern loads available for the cartridge.
FYI.
FYI.
RevolverMan
member
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2004
- Messages
- 40
Some Charters are good, some are not. CA's quality control is spotty.
I had a very nice blued one years back.
They can be a handful, but are a neat gun to have.
I have seen used ones for around $200, but $300 sounds about right for a new one.
I had a very nice blued one years back.
They can be a handful, but are a neat gun to have.
I have seen used ones for around $200, but $300 sounds about right for a new one.
Josey
member
Pass. CA is a pretty poor handgun manufacturer. The 44 Bulldog is NOT up to modern loads. I haven't witnessed any KBs. I have seen them pretty well worn out quickly.
Marshall
Member
It wouldn't bother me having the Bulldog as a nightstand gun. Just fill it with regular old .44 Special HP's and shoot it just enough to be familiar with it if a needed time comes. I would perform some of the tests written about on this forum to make sure it's a decent specimen.
Kurt S.
Member
A stainless Bulldog Pug is my current "truck gun". Some folks around this board have had bad times with the gun. My gun is okay, but then I tend to baby my guns for the most part. I'm always cleaning, inspecting, retorquing screws, etc. I might have got one that was built on a good or something, too (not kidding). It's most accurate with light cowboy loads. I usually keep some kind of 200 grain JHP in it as a social purpose load- Silvertips or Blazers.
$309.00 isn't too awful bad, but it's about $30.00 or $40.00 north of what I'd pay for that piece.
$309.00 isn't too awful bad, but it's about $30.00 or $40.00 north of what I'd pay for that piece.
Ed Ely
Member
They ain't no S&W, but they will get the job done. As far as wearing
one out from shooting it too much, I doubt it. Price is right, if you like,
you buy. I likem mine. Goes BANG when I pull the trigger. That's
what it is supposed to do. Me happy.
Ed
one out from shooting it too much, I doubt it. Price is right, if you like,
you buy. I likem mine. Goes BANG when I pull the trigger. That's
what it is supposed to do. Me happy.
Ed
Edward429451
member
Bulldog's are ok. Not great but ok. It does what needs doing and the biggest downside to them is that the pins walk at the range, gotta keep checking them.
For a truck gun or a carried much but shot little gun, they are a decent little gun. I handload on the lighter side to extend it's service life.
For a truck gun or a carried much but shot little gun, they are a decent little gun. I handload on the lighter side to extend it's service life.
Nick96
Member
I had a late 1970's vintage .44 Bulldog with the tapered 3" barrel. Never had any problems with it. Sold it to a friend years ago, and as far as I know it still works fine. I currently have a .357 Bulldog about the same vintage. It too works fine - though I shoot it only infrequently - and mostly .38's. Both are pretty light weight, and no doubt were designed more for carry than for massive amounts of shooting.
I understand there have been a couple of changes in ownership / management at Charter since the above revolvers were made. Same basic design and materials I assume - but I've read mixed reviews on them. I've not seen the .44's around here, but have seen many of their small frame .38's. I've not shot any, but the few I've handled seem to be pretty well fitted & finished. They run about half the cost of a S&W J frame.
I guess it boils down to cost vs. use. If it's something that's going to be shot occassionally (usually sit in a glove box or drawer) it would be fine. Though as some have mentioned, that $309 figure sounds a twenty dollar bill or two high - the little .38's are going for about $170 brand new around here. If you intend to shoot it a lot, I think you'd be happer with something a bit more substantial. My impression is these guns have a useful life of just a couple thousand rounds - which isn't necessarily bad if only a couple of boxes of ammo per year are run through them. That's what - 15 to 20 years??.
I understand there have been a couple of changes in ownership / management at Charter since the above revolvers were made. Same basic design and materials I assume - but I've read mixed reviews on them. I've not seen the .44's around here, but have seen many of their small frame .38's. I've not shot any, but the few I've handled seem to be pretty well fitted & finished. They run about half the cost of a S&W J frame.
I guess it boils down to cost vs. use. If it's something that's going to be shot occassionally (usually sit in a glove box or drawer) it would be fine. Though as some have mentioned, that $309 figure sounds a twenty dollar bill or two high - the little .38's are going for about $170 brand new around here. If you intend to shoot it a lot, I think you'd be happer with something a bit more substantial. My impression is these guns have a useful life of just a couple thousand rounds - which isn't necessarily bad if only a couple of boxes of ammo per year are run through them. That's what - 15 to 20 years??.
JERRY
Member
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2003
- Messages
- 3,841
i had two of them in the 80's.........
blued one was first. its timing was so off from the factory that i got hit in the face every shot with lead shavings shaped like a quarter moon. sent it back with sample of shavings....., they sent it back saying it was o.k. still same problem so i dumped it. then got the stainless version timing was right but it shot it self loose with limited silver tip and fed. 200gr. h.p.'s. the cylinder stop latch wore down so much, that after about 200 rounds i was able to manually rotate the clinder passed it in the opposite direction the cylinder was supposed to travel. the stop notches were skinny cuts in the cylinder and the stop was of course equally as skinny so it didnt take much wear and tear before it was a piece of junk. i gave it away, and gave up on c.a.
blued one was first. its timing was so off from the factory that i got hit in the face every shot with lead shavings shaped like a quarter moon. sent it back with sample of shavings....., they sent it back saying it was o.k. still same problem so i dumped it. then got the stainless version timing was right but it shot it self loose with limited silver tip and fed. 200gr. h.p.'s. the cylinder stop latch wore down so much, that after about 200 rounds i was able to manually rotate the clinder passed it in the opposite direction the cylinder was supposed to travel. the stop notches were skinny cuts in the cylinder and the stop was of course equally as skinny so it didnt take much wear and tear before it was a piece of junk. i gave it away, and gave up on c.a.
jimthel
Member
Another Option
If you could find one a Rossi 720 might be another option and I think one could be found used for far less than $300.
If you could find one a Rossi 720 might be another option and I think one could be found used for far less than $300.
As others have said the biggest problem with the Bulldog is quality control. I've tried some that seemed pretty good and a couple that I could just barely manage to pull the trigger in DA. I would rather purchase a good 2nd hand Taurus or Smith.
fastbolt
Member
Well, if it were me ... I'd calmly, but very definitely, turn around and go in the opposite direction ... but that's just because I had a less-than-favorable experience with 2 of them. Maybe the 3rd time would be a charm ... but life is too short to shoot questionable quality guns.
Here's some other info ...
http://glocktalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=181632&highlight=charter+arms+bulldog+.44
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12007&highlight=charter+arms+bulldog+.44
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2223&highlight=Charter+Arms+Bulldog
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143661&highlight=charter+arms+bulldog
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60002&highlight=charter+arms+bulldog+.44
Here's some other info ...
http://glocktalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=181632&highlight=charter+arms+bulldog+.44
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12007&highlight=charter+arms+bulldog+.44
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2223&highlight=Charter+Arms+Bulldog
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=143661&highlight=charter+arms+bulldog
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60002&highlight=charter+arms+bulldog+.44
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