CA Bulldog Cylinder Timing Question

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Thomas Traddles

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I was petting the new .44 Bulldog today, getting her ready for a range trip. I'd not taken the opportunity to check the cylinder timing and so did so. This is what I found -- that when the cylinder is empty, the throats do not line up exactly with the barrel. Uh, Oh! This is not good. Curious, I loaded the gun with dummy rounds to see what would happen. Interestingly, the throats lined up with the barrel. Cycling the cylinder through, not one was misaligned. Now I am puzzled and have some questions:

First, has any other Bulldog owner had a similar experience?
Secondly, if the throats don't align when empty, but do when loaded, what happens when the gun is fired and the weight in the cylinder becomes unbalanced? Will the throats then not align properly to the forcing cone?
Thirdly, should I delay the range trip and send it back to CA for remediation?

Thanks for the help!
 
Nick Ecker's products are good. If the product is new, you shouldn't have any difficulty shooting it. If it begins to "shave" or won't "line up" when it is properly loaded, then call Charter Arms and have them send you a shipping label. They'll take care of it.

The Charters may seem a little "loose" but they'll usually perform well under most circumstances. Between Charter Arms and Taurus, Charter has had fewer "returns" than Taurus ever has.
 
This is another example of CA spotty reputation for quality control....sure they will "fix" it....but how many want to go through the process..

"under most circumstances."......and when circumstances are dire....not reassuring...
 
ROAShooter,

Within the last two years, I have owned a Ruger GP100, SP101 and now own 2 NMBHs in
.357 and .44 special and an LCR in .38+P . Everyone of the guns went back to Ruger for QC issues, some of them twice or thrice(Why I don't now own a GP100 or SP101). Maybe God does not want me to own a gun, I dunno. But Ruger is supposed to be above and beyond companies like CA and Taurus with regard to quality. Yet, I have had more trouble with my Ruger firearms than a body ought. I'm not inclined to buy a Ruger after my experiences, and people complain about S&W, from what I have heard.

You pays your money and takes your chances. I may have come up snake eyes once again, but I am not inclined to think poor quality is inherent in CA after my experiences with Ruger.

And yes, Ruger made it right, just as I suspect CA will.
 
Thomas Traddles...as I see it... have you had issues with ALL the Rugers you have owned...or are there more? And is the CA Bulldog your first and only? Or do you have a CA that has not needed attention?

I currently own only four Ruger Old Army's....a three screw Blackhawk 357...an old model Blackhawk 45lc...a nm Blackhawk 357/9mm...a Lipseys Blackhawk 44 spec...Ruger single six 22/22mag.....dating from the 70s to 2015......and not one has needed to go back to Ruger for ANYTHING....is my luck or your bad luck?

And how many Rugers do you think have been made vs Charter Arms?
 
Strange, I have never had any difficulties with Charter Arms products (outside of a .22 lr magazine feeding problem).

ROAshooter: How many Charter Arms have you owned? How many were fine shooters? How many were problematic?

If you haven't owned any, aren't your criticisms a bit anecdotal? :confused:
 
"If you haven't owned any, aren't your criticisms a bit anecdotal?"

No I have NOT owned a CA of any cal....when I started buying handguns...Rugers/Smith&Wesson/Colts...were the revolvers of choice....of the discriminating. When having a choice of a Colt Python or a CA anything...it really is not hard to understand which one would choose.
Or When Ruger made the SS Security Sixs...still a better choice of a CA anything.
And the S&W M19 and M17 picked up in 1974 ..choose a CA anything over those...which I still have to this day....trouble free after ...lets do the math....1974 till 2016...hummm thats 42 years.

AS to anecdotal...have personally witnessed CA problems..more times than I can count...does not mean I need to own one to know I do not want one!!
 
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Okay. I'm smelling a substantial amount of what I have scraped off the bottom of my shoes afer a walk through a dog run! No one told you what to buy, or when to buy it.

You have your own opinions. You're entitiled to them. Don't expect everyone to buy into them. Believe me, opinions are akin to hind ends. Everyone has one and they usually have a distinct odor.

Good luck.
 
ROAshooter said:
Captain obvious...I dont begrudge your owning a CA...its your choice..I cant help that....
Click to expand...
How wonderfully effete! How long did it take you to curry such superiority? (It must take quite a bit of energy to charge such an ego). :rolleyes:
 
Did we ever figure out if there is an issue with the gun? I'm interested to know.

It doesn't sound like the timing is even close to being on but wonder since the extractor star must be set up differently than a 38.

Hb
 
"How wonderfully effete! How long did it take you to curry such superiority? (It must take quite a bit of energy to charge such an ego). "

Now my feelings are hurt...I may shed a tear...really....:uhoh:
 
"I didn't write these reviews. I did find, and submit them, for your approval."

reading anecdotal reviews...does not replace...personally witnessed experiences....on hand testimonials from actual owners...
 
Are you sure you weren't simply having your eyes ticked by shadows & shading with the empty cylinder?

Also, you did check the alignment with hammer down, trigger depressed, yes? Because that is where the tight lock-up occurs, where the hand pushes the cylinder back against the stop. This is true of virtually all revolvers, single or double action.
 
MachIVshooter,

I do not think I was deceived regarding the alignment of the throats with the barrel. I pushed my cleaning rod down the barrel to see if it met an obstruction. It did. I still find it interesting that when loaded with dummy rounds, the alignment is perfect, and this whether the gun is cycled double or single action. It also remains in time when I remove a cartridge or two from the cylinder -- I was curious about this in my initial post.

I've not quite decided what to do, shoot a few rounds, or send it back. I'll give an update later in the week.
 
I recently bought a new CA Bulldog made in Shelton, it was out time and it was very inaccurate with a variety of factory ammo and reloads.
The bore looked poorly machined, it was very rough and had a washboard appearance. The bore diameter was .422" and the groove diameter was .4305",
I sent it back, I hope they have the ability to correct these issues. I really want to like this gun it is a small and light platform for the 44 spl.
 
Thomas Traddles said:
MachIVshooter,



I do not think I was deceived regarding the alignment of the throats with the barrel. I pushed my cleaning rod down the barrel to see if it met an obstruction. It did. I still find it interesting that when loaded with dummy rounds, the alignment is perfect, and this whether the gun is cycled double or single action. It also remains in time when I remove a cartridge or two from the cylinder -- I was curious about this in my initial post.



I've not quite decided what to do, shoot a few rounds, or send it back. I'll give an update later in the week.
Click to expand...


If you close the empty cylinder, can you rotate it by hand until it clicks and locks?
 
I got a NIB stainless CA Bulldog 2.5" a couple of weeks ago. I like the gun and hope it doesn't develop any functional issues.

Positives:
It shoots 240 grain hand loads to POA. 200 & 180 grain shoot slightly lower (as they should).

Trigger pull is not like a S&W or Colt but is as good as or better than any Ruger I've owned.

Functions as it should thus far. I'm not normally a round counter but have shot it only 100 times plus a couple hundred cycles on snap caps.

Tight lock-up with minimal wobble and no significant end shake.

Light & easy to carry. Works fine in a S&W J-frame Galco CM holster after I carried it in one for a few days. Tight at first but loosened up.

Negatives:
Barrel is canted slightly to the left. Obvious by looking at front sight...noticed it 30 seconds out of the box. Guess that was done to achieve point-of-aim so I don't want to change it.

Trigger guard edges (and toe of trigger) are sharper than my 1st generation Undercover and Pathfinder. Overall fit and finish are no where my other two CA's. Those are both blued steel models with a nice bright finish.

Factory grip finger grooves don't match up my fingers...not a big deal. Early Bulldog walnut grips look good but that's about it.


Do I like it? Yes, thus far. I realize it's not a high-end revolver and wasn't produced as such. Finally found some Pachmayr Compact grips with out the medallions for it. They really add to the gun for my hand but also add a couple ounces of weight.

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412221889.gif
 
Zendude, yes, I can rotate the cylinder until it locks when I close it. I'm not sure I understand why you ask this question. I can do the same thing on all of my revolvers.
 
I have to agree with Cocked and Locked, the gun I have has a nice DA trigger and a crisp single action trigger. The gun also locks up tightly. Also, the gun fits my hand nicely, it is much more comfortable in the grip than my LCR and I do like my LCR. Regardless of the positives I find in the gun thus far, I decided to send the gun back to CA to have the cylinder timing fixed. I was not keen on the idea of taking it to the range and spraying lead all over the place. I had a GP 100 that did that. It was not a pleasant experience and I don't want to repeat it.
 
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