Charter Arms Bulldog 44spcl

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jon_in_wv

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I have an opportunity to buy a blued Charter Arms Bulldog in 44spl with a four inch barrel. The owner says it has a little holster wear but the guy he bought it from only fired a few rounds thru it and he only fired about ten rounds through it. The says he will sell it for 150 bucks. I'm not sure I need a 44 special right now but there is a gun show coming up early next month. If I don't like it I'm sure I can get that amount in trade on something else. What do you guys think?
 
As long as it mechanically checks out, you can't go wrong at that price. I would personally prefer a 2" barrel over a 4" though.
 
I doubt you will get $150 on trade. Maybe $100. I would pass and wait to find a Taurus or S&W 44 special.
 
I think that model and barrel length is the same gun Son of Sam used back in NYC to do his dirty deeds. Historical model only because of him. I seem to remember they (thepolice) were calling him the .44 mag killer at first before they got his letters and notes calling himself Son of Sam....
 
A brand new Charter Arms Bullgog 44 in 2.5" lists for $399. Of course the street price would be a lot less. I don't know if you will be happy with an older Charter Arms revolver because of quality issues. (from what I'm told)
 
If it is an earlier gun, I would buy it for that price. My mother has a late 70's Bulldog and it shoots very well.

They are not S&W quality guns for sure, but the earlier ones are reliable and hard hitting.
 
If it's a Stratford, Conn. gun and in excellent condition $150 is a bargain. The Charco made bulldogs that followed were ???????? and the Charter 2000 guns that followed Charco, while a big improvement over Charco, are a little rough around the edges.
On another note Son-of-Sam used a Mid 70's Charter Arms 3" Bulldog .44.

:evil:
 
I bought mine new in 1989. It's stainless and I paid about $235 for it. I put about 500 hundred or so rounds through it with no problems at all. My brother picked one up at the same time I did however, he had to send his back for repairs a couple of times with trigger and cylinder problems. While it's certainly not a range gun, it should be well worth $150. Until S&W or Ruger comes out with one, I intend to keep mine.
 
A brand new Charter Arms Bullgog 44 in 2.5" lists for $399. Of course the street price would be a lot less. I don't know if you will be happy with an older Charter Arms revolver because of quality issues. (from what I'm told)
Click to expand...
The new ones have a worse reputation than the old ones. The originals were said to be rough, but functional.
 
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jon_in_wv
Couple of quick points here,if you don't
reload ammo can be costly.The bulldog
isn't a revolver that can take 1,000's of
hot hand loads,it wasn't designed for it.

The earlier charter arms revolvers seemed
to be of good quaility for a decent price
bit not as smooth as S&W or colts.I do
enjoy my 3" 44spl bulldog that i spent a
whole 150.00 dollars on,it looked newly
new when i bought it at a local shop.
 
I use my 3" and my 4" Charter .44s as house guns loaded with Glasers. I much prefer the 3" with its fixed sights and solid (non sleeved) barrel. The adjustable sights on the 4" really suck, but I think of the gun as a < 15 yd gun. By the way, total investment for the two is $325.

P.S. Both were bought in the late '70s
 
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Can you shoot it first?

My Dad and I bought Bulldogs in the mid 1970's. My revolver would not stabalize bullets well and they key holed at 12-15 yards if I remember.
Have read that something was done wrong at the factory when screwing on the barrels. Dad's gun works well.
 
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