Charter Arms Bulldog.....

[TonyB]

Saw a Bulldog 44spec. at a local shop yesterday..it was $269...not shot too much..a ltiile end shake and when I did the cylinder lock up thing it had a little side to side movement.......it this a good price for a good gun.......I'm interested in the platform of a 44 snub(it was a 3in)...it weighed about the same or less than my Sp101.......any comments??
Oh yeah....it was an older one blued with a wood grip.....also how hard would it be to find parts and speedloaders and a lefty holster?????

 

[BluesBear]

Most K frame holsters will work.

HKS still makes the speedloaders.

Parts are no problem either.

The older Charters seem to be better as carried a lot shot a little guns.
They stand up pretty well to 246gr RNL factory loads. But hot loads really wear them fast.

I used to load the 180 grain Sierra JHP over the loads losted in the Lyman manual for the 246 grain bullets. You get more velocity at less pressure that way.

 

[TonyB]

Yeah, just for money sake I'm not sure how much I'd shoot it.....44spl. is expensive...not I have the extra$300 to buy it now anyway,but it did peak my interest...I like the look of those huge cylinder holes and bore!!

 

[Hutch]

Mine shot loose in no time, with mild handloads. I'd throw that fish back and try a different hole.

 

[TonyB]

Hutch..that was my concern also......thanks...the last thing I want is a loose sloppy gun......I don't have the money to have an extra gun that I don't shoot..and I think you need to shoot your carry as much as you can afford.I did hear that the older Charter Arms were hit and miss......I think I'll let it pass......but it is tempting!!!I need 3 jobs

 

[The Mighty Beagle]

Tony, I have been wondering the same thing.

The price you quoted sounds way too high for a gun in loose condition as you describe. Keep in mind, a lot of shooters buy them and shoot them till they start to get loose. Then they dump them and move on.

For that price, you could look at a new Charter 2000 Bulldog. Nobody on here seems to own one, so I don't know how they perform.

 

[Preacherman]

Powerful Hound-dawg, I've owned both the old and the new Bulldogs. Not good... I ended up disposing of them both, and going to a rather eclectic mix of S&W's, Rossi's and Taurus' in that caliber (one of my favorites, BTW! ). If you can find an older Rossi 720 floating around, they're GREAT buys - typically under $200 even in gunstores, and VERY strong and reliable. The Taurus 431 (now discontinued) is also a good buy.

 

[Deepdiver]

I'll second the motion on the Rossi 720. I've had one for about 10 years and it is still as tight as the day I got it. I run hot handloads thru it all the time, with no noticable wear and tear. Great gun for the money.

DD

 

[TonyB]

I had a Rossi in my hand at a local shop about 6 months ago....hardly shot and locked up tight....I KNEW I shouldv'e picked it up......I like the Taurus's Ive handled too........I had a 805(?) and I'm sorry I traded it in...it was a nice 3" 357....I have a PT99 that's possibly my favorite gun...people think Taurus is shoddy but I've had only good expeirences....and the new crop seems top quality.........need to win the lottery.

 

[The Mighty Beagle]

Thanks for the advice, Preacherman ... guess I'll keep a lookout for one of those Rossi's instead. I really liked my .357 Rossi.

 

[billcameron]

I would stay away from charter arms. My old 44 bulldog's mainspring would take a set and not fire double action. Got loose and cylinder would come off when I would swing out cylinder to load.

 

[fastbolt]

Well, if you do a search around here on Charter Arms .44 Bulldogs, you'll find some depressing owner feedback. The .38 Undercovers seemed to be better in this regard than the .44's ever were ...

Mine was one of the unhappy stories ...

I owned two 3" .44 Bulldogs ... a blued & a stainless.

The blued one wasn't as reliable as I'd have preferred, and didn't like to consistently print with much of anything ... but at least it would fire most of the time.

The stainless model just wouldn't function. The cylinder would lock up in both dry-fire and actual firing. I returned it to the factory 2 or 3 times ... I can't really remember anymore ... and had some pleasant conversations with folks at the factory that sounded interested in my problem ... but that's about as far as it went. Each time the gun was returned it still had the same problem. The last time i picked it up right out of the box and tried to dry fire it ... It didn't make it all the way around the cylinder.

I traded it in to the same gunstore that had handled shipping the gun back each time, and explained that it definitely had problems. They had a bored gunsmith, and were willing to accept gun in trade anyway.

I'll never own another one, and wouldn't accept one as a gift. If the store tries to pay you to accept the gun, make sure you charge them enough to buy a functional gun somewhere ...

 

[P95Carry]

Only owned one Charter - a .22 pathfinder .... wonderful feel to the gun .... but ....

It was not too tight when I bought it (my bad!) and in the end it got worse .. yeah, just a lil ole .22. Finish of parts seemed poor and i made one new component ... a sorta plate that connected between trigger and .... something else! Too long ago! I felt that materials quality sucked!

I know of several cases where big bore Charter revos shot loose .. real quick.

Also ... Badgerrr a newer member here, has IIRC a pic ... showing a quite severely blown up Charter Bulldog ...

That price certainly sounded way too high for really rather inferior goods.

 

[Stainz]

I believe the Charter 2000 .44 Spcl Bulldog in SS was ~$290 new in the local Academy Sports chain. They have the excellent PD .44 Spcl round, the Blazer 200gr GDjHP, for $12.99/50 - great buy. They hit 800fps from my 2.5" S&W 296 - 840fps from my 3" 696. Speer says they are designed to open up at 800fps. BTW, that 296 is still available for $350 or less from several places, despite it's deletion from the S&W rolls some two + years ago. Mine weighs ~22 oz with the Blazers aboard and sporting the Uncle Mike's backstrap enclosing combat grips, a help for recoil. The 296 is tempermental re it's ammo - it must be 200gr or smaller and clad - and no short (.44 Russians) cases in the Ti cylinder. An L-frame., it is bigger than that Bulldog... but I like it - mine shoots POA at 12 yd with those Blazers.

Stainz