Charter Arms - worth it?

[mbt2001]

Charter arms is a fine weapon. Rugged, dependable, reliable, dangerous as all get out at close range.

I would trust my life to one (period)

Getting a Ruger is nice, Smith and Wesson is even better, BUT if the purpose of the gun is to go into a sock drawer to "stand and wait" for the masters call, you would be hard pressed to beat a Charter Arms.

I would buy the Charter, take the money I saved an by a good holster and a nice dinner...

The $400 price tag is steep though. http://gunbroker.com/Auction/SearchResults.asp

I can pickup a Rossi snub at Academy for about $300.00 all in.

 

[Jross]

Bulldog Impressions

I have a new build stainless Bulldog. I have it because I wanted a .44 without spending big bucks. It really is of poorer quality (fit and finish) compared even to a Taurus or Ruger. Lots of tool marks. If I handle the Bulldog and then my SP101 there is a shocking difference in appearance and build quality.

But I will also say to be fair that the Bulldog always fires, it is timed well, is accurate enough, decent grips, feels great in the hand, and overall I trust it.

I had to send a new Taurus CIA back to the factory for failure to fire - but the Bulldog barked from day one.

But for other than a cheap .44, I'd go with Taurus or Ruger for a .38 or .357.

And BTW since I got the Taurus fixed it fires fine and is a sweet little CC revolver.

 

[rogertc1]

Right has to be worse than a crapy Italian Pietta soft metal 1858 Remington replica ..LOL

 

[CuzinMike]

My current model Bulldog is finished poorly, doesn't have the smoothest action, and just plain looks like a cheap gun. However, it has been stone reliable, and is plenty accurate. Smiths and Rugers are prettier to look at and have smoother actions, but I've actually had more reliability issues with my newer Smith (light strikes out of the box) than the Charter. I paid $300 for my Bulldog NIB last year, 400 seems kinda steep for what you get with a Charter.

Also, as was mentioned previously, the current Charters are NOT Charter2000 or Charco guns. The current fit and finish, while still crappy, is much better.

 

[jjohnson]

Let HER Decide

I love it:

I do not own one but I am married. Let her pick what she wants.

Oh, man, if I were as smart as that guy, I'd have had much better luck with women!

My CA Bulldog has been with me for over 20 years, and while it's not as pretty as a Smith, the $150 I paid for it was worth it. It's inexpensive but rugged and reliable. All I did to make things better was add Pachmayr grips - which was also a very good thing to do with a few more bucks. I CCW mine sometimes, and I have some much prettier revolvers. IMHO, it does what it was designed to do - put some more horsepower in a modestly priced package for those of use who don't like .38 snubbies.

No, it's not really a fun handgun to shoot, but I'm told the titanium jobs aren't, either. I'm still happier with five rounds of .44 Special than with five or six .38s.

 

[BamaHoosier]

I've been married to the same lady going on 14 years,in part because I let HER decide on matters like this.My daily ccw is a CA Off-Duty .38sp w/Pachmayer Presentation/Compac rubber.I inherited it from my late uncle,and became attatched to it after carrying it a few times.I've not had one complaint(mine or others)about it! I sold quite a few of them back in the 80's when I worked in a gun store in AL.IMHO,They're a great wheelie for the money.Like any other machine,they require TLC to last awhile!

 

[jason97496]

My wife wanted a pink lady also, until we went to the gun shop and she handled one. She tried a few others and settled on a smith and wesson airweight model 360.

I should add that the pink lady was priced at $429 and we paid $455 for the smith and wesson.

 

[Big Daddy Grim]

Picked up my wife a pink lady a month or so ago for 290$ has price gone up that much? Good gun but a word of advice have the salesman try puting a round in all the cylinders I ended up with a Pink Lady where one cylinder was smaller than the rest and the .38 would not fit CA took care of it but still kinda annoying.

 

[rhweb32]

I got a new in the box 642 this week for 389. they're out there, keep looking.