Charter Bulldog Classic

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I got to handle a used Bulldog at the gun shop today. It was one of the original 3" models. The first thing that struck me is the size: it's small. Second: it's light. Amazing. And probably exciting to shoot. :)

It had a price tag of $400. The finish was somewhat worn, but the lock-up was tight and the trigger nice. The only thing that stopped me from starting to haggle on the price was the the fact there was a lot of lead built up on the outside of the left side of the forcing cone, and none on the right. Made me think it had a timing issue...

For about the same price, I could get a brand new Classic. I wish Christmas wasn't next month! Maybe I'll sell a couple of knives to get some gun money!
 
^ Since Charter makes that 3" blued "classic" model now, I wouldn't have bothered with the older one either. About the only older Charters worth getting now are the 6 inch .357 Bulldogs and the 6 inch .22 rimfires. A year ago I would have included the 6 shot .32 Magnum "Police" revolvers, but now that Charter makes the 7 shot Professional those aren't worth the price people ask for them now.
 
^ Since Charter makes that 3" blued "classic" model now, I wouldn't have bothered with the older one either. About the only older Charters worth getting now are the 6 inch .357 Bulldogs and the 6 inch .22 rimfires. A year ago I would have included the 6 shot .32 Magnum "Police" revolvers, but now that Charter makes the 7 shot Professional those aren't worth the price people ask for them now.

seems to be a lack of everyday Joe reviews of that new "professional".
 
seems to be a lack of everyday Joe reviews of that new "professional".
Yeah, .32 is not a popular caliber and Charter, outside of the .44 Bulldog, is not a popular gun manufacturer.
 
I have a 44 special Bulldog I bought back around 1980. It's a 2in barrel and I think a gunsmith cut an inch off the factory 3 inch barrel. Every round I've ever tried in it keyholes. Beats the heck out of my hand as well.
 
I have really grown fond of CA. The .44 special Bulldog is a classic gun. Maybe not the sexiest and a bit looked down upon by folks carrying "better" guns, but I have to say I have had more QC issues with Ruger and S&W than CA. Of course my sample size is small and 2 issues vs 0 is still pretty tiny.

That said, CA is my go to snubnose Wheelgun manufacturer as of now. An Undercover in my coat pocket and a .45 Pitbull on my belt. I really want to get a Boomer or Classic, but a .45 Colt keeps calling to me. Factor in the .32 Professional, and I have a bunch of CA revolvers on my wish list.
 
I have really grown fond of CA. The .44 special Bulldog is a classic gun. Maybe not the sexiest and a bit looked down upon by folks carrying "better" guns, but I have to say I have had more QC issues with Ruger and S&W than CA. Of course my sample size is small and 2 issues vs 0 is still pretty tiny.

That said, CA is my go to snubnose Wheelgun manufacturer as of now. An Undercover in my coat pocket and a .45 Pitbull on my belt. I really want to get a Boomer or Classic, but a .45 Colt keeps calling to me. Factor in the .32 Professional, and I have a bunch of CA revolvers on my wish list.

After the issues I've heard of w/ the Professional (I wanted one myself), I'm gonna hold off on one for a while. I long while.
 
My CA 5-shot revolver is for 357 Magnum. It's a gun I often use for personal protection with factory 125 grain JHP's. I shoot it at the range with light 38 Sp. target loads but I always fire a cylinder or two of the magnum ammo. recently I noticed a small crack developing on the wood target grips. I contacted Charter Arms to ask their opinion on firing 357 Magnum loads & they told me to not worry that the gun was designed for those pressures and would hold up just fine. I still limit my practice to ten rounds of magnum ammo per practice session but their confidence in their product was very encouraging. If I have to replace the grips I think I'm going to do it with their new rubber grips.
 
Shooting WAY off to point of aim for one.

I'll be honest, neither of my Charter's shoot point of aim...they do shoot point of point thought. I tried actually using the sights on them...aaaand, the results were far from spectacular. When I point it at a close range target and pull the trigger, it goes "BANG!!!" and makes a hole in the area where I want it to go. Given the price, I'm cool beans with that. I've long considered them solid belly-guns.
 
what issues? I can't find anything recent on the gun.
They shoot 6 inches low at 5 yards due to the barrel shroud being oversize. The larger shrouds cause the front sight to be too tall and you can't file the front sight down as it's a fiber optic sight.

Charter is aware of the issue, but IDK if they've made any changes to the shrouds yet for current production Professionals.
 
They shoot 6 inches low at 5 yards due to the barrel shroud being oversize. The larger shrouds cause the front sight to be too tall and you can't file the front sight down as it's a fiber optic sight.
I would! You could kill two birds with one stone... bring the POI to the POA and get rid of the fragile plastic fiber optic. :)

I'm not a fiber optic hater. I put a nice set on my Hawken (sacrilege!) to help my aging eyes with the open sights in dawn/dusk hunting lighting conditions. But I've also dealt with some cheap fiber optic sights that I would have preferred not to have been factory installed on a few firearms. It sucks when you start to take aim and notice you are missing the little optic tube on the front sight. I wouldn't want that to happen on a carry gun, although I don't think it would have a big detrimental effect at close range.
 
They shoot 6 inches low at 5 yards due to the barrel shroud being oversize. The larger shrouds cause the front sight to be too tall and you can't file the front sight down as it's a fiber optic sight.

Charter is aware of the issue, but IDK if they've made any changes to the shrouds yet for current production Professionals.

how in the world did they not see this before the guns left the factory?
 
My CA 5-shot revolver is for 357 Magnum. It's a gun I often use for personal protection with factory 125 grain JHP's. I shoot it at the range with light 38 Sp. target loads but I always fire a cylinder or two of the magnum ammo. recently I noticed a small crack developing on the wood target grips. I contacted Charter Arms to ask their opinion on firing 357 Magnum loads & they told me to not worry that the gun was designed for those pressures and would hold up just fine. I still limit my practice to ten rounds of magnum ammo per practice session but their confidence in their product was very encouraging. If I have to replace the grips I think I'm going to do it with their new rubber grips.

A 4 inch barreled 357mag revolver that weighs 22oz ... ( I have rubber grips on it now) Just a great carry piece ... The 4 inch barrel milks a bit more out of tbe 357 cartridge
image.jpeg
 
how in the world did they not see this before the guns left the factory?
New model revolver and poor communication most likely.

Employee: "Huh, this is new. Guess it's supposed to look like this."

Maybe with a little indifference by the production workers to not ask questions to supervisors/management either due to them not caring or knowing they'll just be told to go back to work and not worry about it.
 
bulldog.jpg I do miss mine, It was a beater but was fun to shoot and despite the "patina" looked all business. I'm not sure where on the timeline of CA's bulldog series it stands, probably not considered a classic, being a shrouded barrel, but I like the look.
I shot it loose and sold it before I knew about CA's willingness to fix even their vintage revolvers.
 
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