Question about older Charter Arms

[overthemountain]

I'm looking at an older Charter Arms Undercover .38 special (ejector rod is not covered). I can't find any old manuals online, so I have a technical question about it. It looks okay, but you have to pull on the ejector rod while you're pushing on the cylinder release to get the cylinder to roll out. Is that the way it's supposed to work on these older model Charters?

Thanks all.

 

[Jim March]

Oh boy...no, what's *supposed* to happen is, you have a choice between using the normal "S&W style" release OR pulling on the ejector rod. It's kinda neat, you have "dual controls" that do the same thing.

If you have to use both, the gun needs a serious bath - I mean, detail strip and thorough solvent wash.

If the gun was otherwise tight and right, I might go for it at the right price. In top condition I'd pay up to $250, maybe even $300 if I wanted a nice, accurate little 38 snub. Mind you, I'd want a tight gap and above all I'd want rock-solid cylinder lockup when the gun has been UNLOADED, cocked, trigger pulled and the hammer lowered slowly while the trigger is kept pulled.

The original Charter design called for a "tight lockup". As long as the barrel/cylinder alignment on all cylinders is PERFECT, this works well so long as everything is perfect. Same as a Colt Python...accuracy can be very good with this system, durability however isn't perfect. Because if it goes a bit out of time, Bad Things[tm] happen.

The Ruger/S&W/Taurus thinking is to leave a bit of "rotational slop" so that the bullet itself can do the final barrel/cylinder alignment on firing. There's a minor accuracy penalty but a major reliability boost.

So: understanding that, if you're willing to regularly check a classic Charter for loose screws and/or any deterioration, you'll get a very accurate and reasonably lightweight snubby. I love mine.

Ammo: you need to limit your +P usage in these guns. If you do use +P, the Remington 158 lead hollowpoints will be the least stressful +Ps and will be very effective. Better yet: for carry and enough to shoot at a range to find out where it prints, get some of the new Buffalo Bore 38 standard pressure combat loads. These give performance like most +Ps but without high peak pressures.

On edit: yeah, it's me, I had a tech glitch and am getting the mods to fix my main account...

 

[Ailog]

Just using the cylinder latch will give you a hard time getting the cylinder to open. You pretty much have to pull the ejector rod to get a smooth release. This is because (warning: long winded):

There are two springs in the ejector rod assembly. One is the return spring and one is the lock spring. The lock spring is pretty stiff and is responsible for the tension and the heavy drag that the end of the ejector rod has on the revolver rear face when you open and close the cylinder if you do not pull back on the ejector rod. With the cylinder closed the ejector rod end fits up against the cylinder latch release screw. When you push on the cylinder latch the release screw moves forward against the ejector rod and the lock spring tension. You have to make sure you push hard and all the way on the release and even then the cylinder may not release easily. Also once free from the release screw the ejector rod end has to pass over the hand slot and the slot will try to grab the ejector rod. Also, you would want to check if the release screw is set properly.

So pulling on the ejector rod is really the only way to get a smooth release.

Old technical data is hard to come by. I emailed Charter for some and got no response. I havn't called them yet though.

 

[overthemountain]

Thanks for the info. Given those two responses, I think I might give it another look and probably grab it. It's well below the $250 mark and it is for a dealer I've bought from before.

 

[pinkymingeo]

If you go to www.e-gunparts.com you'll find a schematic for the Charter. A complete teardown involves driving some pins, which you might not want to do. Older Charter snubbies are excellent revolvers, and tend to be cheap as dirt considering the value received.