Review of the Charter Arms PITBULL in 9mm

[C0untZer0]

I recently purchased a Charter Arms PITBULL in 9mm. I've always had an interest in 9mm revolvers and I've wanted one of these for a long time. I've used search tools to find these online One finally showed up on GrabAGun so I purchased it.

This is an Internet stock pic because

1) My camera isn't so good

2) My PITBULL doesn't look nearly as nice as the stock pic

I paid $459.00 which reflects a premium because of their scarcity, Charter Arms didn’t seem to be making a lot of these, although I've seen more and more of these for sale now, and at a cheaper price


The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.


The Good:

The revolver loads easily (for a 9mm revolver), no moon clips are needed, you just pop the cartridges in and the gun is ready to go.

I think the grips are good and the gun feels good in my hand.

The single action trigger is crisp and breaks nicely. The trigger is also improving with use.

The gun is shootable, not too much recoil with various 9mm ammo and I do find it fun to shoot at the range.

Firing it single-action, the gun is accurate, it fires where it is pointed. Since I use 6 O’clock hold my shots are a little south of the bullseye on this target, but I think you get the picture that the gun is generally accurate. This was fired from 30 feet:

The Bad:

The double-action trigger is gritty, it sounds and feels like two rough pieces of metal rubbing against each other. The DA trigger is also heavy, it stacks, speeds up and lets off. It was really horrible out of the box, granted I am not an accomplished revolver shooter, but I couldn't keep the sights on target when dry firing it double-action. I didn't even try at the range – the results would have been horrendous. The trigger has gotten better through a lot of dry-firing. It is no-where near as nice as the S&W 929. Granted that the 929 is a $1,000 gun, and judging the trigger is subjective, but for a gun that is only a little over twice as expensive as the PITBULL, the trigger on the 929 is about 10 times better. Out of the box the DA trigger on the Charter Arms PITBULL is better than the Taurus 905, but I have no idea how or if the Taurus trigger improves with use.

The empty brass will eject on the first 3 cylinders fired without any problems but after 3 cylinders worth of firing, things start to get sticky. I had to tap the ejector rod with my gun case to get the rounds out on the 5th cylinder.


The Ugly:

The Charter Arms PITBULL has nicks or machine marks in a lot of places. There is a nick in the barrel underlug on the left side, a nick on the top of the frame toward the rear sights, the frame window has nicks on both sides top and bottom. The finish isn't as nice as a Taurus 905 – the only Taurus revolver I look at are the Taurus 905s (which I do quite often) and I've never seen a Taurus 905 with as many tiny gouges or nicks in it as I've seen with this Charter Arms PITBULL. Here are some pics of the poor finish on this revolver.

The mediocre and miscellaneous:

The stainless steel front site is just serviceable. It can turn silver and lose contrast in certain lighting – as you might expect.

The lock-up is just OK, and not as tight as I've experienced with other Charter Arms revolvers – like the Pathfinder. The lockup is also not as positive as a .40 S&W PITBULL that I dry-fired in a LGS.


General comments:

I realize I paid to much for this gun at $460.00 and I knew I was paying a premium just because Charter Arms wasn't producing many of them. I just like 9mm revolvers. This gun may reside in my Bug-Out-Bag in between range trips.

My EDC guns are 9mm – a Rorhbaugh R9 and a CM9 so I like the ammo interchangeability.

All in all I am happy with this gun, I have a lot of fun just dry firing it all day



.

 

[Lucky Derby]

Thanks for the write up.

 

[Sergei Mosin]

Thanks for the review. Is there any compelling reason to buy this gun as opposed to one of the other 9mm revolvers currently on the market?

 

[JERRY]

I've found that when buying a Charter Arms gun you have to really examine and manipulate it before plunking your money down. that is the only way to ensure you're not getting one of their lemons.

 

[C0untZer0]

Thanks for the review. Is there any compelling reason to buy this gun as opposed to one of the other 9mm revolvers currently on the market?

It depends on why you want a 9mm revolver and what you're going to use it for.

The Ruger LCR is double-action only and only has a 1.875" barrel.

The Smiths are much larger pistols and cost around $1,000.00

The Taurus 905 is probably the closest revolver to the Charter Arms. I've generally heard good things about the 905.

 

[kcofohio]

Like others said Count, thanks for the review!

I have had 2 CA DAOs in the past. One good trigger, and the other was heavy. But with DA/SA, in 9. I will bite, if the right one with the right price comes along.

 

[C0untZer0]

Another thing I'm finding with this PITBULL is that it has a long trigger reset and when trying to shoot it quickly double action, it is easy to lock it up by not letting the trigger reset.

I tried duplicating that with my 929 and it just doesn't happen.

I am sure with a lot of practice I would learn to let the trigger reset every time, and when I encounter it now, (pull and the trigger doesn't move), I immediately let off and then I can pull the trigger like normal.

Just something I noticed.

 

[RealGun]

I just bought one (on GB) from a shop that had six of them. The shop is in CT only 20 minutes from Charter Arms. I was told they would examine the gun for my concerns about cosmetics, ensure that I got a nice one, and return any, should they appear second rate.

My attraction was to the small size/weight, having a boatload of ammo and reloading supplies that isn't getting used (an excuse to add a 9mm to the revolver collection), the relatively low cost for a gun that might get some abuse, and the feature not requiring moonclips. I should mention stainless, because I am generally not attracted to blued guns in double actions. I don't own one but have blued SAs and recently acquired another.

My ammo supply came from when the Kahr 4" tactical model was only in 9mm, later replaced by the T40. I then got into IDPA briefly and bought a Kimber Aegis 1911 (9mm with 10 rounds), my favorite safe queen alongside my original gun, the Springfield 1911A1 Loaded.

I also have a dedicated press for 9mm.

I was not interested in investing in a big Smith that I couldn't carry. More range guns I don't need, and the Smith is expensive enough to appeal mostly to competitive shooters IMO. I just think IDPA has gotten out of hand and moved too far from use of street guns and gear that a person would actually carry. DQing appealing revolvers like the 986 was kind of the capper. But IDPA rants are another subject. Lots of people obviously love it.

 

[C0untZer0]

I was not interested in investing in a big Smith that I couldn't carry. More range guns I don't need, and the Smith is expensive enough to appeal mostly to competitive shooters IMO.

Not to hi-jack my own thread but the S&W 929 is such a magnificent piece of machinery, it is more than a firearm, it is a work of art.

Of course I would never throw it into a bug-out-bag (it sits on a velvet pillow under a glass case).

 

[C0untZer0]

Just to update the review, the transfer bar on my 9mm PITBULL broke. I know it happened at less than 150 rounds through it, I haven't kept good track of the round count and the more I think about it, I actually think there were only 42 rounds through it. But I do a ton of dry-firing with the revolver, and I use snap caps.

I called Charter Arms and spoke to Donna, she issued a FedEx label, I sent the gun in and got it back in about a week.

One thing I noticed with A-Zooms is that the cases are rolling back. I get the same thing when I dry-fire A-Zooms in my Glock. I think with the Glock this happens because the A-Zoom get re-chambered over and over. With the Charter Arms PITBULL I think this is happening because that case lip is getting pounded into the ridge where the case sits. The rounds in the PITBULL do hot headspace where the extractor star is holding the rounds, they headspace on the ridge cut in the chamber.

The picture of this A-Zoom is from my Glock, I'm just using the picture to illustrate what is happening since I don't have a decent camera currently.

I took it to the range this morning to test ejection and POI of different bullet weights.

The test isn't very scientific, it is difficult to setup a benchrest at the indoor range where I shoot so these results were shooting standing offhand. The range is only 7 yards, slow-fire single-action.

115gr Winchester "Target" POI was 1 & 11/16" below POA
124gr Speer Lawman TMJ POI was 1/4" above POA
147gr Speer Lawman TMJ POI was 5/15" above POA

I'm not really proficient with a revolver, and it wasn't bench-rest, so you probably can chalk these results up to poor shooting as much as anything else, but I thought I'd put the results out there just for the heck of it.

I notice that I have one chamber where the round is more difficult to insert than the others, I am guessing this could be fixed but buffing that cylinder a little bit.

I ejected 5 cylinders worth of brass without any problems, on the sixth cylinder the extraction claw jumped the groove on a round, the same chamber that rounds are a little difficult to get in.

I had 1 failure to ignite, the round fired on the second try.

On the seventh cylinder I again had the extraction claw jump the groove on a round, the same chamber that rounds are a little difficult to get in.


For the first time I tried DA rapid fire, I only shot it at 5 yards and the 6-round shot group was 3", but I don't think I could have done that when I first got the revolver (the DA trigger was so bad). Its not great shooting but I al least feel confident that if I used the gun at SD distances I could put shot COM.

I also fired my Rohrbaugh R9 this morning and I am more accurate shooting my DOA R9 than I am shooting the Charter Arms single-action.

I might paint the front sight on the PITBULL day-glo orange and see if that helps

All-in-all, I'm still having fun with this revolver at the range.

 

[GBExpat]

... I might paint the front sight on the PITBULL day-glo orange and see if that helps ...

If you decide to do this, first apply a coat of white paint. I add this note just in case you are not familiar with the tip ... but you probably already are.

 

[Lord Teapot]

Not to hi-jack my own thread but the S&W 929 is such a magnificent piece of machinery, it is more than a firearm, it is a work of art.

Of course I would never throw it into a bug-out-bag (it sits on a velvet pillow under a glass case).

really? my bugout gun is a smith 629 .44, heck i'd say if the bag can only have one gun might as well put one in there that'll go forever.