kilibreaux
member
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2014
- Messages
- 115
The problem is there is no place in the modern world for the .44spl. S&W is now making that same L-frame, 5 shot in .44Mag so who is going to pay just as much for a "limited" cartridge when they can have one that delivers BRAGGING RIGHTS!
Sure, MOST people who buy .44Magnums end up shooting nothing warmer than a hot .44spl, but the thing is the gun still says .44 MAGNUM on the barrel and that's what counts because everyone standing in awe knows they COULD be loosing off the most powerful round ever sent down to Earth IF they wanted too!
THIS is why Charter Arms has been successful with the Bulldog...they built it as light and compact as possible and aimed at a niche market where it competes only with .38spl snubbies - a competition it EXCELS at since even a mild .44spl round eclipses a .38spl from a snubbie.
So S&W brings out an L-frame in .44spl...YAWN. Who is going to pay the vig for a S&W to have nothing "better" than a MUCH less expensive, yet just as reliable, SMALLER, and LIGHTER Charter Arms Bulldog? And Charter Arms owns the rights to the name "Bulldog" which sounds bad-to-tha-BONE!
To counter this S&W brings a warmed over L-frame that weighs 37 ounces and is NOT currently listed in the lineup thanks to the debut of the .44 Magnum version. So the consumer is expected to pony up 3X the vig for an S&W over a CA for a gun that's HUGE in direct comparision, and weighs the equivalent of an entire gun MORE to shoot the same power load and be carried concealed!
CA Bulldog = 22oz.
S&W = 37oz - 15 ounces MORE ...even my Beretta Tomcat weighs less than that! My Kahr P380 weighs a full THIRD less than that! When it comes to concealed carry, 15 UNLOADED ounces matter! An S&W 642 is only 14oz unloaded and Charter Arms' has snubbie .38's that weight just 12 ounces!
So CA has priced and aimed their product squarely at the "user" consumer whereas S&W has aimed their product squarely at the "gun nut" who already owns six of everything and wants something "new." The gun nut will pay the vig...the person price shopping for a reliable CC handgun will not pay $900 for a Smith when the CA is laying there for $400.
I'm sure someone will chortle that an S&W is WORTH three times the money despite NOT being built to do the job of the "lesser" gun...hey, each to his own, but HISTORY is on my side in that Charter Arms has been selling ".44 Bulldogs" like hotcakes for DECADES now while no other maker has managed figure out that the best way to BEAT the competition is to COPY the competition! The INSTANT S&W, or Colt, or Ruger brings out a .44spl built SMALL to compete directly with the CA Bulldog and PRICE it competitively they'll take the market...but that hasn't happened in 30 years, so it looks like CA will be "KING" of the .44 spl market for the foreseeable future.
Sure, MOST people who buy .44Magnums end up shooting nothing warmer than a hot .44spl, but the thing is the gun still says .44 MAGNUM on the barrel and that's what counts because everyone standing in awe knows they COULD be loosing off the most powerful round ever sent down to Earth IF they wanted too!
THIS is why Charter Arms has been successful with the Bulldog...they built it as light and compact as possible and aimed at a niche market where it competes only with .38spl snubbies - a competition it EXCELS at since even a mild .44spl round eclipses a .38spl from a snubbie.
So S&W brings out an L-frame in .44spl...YAWN. Who is going to pay the vig for a S&W to have nothing "better" than a MUCH less expensive, yet just as reliable, SMALLER, and LIGHTER Charter Arms Bulldog? And Charter Arms owns the rights to the name "Bulldog" which sounds bad-to-tha-BONE!
To counter this S&W brings a warmed over L-frame that weighs 37 ounces and is NOT currently listed in the lineup thanks to the debut of the .44 Magnum version. So the consumer is expected to pony up 3X the vig for an S&W over a CA for a gun that's HUGE in direct comparision, and weighs the equivalent of an entire gun MORE to shoot the same power load and be carried concealed!
CA Bulldog = 22oz.
S&W = 37oz - 15 ounces MORE ...even my Beretta Tomcat weighs less than that! My Kahr P380 weighs a full THIRD less than that! When it comes to concealed carry, 15 UNLOADED ounces matter! An S&W 642 is only 14oz unloaded and Charter Arms' has snubbie .38's that weight just 12 ounces!
So CA has priced and aimed their product squarely at the "user" consumer whereas S&W has aimed their product squarely at the "gun nut" who already owns six of everything and wants something "new." The gun nut will pay the vig...the person price shopping for a reliable CC handgun will not pay $900 for a Smith when the CA is laying there for $400.
I'm sure someone will chortle that an S&W is WORTH three times the money despite NOT being built to do the job of the "lesser" gun...hey, each to his own, but HISTORY is on my side in that Charter Arms has been selling ".44 Bulldogs" like hotcakes for DECADES now while no other maker has managed figure out that the best way to BEAT the competition is to COPY the competition! The INSTANT S&W, or Colt, or Ruger brings out a .44spl built SMALL to compete directly with the CA Bulldog and PRICE it competitively they'll take the market...but that hasn't happened in 30 years, so it looks like CA will be "KING" of the .44 spl market for the foreseeable future.