What's the dirt on Charter Arms 9mm Pitbull?

[Pokajabba]

Pokajabba, mostly must for range. And only because I was a bit fascinated by the way the 9mm rounds went in [without moon clips]. But if I'm honest,....if I do something in the revolver mechanism,.....I'd rather get a Ruger Vaquero.

Hey, hold on there. Sure the Vaquero is nice, but again, I gotta point you over to the Ruger Blackhawk in .357/9mm. The 9mm bullet is a smaller diameter and tends to be inaccurate past a certain distance, but the .357 is solid and .357 also means .38 Special.

Oh, and because it's a single action, no need for moon clips with that 9mm and since the Blackhawk is a nice, heavy revolver, no need to worry about crimp jumping either.

 

[C0untZer0]

The URL is http://charterfirearms.com/ not www.charterarms.com

 

[Monster Zero]

Gracias.

 

[PabloJ]

As the Title states, what is the dirt on the Charter Arms 9mm Pitbull? Are they okay? Is there anything that I should know about it? There's a used one at a local FFL for $440.....has walnut grips.

I'm guessing that 9mm is more snappy than a 38 Special round.

I have looked at few of those Bulldogs in .357 or .38 ranging in vintage from 1970s till now. While the blued ones with wood grips made years ago had nice finished none looked like they would stand up to lot of shooting. Just like Taurus I would not have trouble carrying one as defensive weapon role in which they will not be shot a lot. If you want affordable shooter I would look at Alfa Proj. LGS had used one in very good condition for $350. While it looked "blue collar" the gun was solid and well put together. Not something that would become loose after good amount of shooting.

 

[C0untZer0]

Three 9mm revolvers

 

[Damon555]

Been watching this thread with interest to see what the general consensus is about the gun. I have a 9mm Pitbull that has been a decent revolver but there were/are a few bugs that need(ed) to be ironed out.

The first and foremost issue (I won't call it a problem because many won't have it) that I've come across is the revolver does not like to be loaded with my reloads using cast bullets that are .356" diameter. The bullets stretch the cases ever so slightly too much and they are difficult to fully chamber. If the rounds are not fully inserted into the chambers they will bind the cylinder when shooting....(that is if you can even get it closed) They will work but need to be persuaded into place.....but this makes ejecting un-fired rounds very, very difficult and they will jump the extractor detentes which is no fun at all.

Next, the revolver was sent back to Charter because it shot very high and to the right no matter what ammo I tried in it. They mostly fixed that problem..... After careful testing with different bullets weights and powder charges I was able to get the elevation and windage close enough for me.....Next I'm going to figure out what factory ammo will shoot point-of-aim.....115, 124 or 147 grain bullets are on the menu.

While the gun was back at the factory they replaced the cylinder with a 5 shot version even though I never had the extraction issues that prompted them to perform that modification in the first place. No big deal for me because this is just a range toy and I don't mind having an even 10 cylinders full per box of ammo.

After a few challenges I have a revolver that is very fun to shoot and quite a novelty at the range. Sticking to factory ammo and .355" diameter bullets in my reloads makes for easy insertion and ejection of loaded and spent cartridges. Yes you need to hit the ejector rod "smartly" to remove the spent cases but that's to be expected when not having to employ moon clips.

While I would have loved for my Pitbull to be perfect right out of the box everything has worked out fine in the end. Charter has very good customer service and bent over backwards to make things right. Would I buy another Pitbull? I don't know, the 45 version is very tempting.....but my other Charter arms revolver is a 44 special Bulldog which was perfect from the get-go....

 

[Confederate]

I had a Charter Arms Pit Bull back in the 80s and just didn't like it. The .38 Spc Rossi 88 3-incher was much more pleasing revolver, especially when I had binding problems with not only the Pit Bull but the Charter Arms .38. The guns had solid frames, which made them strong for their size, but the rest of the parts just didn't mesh together as well as the Rossi (or even the Taurus 85).

Today's Charter Arms may be another story, but the .44s, though they are impressively fat and mean looking, but they're much slower than .45ACP and don't expand. If be more apt to go with a zippy, special performance .38 from a 3-inch barrel.

 

[Damon555]

Today's Charter Arms may be another story, but the .44s, though they are impressively fat and mean looking, but they're much slower than .45ACP and don't expand.

That's simply not true. When shooting similar bullet weights 44 special loads are in exactly the same ballpark as the 45 ACP.

 

[bikemutt]

I had one of the first ones; total piece of junk. It started to fall apart after half a box of range ammo. CA customer service was excellent, they picked it up, fixed it and sent it back to me. I traded it the next day.

IMO, were I to be tempted to look at a 9mm revolver in the future, I'd look for a Smith & Wesson 940 and learn to live with moon clips.