Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 44 Bulldog

Looking at a Older bulldog in 44 special, 3 inch barrel, seems to be in Good shape, smooth trigger, with Pachmayer Grips, asking $315.00 is that a good deal on one? dont realy care for the newer ones.

I would buy it for $250 if it was in decent shape, maybe $275.00

I'd jump on it. The older ones in nice shape are hard to come by, and pretty nice guns, particularly considering their caliber, weight, and compactness. Very unique in the gun world. The new ones aren't nearly as nice, and they aren't making any more of the old type.

If I ran into one today it would be mine, at that price. Would I try to do better? You bet. But I wouldn't walk away. It's a fair deal. If you want one, don't quibble.

Kinda what I fig. they were asking $330.00 for it got them down to $315.00 put it in Lay A Way Iv not seen one in a long time, and this one seems Nice! Thanks

Have one similar...but from our 'friends' from Brazil...

my 2" ported Taurus 44S....alloy frame..SS cylinder

bought it 17 years ago....carry alot...shoot some.....

run 7/Unique with 200 gr Horny XTP..been a good one...

I had one in 1977, it keyholed bullets at 10 yards, still $250 would be a good price for a belly gun.

Mine from the early 1980s could group pretty well out to two hundred yards.

Sorry I would have to see that to believe it. A bulldog shooting 200 yards is kind of funny. Keyholing lead bullets at 10 yards is more believable. Just to hold the thing and shoot it was like a firecracker going off in your hands...yep 200 yard groups..kind of internety...

I bought one for my first wife sometime in the mid-1970s. She shot it enough to remain proficient with it, shooting only factory ammo. Never saw it keyhole with anything we tried in it. She had a problem with the ejector star sometime in the mid-1990s and I sent it back to Charter Arms for her. Got it back like new with a much better D/A trigger. A few years ago, she sold it to my grandson for his wife who carries it and shoots it regularly, and I haven't heard of any problems with it. I think it's a fair price--not a bargain, but a fair price.

Got mine at a pawnshop a couple of summers ago. He went down from $330 to $315 and threw in the box of WW loads you see there. Also came with a UM cordura holster.

Was a little gritty but just needed to be cleaned up. I stoned the trigger and other moving parts and it has a really good SA pull and a decent, albeit fairly heavy, DA pull.

When I carry/carried it I keep it fed with 200 gr GD at about 850. Pleasant to shoot and damn near perfect size for a .44 SPL. My buddy liked it so much he bought a new one. Excellent quality, slightly better DA and just as crisp and clean SA as mine right out of the box. Great, reliable little wheels.

I've owned a bunch of them over the years. I'd buy at that price on a nice condition older model. They were the best, IMO.

I've now got one of the new stainless models with the 3" barrel, and I've been very pleased with it too. Mine is my go to arrowhead hunting gun at the Ranch in the summer time. I load the first round with the Speer / CCI .44 shotshells for snakes and the other 4 cylinders with the Speer Blazer 200 grain Gold Dot HP load. They work well on small hogs & skunks.

My current 44 special is a Charter like Mojo is showing. I've had a couple and this one started with a descent D/A trigger that I can live with. I'm going to buy some of those 200 grain Blazers. They look pretty tough.

Check out the Taurus 431. Those are nice and a little stronger gun. 3" barrel, fixed sights, I have a blue one and just bought a stainless one and waiting for that.

The one im getting is a blued pistol, Im guessing at 3" barrel. Just seemed to fit my hand well, I realy didnt want to get another pistol at this time, as I just got my LCR 327, been carrying that one a bunch, guess the Bulldog was calling to me, sometimes a Good thing!

If it's good enough for David Berkowitz....

Not a bad price for an older gun but look at one thing carefully before you buy it.

Check the forcing cone area of the barrel shank where it screws through the frame. Many of them have a flat spot that is pretty easy to see at the 6:00 o'clock position...if you get one of those they turn bullets sideways at 10 yards...

And have you looked at the new ones that look just like the originals...not the stainless ones with the full underlug barrel.. CA now has the originals available...

Bob

Me and an old retired deputy (then working as a range officer) both had one. We used to attract attention by setting up clay birds on the 200 yard hill and see who would be the first to break it. It didn't ever take more than a few tries, and no shot was more than a few inches off.

His demonstrating this feat with his .44 Bulldog was the reason I bought mine.

Amazing what you can do with a heavy caliber iron sight handgun if you have a big dusty field to shoot over and grew up reading Elmer Keith.

I was thinking "Son of Sam" too. I always make that association every time I see a Bulldog - not that it would stop me from owning one.

My wife inherited her dad's old blued Bulldog. So far it's reasonably accurate, seems for and finished fairly well and make a a nice big bore packing gun. My only complaint is the factory wood grips are a little things for my big hands so newer grips are definitely in order.

My favorite carry gun. Hardly know it's on my belt. I carry WW Silvertips in the summer and cast SWCs in the winter for better heavy clothing penetration.

Pachmyers work great with the Bulldog .44. Here's one I picked up used a few years ago. First thing I did was replace the stocks. Not in as nice shape as the one I bought new back in the 1980s (sadly, long ago sold off), but functions well.

If I had found it I would have carried it home. Wife is looking for a carry gun and that would be about perfect.

I has a Target Bulldog in the mid 70's and kick myself for selling it. It shot better than I could.

The one im geting looks just like the one The Real Hawkeye has photo of, hope to get it late next week!

One of the uncommon gems that Taurus made.

I love those old skinny barrel 70's Bulldogs. I owned two over the years and actually shot a 'possible' qualification with one about 1982, using Federal 200 grain lead HP. I initially ran into some resistance getting it approved, but I had an ace in the hole.

I (a pup rookie) got to talking guns with an old Major I'd see every morning at coffee, after coming off a midnight shift. I found out he had a S&W 1950 Military with a 4" barrel and he just LOVED the 44 Special. About our third conversation, I mentioned I had a 44 Bulldog and I was going to request approval of it as an off duty gun. He said "By Gawd DO IT and if you get any static, let me know. I'd like to carry my 44 once in a while too!"

Smooth sailing after that

i have mentioned this before. Deputy friend of mine stopped a car, guy came out shooting and blew his windshield out him sitting in the drivers seat. At that time everyone carried model 19's. Caught him in a gunstore few weeks later buying a bulldog.

Mine grouped really well out to 75 yards (that was the limit of my range at the time). Never key-holed. It would throw them low at that range so I had to hold up a bit with the front sight. It was a good gun. I recall as each bullet was fired, you could tell the difference in recoil coz the gun was getting lighter with each shot!

the one I had shot about 4-5 inch's at 15 yards, I must have had a bad one.

I've had two...one back in the 1980s and another one just a few years ago.

The one I had back in the 1980s had a very visible flat spot on the bottom of the forcing cone...it would throw a 240 gr. cast bullet sideways at 10 yards... The one I had a few years ago was from the same time period but the forcing cone was perfect. Only shot the gun once but at 15 yards all the holes were nice and round and accuracy was fine...

Bob

actually you own something right now that's pretty close. That taurus 41mag with 41special loads in it.

One of my favorite carry guns . . .



.44 Special

Never had a .44 Bulldog, but always wanted one. I love the cartridge, have a Ruger Flattop .44, and recently traded off a Bulldog in .38/.357. Starting to see used .44 Bulldogs for sale at reasonable prices around here - they used to be almost universally overpriced - so I may get one soon.

Mike

Like to Thanks all for there imput, Rainy day here so I went and got the Bulldog! Im very Happy with it thus far, was kinda dirty. so cleaned it up. the screw heads are tight dont look like they have been turned, a small bit of holster rub on the left side, but dont think its been shot much at all! Theres a gun show here in town this weekend will look or some 44 ammo, I do have 6 rounds I found in the junk parks box. from a S&W 24 I had along time ago! may order some from midway, none in town that Iv found. I almost bought a new one 6 weeks ago but it just seemed Cheap it me, this one to seems better built! will a J Frame holster work or these? I do like the one in the last Photo! I cant quite make out who made it tho!

Most j-frame holsters will work just fine.

Bridgeport made or Stratford?

Its a Bridgeport made gun!

That's a first run. Great pistol. My wife laid claims to one of the same vintage as soon as it came into the house.

CCI GoldDot 200 JHPs shoot VERY well.

Going to look for some of them golddots at the Gun show on sat. Shot it today, Im digging this old gun! ordered a Holster like orangeokies also!

Good deal. My best Charters have been Bridgeports.

My bullpuppy has be worthless from the get-go and was last THROWN to the back of the top shelf in my safe.

I have the Taurus 431 which is MUCH heavier and I love it, but too heavy to lug around fishing.

I wanted the Bulldog to carry fishing foe the SS, light weight and bullet weight. To bad it is far from reliable.

YES, charter has had it back . . . more than once.

First lemon firearm I have ever owned.

A fellow shooter had one of the older ones and it was great, reliable and a "shooter"

Go find one of the older ones. New Charters suck, and that's well known.

I have no desire for any of their new stuff either.*

I almost got interested when they trotted out their 45 ACP snub a few years ago; until I discovered each individual round loaded had to be pushed into each chamber, to over-ride the patented ejector star spring-thingy they designed into it.

Thought I simply misunderstood early product announcements, so I called the mothership & they confirmed it. A five-shot snub that is impossible to speed load? Do not want.

*Possible exception- convertible Pathfinder. But I'd still rather have an old one.

I don't recall having owned a CA Bulldog, but I've owned several Rossi 720s with adjustable sights and like everything about them but the grip and the plastic front sight blade.

A call to M&M Gunsmithing in Hazel Green, AL, at 571-276-7676 solves the grip issues, as they have a limited inventory of the larger "target style" grips that fit the 515/518/720 size frames and are larger enough, without being too large.

A new metal front sight blade can be easily made with key stock with bench grinder and file.

I have owed a couple of S&W 696s and in 20/20 hindsight wish that I hadn't sold them for as little as I did, but for a regular carry belt gun in rough conditions, the Rossi 720s seemed like a better option to me. I carry mine mostly to shoot snakes, so I typically carry it with 3 rounds of CCI snake-shot and 2 rounds of 240 grain SWCs or switch it around to 3 bullets and 2 shot capsules.

I have a couple of Taurus 431's and like them. I know Charters are NOT strong enough for the Buffalo Bore 44 Special but the Taurus apparently is. Both of mine are 3"ers, and can be carried with a descent holster. I prefer the 255 grain HC SWC as a minimum for standard black bears that get unruly.

Buffalo Bore has a load thats loaded with 200 grain wad cutters, that rated for the Bulldog, has anyone used them? Im been thinking of getting a box from Midway, they are in stock. I only had 6 44, rounds, but have some ammo in route, also gun show tommorow, hopeing to find some there!

Sold my old M36 that I carried for over 25 years, replaced it with a Pitbull 40 S&W. Fits the Passport cordura holster the M36 rode in, with no problems.