Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Charter Arms junk !!

50 years ago I would have agreed with that also...but the Ruger line of DA revolvers, especially the GP100 .357 Magnum will stand up to more abuse than many Smiths or Colts. I also have three .41 Magnum Taurus Trackers in Titanium and Stainless that are not exactly "unreliable" either.

50 years is a long time and a lot of new guns have come out since then. Look in a 50s vintage Gun Digest or Shooters Bible and look at one from this year...

Bob

The only "Charter" guns I've seen outside of my own and a few other original models were at SHOT or at gunshows, so I wasn't able to cycle or handle them much, much less shoot them.

From that cursory inspection, it did seem that the Charter 2000 and CharCo guns were of a different design, and if my memory serves, they were stamped with those manufacturing names. Keep in mind that I was looking the gun itself over, so the name stamping wasn't a major interest point; so I could be wrong. I haven't yet seen a current model at all.

Like I said I recall the same thing as to the names being stamped as to Charter 2000 or CharCo.


I have handled the current variety, but not shot them yet. Dry fired, and messed around with however not shot. The actions seem reasonably smooth, barrels look good not rough our buggered, cylinders look fine. I would looks wise the newsest ones are everybit equal to the originals varieties.

Cool. Might see if I can get myself a .44 Bulldog.

I bought a new Bulldog 3" .44 back in 1981. I find that it is relatively well made, nothing like a S&W though!

That's just about when I bought my 3" Bulldog .44 too. I sold it in the 1990s for a stupid reason. When firing it, after about fifty rounds, one of the cross pins would start sliding out. All I had to do was push it back in, and a smith could likely have corrected the problem permanently. Still kick myself, because I really liked that gun. Carried it a lot.

Thanks for the insight Rocky.

My only exposure to CharterArms has been an early 3in SS Pathfinder. Pretty nice pistol.

Charter is listing a 4 in Pathfinder with dual cylinders in .22 and .22 Magnum this year. They go for under $500.

I've gotten such mixed messages I had pretty much abandoned the idea. I think I will give one a try.

I would very much like one as I have long wanted a .22LR cylinder for my 651 Smith and couldn't find one.

I bought a 514 Rossi for $189.00 instead.

Wasilla,

Several things. On the Charters I have four, and have seen none of what you claim as accurate. The frame is of course aluminum alloy to keep the weight down; where did you get the plastic idea anyway? Contact the factory, tell them your problem and the Charter is guaranteed forever! They will fix it and fix it fast and for free if what you say (excluding your incorrect plastic example) is correct. It works better than griping on a blog and solves your problem.

Uh? I bought one of the .38's for my wife, IT DOES HAVE A PLASTIC GRIP FRAME.

I owned two original Charters. On in .44 which I foolishly let go, and one I curruently still retain in .38 Special. It's a nightstand/camp gun. But, since 1975 it's shot quite a few boxes of cartridges and the only complaint I have is the grip screws tend to loosen. It's an easy fix.

The original Charters locked up tighter than any comparable and contemporary S&W. My .38 still locks up rock solid when the trigger is back.

Dan

i almost bought a charter last yr,but a friend warned me not to. i bought a rossi 357 and really like it.

I recently bought an .44 Special Bulldog Pug (Three weeks ago) I read mostly good things about them and I love the .44 Special.
I looked it over at the gun shop and it was a bit rough on the finish and trigger, but figured on a $350.00 gun it was not going to be S&W grade. I got it home and inspected better than I could at the gun shop, looking down the barrel the first thing you notice was the chatter marks in the rifling, look a bit further and the chambers in the cylinder do not line up with the barrel! Looked like a crescent moon at each rotation of the cylinder.
I took it back to the shop the very next day and got my money back.

I thought that charter 44s had problems. They were not tough enough and would fail under ordinary use.

i know guys that have the older 44 pugs and they love them.