Charter Arms Bulldog in .44 Special?

[tbryanh]

I am thinking about picking up a Charter Arms 44 Special Bulldog 74421. Its a stainless DAO, and I think its supposed to be hammerless (has a covered hammer). Its supposed to be almost as small as a J-Frame.

The quality is supposed to be good on these nowadays. Anybody have one? How do you like it? How do you carry it?

 

[vmax]

I have found Charter Arms revolver actions to be from terrible to fairly decent. Overall I am not terrible impressed . BUT I would not just automatically pass on one if it were a good deal

 

[GKC]

I've never owned one, but I've handled a few at gun shops, and they always seemed rather crude to me. No where in the same league as S&W or Ruger...but then, they don't cost as much either. Do you hand load? If not, you might want to check out the price and availability of .44 special ammo, as part of your decision.

 

[Charlie]

I had one many years ago (15?) and it was a very decent handgun for a great price. I sold it to a friend and he now refuses to sell it back to me. Maybe I just got lucky and got a good one.

 

[oldag]

Never owned one. But folks I have known have been pleased with the Bulldog over the decades. Seems to have been one of Charter Arms best guns.

 

[Charley]

God alone knows how many incarnations of Charter there have been over the years. Some times they were pretty good, some times they were OK, some times they were pretty bad. Current company seems too produce pretty decent firearms. I have an older Charter target Bulldog with four inch barrel, pretty decent handgun.

 

[Southpaw]

I've never owned one, but I've handled a few at gun shops, and they always seemed rather crude to me. No where in the same league as S&W or Ruger...but then, they don't cost as much either. Do you hand load? If not, you might want to check out the price and availability of .44 special ammo, as part of your decision.

Fair observations, especially for the ammo. I've never seen factory ammo for less then $28 per $50.

I own one and actually carried it for a while. It did have a period where the cylinder would lock up after the first or second shot. I dry fired it a whole lot and it seems to not do it anymore, but honestly I never truly found out exactly what the cause was and since I never shot it all that much to really find out, I've replaced it with a Glock for carry.

Now you got me wanting to get it back out and find out. Even with the initial problems, I still like the little bugger.

 

[Eli]

Small package, fires a howitzer round. Do it!

Eli

 

[centexshooter]

I knew an undercover narc in Harris County many years ago. The Bulldogs were in demand at that time due to concealability and a quick hard punch if a buy turned sour.

 

[Kosh75287]

They're okay, just almost TOO light for the cartridge they shoot. I wouldn't even consider one with a barrel shorter than 3", and 4" would likely be better for almost anything.
The 5-shot 3" barreled Rossi and Taurus revolvers were sturdier, more shootable versions of the same concept. If I wanted a 3" or 4" .44 Spl., I'd save up up some more coins and find a used Taurus M431.

 

[Army 1911]

Hey, If I am not mistaken, they worked well for the "Son Of Sam" killer.

 

[Southpaw]

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/762374324

 

[Jwhughes3]

I have a second generation Bulldog in SS DAO that is reliable and pleasant to shoot with the newer style full coverage rubber grips. I have shot hundreds of rounds through it both reloads and 200gr jhp defensive ammo. It's accurate enough for a snubbie out to 15yds and I trust the .44 special ballistics.
It weighs about the same as my S&W 640 that is harder to control in .357 and generally gets loaded with .38+P instead. I personally feel .44 Special is a better load than .38+P but have not had to use it thankfully.
.44 special in most guns I own feels very much like shooting. 45 acp in anything but the smallest 45s. I thought about seeking out a S&W 6 shot snubbie, but the carry weight of the Bulldog is really ideally much better than anything I can get other than a compact autoloader.

I have read the 1st, 2nd and most recent generations of Charter Arms are better consistent quality than 3rd generation CHARCO versions. Personally I like the looks of 1st generation blued 3" versions but do not like carrying blued guns. I guess in such an inexpensive weapon it would be ok. I have a S&W Thunder Ranch model 21 6 shooter I cannot bring myself to carry IWB.

 

[bigwheel]

Having tried to conceal quite a few wheel guns over the years...never could quite figure out the ultimate way to tote one stealthy without feeling like your carry around a baseball in the pocket. Think a slim 9mm semi would be a better bet and a lot cheaper and cheaper to shoot but if your convinced you need a .44 let us know how you decide to tote it. Know Son of Sam liked the round..and also heard about a mean old Sheriff at Beeville back in the late 40-50s who killed quite a few bad guys using one. Pretty interesting fella for those who aint heard of him. Looks like he toted a Colt.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/li...Ennis-goes-down-in-Texas-folklore-4413188.php

 

[tonelar]

I like mine. I load about 15-20 hotter than standard cowboy loads for it (when I’m reloading .44spl)

 

[skfullgun]

As has been said, with Charter, you either get a good one, or you don't.

I bought a .38 snubbie back in the 80's for $75 that had almost no finish left. It was light, reliable, and easy to carry. Only thing was the ejector rod worked loose and had to be screwed back in every dozen rounds or so. My son still has it and we occasionally fire it. I would trust it for self defense.

I bought a .44 snubbie Charter in the 90's. It would bind up after a few shots and you could not even open the cylinder. I bought it new, so it wasn't abused by anyone else. I ended up swapping it for something. It was useless.

Stick with S&W, Ruger, or even Taurus for snubbie.

 

[diesel1959]

I've got three of the Rossi M720 five-shot .44SPL revolvers in stainless. They're my favorite car guns. They're not something I tote, but I'd feel perfectly safe if I did so.

 

[Mowingmaniac 24/7]

Bigwheel,

"and also heard about a mean old Sheriff at Beeville back in the late 40-50s who killed quite a few bad guys using one."

That would be Vail Ennis.

I knew him after he was voted out of office. He killed multiple people.

At the Toot and Tote bar in Beeville, where my Dad and I drank Falstaff beer while he regaled the place with his tales and they were blood chillingly awful.

He had a weird speech impediment too that contributed even more eeriness to his stories of killing.

 

[bigwheel]

Yep..heard stories about him that was was too strange to fiction. When I was a rookie hypo at Corpus..I worked with an older guy who had worked Bee County and knew him well. Felt sorta like I knew old Vail myself. That speech impediment is called a hair lip. lol.

 

[Charlie]

Falstaff will do that to ya'!