Hank, the Charter *design* is excellent, which is why the company keeps coming back to life under new owners every time the last one dies
.
When they say three-point lockup, they're not kidding. They lockup at the crane, rear and bolt. They save weight by having a separate aluminum grip frame/triggerguard that "forks up" into the rear of the grip frame, which is "split". There aren't any sideplates, that's quite true...the grip frame/trigger/hammer assembly slides up into the primary frame, which surrounds the cylinder in unbroken fashion.
Neat concept. They also take S&W J-Frame 5-shot speedloaders which are widely available.
My late-70s specimen is superb, tight, accurate and isn't shaking loose under a mixed diet of 158+P and standard pressure 130grain FMJ.
BUT: as the original Charter Arms came under financial pressure, quality got spotty. After they died and Charco took over, quality went totally into the dumps.
The first Charter 2000-production guns I saw appeared cosmetically rough. Lockup seemed OK, trigger was so-so. Due to the basic "weirdness" of the design, some gunsmiths shy away from surgery on 'em such as trigger jobs.
On the other hand, C2000 seems to be thriving, they're coming out with interesting new models like a .357 based on the old .44Spl Bulldog frame, etc. Next gun show, I'll make a point of seeking out recent production pieces and see if quality seems improved.
I hope they thrive. The *design* is killer. I don't recommend people seek out a vintage specimen like mine unless they know how to check out wheelguns in detail. The old ones that are good have fully exposed ejector rods. On mine, even if the cylinder latch button were to fail or even fall off, you could swing the cylinder out by pulling the ejector rod forward...kind of a neat redundancy.
Avoid Charco-marked guns at all cost unless you're real gutsy and do a THOROUGH checkout.
Cuervo: some of us like to be able to peer into the lockwork's innards by cocking the hammer. During cleaning, we can make sure the guts are oiled and can check for rust, malke sure the safety works, etc. I do all of that on every cleaning. You can't do that with a Centenial.
Sure, it's a place gunk can go. But you can check for that, and with the hammer down it's not much of an entrance. The Ruger SP101 is so stone-axe reliable it would take a LOT of gunkage to slow one down, so it's a non-issue if you're inspecting the gun at every cleaning.
Which you'd be crazy NOT to do on a CCW gun you might bet your life on one day.
Personally, I like an actual cockable hammer. Failing that, a bobbed hammer works just fine.
Jim