Charter 2000 first hand opinions

J

JERRYS.

New member
Charter 2000 is the same company and owner as Charter Arms today. they folded back then due to financial issues defending against law suits filed against the gun industry.... they restructured and came back with their current name in the same location, same factory, same owner.....

I ask all this because tomorrow morning im going to examine a Charter 2000 bulldog 44. if it checks right (timing and lock up...) im going to get it.

if you have first hand experience with this era gun lets hear your opinions of them.

thanks.
 
well, I went and done did it. :p

the gun is timed right, locks up good and shoots well. other than machining marks everywhere on the gun she is a shooter. I ran a box of cci gold dots aluminum case through her and all checks good.

I now have a Bridgeport Bulldog, a Stratford Off Duty, and a Charter 2000 Shelton Bulldog. next step is maybe a new version Pathfinder.

with all the troubles and poor workmanship plaguing Charter Arms over the years, if you can check one out and run it through its paces before you put your money down I'd say do it. they aint a Colt, but if you find a good one, snatch it up.
 


shot some of a co-workers reloads in the other guns.... the leading is like scrubbing bubble gun in the barrels. pictured from left to right: Charter 2000 Bulldog Shelton Conn. .44spl, Rossi M720 .44spl, and Charter Arms Bridgeport Conn. .44spl.
 
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You were lucky. I bought one of the Bulldogs new in 2004, never owned anything worse. Shooting the Blazer 200 gr at the range I found the gun shot 1.5 ft to far to the left with the target set at 7 yds. After the first 5 shots I opened the cylinder and jacket material fell out. This went on for the whole box of ammo.

Took the gun home, cleaned it and took it back to the store. The owner wouldn't take it back because he warned me when he ordered it that it was junk. He did sell it for me from his used gun section without charging me anything though.

Since that day I'm totally against Charter.

The owner of the store also called me 2 months later when he took in a Taurus in .44 Spl that was similar to the Charter. I bought that one and enjoyed the heck out of it. Finally sold it last year because of the price for ammo.
 
I found that my Charter 2000 shoots about 4" to the left and about 2" low at 21 feet (7 yards) using a 6 o'clock hold (with CCI 200gr. Gold Dots). since this is a fixed sight gun there nothing I can do about that but considering I was using strong hand supported and not bench it could have been me somewhat.

I'd trade all three of my .44 special pictured above for one S&W 696.
 
I had never looked twice at a charter revolver until recently. My better half is a lefty, in looking for a revolver for her I was shocked to find that only Charter currently manufactures a truly left handed revolver. I looked at one that a local dealer had sat on long enough that the cylinder was deeply scored from repeated handling by customers. He ordered another in for me to give to her for her birthday last year. Fit and finish is no where near other comparably priced options out there, but that pink thing works and does it reliably. Yeah... *sigh*... she insisted on pink! Even uses the pink tipped Hornady Criticals in it because.... you guessed it... they're pink! Pink range bag, pink hearing protection, pink shooting glasses.... *sigh*!
I stumbled onto a gently used Shelton, Conn. Bulldog Pug in .44 special with a spurless hammer awhile later and talked the guy down from $400 to $300 on the price, I love it! Yes it's not a high quality firearm but just like that little pink thing it works and does it reliably. I'm pleased and curious enough that I'm considering one of the Pitbulls in .40 S&W just to play with.
I know that there are a lot of Charter haters out there, and I've very limited experience with them, but I'm sold... at least on the ones I have held and fired.
sidenote: I did take a file to the outer edge of the crane on the Bulldog due to such a poor margin where it met the frame and what it did to the aesthetics of the gun... but I'm kinda picky like that! No effect on function, just made me feel better looking at it.
 
44 Bulldog spl

I have posted here many times about mine that I bought new in Nov 2006.I have fired both factory and handloads in mine without any issues and it always shoots to point of aim.I reload mostly 180 and 200 grainers very close to max levels and it has never shot loose or sends fliers.It is a Charter 2000 Shelton,Conn Bulldog Pup with the case.I do sometimes wonder why there are so many bashers on this forum for Charter Arms because I have nothing but high praises for mine.Pull the trigger and it goes bang and hit where its supposed to,I don't know what more you could ask for.
 
OOPS!

Yesterday after posting to this thread I had my Bulldog out messing with it. I was running through the revolver check list posted on this forum. When finished I pointed the unloaded revolver across the room and pulled the trigger dry firing it. Dry firing a transfer bar revolver should not be an issue to my understanding and in the opinion of Charter Arms as well. Imagine my surprise to hear something strike the wall across the room and bounce down on the hardwood floor!!!! :eek:
Yes the tip of the firing pin broke off so that it is no longer visible protruding when the trigger is fully rearward!!
I phoned Charter this morning and the pistol is on its way back to them for repairs free of charge.
I don't typically dry fire any firearms, but will admit that I've never had concern over doing so with a transfer bar pistol or lever action rifle... guess I will from now on!
Lesson learned!
 
I would not worry about it from dry firing.
Wost that happened was you exposed a defect earlier than you would have on the range.
MIM parts are just metal dust that heated and compressed to form a part.
The defect you found was most likely already in the part.
 
Yesterday after posting to this thread I had my Bulldog out messing with it. I was running through the revolver check list posted on this forum. When finished I pointed the unloaded revolver across the room and pulled the trigger dry firing it. Dry firing a transfer bar revolver should not be an issue to my understanding and in the opinion of Charter Arms as well. Imagine my surprise to hear something strike the wall across the room and bounce down on the hardwood floor!!!!
Yes the tip of the firing pin broke off so that it is no longer visible protruding when the trigger is fully rearward!!
Click to expand...

Broke firing pin? IMHO, more likely a broken transfer bar. With the transfer bar broken in the usual place (more on that in a minute), there won't be anything to press the firing pin forward.

brokentransferbarsm_zpsdfb804d3.jpg


What you see here is my third broken transfer bar. This particular gun was a replacement Charter sent me in November. I dry fired this one a lot. The vast majority of dry firing was done with snap caps. There is nothing in the manual that says you shouldn't dry fire.

All three times it broke in the same place, at the top right below where the bar widens out into the flag shaped section that actually hits the firing pin.

My other transfer bar equipped revolver is a Taurus snub. On the Taurus the trasnfer bar looks like it runs in a slot in the frame that keeps it from flopping back and forth more than the little bit absolutely necessary. The Charter doesn't have that, and there's a lot more play in where the transfer bar can go, back and forth.

Currently waiting on a call tag from Charter. I'd do the fix myself, except putting the trigger back in on a Charter is a royal PITA.
 
Broke firing pin? IMHO, more likely a broken transfer bar.
Click to expand...

Reading your post I agree that would be a possibility and I have had something similar happen with an H&R Topper 88. In this instance with the Charter it is in fact the pin itself though. I did try to take a photo to show that the transfer bar itself is intact. What is missing is the pin itself protruding as it should with the trigger fully rearward, which in doing the list of checks I had just seen only several minutes before I heard it hit the wall and hardwood floor when I did in fact dry fire it.

IMG_20150203_194506917.jpg
 
I had a Charter 2000. It's a 38 DAO in stainless. Never had a problem with it. I shot 38 and 38+P with it. Dry fired it enough to smooth the triger and it shot well. A lady I know needed a carry gun. At the time I let her shoot it. She liked it a lot and shot it well. I couldn't say no. I traded her for a too large for her gun that her late husband left her. She still has it as far as I know.
 


I have a Charter 2000 Bulldog and it has been trouble free. Based on my success with the .44, I bought a current production .40 Pit Bull. The .40 broke the flag off of the transfer bar while I was dry firing it (using snap caps) after about 10 minutes of dry firing.
Charter customer service was first-rate. They sent me a new transfer bar and I installed it with minimum effort using the three-hand method. My wife holds the spring in place with a drift pin and I use both of my hands to compress and pin the trigger pin.

Mark
 
THAT is the one that I am interested in BubbaBlades! Curious what you think of the spring retention system that they've designed to retain the ACP cartridge? Does it work well for ease of loading, retention, and ejection?

I did get my Bulldog mailed and it is on it's way back to Charter, they should receive it Tuesday. The woman on the phone told me it was a 2007 production and it is marked Shelton Conn. on the barrel so I would assume it is in fact 'this era' production if Charter 2000 and todays company are one in the same.
 
Just wanted to update:
I got the Bulldog back from Charter Arms today, it was a two week turn around to the day from when I finally mailed it. Seems to function perfectly and I'm anxious to get to the range with it and try it out. I had requested that they install a spurred hammer on it which they did in addition to replacing the broken firing pin and included the original spurless hammer in the box so I've the freedom to swap back and forth should I choose. Charter Arms customer service was top notch start to finish and I'm very pleased with the experience. :D
 
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