Charter Arms .40 S&W Revolver

TimW77

New member
Just started another thread about the CA Bulldog in .45 ACP.

Also recently saw the CA "Pitbull" in .40 S&W. Never thought about it but this also could be a great idea if it works as advertised.

For me at least this would be better since again the .40 S&W would be a new cartridge to reload but I already load the 10mm.

What do others think, would you rather have a dual cartridge gun in a 10mm version or a single cartridge gun in the .40 S&W version?

T.
 
Last edited:
Nobody else?

Not even "Jason" trying to hijack this thread and turn it into another 6.5 Grendel vs. 6.8 thread?:rolleyes:

T.
 
To me, the whole direction of producing revolvers that shoot auto ammo seems kinda weird.

I love my .44 Special Charter Bulldog... I don't perceive enough difference between a good solid .44 Special loading and either .45 ACP OR .40 to make me want to buy a revolver that shoots them instead of .44 Special.

It seems to me that a mechanism which makes it possible to shoot auto ammo through a revolver will have a TENDENCY toward eventual mechanical problems. I don't see much point in trying to make it happen in a big variety of auto ammo.

As for 10mm... Why not just buy a .44 Magnum (that also shoots .44 Special)? They already come as light as the S&W 329PD at around 26 oz. unloaded.

I'm generally open and supportive to innovations in firearms but this direction just doesn't appeal to me.
 
Taurus also now has a 40 S&W 5 shot revolver.
Unlike the Charter Arms, it uses moon clips.
The clips provided by Taurus seem to be a little
bit flimsy. TK Custom makes very nice ones.:D

The 40 S&W in a K frame size revolver works
for me. Note: the cylinder is long enough to
fit a 10mm. It would have to be reamed out.

I'm going to get the Charter, when I find one.
 
.40 Revolver

"To me, the whole direction of producing revolvers that shoot auto ammo seems kinda weird."

Different people have different needs and this is nothing new, it has been going on for almost 100 years that I know of...


"I love my .44 Special Charter Bulldog... I don't perceive enough difference between a good solid .44 Special loading and either .45 ACP..."

EXACTLY, the .44 Special is far under-rated by most people. A 230g .451" bullet at 850 fps or a 246g .429" bullet at 800 fps is going to have virtually the same "stopping power"... The .44 Special loaded the same as the .45 ACP, .45 Colt, etc. are going to work the same.


"...OR .40..."

Yes, except for the slightly larger bullet diameter, a 200g .401" at 850 fps is going to work virtually the same as .44 or .45 bullets of the same weight and loaded to the same velocity.


"...to make me want to buy a revolver that shoots them instead of .44 Special."

Again, different people have different needs, what is useful to you may be useless to most people.

For MY NEEDS, a SMALL revolver in 10mm and .45 ACP might be quite useful. I already have and load 10mm, .44 Magnum and .45 ACP.

Although I enjoy reloading, SHOOTING is my hobby. With a "fixed" amount of free time, the less time spent reloading the more time I have to shoot. Adding another cartridge whether .40 S&W or .44 Special adds time to all phases of reloading, more space is needed, etc.

To shoot more and reload less I have been trying to go in the other direction and reduce the number of different cartridges I reload.


"As for 10mm... Why not just buy a .44 Magnum (that also shoots .44 Special)?"

Why not just buy a .480" Better yet, why not just buy a .500 S&W? Because once again, different people have different needs. I already have a S&W 629 Mountain Gun in .44 Magnum. It is far too big and heavy for concealed carry. It is also far too powerful such a small and light gun as the CA Pitbull.

Shooting .44 Specials in a .44 Magnum? Because that does exactly what I do NOT want to do, add another cartridge to reload...


"They already come as light as the S&W 329PD at around 26 oz. unloaded."

My problem with concealed carry is with the size/bulk of the "N" frames... Regardless of the weight which is still almost 1/2 pound more than the Charters, they are much larger.

For the size/bulk of a 329PD shooting .44 Specials, I'd be better off just carrying my usual Colt 10mm or .45 ACP...


"That makes me think of the S&W 610 Night Guard. Right?"

Wrong, no such thing as a "610" Night Guard...

Also, it kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it? In addition to all the mentioned disadvantages of the 329/629, why go with the same sized gun that weights more with an even smaller cartridge?

There is a "310" Night Guard, same disadvantage as the 329...


" Taurus also now has a 40 S&W 5 shot revolver."

Personally I would avoid all Taurus' until they fix their quality control issues.

Currently it seems like you only have a 50-50 chance of buying a Taurus that works and a ZERO % chance of ever getting it fixed!!!

T.
 
Different people have different needs and this is nothing new, it has been going on for almost 100 years that I know of...

(Re: .45 ACP use in a revovler)

You know I sort of started to take issue with that statement, but you know, you're right! We are coming upon 2017, 100 years of the M1917 revovler!

Where has th time flown?

Bob Wright
 
All this palaver about the .40 S&W in a revolver reminds me that this is EXACTLY what Skeeter Skelton and others had in mind originally. The .41 Magnum was supposed to be the answer, but far from it.

What they were asking for at the time was an intermediate cartridge between the .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum that could be used in a K-framed revolver for police use.

Bob Wright
 
I really enjoy the auto round in the revolver, I am a reloader and hate chaseing brass and moon clips assist in reloading and keeping up with brass. Plus it is nice to have common calibers in different platforms.
 
If it gets more auto shooters into revolvers d/t ammo compatibility, I'm all for it. I may even get the 9mm Pitbull as a companion to my XD9sc & Blackhawk .357/9mm convertible.
 
Last edited:
Build it and someone will buy it. I prefer the .44 bulldog. I guess the 40 might be OK if you want cheaper range ammo and don't reload.
 
What do others think, would you rather have a dual cartridge gun in a 10mm version or a single cartridge gun in the .40 S&W version?

As far as .40/10mm in a revolver, my only experience is with S&W, and I'd go with the dedicated .40S&W, since the cartridge is all I'd need, and the gun (the rare model 646) is built on their medium L-frame, which I prefer to the larger N-frame, which is what the 10mm/.40 is built on.

As far as Charter's rimless revolver offerings, though, I'll pass. Seems it's under-appreciated, and little-disclosed that the rounds have to be loaded one round at a time. The big advantage to rimless revolvers is their reload speed when moonclips are used, so Charter's design seems to be a more complicated & less useful solution to some problem that didn't exist in the first place.
 
"Build it and someone will buy it. I prefer the .44 bulldog. I guess the 40 might be OK if you want cheaper range ammo and don't reload."

You totally missed my point...

Although I enjoy reloading, SHOOTING is my hobby. With a fixed amount of free time, instead of reloading more and shooting less, I want to shoot more and reload less.

I already load 10mm, .44 Magnum and .45 ACP.

A .44 Bulldog or a .40 Pitbull would require me to load an additional cartridge.


"As far as .40/10mm in a revolver, my only experience is with S&W, and I'd go with the dedicated .40S&W, since the cartridge is all I'd need, and the gun (the rare model 646) is built on their medium L-frame, which I prefer to the larger N-frame, which is what the 10mm/.40 is built on."

Since I'm talking about the CA Pitbull, it's pretty obvious I'm wanting this for possible CC. L & N frames for concealed carry? Not hardly...


"Seems it's under-appreciated, and little-disclosed that the rounds have to be loaded one round at a time."

NOT true...

In addition to "speed strips" and similar, there is no reason why standard speed loaders can't be made for a .40, 10mm, .45 ACP or any other cartridge that has an extractor groove.


"The big advantage to rimless revolvers is their reload speed when moonclips are used..."

SAME advantage applies when guns are on the market for a while and speed loaders are made.


"...to some problem that didn't exist in the first place."

You also totally missed the point...

T.
 
You also totally missed the point...

T -

Yeah, speedloaders, might (but not likely) be available one day, but they aren't now, so the rounds still have to be loaded one at a time. And even if/when speedloaders or speedstrips are used, it looks like the rounds have to be individually hand seated to their final position in the cylinder anyway.

You asked what others thought, so why get irked from the feedback? Looking for justification? Just buy it if you want. We'll be looking for the range report, of course. ;)
 
The .40 S&W revolver sounds interesting, but it's their 9mm revolver that interests me...

http://www.charterfirearms.com/produ...bull_79920.asp

So this new 9mm that they are coming out with is different that the previous Pit Bull that I have seen on Gun Broker that comes in 9mm federal?

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=299840773

9mm auto - want

9mm federal - do not want

Edit: Answered my own question. Charter's site clearly states rimless.

Another question though, someone made a comment that the 9mm would shoot 380s. Can anyone confirm this?
 
Last edited:
Back
Top