Charter Arms Forum?

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Charter On Duty 38 spl Alumium frame , polymer grip frame , old style wooden grip panals weighs un loaded 12.5 oz ...

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This is a Pic of my 44spl Bulldog ... Ive had this revolver for about 9 yrs .. Great gun ..
This is all the Charters I have at this time .. But Im looking hard at a Boomer !!
 
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I own a Charter .38 snub Off Duty and 2 .44 Spl Bulldogs. One of the Bulldogs had problems when I bought it - used - so I emailed the factory. THE OWNER emailed me back, gave me shipping instructions... I sent it in, got it back within a week, like brand new. They replaced the crane, and tuned it up, and paid for shipping both ways...and they KNEW it was bought used.
I can't imagine S&W doing that...and now all 3 of them are great shooters.
 
Here's my Charter Arms Target Pathfinder, .22 mag., with 4" barrel. I carry it with two CCI shotshells up top, for rattlesnakes, and HP ammo in the other 4 chambers. It carries in a Simply Rugged holster, and is very easy to carry concealed. Trigger is great, and it is a very accurate revolver. Great deal for the money.

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A little shout out for Charter Arms' CS.

I bought a used .38 and thought it might have the wrong mainspring because the trigger pull felt heavier than normal. Called them up and asked, and the CS lady said it should be a blue spring (mine was red). She's sending me the correct blue mainspring free of charge, after I made sure she knew I bought the gun used.

Thank you, Charter Arms.
 
I saw a Charter Arms Southpaw the other week and was impressed. I emailed them with some questions and am still waiting their response.

1) Can it handle +P or +P+?
2) Are the internal parts MIM or casted?
 
Spoke with Charter Arms today

Their customer service people tried to call me on Wednesday but I was outside. On Thursday they called again and this time we spoke. This is what I learned:

MIM parts: Trigger, trigger latch, transfer bar
Investment casted: hammer
Barrel/cylinder gap: .004 min - .012 max
Do not shoot +p or +p+ in your 38 cal. revolver

Some parts are contracted out including: springs, pins and screws.
 
I spoke to two S&W CS guys about b/c gap after receiving a "repaired" 642 which had the frame replaced, and a new b/c gap of .011" on the left side and .005"-.0055" on the right.

S&W CS guy #1 said as long as it's anywhere between .004" and .011" it's good. Iow, the gap can vary up to .007" and it's good, according to him. I thanked him and figured I'd call a few hours later and speak to someone more CS oriented.

S&W CS guy #2 said the b/c gap range was .004"-.012", BUT it should be somewhat consistent. He emailed a FedEx label to me, and the 642 still at S&W.

The used Charter Arms .38 has a b/c gap of .007" on the left and .005"-.0055" on the right. I'm very pleased with that.

Another thing I've started checking is whether or not lead bullets will pass through the cylinder throats (because of leading issues). 158gr LSWC .38 Special bullets will pass through the throats on the Charter Arms. The throats in the original cylinder on the 642 were too small to allow a lead .380 bullet to pass, and that's about .002" smaller than the .38 (which should pass).

I also find the sights on the CA snub MUCH better than those on the 642 and LCR, especially the rear sight.
 
Post #147 has pics of an Undercover with Bridgeport on the barrel and Stratford on the box, s/n 303234.

Here's a UC with Bridgeport on the barrel and a slightly higher s/n, 303311.
 

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Progress. A Bridgeport barrel on #314297. According to post #147 this was probably assembled in the Stratford plant. The lowest Stratford barrel I've seen was 315xxx, so the gap is getting tight.
 

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Good to see this thread revived. I've always been a fan of economy priced, reliable, American made handguns. Charter Arms customer service is second to none. I recently picked up a Stratford made Undercover and was again reminded how small, light and easy to conceal the older models are. I've been looking hard at the new 6 round Professional in 357 magnum.
 
I bought my first CA Stratford 3" blue Bulldog off Gunbroker a couple of years ago. I was told by the owner that he thought it was a safe queen. When it arrived, the crane screw was loose allowing the cylinder to wobble, the front pin was backing out and the ejector rod was loose. I think the queen must have snuck out for some fun. The little collar on the ejector rod was messed up and peened and so it made the first of three trips back to CA. It shot left so the first two trips consisted of repairing the peened collar, replacing the pin with a new design and adding a fiber washer to the crane screw. It still shot left and we were running out of front sight to fine on. After a few discussions they finally agreed to replace the barrel if I signed a waiver. The new barrel is marked Shelton and the sight is a bit different but it finally shoots to the sights. They were kind enough to polish and reblue the whole gun. They removed an old rust stain on the cylinder at the same time. All in all, I'm very pleased with their work and the like Bulldog I carry most of the time now.
 
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I picked up a CA Undercover for summer carry and I’m very happy with it. It handles +P loads nicely, and it’s a small and comfortable gun to carry. I picked up a pair of Altamont grips to “dress her up”, but I do like the factory grips for everyday!
 

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I've kind of wanted a 44 Bulldog for years, and resisted temptation when this jewel came along. A stainless steel 3" Stratford with the pocket hammer and neoprene grips (made in Italy). Oh well...life goes on.
 

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I bought this gun as a spare "car gun" around 1990. It was used then. Started engraving it. car and gun were stolen. Later, the gun was recovered. Then, I used it as a counter gun at my paging business.
Business was burgled and burned to the ground.
Gun was recovered 4 days later by LE.
I decided the gun was rather special, so I finished the engraving, did an action job, made the grips, gold plated the trigger and had it hard chrome plated.

My wife liked it, so it's her bedroom gun now.
 

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