Charter Arms Police Bulldog

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

Doug.38PR

Moderator
Does anyone out there have a picture of a Charter Arms Police Bulldog with a tapered barrel (not heavy) and walnut grips?
They don't have a picture on their website.

Does anyone have any experience with this gun? I know they are cheap and generally considered inferior but what quality does it have? (they've been in business for years, they must be doing something right)

How does it compare with the Smith and Wesson Model 10 and Colt Official Police and other .38 Police service revolvers.

Thanks
Doug
 
The Charter line is cheap. They do not have good fit or finish. They work. There are other companies like Ruger, S&W and Colt building far better looking products. Are they functionally superior? They are in fit, finish and durability. All are reliable, pull the trigger and they will fire. CAs handle +Ps. Many times, people want a HD 38 Special. Taurus is expensive for some budgets. There are people who buy cheap but, they only buy new, not used. CA fits their idea of cheap and new. I used to buy H&Rs and High Standards revolvers. Not around anymore. CA filled that niche market. They offer a fairly extensive line-up. I would not bet my life on one. I don't know of any LEOs that actually used CA revolvers for duty. If your desire is to save money and have a so-so quality revolver, CA is the rvolver for that. Functional? Yes. Durable? No, in my experience. Reliable? Not always. I know some are happy with their CA revolvers. I wasn't. I suggest a used M10 from S&W.
 
Last edited:
Oh, I wasn't necessarily looking to buy one for Concealed Carry or even necessarily for buying one at all. I was just interested. I just had two old Colt OPs reblued and repaired and they work just about like Pythons. (can't get much better than that.) But I was just curious as to what the CA PB looked like (in tapered barrel and walnut grips) and how it functioned compared to my guns and the S&W model 10.

I handled a CA gun (can't remember what kind) in a gunstore once and noticed that the bolt popped back onto the cylinder as soon as it had cleared the bolt notch in action allowing it to drag along the cylinder in action. Not very good quality I thought, but maybe because it was a used gun.

Thank you for the info.
Doug
 
Check out a double action Ruger. They do the same. CAs are good for the price and will outlast a box of 38 Special +Ps. They work. I had fit, finish and lock-up problems with mine. When I fired it fast, the trigger needed to be reset in order to keep shooting. That wasn't a confidence builder.
 
SrWilliams you said Reliable? Not always.

I would like to know what experance you have had with CA to say that.
I would agree if you said inexpensive, but when you say cheep your showing your lack of knolage.
I have owned 2 bull dogs in 44, no one makes any thing like it near the price.
One I bought used and put 400 factory loads through it and sold it to a friend.
The second I bought new and have shot it neary as much I would and do trust it with my life, not becouse I am cheep but becouse its hard to get as much gun (spelled power) in that small and and easy to carry package.
Is it a Smith 27, not by a long shot.
Is the fit and finish as nice as a 27 or a gold cup heck no.
But they always fire, the trigger always pulls and it always goes bang, and the bullet always hits within a 4 inch circle within 15 feet.
Sorry sir your wrong, cheep is not the correct word to use on charter.
If you want to talk cheep junk then lets talk Smith and Wesson built Walther PPKs that after 400 rounds through it, it wont shoot two mags with out a failure to feed, now that is a cheep piece of crap at $500
 
Charter Arms Quality depends on when they were made. Both my brother and brother in law worked there during the early eighties before charter went bankrupt. They test fired the revolvers and AR-7 rifles. From time to time some guns would blow up in the testing rig and needless to these guns never made it out. However security was not tight at the plant and a number of employes were caught stealing parts and assembling guns at home. During the eighties a lot of CA guns were turning up in Connecticut crime scenes. No doubt that these untested guns were contributed to Charter as cheap revolvers. My brother had a 38 and 44 which worked great but he sold them after his divorce to pay his attorney. The new charter guns are decent for their price.
 
I bought an original Charter Arms Undercover back in the late '70's. It wasn't a bad little gun. Between my dad and myself we must have put a zillion rounds through that little gun, mostly 148 gr wc's or 158 gr swc's. Fit and finish weren't the best quality but for a used $50 gun it wasn't bad. I bought a Bulldog nib in 1980. Fit and finish were okay. It went bang everytime the trigger was pulled. I couldn't even begin to guess how many rounds were run through that gun. My dad carried that little gun for alot of years. He shot the hell out of it. It still goes bang every time the trigger is pulled. The finish is worn, the cylinder stop is long gone and the cylinder latch doesn't work. But it's still as accurate as the day i bought it and it doesn't shave lead.

Charter Undercover bought nib 11-'03:First cylinder full was 2 bangs and 3 clicks. Fixed under warranty. Fit and finish are so so.

Charter Offduty bought nib 4-'04:Same as above.

Both guns have since had roughly 500 rounds each ran through them. Function has been 100%.

Charter Bulldog bought nib 10-'04:It's been through roughly 500 rounds. Function has been 100%. Fit and finish are so so.

Quality control seems to be hit or miss.
 
The 70s models were fair bargains. I have had negative experiences with CAs. I know several others who have experienced the bang-click-click-bang syndrome. I cannot suggest anyone bet their life on a Charter Arms, based on experience.
 
My Dad was a cop back in the seventies and he had the exact model you are talking about. .357 magnum three or four inch barrel, and blued.
He had it forever (he swapped a Colt Trooper for the CA and a deer rifle) and it worked fine. It actually had a tighter cylinder lock up than my model 65, if that says anything.
The gun was not exactly pretty. The barrell was skinny and the bluing wore off everything fast. But it shot good, had a good trigger and was accurate not to mention EXTREMELY light weight.
The only problem with it was that it KICKED like a mule.
 
Thankfully my experience with the older Charter Arms products are far better than williams'.

I currently have two in .357, two in .22LR and one in .22WMR. None have ever given me a moment's trouble and each has proven to be durable, accurate and easy on the wallet.
 
:confused:A Charter Bulldog 38spl is one of my .. Gonna get list ...
I have owned Charter revolvers for 30 + years ... I now own 3 .. Two aluminum framed 38spl .. and one Charter Bulldog 44 spl. all newer production , the 44 being the oldest around 12 or so years old .. all function well .... Charter has great customer service ..

They are coming out with a 45 Colt and a 41 Mag .. built on the 45acp frame ...


Thread is 13 years old . Its alive .. Its alive ...
 
Sir William said:
The Charter line is cheap. They do not have good fit or finish. They work. There are other companies like Ruger, S&W and Colt building far better looking products. Are they functionally superior? They are in fit, finish and durability. All are reliable, pull the trigger and they will fire. CAs handle +Ps. Many times, people want a HD 38 Special. Taurus is expensive for some budgets. There are people who buy cheap but, they only buy new, not used. CA fits their idea of cheap and new. I used to buy H&Rs and High Standards revolvers. Not around anymore. CA filled that niche market. They offer a fairly extensive line-up. I would not bet my life on one. I don't know of any LEOs that actually used CA revolvers for duty. If your desire is to save money and have a so-so quality revolver, CA is the rvolver for that. Functional? Yes. Durable? No, in my experience. Reliable? Not always. I know some are happy with their CA revolvers. I wasn't. I suggest a used M10 from S&W.
Click to expand...
Very well put +1.

In 2006 I bought a Bulldog. Against a warning by my friend that owned the LGS I ordered it.

That gun was total junk. Just pulling the trigger the cylinder would bind. I cleaned it up and oiled it and headed for the range with a box of Blazer ammo.

At 10 yards I couldn't hit the target. When I opened the cylinder pieces of bullet jackets fell out of somewhere. At 7 yards the gun shot 2 feet to the left and a foot high. I reasoned that the best use for self defense would be to throw it at your attacker and run, I doubt a bullet would hit you.

I fired 20 rounds and took it home. Cleaned it that night and sold it the next day. I was saddened to see the company hasn't gone out of business. No new gun should be bad.

My friend that owned the LGS called me about a month later to ask me to come in. He had taken a Taurus 445 in to sell on consignment. I bought it for $260, it was 10 times the gun the Bulldog was. I was never a Taurus fan but that 445 was sweet.
 
I'm sorry...These days when I go into a gun store that has the typical display of Charter's multicolor, leopard skin, etc, etc, revolvers, it makes me queasy.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top