charter arms revolvers

C

cha

Inactive
I have a couple charter arms undercover models. They both are from the tight lockup period of manufacture.the ejector rod is unshrouded. 1 is blued the other appears to be stainless.
The blued one has serail number in the 800,000 and the stainless in the 750,000.
The blued one cannot be cocked with the cylinder out but the stainless one can. Also the stainless ejector pushes out the rachet farther than the blued . The blued one just pushes out a little-not enough to fully eject the shells.
I wonder when this change took place and why. It would seem that the later serail number would have the full ejection vs. the shorter ejection but not so.
Also both are stamped stratford conn.
Any info. would be appreciated.
I read a post by 32Magnum here who seems to have done alot of study on these earlier charters. maybe He or someone else has seen this design change ?
 
Cha,
Let's take them one at a time.
750xxx serial number range, CA began distributing Stainless Steel Under Covers in May of 1981 - gun in that series was made sometime mid 1982??? There was NO engineering change that I have reference to that would allow that gun to fire with the cylinder swung out. In fact of the ones I own (26) and the couple dozen I've personally inspected as well the the approx. 1400 serial numbered guns I have logged in my data base - NONE will do that. There's something broken in that piece - once the cyliner pin is removed from the spring buffered "scew" in the catch hole of the breech - the action should be locked. Call the current Charter 2000 folks, explain your problem and they will tell you how to return your gun and - in most cases I've heard about - they will repair it at no cost to you.
800xxx serial number range - issued early to mid 1983. With the 1 7/8" short barrel on these blued guns, one of the "cons" is the partial extraction - the pin is just not long enough with the short barrel to push the empties completely out. A couple pushes may do it, with some shaking or a gentle rap on the end of the rod may do it. DO NOT apply too hard a hit on the end of the ejector rod - you may bend it. Measure the barrel on the stainless piece - it may be 2" or a 1/8th over that - that provides a bit more ease in extraction due to a slightly longer rod.

IMG_2595_2.jpg

IMG_2995.jpg
 
32mag,
I checked the 2 guns again The stainless gun's ejector goes THROUGH the collar on the ejector rod. I noticed also that the collar is backwards from the one on the blued gun i.e. the beveled end of the collar is rearward on the stainless but it is in the front on the blued. When I push the ejector rod on the stainless,it goes all the way against the front end of the collar whereas on the blued gun ,the collar stops at the front of the front face of the crane,and the ejector rod does not go through the collar. Therefore the ejection on the blued gun is only about a quarter inch i.e. the rachet is only pushed out about 1/4 inch. On the stainless gun the rachet gets pushed out about 9/16 inch.
With the cylinder open on the stainless gun, the hammer can be cocked similar to a colt det spl.
The blued gun cannot be cocked with the cylinder open.
They both shoot good. and both are in good timing. They both have unshrouded ejector rods and have a "bank vault" lockup similar to a detective special,when the trigger is pulled and held back and I check the cylinder with trigger held back. There is 0 movement just like a V-spring colt action.
I measured the barrels they are both 17/8" from muzzle to end of forcing cone.
Oddly enough they both "seem" to be in mechanically good condition.
Thanks for all your comments If there is anything else that comes to mind let me know. This has me baffled now as to these differences.
Im going back to read those 2 links you put up Thanks again.
 
Last edited:
32 magnum,
I looked at the photos you put up. Thanks. The first pic looks exactly like my blued gun.
My stainless gun looks exactly like the blued EXCEPT the stainless finish-The stainless finish on mine however does not look near as shiny as your 2nd pic.Mine is more of a dull/matte finish. Also the grips on my stainless are checkered and have the charterarms logo like the other one.
Both guns say undercover .38 spl on he barrels.
I noticed that the beveled end of the collar on the ejector rods on both your pics,is at the rear. Maybe my blued gun has the collar on backwards?
 
cha, Just checked on serveral of my other CAs and I'm pretty sure you're correct - the blued one is assembled incorrectly. BTW is there a small red bead in the front sight blade of the stainless piece and look again at the left side barrel marking - make sure it doesn't read "OFF DUTY" rather than UNDERCOVER.
 
32 magnum,
Thank you for your reply.
I checked they are definitely both stamped "undercover"
No red bead or insert on either of them.
I think ill take them apart and look at all the internal parts and see if i can uncover something that looks amiss.
I think one of the collars on the ejector rod must be on backwards also.
I have shot them both in single and double action and they seem to function fine.
I must figure out how to post pics. Then I could show both of them and you might see something that jumps out.
 
32 magnum
I took the ejector off the blued gun and turned collar around and put spring in with the colar beveled end down. The blued gun now ejects just like the stainless. Much better. A very simple fix. apparently someome just put it in backwards.
I decided not to fully dissasemble the stainless as there are a number of pins to knock out and I was coincerened I might make things worse.
Right now they both lock up bank vault tight, they both have nice single action pulls and decent double action, and they both function well.
So I figure if it isnt broken or at least does not have any obvious problems Ill leave it alone.
At 7 yards they will shoot a 2 inch group and with a 6oclock hold the blued gun puts them right in the 2" bullseye with 140 grain HPXTP bullets and 4 grains of Bullseye with cci 500 primers. I tried several bullet weights and loads and this one does well so I stopped there.
The stainless shoots about 2" low so at 7 yards, so I filed the front sight down just a hair. I must try it again soon.
At 15 yards the groups are usually more like 3" or more depending on how good I see and shoot that day.
I dont shoot them over 15 yards.
Thanks for all the feedback,
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top