I gotta stay out of that blankety-blank Evil Pawn Shop,,,

A

aarondhgraham

New member
Several months ago I got it in my head,,,
That I liked the looks and idea of a new model S&W 317 Kit Gun.

So that's what I was looking for at the Oklahoma City gun show this morning,,,
Overall the show was a disappointment as there weren't many revolvers,,,
And the ones I did see were priced way too high for me.

One gentleman did have the exact revolver I was looking to see,,,
But it was used and he was asking an outrageous $775.00,,,
I mentioned that MSRP for a new one was less at $759.00,,,
He just shrugged and said "try to find a new one for less".

So on the way home I stopped at The Evil Pawn Shop,,,
Long story short I have a brand new one on order,,,
The firm price will be $650.00 out-the-door.

Then I made the mistake of wandering over to his revolver counter,,,
That Charter Arms Bulldog in .44 Special was still sitting there,,,
I had $350.00 in gun show money available to spend today,,,
30 minutes later I was putting it in the trunk of my car,,,
$298.00 out-the-door after my usual $1.00 discount.

I justified it by having two boxes of .44 Special ammo at home,,,
Isn't it a sin to have ammo and no gun to shoot it out of?

So that's all of my gun buying for the next long while,,,
I just hope I don't have to wait too long for that S&W revolver.

Aarond

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A terrible sin indeed, and one of which I have been guilty. But photographic evidence is needed to support your claim.
 
Pics of the new (to me) Charter Bulldog.

There is only one thing wrong with this revolver,,,

attachment.php


The dang thing kills at both ends. :eek:

The cartridges I have for it are 240 Grain SMJ-HP,,,
The felt recoil out of this little shooter is worse than my 6" 629 shooting magnum rounds.

But that's okay by me,,,
I just need to toughen up a little bit. ;)

I put 24 rounds through the gun,,,
It seems to shoot about 5" above point of aim at 25 yards.

I was shooting off of a lightweight MTM plastic rifle rest,,,
I was able to group them tightly enough to see the general area of impact.

Very tight lock-up with no play in the cylinder at all,,,
So my Charter Arms Target Pathfinder in .22 LR now has a big ugly sister.

No need to use the buy-back that the Evil Pawn Shop Guy always extends to me,,,
This pug-ugly old gal is definitely a keeper.

Now to come up with an appropriate name for the pair of Charters.

Aarond

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a 200 grn winchester silvertip or a 185grn dpx wont beat your hand up as bad and will still blow a nasty hole in your target
 
That is an all-steel gun, isn't it?

Mine is and I don't mind shooting the factory .44 Specials of 240 grains or less. And I have the wooden grips on it. Yeah, I notice the recoil but it doesn't hurt.

Hurt is the result of firing a single .44 Magnum round from my 2.5-inch Taurus Tracker. Never again. But it makes a good .44 Special gun.

And I won't mention the nice 3-shot group I fired from my brother's Ruger Alaskan in .454 Casull. Never again applies there also, at least with .454 rounds. The .45 Schofield rounds were quite pleasant to shoot.

Bart Noir
 
Isn't it a sin to have ammo and no gun to shoot it out of?
Click to expand...

Yes! Yes it is. Most people repent of their sins at a church. It is interesting that you and I both choose the evil pawn shop as our place for penance.:D

That is a beautiful gun. I will get one some day.
 
Isn't it a sin to have ammo and no gun to shoot it out of?
Click to expand...

NO!

It is a sin to have brass for a gun you do not own.
To absolve you of that sin you must buy the gun, reload the brass and make Bang noise at the range as an offering to the gun gods.;)

BTW - My last trip to the pawn shop was to pick my my new AR15 lower. (My pawn shop is my 01 FFL)
I left there with my new lower and a nice Brit 303 - LOL!!!!
 
Hello Bart Noir,,,

That is an all-steel gun, isn't it?
Click to expand...

Yes, it is all stainless steel.

I can't imagine shooting a J-frame sized alloy pistol in .44 Special,,,
That type of gun would truly kill at both ends.

I've since gone to the range again,,,
I finished off the remaining 35 rounds of ammo.

I won't call the recoil brutal,,,
But my hand was telling me,,,
No more of this today please. ;)

Aarond

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I won't call the recoil brutal,,,
But my hand was telling me,,,
No more of this today please.
Click to expand...

Aarond, I practice with 240-grain cowboy action rounds in my vintage Bulldog. Even out of the 19.5 ounce gun, they don't recoil much at all. I'd compare the recoil to shooting very mild wadcutters out of a S&W J-Frame .38.

Makes for an enjoyable range session with the little Bulldog, even with the wood grips that I have on mine.
 
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Hello lowercase,,,

This might be the gun that gets me into reloading,,,
There's something about this gun that really calls to me.

Just a few days ago I dragged out my unused Lee Classic Loader,,,
I did a little pricing of components and it's definitely cheaper,,,
And like you I could make some kind-to-the-hand loads.

Aarond

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Aarond, we would love to get you in to handloading! :D
Make no mistake, however, that you will spend money in such a venture. It's a catch-22, folks getting in to reloading want to see those extremely low costs that some of the old-time reloaders love to SHOCK people with, but in order to drop the costs as much as possible, you have to buy every single thing you can buy in extreme bulk.

I would also argue very much against using the very old-school Lee Loader, it's a crazy volume of work and an irrationally slow process. These days, they are educational exercise tools but offer very little tangible benefit. Even a very spartan press & die setup will serve you oh so much better.

It's a shame we are so far apart in this great nation, I'd love to help you get started.

To the topic itself, I am running a commercially cast 240gr LSWC in .44 Magnum brass at a very consistent and very sedate 870 fps average (from a massive 7.5" Redhawk) and it's like shooting target .38's, but through a large device. A similar load in .44 Special brass would not be quite as sleepy-peaceful in your little Charter, but it would be much more enjoyable for you to play with on range days.
 
Naming Two Charters

<q>Now to come up with an appropriate name for the pair of Charters.</q>

They're a .44 and a .22, right?

How about Magna Carta and Mini Carta?

Magnus and Minnie, for short.
 
Come on my little 5'3" wife shoots my old charter with wood grips 200 gr gold dots and loves the pistol . I have shot 240 from it. It isn't that bad .

Maybe you need to go find a old 32 short revolver:p Then you can work up to 44 spl.:D
 
To reload you do have to buy some things. However I have been doing it a while and it does save me quite a bit of money. The only ammo I buy now is shotgun shells and rimfire. You are so much more versatile when you can make what you need. I buy a gadget for reloading once in a while. I bought a few ammo containers the other day. Everything else I have and the stuff lasts forever if you take care of it. I just have two single stage presses but I can turn out quite a few rounds on a long winter night. Looks like there are thirteen dies in my drawer so that's 13 different calibers. Several of the dies are for friends rifles. You will shoot more because you can. It still saves me a lot even considering that fact. And like someone else said , if I have the 7 mm Mag die shouldn't I have a 7mm mag rifle !
 
About those names,,, and a bit on reloading,,,,,

I originally thought of Fat Man and Little Boy,,,
But I always give my guns female names.

I was also considering these:
  • Lucy and Ethel
  • Laverne and Shirley
  • Romy and Michelle

Way back in time when dinosaurs ruled the earth,,,
Actually it was in high school in the mid-60's,,,
I reloaded for .38 special with a Lee Classic.

I bought a very beat-up S&W K-frame pistol from a neighbor,,,
I also got the Lee Classic Loader with some components,,,
He had it set up perfectly so all I had to do was use it.

I just remember riding to the South Canadian River on my trusty Suzuki 80,,,
Shooting that box of 50 cartridges at whatever moved or stood still,,,
Then coming home and reloading those cases for the next time.

I have the Lee Classic loader kits now for .38/.357 and .44 Special/Magnum,,,
Right after I purchased them the 2009 ammo/component shortage hit,,,
And they have been gathering dust on a shelf since that time.

I remember I liked using the Classic kit,,,
I could reload all 50 of my cases in one TV show,,,
Mom hated me doing it in the living room but allowed it anyways.

Oh well,,,
Maybe this winter if components become readily available again.

Aarond

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