mini Charter Arms Bulldog review

J

JERRYS.

New member
my gun is an older Bridgeport stamped gun. I have to say that the action smoothness on the newer guns is better.

took my old beast out today with 180gr. Hornady, 200gr. CCI Gold Dots, 200 gr. Speer Gold Dots, and 240gr. hand load over 5.3 gr. of unique.

first let me say that I shoot plenty of heavy loads and this is not my first .44 spl. my Bulldog has the original slick factory wood grips.

the hand loads were stout in this gun but not bad.
the CCI load kicked more in spite of being a lighter round.
the Speer kicked noticeably more with the same bullet as the CCI.
the Hornady was predictably less recoil however I had one round out of twenty that would not ignite. hard primers are something I hear about this manufacture and this was found to be the case. no matter how many times it was struck, even placed in other chambers, the primer only had a slight dimple. all other rounds from this brand as well as others fired just fine.

accuracy was another story. the D/A was a little stiff and stacked at the end. S/A on the other hand was light and crisp. however, using a 10" steel plate at 15 yards proved to be 50/50 game in D/A and maybe 75% in S/A. I'm sure if I stayed with one load and printed on paper I could see how to regulate the sight picture.

aside from the one hard primer with the Hornandy, the CCI aluminum case ammo would not eject worth a flip. it stuck every cylinder full, lifting out easily with the ejector rod push but simply would never fall free. this is a brass case gun only for carry purposes.

all in all I have to say I need some more work with this gun. better grips are in order, maybe the compact pachmayr with the pinky cutout at the bottom... I don't want larger grips on this making it less concealable.

hornady is out for me. ive had hard primers with their .32acp in my Seecamp and now with their .44 spl. CCI aluminum case is target fodder or as a speed load round, not initial chambering.

I'm considering sending this gun out for MagNa-Porting to reduce the muzzle flip. the pain in my thumb knuckle was from the gun flipping up and biting me some how above the grip panels. the thump in my hand was not a bother.

spare the porting gripes, I have it on other guns and no, it does not bother me.

does anyone else have an old school bulldog and if so what grips do you prefer on it? I figure the action will smooth out after time since my gun was near mint when I got it.
 
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My Father had one of these, way back when.
Although I took it to the range more than he did, mostly due to the recoil.
Old age had taken a toll on his hands by then.
Pachmayr rubber grips seemed to be the easiest on the hands.
They make a lot of different ones, so you'll have to try them for yourself.
Any of them will be a big help over the stock ones.
Accuracy with that old beast was plenty good, though.
Not bullseye quality, but much better than you've described.
Must have been a good one.
Our typical target was usually a common 8" paper plate at ten yards or so.
No trouble keeping the holes well within the middle with factory 240 grain SWCs.
Don't give up on it.
 
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I was in a rush before this mornings outing. I have the charter arms mini rubber grips on my old school off duty .38. they will fit the bulldog as well. I should have brought them with me to try out. that is what I will do before buying another style of grip. they don't cover the back strap nor do they extend below the grip frame, but they are a little wider than the wood, "grippier" than the wood, and the finger groove helps keep them from moving in the hand.
 
The Tracker and others like it would make a better range gun, for sure.
But it's definitely bigger and heavier than the Charter.
Which kind of defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
 
I need to add, upon inspection after the range I found that the trigger pin (?) had walked out to the right side of the gun a bit. I tapped it back in place and the trigger pull was a little better. I also have to wonder how much of a difference rubber grips would have made with controlling the gun.
 
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