More big bore chatter....

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Damon555

New member
I've always been a fan of the 44 special but have never owned a dedicated example as all my previous 44 caliber revolvers have been magnums. Well my new Charter Arms Bulldog showed up at my LGS on saturday and I went and picked it up.

To say that I am not disappointed would be an understatement. I was a little concerned about the quality of the Charter Arms guns but after doing some reading here my mind was put at ease. I was able to examine a bulldog up close a few weeks ago and was satisfied with that particular examples fit and finish. The gun that I received looked and felt just as good. The cylinder locks up just as well as my 642. The finish isn't as nice as the S&W but hey, the Charter is just fine for a $350 stainless steel revolver.

Here's a pic for size comparison with my little Smith 642.



Obviously the Charter is going to be larger but it sure isn't a huge difference. But there is one thing about the Bulldog that outshines the Smith that I can't convey in a photo...the trigger. Of course the only comparison I can do is double action but the 44 special has a nicer double action pull. I was very surprised by this.....What really caught me off guard about the Bulldog was the single action trigger....I can honestly say that it's the best single action trigger I have ever felt on any mass produced gun right out of the box....(well ok, except for my Kimber Eclipse 1911) I'm no expert by any means but I have really learned appreciate a good trigger on any weapon and this was a very pleasant surprise.

Looking down the bore of each gun you really get a good sense of what comes out of the business end....



I would have loved to get an S&W in 44 special but they are pretty rare and expensive to say the least. It's obvious greater care is taken when putting the finishing touches on the Smith but the Bulldog is still a fine looking piece. I have not shot the Bulldog yet....I've got some rounds loaded up for it but just didn't have time this weekend because my brother came down for a visit from Illinois. Hopefully it performs as well as I expect it to....
 
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I have one of the original Charter Arms revolvers and I mean ORIGINAL, I have called them and it dates back to 1962 when they first opened and it shoots great. Passed down from my grandfather, the finish has not held up so well but what do you expect from a 52 year old gun? Otherwise it's great so I think you'll enjoy the Bulldog.
 
Glad yours is working out, my first 44spl gun was the Rossi 720. I love it, k frame size but 5 shots of 44spl on tap. I will admit it lead me to finding a S&W 696 but it was a fluke I walked into that gun. I also picked up my my S&W 296, I love it and its sister the 242, great guns. I will say that these guns are here to stay! Hope yours performs well on the range.
 
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ive owned four charter arms revolvers. 3" pathfinder .22lr, "off duty" old school .38 (still have it), and two bulldog 44s from the late 80s.

the pathfinder I foolishly let go, the bulldogs (were total crap-2.5" "pugs"), the off duty is fine the way it is..I really want on old school 3" pencil bbl stainless bobbed hammer bulldog .44spl, but im gun rich and dollar poor.
 
For what ever its worth, I had one of the early Bulldog revolvers in .44 Special. It was a great little revolver.

Because of its short extractor throw, cases were not thrown completely clear of the gun and had to be knocked away from the cylinder. I had some old .44 Russian brass on hand and worked up a handload using the ole 225 grs. Speer half jacketed bullet. Made a great combination with my Charter!

Bob Wright
 
I kinda like the Bulldog but would rather have a .451-.452 bore.
As for the 642, its not hard to beat that trigger. Mine was the worst piece of crap I'd handled. It was like dragging a spoon through a box of rocks. The 12 lb trigger pull gauge was no match for that ****.
 
I like revolvers with big holes ;)

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Got a chance to shoot the Bulldog today....All I can say is WOW! This thing is a cannon! The reloads that I ran through them were pretty stout. 240 grain bullets with a relatively light dose of Unique are probably not the loads that I'll shoot through it often.....I would try something different but Unique is the only non-magnum pistol powder that I have at the moment and powder puff loads are a little tough to find and I don't want to go below book minimums.

I've got some lighter bullets now so maybe that will tame it down some....I'll try some 200 grain round nose flat point lead bullets that I can load down a little. I've also got some 200 grain Gold Dots that will serve as self-defense ammo. Unique will run those right where I want them.

As for how the gun performed I was impressed. I've got to work on my snubbie shooting skills but the gun hit where I was aiming (or should I say where it was pointed). As mentioned above the single action trigger is outstanding. It makes the gun very easy to shoot. I did some reading that mentioned a very fast lock time and that point was certainly true. While shooting double action (which I'm not that great at either) I did almost as well as single action. The hammer moves forward in a hurry. That trait sure help you stay on target through the long, heavy (to me) double action pull.

It's not all roses though....The trigger can bite you a little bit and the serrations don't really help. A little smoothing of the sides might help that out. Although the grips fit my hands well they are pretty hard and the palm of my hand took a beating. Of course the gun weighs very little for a big bore so obviously you're going to get thumped. The sights line up nicely but it was tough to see the front sight with the sun shining on it. A little fingernail polish should fix that issue. My loads were hitting a little low (2 inches) so point of aim will need to be adjusted with the powder charge I suppose.

All in all I'm pretty happy with my choice. The Charter Arms Bulldog fills a void in my firearms collection and will work fine for its intended purpose of a self-defense piece.
 
I loaded up a couple of test loads for the Bulldog tonight....Looking them over the lead round nose flat points don't look all that impressive....but I'd sure hate to be staring at a cylinder full of these 200 grain Gold Dots!



These will be my self defense bullets if they shoot worth a hoot.....
 
200g GDHP SB

Those Speer 200g GHHP SB bullets are impressive, aren't they! When they're not in the gun, you can use them as shot glasses, the cavity is so huge.

They are the choice for the Bulldog. And Unique is a great powder choice. W231 would be a good choice too, if you can find it. It'd give a little less flash, I'd say.

I load them for 44 Magnum. Now before you roll your eyes, we're talking a light loading of W231. The round has much less recoil than a standard magnum round, yet would certainly deliver the goods in a SD situation.

Again, great bullet choice.
 
I was hoping that Ruger would come out with a 44 Spl in a GP100 frame, but it doesn't look like that will happen, so Charter Arms may be the way I go.
 
It's encouraging to hear the new versions match the originals in quality.
Not exactly a range gun, but quite an effective round in a small, light package.
It's surprising more manufacturers haven't done it, too.
Enjoy.
 
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While I took my fair share of abuse in the early -70's, from an early CA .44BD (which I got shut of), my current/newer stainless .44BD has been an accurate joy to shoot (most likely due to the extra weight of the EJ shroud & factory rubber bumpers).

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PETAHW... what can you tell me about the pocket watch ( I collect those too )

Looks like a newer Swiss incabloc with a skeleton face & see though back

BTW... if it's a high dollar vintage watch, sorry about implying it was a "newer" Arnez or similar
 
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Thanks for the good thoughts, but there's no need for an apology, since it's an inexpensive Chinese knock-off from Wal-Mart (IIRC) - a "Majesticron". :o

I was intriqued by the look of the exposed 17-jewel clockworks. (The watch has an obverse clear window, also)

I wanted to add some interest/balance to my pic. :)



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was bidding on one that looked similar at the time on E-bay, so it was coincidence... the one on E-bay was a Swiss cheapy... I was high bidder at $10.50... figured it was worth $30.00 with shipping... someone obviously wanted it worse than than I... it sold for over $100.00 ( about 4 times what I figured it was worth )...

anyway... back to Big Bore Chatter :)
 
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