New Charter Arms .44 Special,any good? Better than the old ones?

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45automan

New member
Hey guys I was looking at a Charter Arms .44. It seemed to be an allright gun for the money. I know the older ones were of questionable qaulity. It seemed very tight. Also it was a funny grey color,and light weight too. I gave it a once over and left. What are the new Charter Arms made out of? Alloy maybe? It was too light to be steel. Thanks for any help.
45automan
 
Mine shoots like a charm, so far. Tamara had problems with parts falling off at the range! I think she said it was the cylinder latch slide button. That'd piss me off.

The exterior finish isn't what it could be, but for $270 I was willing to try it. It is supposed to be stainless steel, but I have my doubts. The finish looks more like a coating.

Did you notice it has a five shot wheel? That helps with the weight and its narrowness.

HKS CA44 reloaders work and it rides nice in a Galco Silhouette. I bobbed my hammer and it carries well. Seems reliable, but franky, I need to shoot it more.

For just a litte more you could get a Taurus 445. :)
 
The deal with Charters is...

The original designs and guns were very good, circa late '70s or so under the Charter Arms name. These can be identified by unshrouded ejector rods. If you come across one of these in very good shape, either the Undercover .38 or one of the .44Spl snubs, they can be a good deal. Some gunsmiths don't like working on them because they're very weird...the trigger/hammer/grip frame assembly "forks upwards" into the frame like a giant dovetail. Hence there's no sideplates.

It's weird, but it's strong. I *love* my old Undercover, I can hit torso-size targets 100% of the time at 50 yards firing SA...and yep, that's a 2" barrel :).

Late in Charter's life, QC went south just before they died. Charco bought the designs, and quality was downright infamous.

This new Charter 2000 company...well, the jury is still out. Some very early ones stank but...could have been just teething problems.

Jim
 
I purchased one of these a couple of months back and it's performed rather well so far. I prefer satin stainless to this dull "ship-gray" color, but this is really the only complaint I have with the gun.

I was somewhat surprised by the accuracy. I had heard bad reviews about it's accuracy, but mine is surprisingly accurate.

One other thing: I've also heard that the original (without shrouded ejector rod) was of rather good quality. This company was organized - guys, correct me if I'm wrong -as Charter Arms first, then as Charco (these received poor reviews, I understand), and then was finally reorganized as Charter 2000.

The barrel on mine says CHARTER 2000, but the rubber grips have the CHARTER ARMS logo insert.
 
"It's weird, but it's strong. I *love* my old Undercover, I can hit torso-size targets 100% of the time at 50 yards firing SA...and yep, that's a 2" barrel ."

Wow...and this entire time I thought my charter arms Undercover was a no-name pistol! I'm still not very good with it because of the uncomfortable and small wooden grips, but it's not too bad. Nice to know that it's not a piece of junk. The finish looks horrible, but I guess it shoots pretty good.

Last time I took it out (I refuse to graduate past 10 feet until I get consistant 2" groups) I got it down to about a 3" group after getting used to it. I dislike the sights though...
 
Some notes on my old Undercover...

Jesse, your comments on "poor finish" suggests you've got something later than mine. Is your ejector rod unshrouded?

Here, lemme pull up a pic:
jimguns.gif


See how the ejector rod is just "hanging out"?

Is yours?

I'm curious because the finish on mine is superb, literally on a par with a '60s-era S&W. The hammer is case hardened, the steel frame is actually a deep dark brown, and the aluminum barrel shroud and grip frame are a deep blue. There's very slight finish wear on the aluminum trigger guard, nothing I'm worried about.

Mine has another advantage: it's absolutely rock-tight at full lockup, with zero cylinder play, a lovely trigger (both DA and SA) and a .002" barrel gap. I assume it was seriously tuned up by a good gunsmith at some point :).

I don't think you can expect quite that same performance out of most other Charters. Mine's somebody's old hot-rod :). And because they're a bit mechanically strange, if yours isn't at this level already, you'll have a hard time bringing it to that point. If your finish is rough, it's probably not as finely made inside either.

SO: I like mine, but I wouldn't buy another unless it was a very good similar-era specimen that I personally checked the timing, lockup, trigger, etc on.

Oh, and those are Packmeyer Compac grips, which are still in the catalog for this gun. Highly recommended :).

Jim
 
Jim

I love that grip on yours! Hey, I might just do my first upgrade on the pistol I shoot the very least. :)

Yup, mine looks just like yours except for the grips. To be honest, the only area where the finish is bad is around the muzzle where it says "charter arms corp, stratford conn." It looks more like somebody used something too harsh to clean the finish, though.

The hammer has some discoloration, reminds me of what stainless steel exhaust manifolds look like after a few heat cycles.

The cylinder on mine does have slight play, I'm not sure if it's normal or not since I've never really handled other wheelguns, and the few times I did, I never took notice.

Yeah, mine is definately rough around the edges, sometimes it's difficult to release the cylinder. It's not too bad right after I give it a good oiling though. The main thing I'm worried about it is the hammer. Manually cocking it back, it will go back as far as physically possible...meaning the "tail" of the hammer is actually touching a part of the rest of the gun (excuse my lack of terms). I'm assuming this isn't normal since the finish is worn at the contacting points.

When I do cock it back so that it touches, I can nudge the hammer forward and it'll click into the assumed normal position of a few mm's forward so that the hammer isn't touching at the rear. Applying slight pressure on the trigger will also reset it to the "normal" hammer position.

Also, any tips on improving the sights?

Hey, not bad for a free gun. :)

edit: LOL, after doing a search on Packmeyer grips in Yahoo I ran across your website, Jim.
 
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