Rossi vs Charter Arms

T

The_Shootist

New member
So I check with my local Academy Sports today to see how sparse ammo was and was sorta surprised to see plenty of .38 spl ammo in Monarch or WWB. I mainly carry a 642 so thats cool. No .357/9mm/.45/.22 LR...although the clerk admitted they had lots of 9mm in the morning after the Friday shipment arrived...for about 30 min. Now all gone.

Gun selection pretty thin too - which brings me to my next question:

Saw both a Rossi 3" bbl .44 mag and a Charter Arms Bulldog in .44 spl. Clerk admitted both had been on the shelves for about a month with no takers - $369 for the Rossi and $399 for the Charter. Sign of the times price-wise I guess.

I've always been interested in the .44 spl as a carry round, and am leaning to the Rossi, but am interested in hearing opinions. I'm in no hurry - I'm not crazy about about buying a revolver that I can't get ammo for, but if you were interested in getting either for .44 spl, which one would you go with?

Yeah I know - carried alot - shot a little - maybe a box a month. The Rossi was kinda nice looking with a dark black finish. The fit and finish and construction on the Charter surprisingly looked pretty good and was a good weight for carry.
 
I have owned a Charter .44sp and it was a nice gun. Between the 2, I would choose the Charter as my experience with it was good.YMMV
 
I like the Charter. Had a lot (several dozen over the years) from CA Charco/Charter 2000, Bulldogs, Police Bulldogs, Undercovers, Off Duties, and Pathfinders. Only problem I ever had was a pooly timed Charco .22LR.

I had a Rossi .22 revolver that died on me after about 2K. Not too much of a fan of their handguns. Love the older M92 lever action rifles.
 
i would go with the Charter, i like them and they are made in U.S.A., im not knocking the rossi in this price range just my preferance
 
I don't have any experience with charter but the Rossi 357 that I owned was a great gun. If you put together both myself and the friend I bought it from it last over 4 years of fairly heavy use with no problems and I shot mostly magnum loads through it. The Rossi also goes on sale and has a really nice price at times. Last month my local academy had it on sale for $269 and yes that is the 44 mag.
 
I recently bought a new production Charter Bulldog and am really liking it. I also have a pathfinder in 22lr from Charter that is nice too. I have only handled the older Rossi revolvers with any serious intent to buy (passed based on finding a S&W for not too much more) and they seemed like decent revolvers. I have no real experience with their new stuff.

All that said, I would go with the Charter for a few reasons. The first is that Rossi is owned by Taurus now and while the guns are usually decent, if you get a lemon it will be a world of hassle to get fixed under warranty. Charter's customer service is amazing, both before and after purchase. Secondly Charter's are made in the USA by a good group of people that really stand behind their products.
 
I have a newer Bulldog and am quite happy with it. It was a pawn shop find that needed a trip back to the factory to get the cylinder gap opened up a bit. They fixed it free of charge and had it back to me in two weeks flat.

As others have said, Charter is a true mom-and-pop American company.
 
I have a handful of Charters, 3 in .38 and 2 in .44 SPL. (All Connecticut-made). One of the 38s will shoot the crane screw loose but I never felt it was trouble enough to do more than re-tighten it occasionally. Otherwise, they've all been perfect. One of my .44 SPLs is a regular carry.

My sister-in-law has a pretty little nickel-plated Rossi .38 that she has had for 20+ years and has never had problems with.

Charter's customer service gets excellent marks; never had occasion to use them, myself.

W
 
I have a newer Rossi 357 snubby that is a great gun. Well built, fit and finish are excellent. Double action trigger is a bit heavy, but the single action is fantastic, I'd say somewhere between a Ruger and a Smith. Never had any issues with it.

I also have a 44 Spc Bulldog. Decent gun, but fit and finish aren't nearly as good as the Rossi. My niece used to have a Pink Lady. Seemed to shoot decent, but the trigger was terrible. Very gritty, and the single action trigger pull had a little take up in it before it went off. I figured it was just that gun, so I checked a few others out at a gunstore one time, and they all felt the same way.
 
Saw both a Rossi 3" bbl .44 mag and a Charter Arms Bulldog in .44 spl. Clerk admitted both had been on the shelves for about a month with no takers - $369 for the Rossi and $399 for the Charter. Sign of the times price-wise I guess.
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That's hard to believe, as much of a gun snob as some might portray me as, I'd pick them both up in NY minute, and I'm not from NY, but I have enough money to buy four of each, not that I'd be that crazy!
 
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