Thinking Charter Arms Bulldog for CCW

N

Nathan

New member
Well, I've become po'd at my semi's for right now! They are all big, broke or now being reliable! all except the Kahr P40....

I will be CCWing my S&W 640-1 starting today!

So, I'm thinking about the 44 spcl Charter as an alternate on a OWB pancake holster. How will the trigger be on this. I tried the 38 Charter in a shop and it was pretty crappy...not a S&W trigger. How will the 44 spcl be?

Also, who makes a $50ish pancake rig for this? Speedloaders, pouch?

Ah heck...should I really just be getting more from my P40?
 
I would certainly want to have 5 shots of .44 Special versus 5 of .38 Special. Although, the best .38 rounds are probably plenty good enough if you do your part.

Come to think of it, isn't the Model 640 a .357 Magnum? In that case, you can carry .38 +P.

No Charter will be as nice on the trigger as the S&W wheelguns. But they should be good enough at self-defense range, and with that old adrenaline going you probably will not benefit from the higher quality trigger pull anyway.

But the KelTec P40 is a nice gun. My experience with the Charter .44 3-inch is with an original model all steel one (new ones these days are lighter), and I do know that the small polymer guns in .40 are very snappy to shoot and flip the muzzle way up. So I can't really say which you can control better.

But I do know you can reload the .40 faster.

Bart Noir
 
I carry the modern stainless Bulldog .44spl with the 2.5" barrel. I also own a vintage Bulldog with the 3" barrel.

I've been nothing but pleased with my Bulldog. It's a light and ergonomic little powerhouse that I think is fun to shoot (and I even retrofitted mine with the old-style wood grips).

As a previous poster stated, the triggers on Charters are never going to be like a S&W (the S&Ws that use a leaf mainspring). That having been said, the trigger on mine is actually quite nice. The trigger was okay right out of the box, and has smoothed out a little since then. Now, I have a mag Pug .357 (built on the same frame as the Bulldog) and the trigger is nowhere near as nice as my Bulldog's. I guess they vary from gun to gun. No surprise, becasue I have two identical Ruger GP100s (both built in 2012 and only 40 serial numbers apart), and the triggers on them are as different as night and day.

My advice: Check out the Bulldogs, and look for one of the ones with a nicer trigger.

For what it's worth, I wouldn't trade my little Bulldog for anything.

I'm gonna have to take a new pic one of these days, but here is my gun.

p1291054.jpg
 
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This is what I carry a lot in the summer.



Not sure how much he's charging these days, but Simply Rugged makes a nice leather OWB holster for the Bulldog.

The trigger sucks, but its not a target piece, so I don't really care.
 
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I have been disappointed with every newer CA Bulldog I have handled, I would like one but of the five I have seen they were sloppy and poorly made :mad:
 
It's been some years, but I've fired a Bulldog. It's a good piece. I'd carry it. The right 44 Special round will pack plenty of punch. (I would load my own - Speer 200g GDHP SB.)
 
Something to consider:
The main drawback to a light, large bore gun is that they are no fun to practice with.
Without reloading, the availability and cost of .44s can be a hindrance to regular practice, too.
And if it's going to be a carry gun, ya' gotta' practice with it, a lot.
 

Another Charter Arms to consider is the .40 S&W Pit Bull. I replaced my S&W 296 Airweight (.44 Special) with the above gun for CCW. The .40 ammo is cheaper to buy and there are many different loads available. As other have said it's no S&W for trigger and build quality but mine goes bang every time.

Mark
 
holsters, kit for a snub .44spl Bulldog...

I saw a slick DA only(spurless) stainless Bulldog .44spl at a local Gander Mountain retail location. The sale price for the NIB revolver was only $429.00 USD.
I'd get the Charter Arms revolver ported by Mag Na Port & maybe treated with Bearcoat, www.bearcoat.com or Metalife SS C.
Crimsontrace makes a red laser for the Bulldog series too, www.crimsontrace.com .

For carry or protection, I'd buy the Magsafe .44spl load, the Glaser Safety Slug(silver) the Speer Gold Dot 200gr JHP or the Hornady Critical Defense .44spl round.
Tuff Products makes .44 strips in black, safety orange. I'm left handed so I doubt I'd use .44spl speed loaders.

CF
 
I don’t have this holster (side guard) but it’s a direct copy of my Decantis which they no longer make. I have seen one for a 1911 and they are well made.
As far as quality, the 2000 charter arms were less than great but the newer ones are much better. They are as good (trigger) as my old one.
I would suggest one in a second and if you do buy one keep Winchester silver tips in it. You want to stay away from heavy bullets. Keep in the 200 Gr weight which Winchester makes.



http://www.sideguardholsters.com/gunmodels/Charterarms-holsters.htm
 
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I like mine which I acquired in 2010. Shoots well. Have a Simply Rugged holster for it which works good too. I use my standard reloads of course... A standard .44 special load (on the upper side) under 240g SWC. You don't want to push real hard on this gun.... Keep the loads standard. Easily controllable and kick is tolerable.

HolsterForBulldog_3_zpsc48458e3.jpg
 
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Rclark Not to hijack the thread, that’s a nice looking holster but, What are the two holes for at the top?
Never seen that in a holster.
Mine is over 25 years old and starting to get a little soft where the gun is flopping around a little bit. As you can tell from the wear.
 
The Charter Bulldog was one of my carry guns. 70s era.

Not pretty, not smooth but a keeper and I still have it around the house for a backup.

When I was younger and quicker and could shoot better free hand I felt the 5 shots was plenty.

No illusions it was anything other than a knock around gun but a good one for that purposes. One gun I could not target shoot well but did not expect it.

I was shocked when my then girlfriend shot it and did better than I could (and I was a pretty good shot in those days). So it was more capable than I thought in the right hands.
 
I have two .44 Charters - one is a 3" and the other is 4" "target". Both '70s vintage. The 4" sucks - lousy execution of a good idea. The 3" is a good gun that I'd be carrying if I carried revolvers. The reason that I didn't carry it "back in the day" is that there wasn't a convenient way to carry reloads. Speed loaders and ammo wallets were too bulky. Now that they make Tuff Strips for it, it's a very viable carry gun. The "D" frame Colt holsters seem to fit the Charters well. I was lucky to find a holster for a 3" Dick Special :D that fits the Charter like it was made for it.

By the way, I keep them loaded as house guns with Glasers.:cool:
 
Oh yeah, the holster for multiple guns trick.....

I used to carry a Detective Special. The holster is an Andrews leather IWB that was made for the Ruger SP101 and it works fine for the D. S. also, to include the thumbsnap strap over the hammer.

So a leather holster for the SP101 might work for the Charter .44. I can't check that for you because I have a very old Bulldog and can't be sure if the frame dimensions are the same as the current ones.

Don't let the 5-flute molding on the holster slow you up if you want to carry a 6-shot, whether D. S. or Charter .357 etc. The leather is flexible enough that the molding for flutes does not matter. Finding holsters for the SP101 should be no problem, to include the 3-inch versions.

Bart Noir
 
Movie night....

A few years ago, a Charter Arms .44 Pug topic was swarmed with messages about the 1986 action/thriller; Manhunter.
The film based on the novel by Thomas Harris had the FBI special agent & serial killer expert using a Bulldog Pug .44spl in a few scenes(loaded with the older Glaser Blue Safety Slugs).

It's a decent film if you like Michael Mann & the Miami Vice type production values.

CF
www.imfdb.org
 
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