What's the consensus on Charter Arms these days?

I cant say I own one of these, but when the interest in a snub 44 came into mind, the research and the responses of the lack of quality, the repeated reports of bad timing...repeated trips back to factory for "free lifetime" repairs...only as long as the current owners existed. and the general rough finish of ever CA I handled, confirmed to me that my S&Ws and Rugers...would continue to be worth the money...


Now that Ruger has introduced...the GP100-44....my patience has paid off...
 
the consensus is that there isn't one. ive had good ones and bad ones. the good ones were decent but nothing great. the bad ones were really bad.

if you find a good one, as in it checks out, then its probably going to always be a good one. if its in the least bit suspect, it will do nothing but go down hill from there.
 
Can't speak for Charco/2000 period guns, but I believe the newer CA guns are excellent low priced, high value weapons. Do they have the fit and finish of my S&W or Rugers? Nope. Apples and Oranges. BMW vs Chevy. My Bulldog was less than half the price of my 629 and/or SBH. It conceals easily, is lightweight and very accurate. When I am carrying, the trusty Bulldog is at hand more often than not. Stay with published load data and the CA's will outlast most people. I'll soon be passing the 4000 rd count in a variety of weather condotions without a single hiccup. It's still as tight as the day I bought it. Stainless finish is decent other than some holster wear. I don't buy the frequently stated "carry often, shoot little" advice some folks regurgitate. Kinda silly advice for a weapon one depends on as a CCW. Shoot the snot out of them. Get proficient with it, enjoy it. If one feels the need to hot rod the loads, a magnum would be a better choice. I would not hesitate to buy another CA....if I can convince "The Boss" that I absolutely must have another pistol Lol!

Be well folks
 
I spoke with Charter Arms customer service on Friday afternoon and they will service the older models of Charter Arms revolvers, but it will cost $50 and the cost of parts. The customer service lady was very nice and I explained to her that I had to send back the first used gun I ever bought on Gunbroker back to the seller because the revolver was made by another company that no longer exists.

Having a company that will still do repair service on long out of production models is a lot better of a deal then buying something like H&R that's no longer made and doesn't have a company to send back a problem gun to for repair. Too bad I didn't know that Charter made 6 shot .32's back before I was born.

Live and learn.
 
The 6-shot .32 models were chambered for .32 S&W LONG.

The 5-shot .32 (around 1984) was chambered for .32 H&R MAGNUM.

Both built on the small Undercover frame.
 
I own and like three Charter Arms revolvers,,,

I own and like three Charter Arms revolvers,,,
4" Pathfinder in .22 LR.
2" (1 3/4") Undercover in .38 Special.
3" Bulldog in .44 Special.

The .22 and .38 are 3-4 years old,,,
The .44 is of an unknown but older vintage.

I have had no problems with any of the guns,,,
The .22 gets fired quite a bit of range use does the .38,,,
I don't shoot the .44 very much as it's expensive and is a hide-away gun.

The two newer guns could have used an hour more on the finishing bench,,,
But other than that they perform smoothly and are plenty accurate.

The older gun actually has a much more refined finish,,,
It's trigger is comparable to any decent revolver,,,
Meaning it's not competition quality,,,
But it is perfectly adequate.

You guys of my vintage will understand this comparison,,,
Charter arms guns are like the old Rambler autos,,,
They won't prizes in any beauty contests,,,
But they will get you to work every day.

Aarond

.
 
I also own two Charter Arms, a 4" 22lr and a 2.5" 44spl, both from the current factory/incarnation of the company. As several stated before, they are not the prettiest or smoothest revolvers I've owned, but they go bang every time. The rear sight screw on the 22 did come off once when my brother borrowed it, but the replacement screw from Charter hasn't moved a hair without the help of a screwdriver. The 44 locked up once from a tiny sliver of copper or brass that got stuck between the cylinder and forcing cone while my friend shot it, but I believe that was the ammo because I have not been able to replicate any separation in over 100 rounds since then (not to mention over 200 rounds before).
 
C A

I have 3 of their revolvers, an off duty made in the 70s when they were on Sniffens La in Stratford, a 44bulldog and a 9mm pitbull all are shooters! Not a finished piece like a S&W but they go bang everytime at least for me. Last year I had a set of rubber grips put on a lot better then the wood ones. called up the co had them in stock went to the factory about 5 miles away, they put the grips on and cleaned and checked out the pistol , that's service!! all for the price of the grips.
 
Let's see..

Hmmm, I actually own some Charter Arms revolvers, Twp 38 special short barrels,, two. 32 H&R Mag, shor barrel. ( load the 32). And several 22's

HmmDid they make the Explorere II,,,??? I have one of those also.

The revolvers I bought used, First thing I did was clean them good,,, smoothed out any rough mating surfaces, polished what need to be polished. They all shoot very well,,,I have never had to send one back,, I'm not even certain which manufacturer made them..They have performed reliably for me. For a lot of money less,,, what am I missing...........I am please with Charter Arms.
 
Late to the party but I'll add that I purchased one of their South Paw Pink Lady offerings NIB, as a gift a couple of years back.
My primary motivation was that there was not another manufacturer out there that produced a truly left handed revolver at that time, probably still not.

After handling and shooting it myself, I wound up picking up a Shelton CT Bull Dog Pug for myself used. Got it home and was going back through the revolver check list, pointed it across the room dry firing it and the firing pin broke. You could hear the broken piece hit the hardwood, never to be found.
Called Charter, sent it in, got it back in just under two weeks all on their dime. Not a problem since.
Charter does have outstanding CS, no question.

For curiosity sake I later picked up one of their Pitbull offerings in .40 S&W also used. Had to see for myself how their spring retention system for ACP cartridges works, and it does that fairly well.

The fit and finish on them is in my opinion a bit better than one might expect for the price point, yet still has notable shortcomings.
Aarond said it very well with his reference to Rambler.
I'll admit that I did take a jewelers file and stone to the margin where the crane meets the frame when closed on my Bulldog to even it up, but that was purely a cosmetic thing. They do go bang when you pull the trigger. Never have had any primer ignition or timing issues.

The recipient of the South Paw won't be parting with hers any more than I'll part with either of my 'dogs', and there are a few more on my 'list' now.
 
You guys of my vintage will understand this comparison,,,
Charter arms guns are like the old Rambler autos,,,
They won't prizes in any beauty contests,,,
But they will get you to work every day.

Aarond
Click to expand...
So the Dodge Dart of revolvers for this vintage!
 
What little having owned Gun publications for the better part of the last five years gives me as a valid opinion here, Charter, advertising being what it is aside, seems to have a good select of five-shot cylinder, small revolvers in .38 Special and .357 Magnum alike that seem of good use for whomever may need them.

That said, A Colt Detective Special is a great gun in my book just because I know they're discontinued by the company these days, so perhaps my opinion is best left taken with a grain of salt for now.
 
I have a mid 1970's vintage Bulldog. It is good and reliable. And well finished. I outfitted it with Herret Shooting Star grips - major improvement. I decided to see how much the gun would take so I loaded (in small steps) up to Elmer Keith's starting 44mag loads and it digested them well and never showed signs of too much pressure. But it certainly killed at both ends - more than just tingled when it went off. I was young and dumb then and never would do that again. But the gun held up well. No experience with newer models...
 
I'd like to add my recent experience.

I bought a Charter Pathfinder .22 (new) last week. Fit and finish seemed decent for the price. When I got it home, I saw a notice in the box that basically said "Do not dry fire without snap caps". I happen to have some Pachmayr .22 plastic snap caps so I decided to use them. One of them got chewed up by the firing pin within about 4 cylinder rotations. I removed that one and another and continued to dry fire. About 3 cylinder turns later, the trigger wouldn't pull back all the way. I tried to thumb cock the hammer...no luck. I then tried to release the cylinder and it wouldn't open. Couldn't get it to budge. Never had that happen before.

Fast forward to Monday. I placed a call to their service dept. Spoke to a nice lady and explained what happened. Since I happen to live in the same town as their factory, she invited me to bring it in. I was there within an hour, met the lady who then introduced me to one of their techs. He took a look at my gun, had me fill out a form, and said he was going to take it back into the shop and would be right back. About 10 minutes later he returned and said the gun was all set. A snap cap had lodged and pushed the cylinder forward against the barrel. He said he test fired a cylinder, cleaned it up and it was good to go.

I took the gun to the range yesterday to see how it worked. 100 rounds with no problem. I found the gun to be more accurate than the SP101 I recently got rid of. Not bad for a gun that was about $250 less than the SP101.

I'd give Charter a thumbs up.
 
I have two charters myself. The first is a patriot 327 fed mag with a 2.5" barrel. I purchased it used at a gun show. first range trip I fired a cylinder full went to open the gun and the barrel twisted, it was loose. called charter, they emailed a label sent the gun in they repaired it cleaned it and installed a new set of grips no charge. It has operated flawlessly since then.wonderful little power house.

Since that experience was so good,I purchased a bulldog 44 special, it has operated flawlessly since day one.

Fit and finish may not be up to par with guns that are twice the price,but they are good guns.

I have had to send back so many Rugers in the last 5 years, I will never purchase another Ruger product. I have an LCR that has been back twice and I will never carry it that would be suicide.
 
I have a late model Bulldog that I really like. Looking forward to doing a side by side comparison with the new Ruger GP100 in .44 spl.
 
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