Charter Arms Experience?

[wmg1299]

Other than a few Heritage single-action 22's that my sons and I use for plinking, my revolver collection is pretty small. I've been thinking of adding a Charter Arms Bulldog .44 Special revolver. I realize that .44 Special isn't an overly popular caliber, but I'm not interested in a .44 Mag revolver and kind of like oddball guns. I know that ammo can be pricey (when you can find it), but I own a lever-action Marlin in .44 Mag that can also run the .44 Special ammo.

I have never owned any Charter Arms products. Most of the shooters I personally know that own Charter revolvers own older copies from various production eras. I would greatly appreciate if any of you who own a modern Charter Arms revolver could give me an honest opinion about their reliability and quality.

 

[Bassbob]

Other than a few Heritage single-action 22's that my sons and I use for plinking, my revolver collection is pretty small. I've been thinking of adding a Charter Arms Bulldog .44 Special revolver. I realize that .44 Special isn't an overly popular caliber, but I'm not interested in a .44 Mag revolver and kind of like oddball guns. I know that ammo can be pricey (when you can find it), but I own a lever-action Marlin in .44 Mag that can also run the .44 Special ammo.

I have never owned any Charter Arms products. Most of the shooters I personally know that own Charter revolvers own older copies from various production eras. I would greatly appreciate if any of you who own a modern Charter Arms revolver could give me an honest opinion about their reliability and quality.

I've never owned one but I have several friends that have them and I have shot them. Nothing at all wrong with them. They are solid revolvers from a solid company.

 

[Annihilator]

Other than a few Heritage single-action 22's that my sons and I use for plinking, my revolver collection is pretty small. I've been thinking of adding a Charter Arms Bulldog .44 Special revolver. I realize that .44 Special isn't an overly popular caliber, but I'm not interested in a .44 Mag revolver and kind of like oddball guns. I know that ammo can be pricey (when you can find it), but I own a lever-action Marlin in .44 Mag that can also run the .44 Special ammo.

I have never owned any Charter Arms products. Most of the shooters I personally know that own Charter revolvers own older copies from various production eras. I would greatly appreciate if any of you who own a modern Charter Arms revolver could give me an honest opinion about their reliability and quality.

I just recently picked up a Bulldog, ammo is scarce right now, but mine shoots great, tight lockup, no issues. I currently use it for my CCW gun now, complete faith in it.

 

[wmg1299]

I just recently picked up a Bulldog, ammo is scarce right now, but mine shoots great, tight lockup, no issues. I currently use it for my CCW gun now, complete faith in it.
View attachment 16098

That appears to be the exact model I am considering. I've found them available at two dealers, but they were both priced in the $500 range. I was hoping to find one a little closer to the $350-$400 range, but I'm not sure that is possible in today's market. In your opinion, is the Bulldog good enough to justify paying a premium, or does it fall more into the, "great gun for the money" category?

 

[Annihilator]

That appears to be the exact model I am considering. I've found them available at two dealers, but they were both priced in the $500 range. I was hoping to find one a little closer to the $350-$400 range, but I'm not sure that is possible in today's market. In your opinion, is the Bulldog good enough to justify paying a premium, or does it fall more into the, "great gun for the money" category?

I paid $420.OO for mine, yea, it’s not a S&W, but for me, it’s a good gun for the money, as for paying a premium price, I guess it’s on how bad you want it, I myself wouldn’t go over say, 525.00 for one, but in today’s atmosphere, I guess you have to go with the flow, but they do come with a lifetime warranty to the original owner if that’s helps.

 

[wmg1299]

I paid $420.OO for mine, yea, it’s not a S&W, but for me, it’s a good gun for the money, as for paying a premium price, I guess it’s on how bad you want it, I myself wouldn’t go over say, 525.00 for one, but in today’s atmosphere, I guess you have to go with the flow, but they do come with a lifetime warranty to the original owner if that’s helps.

Thanks for the advice. I'm normally hesitant to ever pay a premium for something that will most likely come down in price in the near future. This is usually due as much to my available funds as it is to my patience. My patience has been somewhat weakened now that I have an unexpected $1400 extra dollars.

 

[HansGruber]

At $500?

I’d pass...but I’d start looking on the secondhand market for a .44spl GP100 or a S&W 69 44mag...yeah, they’ll be in the $6-700 range, but a much higher quality pistol.

I don’t own any Charters; I have friends that do, and they’ve struck me as decent enough for $300-400 guns...but I don’t think I’d pay more than that.

Another option—see if you could find a nice Ruger Blackhawk .44spl...

 

[wmg1299]

At $500?

I’d pass...but I’d start looking on the secondhand market for a .44spl GP100 or a S&W 69 44mag...yeah, they’ll be in the $6-700 range, but a much higher quality pistol.

I don’t own any Charters; I have friends that do, and they’ve struck me as decent enough for $300-400 guns...but I don’t think I’d pay more than that.

Another option—see if you could find a nice Ruger Blackhawk .44spl...

Part of what draws me to the Bulldog is that I do not already own any Charter Arms products. My revolver collection is small, but already includes a Ruger GP100 in .357 and several S&W's in various calibers. When I was a young police officer, several of the older officers carried Charter Arms revolvers as backup/off-duty weapons. This made me curious about them, and the gun would have a nostalgia to it now that I'm older. Taking the advice I have received into account, I will most likely wait a few weeks until the "stimulus" effect on the market wears off.

 

[Marklite]

I have 2 Bulldogs, 1 Magpug and 1 Undercover. Great revolvers.

 

[wmg1299]

I took a chance and e-mailed Charter Arms to see if they could recommend a dealer in the area who gets regular shipments. I was a little surprised when they responded quickly and were very polite. The Charter rep. stated that they sell to distributors, rather than individual dealers, but assured me that they are running at full capacity and are shipping out revolvers every two weeks. Hopefully, a Bulldog will show up at one of my LGS or favorite online dealers in the near future.