A friend of mine, who is a spendthrift, is going to buy the CA Pug in 44 special. The gun weighs some 21 oz's and is all steel???? That's a feat in and of itself. A big bore gun made of steel weighing that little, for under 400 bills.
What do you all think?

I had one of the older ones for a while. I don't know how the current production ones are, but I hear mostly good things. It wasn't a smooth and polished gun in my example, but was perfectly serviceable. I didn't use it extensively and have no idea of its prior service history, so I can't comment as to how durable these guns are. I traded mine for a 442. The Pug was easy enough to carry though and a rather interesting little gun.

Midway should still stock the HKS speedloaders for them and Eagle actually makes grips for them.

quote:

Originally posted by ladder13:
The gun weighs some 21 oz's and is all steel???? That's a feat in and of itself. A big bore gun made of steel weighing that little, for under 400 bills.
What do you all think?

I think that he should not shoot it much. Yeah, 44 Specials don't recoil that much, but an all steel gun that is chambered for 44 Special and weighs that little has had to have some corners cut.

I have one of the older, original guns, and it is a good shooter and carry gun, with a fairly smooth action and tight lockup. The few late production Pugs I've seen have varied from almost mediocre to utterly atrocious in fit, lockup, finish, and action "smoothness." The older guns hold up well as long as one sticks to lighter loadings. (No idea how the new ones hold up.) Any .44 Special loading by the "majors" is okay, but stay away from Buffalo Bore and the like. I keep Blazer or Lawman 200gr. Gold Dots in mine. They kick like a bitch with the factory wood stocks, but are quite manageable with Pachmayr Compacs. There is a well-known factory defect in all of them, but it is easily remedied: The cylinder release pin in the recoil shield is a screw, and it will drift backwards after awhile, making it necessary to pull forward on the ejector rod to release the cylinder, rather than using the cylinder latch thumbpiece. One can cock the hammer and see where the screw sits in the arm of the cylinder latch. Applying a drop of Loctite 291 (green, wicking) to the back of the screw (after adjusting it properly) solves the problem. FWIW, all Charter revolvers suffer from the same defect, as far as I know.

The .44 spl. Charter Bulldogs are utilitarian tools with very little hand fitting refineries. They are light, but are built on solid frames with no side plates to weaken them.

They will stand up to more heavy bullet load shooting than most shooters can handle.

The only down side to these light weight guns is that 246 gr. or heavier bullets need to seated with a "heavy crimp" to prevent them from walking out of their cases under recoil.

However I never had this problem with 210 grain Speer JHP's behind 7 grains of Unique.

I wish I still had my 3" 70's vintage model.

MOONDAWG

I had one years ago and carried it and shot it a lot. Never had a problem. Never should've sold it. They get it that light by making the grip frame out of aluminum. The actual frame that takes the pounding is all steel.

MOONDAWG,
How bad ya miss your 3 inch Bulldog?I have one in the nightstand drawer stoked with 200 grain Silvertips for things that go bump in the night.While working around the yard it accompanies me with CCI snakeshot,mine has a bobbed hammer though,the previous owner must have used it for pocket carry and bobbed the hammer,you don't see or hear much about the old pencil barreled 3 inchers anymore,I might consider selling it If your interested,then again I'm awfully partial to it,but who knows?
Equalizer

I carried a Charter arms Pit Bull in 38 Super until last month. I think it was on the same frame except stainless.

The Bulldog Pug ain't refined, but it is a handy package, and plenty strong for standard .44 Special loads. I owned one for quite a while, and it was quite accurate with the Federal 200 gr. SWCHP load and 240 gr. SWC handloads. I wouldn't care to bet how long it would stand up to any souped-up load, but trust me -- you wouldn't want to shoot anything souped up anyway! Standard loads will recoil quite enough, thank you!

Equalizer S&W45 QUOTE: "How bad ya miss your 3 inch Bulldog?...I might consider selling it If your interested,then again I'm awfully partial to it,but who knows?"

I deeply appreciate your kind offer but must respectfully decline.

I've since replaced my 3" .44 Charter with another light weight big bore.

A 2.75" barreled .45 ACP S&W M-325. At 21 oz. it weighs about the same as my old 3" Bulldog, but reloads much quicker with full moon clips.

MOONDAWG

MOONDAWG,Can't argue with that I've been looking at a 325 myself,good feeling and handling little pieces,I'll probably hang on to my CA Bulldog,with snakeshot it's hard to beat around the yard,we've got a unbelievable amount of copperheads here this year and where i hike the forrestry dept. has turned mess of timber rattlers loose again to try and control the rodent population,so i guess the .44 will stay with me.
Equalizer

Okay, so please tolerate a touch of thread drift here...Did I read that right? The FORESTRY DEPT. turned loose a bunch of TIMBER RATTLERS to control the rodents? Seriously? Okay, I understand using snakes to help with rodent populations, but why timber rattlers when there are lots of excellent, non-venomous snake species from which to choose? I want to know where you live, Equalizer, because it is evident that the lunatics are in full control of the asylum!

38-44hd45,
I live in south west Virginia,Jefferson National Forest,I have a friend working in the forestry dept.,let me clear up things,he's stated the VA Dept of Game for the past several years have turned them loose to control the rodent population,if this is totally true I don't know for sure,but I know the area I hike has a heavy concentration of timber rattlers,I agree it's insane but getting the dept of game to make a statement on it would just about be impossible,same as relocation of large predatory cats that have been sighted in this area,we've found tracks and scat that ain't from a bobcat.But I can tell you this for the last 5 years I've seen and killed more timber rattlers on the trails of the Jefferson National Forest in SouthWest Virginia than I have ever seen in my lifetime,same thing with coyote,they where reintroduced several years ago and are just a pain in the ass now.I have nothing in black and white to prove what I've stated but I can honestly say that my personal experiences with the timber rattlers has been unpleasant the last 5 years,use to be a copperhead was your biggest worry but now on the trail the rattlers out number the copperheads.Like I said I don't have it in black and white but a good friend of mine for 30+ years works for the forestry dept.and passed this along to me,after I had told him of several occasions of running up on rattlers and having to splatter them with snakeshot.
Equalizer

I rest my case.

I never owned the Bulldog or Pit Bull but I did have a Charter Arms Chihuahua. I finally sold it after much teasing from my friends.