Well, it's not a 24-3, but I like it....this afternoon I got the 70's era Charter Arms .44 Bulldog, 3" barrel, out of "layaway" from the gentleman I got my Speed Six from last month. I guess I have found my new "pusher".

I will likely put some Pachs on it before I take it out to the range. It's a light gun and the original wood grips are pretty small for my hands and probably won't do a lot for the recoil. Of course I will have to pick up some .44 special ammo, too.

This is the early model where you can also release the cylinder by pulling out on the ejector rod. Kinda cool. Gun, in my mind, is in fantastic shape and worth the $300 bill I paid for it. Enjoy the pics!

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That was my EDC for a long time, (now it's a Kahr .40).
I had Pachs on mine as well.
Good guns. Big hole.
Congrats.

Chuck

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They hold no Quarter

Did you have the compact Pachs on yours, Chuck---the ones with the little cut out on the bottom---since it was your EDC? I'm looking at getting the fuller sized combats since I probably won't be carrying this one.

Ray

I've always wanted one of those, but every one of them I've ever seen was as loose as could be. No idea what kind of loads had been put through them of course.

I'm becoming a big fan of the 44 Special cartridge anyway. I've owned a couple of 24's in the past, but had to sell them. I owned a Taurus 431, but sold that to help pay for a Smith 69.

These days, my 44 Special craving is handled by a pair of Uberti Open Top 1871/72 Colt copies. Man those things are fun to shoot.

Regarding the grips, check with Charter Arm's website. I THINK the neoprene grips they use on their current guns will fit the older ones as well. I know they will on the 38's anyway. Those grips are some of the most comfortable grips I've ever used, and are fairly inexpensive as well.

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John 3:16 .

I still carry the bulldog in my rotation. The blazer with the 200 gn gold dots is a good choice and recoil is very managable.

I bought one back in the late 70's when they were first introduced. Skeeter Skelton wrote an article about them, which prompted me to buy one. It was my first 44 spl. I still have it. if you are right handed, watch your thumb in relation to that cylinder latch when you shoot the little beast. The Bulldog can bite. I credit the Bulldog & the 44 spl for my on going penchant for compact revolvers that shoot big fat bullets.

Uh oh! Now you've done it!
Fair warning: .44 Specials can be very addicting.

I like the old model Bulldog .44 SPL. I bought this one new, more years ago than I can remember.

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A gun has no brain.. use yours

I like 'em! Someday I'll stumble upon one at a good price. I really like the .44 special. Nice find.

A poster above made the point about the Bulldogs he encountered being loose. When the Bulldog came out, the only .44 Spl factory load was the 246gr LRN. However, folks immediately began to ask: "Will it handle the Keith Load?", i.e. the 17.5 grs of 2400 handload. I imagine this unrealistic expectation lead to the "looseness" of many Bulldogs.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

This one isn't bad at all. It certainly isn't bank-vault tight, but I think this is a gently used version. Just a very slight bit of play in lock-up, but no end shake at all. I'm definitely not going to run full-on loads through it---factory ammo only.

Oh, and I also wrote Charter Arms and they said the gun was born in 1972.

I have wanted an earlier .44 Bulldog for a long time. Haven't found one yet at a price I'm willing to pay. Wonder what happened to Son of Sam's Bulldog?

A good Charter Arms .44 Bulldog is a good handgun, period. This one is around the same age as that of the OP's. Had lots of .44 rounds go through it. Went back to the factory for a toning up (the cylinder release latch was sticking for some reason). Really a solid, honest handgun.

Rich

I bought my first Bulldog in January, 1976. Bargain at $89.50 out the door. Thought it was a great deal and bought another one a month later.

I had read much of Skeeter Skelton's .44 Special writing, too. I figured that he knew what he was saying, and began to feed the first Bulldog the Skeeter load, 7.5 grains Unique under a cast 250 grain SWC. It kicked. I added the Pachmayrs and kept shooting. I even put some Keith loads through it, but not many! The Speer swaged 240 key-holed in it.

That was a mistake. It took pretty much a pound of powder but it ruined the little gun. The top strap of the frame stretched. The cylinder rode forward until it rubbed against the rear of the barrel, and the load pounded a crater in the bolt face around the firing pin hole. When fired, the primer filled in the crater and tied up the cylinder.

In short, my misguided "enthusiasm" ruined the little gun. My fault entirely.

I have kept the ammo for the second gun at factory levels. Silvertips are a good choice for the Bulldog, as are the Federal lead SWC-HPs. While I don't shoot it a lot, nearly 40 years later, it is still in great shape.

I didn't like the "fish hook" front sight shape, and filed it flat into a ramp.

For a few years, I had another Bulldog that had the barrel cut to 2 inches and had some sort of hard chrome or electroless nickel finish. I liked it a lot and regret trading it off.

Holsters for the Detective Special fit the Bulldog.