Bought a Charter Arms Pitbull 380 ACP on a whim. Thought it would be fun to play with. It shot 7 or 8 inches low and 1 1/2 inches to the left at 5 yards from a rest. Tried filing down the front sight per Charter Arms customer service which brought it to 5 inches low & still 1 1/2 inches left. Sent it to the factory under warranty to get it shooting closer to POA. Just came back today with a test target after front sight filed more & red coloring put on the front sight. Supposed to now meet factory specs. Test target showed it now shooting about 2 inches low & still about the 1 1/2 inches to the left with about a 4 inch group from 25 feet. No more newer model Charter Arms for me. Anyone else had any experience with the 380 ACP model pitbull?
Pitbull 380 ACP disapointment
- Thread starter foxy320
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I've never owned the 380, but one of the newer Charter Arms 44 specials I owned shot about 6" high as close as 20 or 30 feet. That was with the best load. I tried a few bullet weights and that was as close as I could get. I've owned a few good Charter Arms and I've owned a few lemons from them.
I've had no issues with their traditional revolver calibers and .22lr.
However, I've had three PB's now, two in 9 and one in .45.
First 9 was the current 5-shot, and the 2nd was a first-gen
6-shot. Both exhibited the same egregious outta-whack sighting
as your's. The .45 was just too much for me to tolerate shooting,
and I can't recall if I even tried for shooting with a carry-load, or not.
However, I've had three PB's now, two in 9 and one in .45.
First 9 was the current 5-shot, and the 2nd was a first-gen
6-shot. Both exhibited the same egregious outta-whack sighting
as your's. The .45 was just too much for me to tolerate shooting,
and I can't recall if I even tried for shooting with a carry-load, or not.
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Their standards seem to be low as far as shooting to point of aim goes.
I've wondered at times if manufacturers of 9mm/.380 caliber snubbies bother putting nominal .355 barrels on them or just use the .357 they use on their .38/.357 guns. Likewise the cylinder throats. I had a Taurus .380 revolver that shot well so I never checked it. But it was DAO so I wasn't expecting much.
If I was in your shoes I'd slug the barrel and mic the throats. If you reload you could work your way around those issues if they exist. You'd have to find some lightweight .358 bullets, or cast some. Or maybe size down cast Makarov slugs which are available commercially.
Edit: I went looking and several vendors have a couple of styles of 100gr or 105gr .358 bullets which could work if this issue does indeed exist.
I've wondered at times if manufacturers of 9mm/.380 caliber snubbies bother putting nominal .355 barrels on them or just use the .357 they use on their .38/.357 guns. Likewise the cylinder throats. I had a Taurus .380 revolver that shot well so I never checked it. But it was DAO so I wasn't expecting much.
If I was in your shoes I'd slug the barrel and mic the throats. If you reload you could work your way around those issues if they exist. You'd have to find some lightweight .358 bullets, or cast some. Or maybe size down cast Makarov slugs which are available commercially.
Edit: I went looking and several vendors have a couple of styles of 100gr or 105gr .358 bullets which could work if this issue does indeed exist.
Last edited:
bananaman
Member
I bought a new Pitbull .40. Worst new gun I ever purchased. Cylinder would bind when firing regardless of ammo type. Sent it back to them. After waiting it came back to me. Took it to the range and still did same thing. Sent it back again. Finally a new different gun was sent. Shot a couple of rounds through it and sold it. Could not trust it! Boob
hyena
Member
My Pitbull .45 shot to the right. IIRC 1.5 inches at 7 yards. CA paid for shipping both ways and promptly replaced the barrel. It's now dead on. Very pleased with the gun and their customer service.
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