Charter Arms 22lr vs SW 43C 22lr

[bilby06]

I have had this CA 22 for a little over a year and am considering trading up to a SW 22. The CA is finicky about the ammo I use and has about a 30% misfire rate on the cheaper stuff and about an 80% misfire rate on the really cheap stuff. I just got the darn thing for practice on the range. (Practice shooting, not practice reloading) I have 3 SW 38, j-frames and I really like them. I also have a Ruger Sp101 357. All good guns. I have communicated with CA and they say box it up and send it in and they will take a look. Question is; I'm not sure it is worth messing with. I like the way its size and weight approximates the SW 38's I have, and having a 22 that gives me a chance to practice more without rattling my arthritic hand joints too much is a positive thing. Any comments are welcome.

[ColbyBruce]

.22 rimfire ammo ain't what it used to be. I get misfires from most all brands of ammo in a half dozen different .22 handguns and one AA conversion kit.

I have owned three CA Pathfinder revolvers and had problems with them; broke two firing pins and the front sight fell off one. Find yourself an older S&W 34 or 63.

[arjay]

It's probably a combination of the gun and bulk ammo.Try some cci in it.If you get more than one or two duds out of 100 (shouldn't be any),it's the gun

[Double-O-Dave]

I've heard that Charter Arms Customer Service is quite good. If it were me, I'd send it in to see what, if anything they can do to help. Once you get it back from the factory, if you are still unhappy with it, you should be able to sell it pretty easily, and with a clear conscience that you did everything possible to ensure the piece was operating per factory standards.

Good luck,

Dave

[raylan007]

Your arthritic hands won't like the heavy D/A pull on the model 43C, I let mine go for that reason and waited for a nice M34 snubbie to become available which it did for under $500 on GB. What a jewel, I know it is a totally different animal but the classic S/D action more than makes up for giving up the 8 rounds and yes it is enjoyable to shoot, bottom line.

[adwjc]

I had a ('70s vintage)Charter Arms Pathfinder in .22 LR- never had a problem and it was a sweet shooter, I got rid of it when I picked up a S&W 63.

Big mistake! The 63, as soon is it warmed up, wouldn't eject any empties, regardless of brand or velocity; tried everything including honing the cylinder, never could clear up that problem. Eventually I traded the 63 into something else and later picked up a 34 to fill that spot.

Those failure rates are way too high to be just the ammo, did you check to be sure you have a whole firing pin? Is the tip broken off?

Give CA Service the shot, they might surprise you. If you still don't like it, like Dave said, you can dispose of it with a clear conscience.

[bilby06]

Update: sent the 22 off to CA. After about 8 weeks I got it back. Not much change. Still too unreliable. I tried lots of better ammo. Talked to the original purchase place and traded it for a Ruger sp101 .22. Goes bang every time. Doing daily one finger push-ups to become able to handle the trigger. It's not really that bad :-), but close. Switching back and forth between SA and DA to get used to it. I have a Sp101 357 (shooting38s) and love it. Would like to have had a SW 22, but the only ones I could find around here were the concealed/hammer less. I really don't like buying revolvers online. Especially if I have never held one of the same build in my own arthritic hands. Still like my smith j-frame 38s. for every day carry.

[ColbyBruce]

I bought this Charter Arms Off Duty .22 LR for $150.00 back around Labor Day. It has not skipped a beat so far. Standard velocity ammo gives the best accuracy in this particular gun.

[bilby06]

Originally Posted by ColbyBruce

I bought this Charter Arms Off Duty .22 LR for $150.00 back around Labor Day. It has not skipped a beat so far. Standard velocity ammo gives the best accuracy in this particular gun.

Looks like you got a good one. I hear that performance varies from model to model and year to year. Sometimes I get a bummer. I had a new Bersa .380 and every clip had at least one stovepipe. The dealer took it out to the range and said it worked perfectly. I tried it again and no luck. Everybody on the Bersa forum said they are great. Karma? I've always been good to my guns.

[Lobster Picnic]

I have heard similar stories about the older Model 63 having ejection issues. I have the current 8-shot version and it has no such problems. The Model 34 seems to have less sticky chamber issues than the 63.

[ColbyBruce]

I do not have ejection problems with my S&W 63; other than it was ejected from a moving vehicle and hit the asphalt. The good folks at S&W fixed up and sent it back to me.

[H Richard]

I'd try the cust. service with Charter Arms. You may get it fixed right up at no cost. If not go for a Mod 34 or 63, and be prepared to have the over-tight chambers reamed with a Standard SAAMI reamer, which alleviates all the ejection problems with the S&W.