Charter Arms…quality ok?

[rockquarry]

Consider spending a little more and get a Colt or S&W. If you ever want to trade or sell, you'll be way ahead. You'll have something that holds value well and is more desirable to most people and will be much easier to sell.

 

[Valmet]

I’ve owned a .44 Spl Bulldog that I bought new back in 2010. It’s prob had 600-700 rounds thru it both factory stuff and handloads and it’s worked just fine. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another at the right price.

 

[Warren Sear]

Consider spending a little more and get a Colt or S&W. If you ever want to trade or sell, you'll be way ahead. You'll have something that holds value well and is more desirable to most people and will be much easier to sell.

True, but on the other hand, people are always looking for inexpensive guns.

 

[Brian Parrish]

On Duty

I bought the Bulldog .44 special On Duty, Model # 74410.
It was NOT ready to go out of the box.
I had to do some burr removal in several places especially the extractor rod.
Also there were sharp edges all over it, I mean
slice your hand open sharp, especially the ejector star. These I knocked down with a stone.
In other words, I had to do the finish work myself.

I had been warned about this, and I was prepared in every way for it.
It helped to watch a tube on how to take apart the ejector rod. Operating that ejector rod was like running a circular file across concrete, except when it got completely stuck. Smooth. Clean. Lube. It's now perfect.
After a pleasant hour on the bench, I've got a great gun and it is great with Silvertips!

Charter Arms' business model is for the end user to be the quality control department. If you understand why the gun is less expensive, you can be happy with it.

If you are patient, you can go over it and pick out what you want fixed on it and send it back to them. They will do a good job for you.
No of course you should not have to do this, but all of them including S&W are doing it this way now.

 

[dben002]

I've never been a fan of Charter Arms revolvers...I don't care for the styling, and the mechanical operation always seems to be very stiff and gritty. However, you can't argue with the prices and if the buyer has budget restrictions then a Charter revolver makes a decent choice...it may just take some time to break it in. There are lots of options for revolvers these days, and Taurus is now producing some outstanding guns for reasonable prices. Although Colt, S&W, and Ruger are still industry leaders, companies like Kimber, Henry, RIA, Taurus, and others are catching up.

I don't have any left currently, but I have been impressed with how Taurus is upping their game with all handguns.......

 

[quikdraw67]

This is the info I got from my LGS regarding Charter Arms.

When picking out guns for this year's gun raffle, I wanted to get a revolver. S&W, Ruger, and Colt were out of our budget.

I asked about Rossi and Charter Arms, as I knew they sold a fair amount of CA.

They said with all the problems they had with CA they were going to stop stocking them, too many sent back.

I picked the Rossi instead.

Again, not 1st hand experience. YMMV

 

[IAM Rand]

It worked for David Berkowitz. Sorry, twisted humor here.

 

[Glenn R. McMannly]

Another inexpensive option is the Rock Island M206.

Supposedly they are very solid and dependable guns, especially at the price of just $200 or so. Based on the Colt detective series.

 

[bananaman]

Only my experience....... Bought a Pitbull in .40 caliber. Factory or reload ammo would cause the cylinder to bind when firing.
Sent it back for repair. No difference.
Sent it back again and they decided to replace it. Fired the new 1 a little and sold it. Bob

 

[WR Moore]

Waaaay back when, one of their .44 Bulldogs crossed my bench. I discovered the shaft the cylinder rotates on is pressed(?) into the vertical part that supports it when it's swung out. Apparently, their QC was extremely lacking as the shaft & cylinder slid out when trying to unload it.

Not my idea of quality design/construction. Wonder if the parts are supposed to be brazed or something? Gotta be better choices out there.

 

[robrossk]

I have a 32H&R mag. No issues.

 

[rockquarry]

All manufacturers occasionally ship out faulty products. However, the chances of this happening are fewer with higher priced products. Liken it to cheap .22 ammo that so many people buy simply because it's cheap. Then they complain about so many rounds that didn't fire and the accuracy wasn't great.

The next batch may be faultless and exhibit good accuracy, but you take a chance on that not happening. I'd spend a little more and increase my chances of getting good quality, whatever the product might be.

 

[DWalt]

All I can attest to is that my early production Bridgeport .44 Bulldog has never given me any cause for grief. My only “improvement” is adding a pair of Pachmayr oversized rubber grips that make it far more controllable and pleasant to shoot. Zero experience with current production Charter Arms revolvers.

 

[Crookedcreek]

Unfortunately, bad experiences with QC iffy era guns can leave a 'lasting impression', and negative assessments and ensuing expressed words travel much more than do positive assessments, and generally impact 'product reputation' in perhaps an 'unfair way'. A little review of some 'early history' (through 1989) might help understanding, see here: Charter Arms Revolvers.

My particular example may not be 'typical', it being a 50th Anniversary model from 2014, produced during the current Nick Ecker ownership period, where QC again became. I view mine as more of a 'Cinderella' version, a notch above the normal 'family members':