Charter Arms Bulldog in .45 ACP
- Thread starter richhodg66
- Start date
richhodg66
Well-Known Member
A few years ago I bought another .44 special belly gun, a Taurus, can't remember the model, but it has a 3" barel. Fixed sights and, oddly, a widebhammer spur and trigger, almost like one would expect on a target revolver. I likebthe gun, but quite a bit beefier than a Bulldog. Fun to shoot, but I wish it had a longer barrel and adjustable sights.
Missionary
Well-Known Member
For CC I am still a "Hip Grip" fan. Simple, versatile and no extra bulk.
Barrami?
I tried one of those. Neat idea, but the set I got were really cheesy. Didn't fit well, poorly moulded,... I've wondered if I just got a reject set, because I'd like to try them again, or at least some variation. There are times when it would be convenient, but yoiu can still stuff it into a legitimate holster if desired.
Winelover
North Central Arkansas
Unless you're a southpaw, like me!
Missionary
Well-Known Member
Howdy Jeff
Everyone we have was made to fit well. I wonder if "bubba" adapted it prior to your ownership ? W have done that but with very similar revolvers.
Years back when we heard they were going out we started looking into old gunshops. Found one LGS who had a whole rack of them. He saw me looking through and asked if we used them. I replied and he said, "Tell ya what. You buy them all and it will be $1 a set. Well that was one of those "Strike while the iron is hot" moments.
Howdy Glaciers... We have a couple of those 5 shot Rossi,s in 44 Special. We like-em ! Never had a CA.
Everyone we have was made to fit well. I wonder if "bubba" adapted it prior to your ownership ? W have done that but with very similar revolvers.
Years back when we heard they were going out we started looking into old gunshops. Found one LGS who had a whole rack of them. He saw me looking through and asked if we used them. I replied and he said, "Tell ya what. You buy them all and it will be $1 a set. Well that was one of those "Strike while the iron is hot" moments.
Howdy Glaciers... We have a couple of those 5 shot Rossi,s in 44 Special. We like-em ! Never had a CA.
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Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
Not necessarily for everyone but:
Snub Training – Werner Carry System* – snubtraining.com
snubtraining.com
Missionary
Well-Known Member
Interesting information there. Thank you !!
Years ago a friend commented that the Barami would be perfect for him if only they came left-handed. It took a couple of trials, but I made him a Pachmayr Compacs-inspired mirror image version from micarta. I was always going to do a RH set for myself, because they came out much better than the originals. Never got around to it.Unless you're a southpaw, like me!
These were new/in package. Must have been a Monday morning set from first shift after a holiday weekend. I will try them again. There are several pair available on the big auction site that doesn't like guns for $8 for sorta-white, or $16 for black.
Rossi is supposed to be getting back in the game and they advertize a new, stainless, six-shot, 3" 357 (RP63) that looks really nice. According to the user manual on their site, the internals look to be like the old guts, ala-Smith & Wesson, and had excellent triggers, hammer-mounted firing pin to boot. Based on the 720s I've had, I'd take a chance on one of these - if one could be found. There are one or two being offered above MSRP, but I'm not paying over $400 for a gun I know I won't get parts or service for later. $350 would be OK if it's as nice as the older ones I had. The new Rossis are made by Taurus, but don't include the Taurus parts I don't like.
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Well the Rossi is quite a nice pistol. Probably be nicer with a 4 inch option and I say that as the weight and size is in between every other manufacturers offering.
The Charter Arms 3” 44 is 20.8 once’s and the Rossi is 31.1. A bit of a chunk but with adjustable sights it’s a good compromise but a holster sidearm not bad in my back pocket for a short stretch, but needs a holster for extended time.
I’m not sure but the 4 inch Ruger GP100 44 spl is close to 40 once’s.
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Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
You look at all the extra metal in those pics and you see the problem with so many handguns. Smith, Colt, Ruger, whatever, they all seem bent on making heavier guns than needed, at least in revolvers. You can get little teeny plastic and steel autos that are super light, but even 22's seem to be super heavy these days. It's all for aesthetics, which equals sales, but theres something to be said for a light, easy to carry gun, especially in the non-magnum cals. Times change...
RBHarter
West Central AR
A 12oz any pistol in any chamber much over 380 becomes a pain to shoot . If you don't shoot you can't if the time comes ........ Of course if it's too heavy bulky you won't have it IF you need it.........
In that vein/vain/vane , 175s at 980 fps MV in the XD 40 2.5" with 14 rounds are and absolute joy to shoot, far more fun than the 40 oz Sec 6 6" 357 . I can't say the same for one of the 1st gen S&W synthetic blend 9mm which was just a nasty whippy unhappy piece of work . Honestly the LCP is more comfortable in 380 .
Having shot a few full tilt 357 mags from the old books , and a load that was safe but wth was I thinking, in the 6" 6 and a 4" 66 clone I can't imagine a full boat 357 in one of the Scandium/ titanium wonder guns much past proving it'll go bang twice a year.
So we back them off to 5 shots or 38s or even 9s so we will use them and have them as needed.
Then the R&D guys come up with ways to tame the recoil and get the round counts up which is great but now the arms are deafening and gained back all the weight in ammo we didn't want to carry around before ........ So we got what we wanted but now we're back to don't and won't .
Al's boys had it right with butt down shoulder rigs in horse hide with 1911s and P35s under dark jackets . They probably would be near perfect in a nice rustless SS and the vast majority of us wouldn't even notice 5# spread across both shoulders .
I could pull off the Miami Vice no tuck but I'd look stupid with my 5 head and silver locks and the sport jacket basically died in 82' as a casual daily look . So that takes me back to wardrobe that screams just as loud as just hanging it out there .
There's no simple solution it's all trade offs and fashion statements. I'm not above at this point having a break away walking stick , hiding a long slide , 14 round , tank killer . Kind of awkward at Lowes or the carnival but certainly passing at CVS and Walmart. Something in a nice Tonka Yellow , Black and Decker or Steelers scheme . Maybe even with a red tip .
In that vein/vain/vane , 175s at 980 fps MV in the XD 40 2.5" with 14 rounds are and absolute joy to shoot, far more fun than the 40 oz Sec 6 6" 357 . I can't say the same for one of the 1st gen S&W synthetic blend 9mm which was just a nasty whippy unhappy piece of work . Honestly the LCP is more comfortable in 380 .
Having shot a few full tilt 357 mags from the old books , and a load that was safe but wth was I thinking, in the 6" 6 and a 4" 66 clone I can't imagine a full boat 357 in one of the Scandium/ titanium wonder guns much past proving it'll go bang twice a year.
So we back them off to 5 shots or 38s or even 9s so we will use them and have them as needed.
Then the R&D guys come up with ways to tame the recoil and get the round counts up which is great but now the arms are deafening and gained back all the weight in ammo we didn't want to carry around before ........ So we got what we wanted but now we're back to don't and won't .
Al's boys had it right with butt down shoulder rigs in horse hide with 1911s and P35s under dark jackets . They probably would be near perfect in a nice rustless SS and the vast majority of us wouldn't even notice 5# spread across both shoulders .
I could pull off the Miami Vice no tuck but I'd look stupid with my 5 head and silver locks and the sport jacket basically died in 82' as a casual daily look . So that takes me back to wardrobe that screams just as loud as just hanging it out there .
There's no simple solution it's all trade offs and fashion statements. I'm not above at this point having a break away walking stick , hiding a long slide , 14 round , tank killer . Kind of awkward at Lowes or the carnival but certainly passing at CVS and Walmart. Something in a nice Tonka Yellow , Black and Decker or Steelers scheme . Maybe even with a red tip .
Hey, waaaait a minute...
What's going on with that Charter hammer?
Either you know something the rest of us don't or you don't know you got something special.
The spur is wider than the body of the hammer, is a bit less curves, larger,... and maybe an optical illusion, but it LOOKS like there's a slot for a hammer-mounted firing pin.
Whatcha got there, Mr. Glaciers? You've got something unique there or I need to update my prescription and change the brand of coffee I drink in the morning.
It's a lot cheaper to not mill off the "underlug" or cut an ejector rod housing. Everyone else caught on. Charter didn't bother with the ejector rod housing (not needed, in my opinion) and Rossi shut down the mill before finishing those barrels. I'm not complaining about THEM, because the customer didn't pay for all that extra work that never got done. Big names continuing to raise prices, yet taking more shortcuts the "cheap gun" have long been criticized for, I look at differently.
Quick mini-rant: OH! And then there's the new wave of doing extra work/machining for no other reason than to make something LOOK different/cool. I don't get that, but it seems to make some people happy.
There's a balance for each person to determine for himself, every gun is not for every shooter, nor is every gun for every situation. I think Charter hit the optimum weight/power combination for the largest number of people, within a reasonable band of uses - mostly concealed carry, but they have offered 4" and 6" guns which make excellent field guns, if not the most fun to shoot 500 rounds through one gun at the range in a session. I don't shoot like that, so it works for me. Five rounds, fifty rounds, sometimes a hundred and I'm happy.
I also just get a kick out of the extra challenge in trying to shoot well with guns which are not easy to shoot well. You never get that good, so you never get bored and you HAVE to shoot them pretty regularly, even if a few rounds. That suits my style, but probably not everyone's.
In the examples I've owned of @Glaciers ' pictured guns, they were ALL capable of very good accuracy. It's always been on ME to fully exploit their capability.
Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
To build a little on what RBHarter wrote, there’s nothing new under the sun. The constant struggle between size/weight/capacity/power has not ended. It is one big compromise, and you must find what parts of that compromise you are willing to tolerate.
I agree that you can go too small and too lightweight just as easily as you can go in the other direction.
I’m always amused by people that claim they carry some hand-cannon as a concealed weapon because they once put a Desert Eagle 50 caliber in their waistband and walked around their living room for 5 minutes.
Carrying a firearm all the time (or most of time) is actually a real PITA. People that are serious about that find what they are willing to tolerate and what they are willing to give up.
In today’s world of small, locked breach pistols with polymer frames, we have some options that didn’t exist 35 years ago.
The Snubnose DAO revolver continues to be viable option because nothing has replaced it.
And some iconic designs live on because, frankly, they got it right the first time.
A Colt Commander SIZED pistol (not necessarily that exact pistol) is about the maximum size practical for daily carry. (Think Colt Commander, Glock 19/23, SIG P228, Etc.). In the world of DA revolvers that equates to about a 3” barreled K-frame SIZED revolver. There are, of course, outliers.
On the other end of the spectrum, you can go too small. Anyone that has spent some time shooting small guns knows they are extremely difficult to shoot well, particularly under stress. The Walther PPK and Beretta Tomcat sized pistols are about the floor in that direction when dealing with pistols. In the DA revolver world the S&W Airweight J-frames with 1 7/8” barrels are about the lower limit of practical size/weight.
In between those size/weight bookends are the pistols and revolvers that are practical for daily carry. Fortunately, that encompasses a lot of options.
I agree that you can go too small and too lightweight just as easily as you can go in the other direction.
I’m always amused by people that claim they carry some hand-cannon as a concealed weapon because they once put a Desert Eagle 50 caliber in their waistband and walked around their living room for 5 minutes.
Carrying a firearm all the time (or most of time) is actually a real PITA. People that are serious about that find what they are willing to tolerate and what they are willing to give up.
In today’s world of small, locked breach pistols with polymer frames, we have some options that didn’t exist 35 years ago.
The Snubnose DAO revolver continues to be viable option because nothing has replaced it.
And some iconic designs live on because, frankly, they got it right the first time.
A Colt Commander SIZED pistol (not necessarily that exact pistol) is about the maximum size practical for daily carry. (Think Colt Commander, Glock 19/23, SIG P228, Etc.). In the world of DA revolvers that equates to about a 3” barreled K-frame SIZED revolver. There are, of course, outliers.
On the other end of the spectrum, you can go too small. Anyone that has spent some time shooting small guns knows they are extremely difficult to shoot well, particularly under stress. The Walther PPK and Beretta Tomcat sized pistols are about the floor in that direction when dealing with pistols. In the DA revolver world the S&W Airweight J-frames with 1 7/8” barrels are about the lower limit of practical size/weight.
In between those size/weight bookends are the pistols and revolvers that are practical for daily carry. Fortunately, that encompasses a lot of options.
Glaciers
Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
You got me there Jeff but I’ll add pictures. But, my advice is to go for stronger coffee or do as I do go for taste and quantity. Of course start a little earlier makes the quantity thing easier.
I’ve owned 3 or 4 Bull Dogs over the years, barrels shorter then 3” in the 44 didn’t go over well with Karyn. Had an early 3” blued Bull Dog, and I which we still had, ended up with this SS one which I believe is the same just in SS.
Got to agree the Rossi being 10 once’s heavier could have done without the underlug and the rib with the massive sight would brought the weight down maybe to 25 or 26 oz or so. Sure shoots nice. The light weight CA carries nicely thought.
