Charter Arms Bulldog disassembly

[PbHurler]

I've got a new Bulldog on the way and would like to disassemble / reassemble for internal cleaning & curious inspection.

I'm competent with S&W "L" & "N" frame dis / re assembly; is the Bulldog similar or are there any gotchas to look out for?

Thanks in advance...

[Thin Man]

You will find a few differences between the Charter (designed by former S&W employees) and the Smith lines, but if you are solid on the Smith system you should do well. Study the system before starting. Leave the cylinder stop in place (it is retained by a pin) as it requires a specific method to re-install in the frame. There are small parts in there under tension of small springs that will go ballistic on you if you are not careful. The Charter factory is your friend for parts orders, very helpful. Do not disassemble the ejector system out of the cylinder unless you like a challenge. They are easy to take down but reassembly is a process that develops character. Hint - ejector reassembly can be viewed on YouTube and is well worth the viewing time.

[pworley1]

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...D&&FORM=VRDGAR
This should get you started.

[Naphtali]

You will find a few differences between the Charter (designed by former S&W employees) and the Smith lines, but if you are solid on the Smith system you should do well. Study the system before starting. Leave the cylinder stop in place (it is retained by a pin) as it requires a specific method to re-install in the frame. There are small parts in there under tension of small springs that will go ballistic on you if you are not careful. The Charter factory is your friend for parts orders, very helpful. Do not disassemble the ejector system out of the cylinder unless you like a challenge. They are easy to take down but reassembly is a process that develops character. Hint - ejector reassembly can be viewed on YouTube and is well worth the viewing time.

New manufacture Charter double action revolvers have nearly identical lock work and cylinder latching-releasing as S&Ws? I ask because I owned a pair of Charter Arms stainless steel 44 Special revolvers and a Charter 4-inch 357 Magnum that was non-stainless, both from the early 1980s. I had the misfortune to disassemble the 357 to hard chrome plate the entire revolver. The mechanism strongly resembled a High Standard Sentinel. Reassembling the [alternate] latching forward of cylinder nearly made me explode with hatred. I wasted a great amount of time finding escaped coil springs within the office rugs. The essence of what I seek clarification is whether Charter Arms has abandoned the ability to unlock revolver's cylinder by pulling the extractor rod forward. Charters had a conventional S&W-type latch, plus that High Standard-type latch.

[Nueces]

The essence of what I seek clarification is whether Charter Arms has abandoned the ability to unlock revolver's cylinder by pulling the extractor rod forward. Charters had a conventional S&W-type latch, plus that High Standard-type latch.

Most late model Charters have shrouded ejector rods, so the "ability to unlock revolver's cylinder by pulling the extractor rod forward" feature is no more.

After many years without one, I've bought three this year. They've upped their game.

[pietro]

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IME, curiosity killed the cat - Charter revolvers don't have a removeable sideplate like DA Colt and S&W revolvers, and are more complicated to work on.

A new Charter should need no disassembly - just remove the grips & give the metal parts a swim-n-swirl in a pail of clean kerosene, after an hour's soak.

The kero will penetrate & clean inside all the hard-to-reach & hidden areas, and after it evaporates will leave a thin oily residue in there - needing only an external wipedown after it's clean. (any removed gunk will be visible in the bottom of the pail as a black wisp that looks like smoke.)

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[PbHurler]

After watching a few vids pietro, this is along the lines of what I'll be doing. I thought if they had a removable side plate & were built similar to S&W's and I'd be golden. Appears they are more complicated than that!

This is gonna' be a house gun, with not much shooting beyond load testing.

Thanks for the responses guys

[Walkingwolf]

Take the grips off, drop it in boiling soapy water, blow out with a air hose. That is as far as I go to clean the internals of a revolver. Oil, and blow out excess oil with a air hose unless something is broke you should be good to go. Newer method for some is a sonic cleaner, I prefer boiling, it is how I clean out my Colt Police Positive.