...I really like the idea of a lightweight big bore, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. I drove to the next town over to a shop that had one in stock. There were rough machining marks on the outside of the cylinder, pits in the frame/barrel, and front sight (casting pits?). The roll marks were readily apparent INSIDE the barrel, and the throats were rough as a cob, perhaps out of round. It was a new 4" target model. The 2.5" model they had looked a bit better, but the throats were still very rough. Without a doubt, the worst finished new revolver I have ever looked at. Surprisingly enough, the trigger was decent, but after a couple clicks, the salesman waved me off, saying they weren't meant to be be dry fired. They had a 357 Tracker that I looked at for comparison, and there was no comparison, the Taurus looked much, much better. I offered them 5% less than sticker due to the blemishes, with the intention of test firing it and sending it back to Charter if it didn't shoot, but they weren't having it. When they didn't accept, I walked, as I really hate to buy one with the intention of sending it right back to the factory.
I've got a few more calls to make, but not many shops in the area carry them, and the 4" model is rarer yet. No way I am going to order one without looking at it first. I guess I'll just keep a lookout for a decent Wednesday gun.
Despite it being a pretty high volume LGS, you could tell the salesman wasn't used to someone looking a gun over with a pen light...