Charter Arms quality

[roysha]

Does anyone here have any real experience with the current Charter Arms revolvers, the 327 Magnum in particular?

Back in the late 80s and early 90s I had little respect for them because of the poor crane design which seemed to bend and/or break on a somewhat regular basis. I'm curious as to whether that has been corrected and if there is anything else that one should be aware of.

[Guesser]

I bought a new CA Target Patriot in 2009, 327 Magnum. Have put over a thousand rounds of handloads using 311316 over healthy charge of A#9; and about the same amount of 32 Mag, hand loaded with a 94/95 gr. cast bullet over 2400. Not to mention the AE factory ammunition I shot out to get my cases to use for hand loading. At the time I bought the gun it was the longest barrel and the only one offered with adjustable sights. It has proven to be a good revolver, I would do it again. The screws shoot loose, purple or green loctite is called for. It is accurate and reliable, I trust it!!!!!!!!
Unfortunately they are no longer being built.

[TheGrimReaper]

I have not been impressed with any Charter Arms here of latley. When the 327 Fed first came out only pistol I could find was a CA. Brand new pistol and when the hammer was back and the gun should lock up you could wiggle the cylinder side to side 1/4 of inch or so. Pretty scarry.

[Guesser]

Interesting; mine was very tight when new, almost to the point of being too much. I worked thru it, disassembled, cleaned thoroughly and put it to work. By the time I had 200 rounds of AE thru it I was satisfied and it has simply gotten better since.

[CJR]

I have a number of CA Bulldogs and have been working on them since they first came out. Though there were a number of years, with different CA ownerships, that quality/fit-up were issues, all the new ones I've worked on recently are good quality. Likewise, their new cylinder locking mechanism speeds up reloading. One recent Bulldog Pug, I tuned up for a customer, outshot his custom 1911 Commander at 25 yds. He's now a believer. I've heard all the horror stories over the years and they are not my experiences. If you are interested in horror stories on supposedly "quality guns", I've got a long list of catastrophic "quality gun" failures to recite.

When the US purchased the CA Bulldog, for its Sky Marshals (remember hijackings to Cuba?) , it tested the Bulldog extensively. One only has to do a little searching (i.e. John Taffin, et. al.) to find out how much this gun is respected. John Taffin rates the CA Bulldog in his list of the Top Ten Pistols. Awhile back someone tried to test a Bulldog to failure by increasing the loads. When they got to 44 Magnum loads, the cylinder simply wouldn't turn, but nothing catastrophically failed. I personally have loaded up some "maximum fun loads" with 325 gr LFN bullets. To say those loads were a handful would be an understatement. That Bulldog never burped and just kept throwing out the 325 grainers with some keyholing but at 7 yds-who cares?

Finally, a little tidbit on what these CA Bulldogs can do. Four of us were doing room clearing drills with four different CA Bulldogs. The drill was to enter a room, put two fast DA rounds on threat and proceed to the next room. What was spooky about this was that all four CA Bulldogs placed two rounds next to each other on the threat, some almost touching. I've never seen any revolver do that before with fast DA with four different shooters. When the NRA tested the CA Bulldog many years ago they mentioned this phenomena and the four of us experienced it.

Best regards,

CJR

[MT Gianni]

I have a Target Patriot and am working up loads. Factory ammo groups OK but it isn't home-cast. 32 long loads are accurate as well.

[tacklebury]

No problems with the one's I've purchased. Haven't used the .327 though.

[trench]

In 1974, I had an Undercover 38 break its transfer bar while dryfing. It took Charter 6 months to send me the replacement part that I paid for. By then, I had forgotten that I owned the thing.

[Love Life]

I've had a charter arms undercover for a couple years now. It is quickly approaching 4,000 rounds with no issues. Only thing weird about it is the trigger hasn't improved at all.

[McLintock]

I bought a Bulldog when they first came out in the '70's and it ended up with my first wife when we split the blanket. Just got a Bulldog Pug in .44 in a local gun auction and like it's "feel" a lot. Glad to hear about the strength of them, as the cylinder walls look a little thin, but I wasn't planning on shooting heavy loads anyway, the first one convinced me of that. Made up some snakes loads this week for it, using #9 shot sandwiched between two .44 gas checks, so will be ready for the rattlers next year when it warms up. Makes for a nice concealed carry gun.
McLintock

[luvtn]

I had a Charter 2000 Bulldog Pug in .44 spcl, that I recently sold. Nice looking gun that carried great. I was offered money I couldn't refuse. I'll probably buy another. I have had 3 Off duty's that I really liked. The best one, my soon to be ex-wife, is keeping.
lt

[luvtn]

Does anyone here have any real experience with the current Charter Arms revolvers, the 327 Magnum in particular?

Back in the late 80s and early 90s I had little respect for them because of the poor crane design which seemed to bend and/or break on a somewhat regular basis. I'm curious as to whether that has been corrected and if there is anything else that one should be aware of.

Never heard of this problem before. How does one bend or break a crane in normal use?
lt

[NoZombies]

I don't own a charter.

It's not for a lack of wanting some of the things they've made, but every one I've looked at in the last few years has been... well, shoddy feeling. Not to say I wouldn't buy one, but I would want to look one over and hold it in my hands before I did.

[FN in MT]

Charter Arms...and the word...Quality ...in the same line.

Whoda thunk it?

[Wheeler]

Never heard of this problem before. How does one bend or break a crane in normal use?
lt

By opening and closing it. I'm death on people that do the 'movie snap' with one hand when they handle my S&W revolvers. Many of the top competitive revolver shooters will break or bend a crane to the tune of once a year or so. That's on S&W revolvers typically. Keep in mind that these folks are opening and closing forcefully thousands of times, with dry fire and live fire practice.

[Wheeler]

I bought a new CA Target Patriot in 2009, 327 Magnum. Have put over a thousand rounds of handloads using 311316 over healthy charge of A#9; and about the same amount of 32 Mag, hand loaded with a 94/95 gr. cast bullet over 2400. Not to mention the AE factory ammunition I shot out to get my cases to use for hand loading. At the time I bought the gun it was the longest barrel and the only one offered with adjustable sights. It has proven to be a good revolver, I would do it again. The screws shoot loose, purple or green loctite is called for. It is accurate and reliable, I trust it!!!!!!!!
Unfortunately they are no longer being built.

I gave serious consideration to getting one when the .327 was introduced. As it seems interest in the cartridge has waned I'm glad that I waited. If I get the overwhelming desire to get one again, I think I might have a cylinder made for my Model 16 and save myself a few dollars, plus I'll have an adjustable sight, K frame that should handle any pressures the .327 cartridge can produce.

[castormd]

I recently got a CA Bulldog Pug in 44 special stainless. It is a used weapon, and the lockup is sloppy. I shaved one of my cast boolits the other day and it sent me a piece that cut into my cheek.

My question is, is there a pistol smithing book out there that can teach the proper method of timing and lock-up of a revolver?

[CJR]

Castormd,

Many times, lead spitting from a revolver is caused by a poorly reamed forcing cone at the entrance to the barrel. Brownells sells a good throat reamer for revolvers (11 degrees) that , with different pilots, can be used on many other calibers.

CA can be a little tricky to take apart, especially the cylinder. Likewise, when re-installing the trigger,with its bushing, hand, transfer bar and coil spring, the small coil spring needs to be wound slightly as it's inserted so it rests/locks against the frame. Then you insert the trigger pin. This coil spring is the trigger return spring. Also the cylinder lock, mounted in the frame, affects timing. Replacing that can also be tedious because of a small spring that tensions the cylinder lock. An insert (for frame pin), in the frame, needs to driven out so the cylinder lock, small coil spring/plunger can be removed and replaced. If you lose any parts, you'll need to order more.

Doing cylinder timing, for the first time, requires a learning period before you get it back together properly. It's not difficult just tedious. If you need to carry the CA, the fastest would be to just send it back to CA for cylinder timing. Good luck.

Best regards,

CJR