[worf556]

Anybody have any actual experience with the new Charter Arms firearms?

I remember how bad the old company was.

Has the new Charter Arms gotten better?

[KurtPochert]

I am the owner of a Charter Arms Pitbull 9mm, and have a guarded opinion of the company. I am a solid 9mm fan, as I have 7 different pieces and a .380 (9mm short, Kurtz).
My Pitbull 9mm went to the factory twice. Once by the online store I purchased it from in Texas, as they found the only one in their stock with a locked up cylinder. They sent it in to Charter Arms and then sold it to me. The gun functioned as such, but had excessive cylinder-barrel gap and the barrel and sights, were terrible as Charter Arms torqued-screwed the barrel in excessively to the left (My perceived opinion) to allow the cylinder to latch in properly without locking up. Front sight tipped several degrees to the left as well as being way to tall.
I sent it in for the second trip. They paid for shipping both ways. Gun came back much better. It looks like the cylinder and the barrel were replaced. Gun does function very well now, with only one slight irritation that I think is a possible problem for all Charter Arms guns, and that is once in a while the gun locks as you pull the trigger slowly back to the point of almost dropping the hammer and it goes no further. Maybe once in 20-30 trigger pulls. Releasing the trigger resets things to fire the next round, but of course the previous round was not fired. Something hangs up in the firing mechanism, all be it rarely, to prevent the trigger being pulled the last 1/16 of an inch.
All in all, I do like the gun and it now works to my satisfaction except for the hang up described above. I will consider it a keeper though, considering the trouble acquiring it.

[mountainman13]

The revolvers seem to be good for the price. Some of them have even been featured in gun tests magazine as the best buy for the money.

[danf_fl]

A decent, inexpensive revolver. Better than RG, Rohm, and some others.

Unlike a Colt Python, the value will never increase.

[AIKIJUTSU]

Being the owner of 6 Charter Arms revolvers, I have found that 4 of the 6 are perfectly OK, and perform well for their intended purpose, personal protection. The 2 that are problems are a Bulldog Pug, .44 spl, that has such a tight space between the backstrap and the cylinder, that sometimes the cylinder stops before it rotates into position for a shot to be fired, because the cartridges drag on the backstrap, which may be the OP's problem. The other problem is a Target Bulldog .44 spl that has the barrel screwed in so the front sight is tilted about 15% to the left. Once I got used to compensating for that, I found that it shoots pretty straight. I look at it as a way for the piece to be "proprietary" to me, because if somebody grabs it and tries to shoot me, they may miss, giving me a chance to coldcock them. The other 4, an "Off Duty" .38 spl, a couple more Bulldog Pugs, and a 3" Bulldog, are perfectly OK.

[triggerjob]

I guess what this man is saying is only buy a charter arms gun, that you can physically inspect prior to handing over the cash ;-)

[sethweese]

Does anyone here have any experience with the .40 S&W Pitbull. Saw the quick write about about the 9mm, but I am a .40 guy looking for a new lower priced CCW gun (current gun is a Glock G22). Thanks for any help you all have !!!

[AIKIJUTSU]

Originally Posted by triggerjob

I guess what this man is saying is only buy a charter arms gun, that you can physically inspect prior to handing over the cash ;-)

That would be a good start. The particular problem with the Pug would have been hard to detect unless I could have put one or more empty cartridge cases in it and tried to cycle it. It rotates perfectly OK when it is empty.
But the crooked barrel alignment on the Target Bulldog would have shown up if I'd been more careful.

[ScottA]

How did we dig this thing up. 5 years is probably the oldest I've seen. Time to kill it.