Charter Arms 44 special

[Tbucket]

Just picked this up in a trade, was brand new. Took it out this weekend and was pleasantly surprised, trigger was not bad, recoil was minimal, and it was cheap. Anybody have any experience with this pistol?

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[Certaindeaf]

Yes, I wouldn't bother with "high performance" ammo.. it probably won't expand.
Back in the day, I used to cast and load 180 gr wadcutters for small/medium game and plinking and SWC's from 240-320 gr for more penetration.
I loved mine.. a 3" stainless DAO.. it shot and carried great.

 

[Mark W.]

I have carried and relied on a Bulldog Pug for almost 25 years now. Its one of the "Bedroom" guns. HUGE 240 gr HP moving at just the right speed to stay inside a chest cavity. The old FBI tests rated the .44spl as a 1 shot cartridge (this is when they first decided on the 10mm and then downgraded to the 40SW due to recoil).

My son at age five was able to handle the Bulldog. I would place the butt in the plam of my left hand and my right arm over his elbows (so the pistol couldn't come up and hit him in the face) his first shots were very cautious. But after the first 5 he was hitting a paper plate at 5 yards every shot.

I know that you can find people that bad mouth Charter Arms (though the company has actually been like 3 different ones over the years) But my experience with this older Bulldog and my 4 year old Undercover in 38Spl are that they are worth every penny of their purchase price.

I keep some old Winchester segmented Silvertips in mine. In my tests they opened up bigger then a Nickel when they went through anything solid.

 

[Tbucket]

This is the new version black 44 special Bulldog. I was surprised it did not kick harder than it does. Was thinking of trading it off, but this one may be a keeper.

 

[Certaindeaf]

.I keep some old Winchester segmented Silvertips in mine. In my tests they opened up bigger then a Nickel when they went through anything solid.

That's what I remember never expanding.. the 180 gr Silvertips.. unless it was wood or a rock or something.
I wonder what the 240's move out at.. 600fps? Probably behave as a round nose.

 

[Mark W.]

That's what I remember never expanding.. the 180 gr Silvertips.. unless it was wood or a rock or something.
I wonder what the 240's move out at.. 600fps? Probably behave as a round nose.

Not 180 gr The ones in my Bulldog are 200gr with a hollow point the size of a garbage can



They are maybe 20-22 years old.



From Chuck Hawks

.44 Special
By far the best choice for your .44 Special revolver is the Cor-Bon 165 grain JHP. Glasers, the Winchester Silvertip 200 grain JHP (X44STHPS2) and PMC Bronze 180 grain JHP are also good rounds, particularly for any five shot .44 revolver


I'll stick with what I carry. The tests I did 25 years ago convinced me that if I did my part the round would certainly do its.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Yea, I'll stick with a semi or full wadcutter.

 

[TCOV]

Wish I still had my older stainless Bulldog. Check all the screws every so often as they would loosen a little in mine. Really don't need to worry about expanding bullets as 44spec is already a pretty good hole. My opinion.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Wish I still had my older stainless Bulldog. Check all the screws every so often as they would loosen a little in mine. Really don't need to worry about expanding bullets as 44spec is already a pretty good hole. My opinion.

True, but the old round nose profile is pretty worthless.. about 4-10 times less effective than a wadcutter or semi-wadcutter.

 

[deen_ad]

I keep one in my car since it's hard to get my Kimber EDC out when belted in. Also have a CT laser on it since I do a lot of night driving.


Deen
NRA Life Member, Benefactor Level
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Arms Collectors of SW Washington Member

"A gun is like a parachute. If you need one and don't have it, you'll probably never need one again!"

 

[TCOV]

"True, but the old round nose profile is pretty worthless.. about 4-10 times less effective than a wadcutter or semi-wadcutter."


Worthless?? I got to disagree on that. 44spec was a manstopper in it's day.

 

[Certaindeaf]

"True, but the old round nose profile is pretty worthless.. about 4-10 times less effective than a wadcutter or semi-wadcutter."


Worthless?? I got to disagree on that. 44spec was a manstopper in it's day.

Well they still make it in RNL, knock yerself out.. today's your/its day then.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

I too picked one up in a trade w/in the last 30 days or so. It is a, "Pug." I had to take it to my local smith to have it cleaned, inspected and repaired. He did a great job. (Thanks Jon) I got it back yesterday and am very, very pleased with it.