The bulldog 44spl has always been a desire of mine, had a few long ago that were lousy guns 2.5' PUGs. However, I owned a Bridgeport pathfinder 3'.22lr that was great and like a fool I let it go.well I recently picked up a Stratford off duty (not undercover).38spl that hardly looked used. Its a pretty good gun so far; I haven't put many rounds through it yet but so far so good.ive handled a few of the new bulldog 44s at academy and gander mnt and was not impressed at all. The lack of a cylinder stop plug(?) mounted in the frame allowed on of the cylinders to come away from the ejector and crane quite a bit.anyway, if I could ever come across an older 3' bulldog id like to try it out.so the meat of this, if you have a charter arms revolver in any flavor that has been working well for you lets see them. Character marks welcome. Here are some shots of a.38 Spl Undercover that passed through my hands. (Traded some airguns for it, traded it off for a camera.) This was a nicely finished revolver, slightly smaller than a J-frame S&W.
This one is marked 'Bridgeport, Conn', but shipped with a (numbers matching) box from Stratford, CT. Dating a Charter's manufacture is always a challenge!@docfox, mine is only a few numbers higher than yours and already marked Stratford on the barrel. Peste sida discografia download.
I know mine is from 1973, so yours must be from about 1972 (still made in Bridgeport but sold out of Stratford). Here is mine out of Stratford in 1973. Bought it from a retired LEO in 87 and carried it ever since - 28 years - and put about a 1000 rounds or more through it, which isn't a lot but just enough to stay attuned to it (it really isn't a fun gun to shoot but then again it was not meant to be a range or plinking gun). It never failed me!WOW!!
If you have carried that revolver for 28 years and it looks to still have 92-95% bluing.how do you carry it? I have never been able to keep a blued revolver or semi looking that nice when carrying it daily in a holster. I am all ears!! I carry it in an older # 2 leather paddle holster made by safety speed out in Montebello, CA. And it basically stays in that holster 24/7 save when I check it and wipe it down about once a month. I should check it over before each use but I don't since I live alone and carry in my case is required about twice a week for a few hours at a time. The posted photo is old already but the little charter still has most of the bluing remaining to this day with wear starting to show only on the grip frame, barrel tip and cylinder surface.What usually kills the bluing is the constant 'in & out' of the holster and excessive horse play.
Even when carried daily a good suede lined holster can help preserve the finish (I think!). But on the whole: I leave that gun in the holster when not needed. If they test fired that gun I wonder how it made it out of the factory? If they test fired it that is.It has been a long time since I reloaded 9 mm and cannot recall whether the rim thickness varies much, causing some to rub.I recently got a Pitbull back, and they replaced the cylinder and ejector without my even knowing it was needed.
The frame behind was also machined again (for fit I assume). I can tell where the bead blast finish is removed.I can offer a picture here as soon as the gun is checked out to be something I am proud to own. I have one more issue to resolve that they missed and am waiting for CS to set up another return.I think the ejector system on the 9 mm Pitbull, removing the need for moon clips, is pretty impressive.My reason for posting in this context of test firing is that my gun was returned for rifling issues and the fact that I couldn't hit a barn with the gun, totally off target. The tech didn't have a note about that issue and signed it off as test firing 'OK'. Call me skeptical. Back it goes.addendum:Just test fired the Pitbull with new cylinder and ejector but still with rough grooves in the barrel, and I did get a lot better POA results than before, not only now on the paper but scoring well.
I would still want the peace of mind of a smoothly cut rifling that doesn't cause fouling and would still like a new barrel. The only thing left of the original gun will be the back end and thus the wisdom of where the serial number is placed.
I finally went to the range today to shoot my pitbul 9mm. I bought it before Christmas but it went back twice before it was shootable. The 1st time the cylinder was replaced because when loaded it would not close.
When I got it back in SA the hammer stayed all the way back against the frame this time a new hammer. At the range the gun shot great way above my expectations. It is accurate & follow up shots are very manageable. Nice trigger in SA. The only problem if any was after about 8 cylinders worth of firing the empties were a little harder to eject but they did. This could have been due to the chambers getting dirty.
Overall I'm pretty impressed with this inexpensive 9mm revolver. Not counting my OP, only two others have C.A. Revolvers on this forum? Granted they are definitely not a S&W or Ruger but I figured as a least expensive working gun there would be more.I have the Undercover with 3' barrel in blue. It's the Bridgeport, Conn vintage from the late 60's.
Got it for summer & pocket carry. Took it to a local gunsmith for baseline checkup and find any faults. No clue on about round count before I bought it, but the trigger is smooth enough that it has probably graduated from at least one thousand round trigger job.
I don't use +P, but standard pressure 135gr Hornaday Critical Defense gives dependable results.Have approximately 1200 rounds of various practice and range ammo through it with no problem. Recently added Pacmyer (sp?)rubber grips. They are much better to shoot but not quite as concealable. I still prefer my Hi-Power, but the. CA Undercover is carried more often.I'm not under gunned with either or sometimes both. I have the Undercover with 3' barrel in blue.
It's the Bridgeport, Conn vintage from the late 60's. Got it for summer & pocket carry. Took it to a local gunsmith for baseline checkup and find any faults. No clue on about round count before I bought it, but the trigger is smooth enough that it has probably graduated from at least one thousand round trigger job.
I don't use +P, but standard pressure 135gr Hornaday Critical Defense gives dependable results.Have approximately 1200 rounds of various practice and range ammo through it with no problem. Recently added Pacmyer (sp?)rubber grips. They are much better to shoot but not quite as concealable. I still prefer my Hi-Power, but the. CA Undercover is carried more often.I'm not under gunned with either or sometimes both.The early Bridgeport revolvers are really good quality and every bit as good as any S&W or Ruger for that matter. Charter just got a bad reputation during the Charco years which it has never been able to shake off. And the 3' Barrel Undercover is a scarce animal as most undercovers came in the 2' version.
Charter Arms Serial Number Search
Post some pics please. I am quite satisfied with the looks and performance of my 2015 Charter Arms Pathfinder Model 72224.22 long rifle caliber, 6-shot, 2-inch barrel, “J-frame” size, double-action revolver. The only change for the Pathfinder that I would like to see would be an 8-shot cylinder made available for it - but that would probably require a larger diameter cylinder.
Charter Arms has impressed me so far with the quality of their revolvers.The other 2 handguns that I currently own are a circa-2013 full-sized Colt Government Model O-1091 1911-type.45 ACP single-action autoloader in stainless steel and a circa-1982 Harrington & Richardson Sportsman Model 999.22 long rifle, 9-shot, 6-inch barrel double-action revolver. Both of these handguns are of legendary quality, of course.By the way, my preferred choice of.22 long rifle ammo for both the Pathfinder and the Sportsman is CCI Mini Mag high-velocity 40-grain “solids” for maximum penetration (defense) although I also use the CCI Mini Mag 36-grain hollow points (rabbit hunting). Hyper-velocity.22 long rifle ammunition does not work well in my revolvers, especially the 2-inch snub-nose. NOTE: CCI Mini Mag.22 long rifle ammo has been difficult to find as of late.Congratulations to Nick Ecker for restoring the good reputation of Charter Arms produced since the year 2000. CHARTER ARMS revolvers manufactured in (and marked on the barrel) SHELTON, CN are of excellent quality and reliability.