Posted: 11/15/2016 5:08:13 PM EDT
|
I see Charter has re-releases the original Bulldog. I have an itch to get one. And before anyone suggests Smith, Colt. Ruger; got that covered. Own multiples of all of those.
The three inch Bulldog has always sort of fascinated me. I have an older Charter 38 (1967 is my best guess) that has been a thoroughly serviceable handgun. I've been tracking both new and old ones on GB. I lean towards an older one. This is just something different to add to the collection. Possibly go into the carry rotation. Thoughts, experiences? Thanks |
|
I have one of the new blue 3" retro Bulldogs. Got it used for $250.
First thing I did was get a set of Pachmyr compacts for it. Sights are well regulated, finish is kinda purple (cast frame). I like it for what it is; a cheaper kit gun with horsepower. Weighs much less than the 3" K frame. 
|
|
I've noticed that purple hue on Charters. My 38 already has Pachy compacts, I can easily swap them out if I have to.
Based on what I' seeing in the market that was a very good price. The 38 Charters are pretty reasonable on the used market. Used Bulldogs seem to be $350 to $400, almost new price. |
| I have an older stainless 3" model with a factory bobbed hammer. It's one of my favorite carry guns. Light, accurate and packs a punch. With two speed loaders in my pocket, I never feel under gunned. The only negative is the difficulty in finding quality leather for it. |
I've carried bulldods since the 80's, can't say enough good about them & more specifically the 44spl. You will be hard pressed to find a caliber that will outperform the 44spl in shot bbl'd revolvers and semi-auto's. Every 7 or 8 years I go back and re-test new bullet for the ca/44spl. Over the decades I've found that 180gr to 220gr bullets preformed the best in the short bbl'd ca's and recoil was a lot better with bullets in those weight ranges. Typically I'll switch back and forth between a 220gr hbwc turned backwards (summer load) and a 200gr swc hp (winter load) for the bulldog. The bulldog with the 220gr hbwc's turned around to make huge hp's.
What the recovered 220gr hbwc's look like from that bulldog. 
Got done re-testing a couple months ago. Wanted to test some hb bullets that I have molds for/cast bullets. I used a forster hp tool on them and made cupped hp's in them using a 9/64th's" 60* center drill. 
The upper left is a lyman 429422 cast hollow based swc "keith" bullet with a forster tool cupped hp. Impressive to say the least. The upper right is a 220gr hbwc cast from a custom mold. I used it for a control (tested in the past). Those bullets were cast/water dropped (too hard) to be used for plinking. Thus the shattered bullet. Lower left is a h&g #142 gas checked swc hp that I've used for years in the bulldods. I have a 2 cavity mold that casts a 220gr swc & a 20gr swc hp. One heck of a bullet/load that is my winter load for the bulldog. Bottom right, Impressive velocities!!! Too bad I used the wrong bullet and need to re-test that load. Had soft lead bullets and those. I was casting rifle bullets from a hard alloy and used the raphine 211gr hollow based fn bullet mold as a 2nd mold to cast with. Fill 1 mold as the other cooled. Wanted to test a hard cast verson of that bullet in a 10" bbl'd 44mag contender bbl just to see how much pressure the skirts could take. Well they were definitely hard enough & went thru 14"'s of tightly bundled wet newspaper and that cupped hp I put in the bullet with the forster hp tool didn't do anything but slow the bullet down. The center bullets in the picture was the recovered bullet for that raphine bullet/load. You will be hard pressed to find a caliber that will out preform the 44spl in short bbl'd revolvers and semi-auto's. 2" to 2 1/2 bbl'd firearms chambered in 38spl/357/9mm/40s&w/45acp's can't compete with the thumping the 44spl brings to the table. You really have to step up to the 3.5" bbl's in the 38spl/357/9mm/40s&w/45acp's to even begin to try to level the playing field. A 200gr to 220gr bullet doing 1000fps is a fearsome caliber especially when it's from a 2 1/2" bbl'd 20oz/21oz revolver. |
|
Quoted:
I have an older stainless 3" model with a factory bobbed hammer. It's one of my favorite carry guns. Light, accurate and packs a punch. With two speed loaders in my pocket, I never feel under gunned. The only negative is the difficulty in finding quality leather for it. Owned my first Bulldog back in the late '80's- early '90's. Blue with the notorious purple highlights. Excellent gun. Lost it before divorce. I now own the same stainless bobbed-hammer model the poster above me has. I found a Bianchi #5BHL holster (originally for the 3" SP101) with snap release works very well to secure the gun on my belt. Being so small it's eminently concealable there, along with the two speedloaders in a double belt pouch. 
|
|
The 200 gr Speer Gold Dot HP load is just right for the Bulldog with factory ammo.
I have owned several over the years and all were good revolvers. For a handloaded practice load, a cast 200 gr RNFP with a minimum charge of AA#2 works great. Lower recoil. A good all around work load is a max charge of Unique with a 240/250 gr SWC. A holster for a 3 inch Colt Detective Special will fit the Bulldog. That is what we used when the Bulldog first came out. |
|
Quoted: I could not recommend a new Charter Arms gun after seeing a bunch of the newer 38 revolvers recalled at work . We have a stack of them waiting to go back including brand new guns and customer returns They make the only left-handed revolver in existence. I've got that marked down for the boy, as well as the ridiculously light but ambidextrous S&W M&P Bodyguard. |
|
Could be wrong, but wasn't there a late '80s movie - call "Manhunter" or something? - where the cop-hero tracking a serial killer armed himself with C.A. Bulldog wheelie in .44Spec?
That's where I've sort of always remembered this gun & caliber combo from, that movie ... I thought it was an odd combo at first, because all the .44mag/.44Spec revolvers I'd ever seen had 6" or 8" barrels. 
|
|
Quoted:
Could be wrong, but wasn't there a late '80s movie - call "Manhunter" or something? - where the cop-hero tracking a serial killer armed himself with C.A. Bulldog wheelie in .44Spec? That's where I've sort of always remembered this gun & caliber combo from, that movie ... I thought it was an odd combo at first, because all the .44mag/.44Spec revolvers I'd ever seen had 6" or 8" barrels. Yes, that was Manhunter. Directed by Michael Mann, was the first appearance of Hannibal Lector (or Lektor) prior to Anthony Hopkins playing him in Silence of the Lambs. Was later remade as "Red Dragon". Michael Mann is a bit of a gun geek in his movies (see Heat or Miami Vice), I haven't read the source book but the Bulldog .44 loaded with Glaser Safety Slugs (just SCREAMS 1980s, doesn't it??) seemed to me like a very big gun geek thing. |
|
Quoted:
Yes, that was Manhunter. Directed by Michael Mann, was the first appearance of Hannibal Lector (or Lektor) prior to Anthony Hopkins playing him in Silence of the Lambs. Was later remade as "Red Dragon". Michael Mann is a bit of a gun geek in his movies (see Heat or Miami Vice), I haven't read the source book but the Bulldog .44 loaded with Glaser Safety Slugs (just SCREAMS 1980s, doesn't it??) seemed to me like a very big gun geek thing. Quoted:
Quoted:
Could be wrong, but wasn't there a late '80s movie - call "Manhunter" or something? - where the cop-hero tracking a serial killer armed himself with C.A. Bulldog wheelie in .44Spec? That's where I've sort of always remembered this gun & caliber combo from, that movie ... I thought it was an odd combo at first, because all the .44mag/.44Spec revolvers I'd ever seen had 6" or 8" barrels. Yes, that was Manhunter. Directed by Michael Mann, was the first appearance of Hannibal Lector (or Lektor) prior to Anthony Hopkins playing him in Silence of the Lambs. Was later remade as "Red Dragon". Michael Mann is a bit of a gun geek in his movies (see Heat or Miami Vice), I haven't read the source book but the Bulldog .44 loaded with Glaser Safety Slugs (just SCREAMS 1980s, doesn't it??) seemed to me like a very big gun geek thing. Good recall, thanks! Yes, I remember a few cop buddies back in the late '80s/early '90s who were always hyping the One-Shot stopping power of the Glazer Safety Slugs - but in .45acp. |
|
Quoted:
Simply Rugged makes their Silver Dollar holster for the Charters including the 3" guns. No affiliation, just happy with a holster I have from them. Seconded! I have a Simply Rugged pancake for my 4" S&W 29-2 and it is first-rate. Highly recommended. However, I had already bought a Bianchi #5BHL for my Bulldog. It's made for a 3" GP-100 but it works pretty well in a pinch. |
| I just picked up a real nice stainless charter arms 44 bulldog 3in its the older stanford gun it even came with the old black and gold box . 300 bucks found some speed loaders and some pmc 180 gr 25 rd boxes for 19 ea and some blackhills 50 rd 44 Russian for 29 a box also have a black banchi 3 in holster on the way . i I should be good to go .the buy now price was 459 on this gun its older but like new . |
|
i picked this one up about a month ago. I put on OEM wood grips and a set of BK adapters. It feels great in the hand and is
very concealable. My wife has yet to know I am carrying and she usually can tell. I keep it loaded with Underwood 200 gr. Full wadcutters for defense. 
|
|
Quoted: I could not recommend a new Charter Arms gun after seeing a bunch of the newer 38 revolvers recalled at work . We have a stack of them waiting to go back including brand new guns and customer returns Weirdly, Academy initiated a recall of all their Pink & Lavender Lady revolvers; they all got sent to Charter Arms, who sent them right back. I think it might have been a way for Academy to get out of some contract. There was nothing wrong w/ the guns. |
Picked mine used back in the mid 80s. Its my favorite woods roaming pistol in the swamps of NC whenever I'm home. First two rounds are Speer Shotshells followed by 3 ea Lee 240 gr TLSWC hard cast all loaded with Unique. Got lots of copperheads,water moccassins and black bear there.
CD |
|
Quoted:
Factory Gold Dots didn't expand much, in fact I could reload them. There is talk around LGS that the last couple years the Charters don't lock up well and shave lead. Time will tell on mine http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj563/aquahull1/SAM_0439_zpshdmr878b.jpg?1482327461999&1482327465783&1482327473176&1482327477194 You pretty much have to roll your own or buy buffalo bore 44spl ammo if you want some thumping loads. Some 44spl factory ammo tests done with longer bbl's than the snub nosed bulldogs. http://www.brassfetcher.com/Handguns/44%20Special/44%20Special.html With reloads it's nothing to get 900fpg/950fps with 200gr to 250gr bullets in these short bbl'd ca's (2 1/2" to 3" bbl's) using nothing more than unique powder. You want to use 2400 for reloads when you want to put the smack on something. Some interesting reading on reloading for the 44spl. A guy named Brian Pearce did a article for the Handloader magazine. This is that article complete with his reloading data. It's a real eye opener compared to the swill the ammo mfg's put out. http://www.goodrichfamilyassoc.org/44_Special_Articles/Brian%20Pearce%20on%20the%2044%20Special.pdf More interesting reading about reloading the 44spl. Decades ago they switched over from the old balloon headed cases to the modern cases we use today in the 44spl. A lot of kabooms were happening with the new cases, reloaders were using the old balloon headed case data. The balloon headed cases had a lot more case capacity than the modern cases we use today. The end result was a lot of bad things happening. So the NRA decided to do some tests and publish the "NEW" data so reloaders had something to go by when using the new cases. I found 2 things interesting in their findings. 1. They used the "popular" cast bullets of the day. 2. Their pressures they published are extremely close to what Pearce published 50 years later when testing the same bullet/powder combo's. http://www.goodrichfamilyassoc.org/44_Special_Articles/NRA%20-%20Loads%20for%20the%2044%20Special.pdf These snub nosed 44spl's are a fearsome combination with the right loads. 3.5" bbl's chambered in 9mm/357sig/40s&w or 3" bbl's chambered in 357 can't hold a candle to a 2 1/2" bbl'd 44spl. You have to step up to 3 1/2" bbl'd 45acp's with +p+ ammo or the 10mm to rival the 44spl . |
|
Quoted:
Factory Gold Dots didn't expand much, in fact I could reload them. There is talk around LGS that the last couple years the Charters don't lock up well and shave lead. Time will tell on mine http://i1268.photobucket.com/albums/jj563/aquahull1/SAM_0439_zpshdmr878b.jpg?1482327461999&1482327465783&1482327473176&1482327477194 You need to make sure the spring-loaded sleeve on the ejector rod goes fully into the countersink on the frame. My Pathfinder 22 required a bit of fitting to snap in place normally. The 44 only needs a tiny touch to make it snap in. So I haven't done any fitting on it. |