A very cool snubby....

[woad_yurt]

I recently traded for this, a first generation Charter Arms Off Duty (.38 SPL, 5 rounds, 16 oz.) These are great little carry guns priced at half (or less!) of equivalent-purpose S&Ws. It's small, light, affordable and pretty freakin' accurate, too. I am seriously impressed.

 

[armoredman]

I had an Off Duty in 1984, was my first center fire handgun. Nobody else could hit squat with it, but I could, every time.

 

[aarondhgraham]

Charters work, it's that simple,,,

I have several friends who own and shoot Charter Arms revolvers,,,
After seeing their guns in action I have no problem with them.

My lady friend is just as accurate with her 4" Pathfinder .22 as I am with my Model 18 or Model 63.

I look at them like the Rambler automobile of the gun world,,,
They always started and always got me to work,,,
You just took a lot of teasing if you owned one.

Aarond

 

[dalegribble]

charter arms used to be a respctable name as far as i know. i always wanted to get one of their 22 pathfinders. i don't see them around much tho.

 

[Don P]

Curious as to what you traded for the Charter? No different than any of the other manufacturers. They all make some guns that should have not left the factory for QC issues

 

[spacecoast]

priced at half (or less!) of equivalent-purpose S&Ws

A good way to state it. They will never be mistaken for a quality S&W aesthetically.

 

[tdrizzle]

Found a Pathfinder on sale on my local board about a year ago and jumped on it. A great little shooter for 225, and people love shooting shorts in it. Sounds like a cap gun.

 

[unit 900]

FWIW, the PD from which I retired prohibited the use of Charter Arms revolvers for off-duty use. The official reason was quality issues; only S&W, Colt or Ruger revolvers were allowed. Glad your example is working well for you.

 

[rdrancher]

Good find!

I have an Undercover from 1977 that shoots just fine. I've had it for eight years and before that it was a hideout gun for a local deputy until his retirement. Best 135 bucks I ever spent! Sure wish my 642-1 had as sweet of a trigger.

 

[armsmaster270]

The older Charter arms guns were not bad but the newer ones it is a crap shoot if you get a good one. Glad you lucked out.

 

[franco45]

I have owned 3 of the new generation Charter Arms. No crap shoot involved. They have all been reliable and accurate. I also owned a first generation Undercover which was also a good gun. I just picked up a first gen Target Bulldog 44 spcl. Can't wait to shoot this beauty on the weekend.

 

[armsmaster270]

I had the 1st Gen Bulldog, a nice snubby.

 

[American Eagle]

If you ever get tired of that little snubby, let me know. That is a fine revolver you got there.

 

[CajunBass]

I've got two of them, one a 2", Stratford gun, (40XXXX S/N range), the other a 3" Bridgeport piece with a low 5 digit S/N (22xxx). Between the two of them, I've got about what a new Smith & Wesson would cost, invested. That's not to make any comparison to a Smith & Wesson, the Smith is a 'better" gun. I don't know that they shoot any better though.

I admit I got the first one, simply because I wanted a "snubbie" but didn't want to spend a lot of money on one. I went looking for a Taurus 85, found the CA, and thought I'd give it a try. I'm happy with it. I did replace the tiny little grips with a set of the neoprene ones that Charter puts on their new guns. MUCH better.

The 3" one I got, a few days ago, really because of the low S/N, and because I really don't think it had ever been fired. There was still that brownish looking packing goo all over it, and ozzing out of every pore. The fact that it was fairly inexpensive didn't hurt.

It cleaned up nicely and shot well yesterday.

 

[michael t]

Ive own a couple of the 1st gen I wouldn't feed a study diet of +P but their fine fore a SD pistol I have a early model 44 spl now . It see some carry

 

[temmi]

Very nice

 

[Mike Irwin]

One of those was my very first CCW piece back in 1983.

I've not shot it in years, but I still keep it around.

 

[Skadoosh]

I am curious as to how it stands up to normal use. I have heard of the newer examples from Charter Arms having cylinders sliding off, cylinder bores being poorly reamed causing spent brass ejection issues...as well as timing and gap issues.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I've probably put about 5,000 rounds through mine, including some +P. It's held up well.

I still believe that the guns from the original company are still better than anything that has been produced since.

 

[Crazy88Fingers]

CajunBass:

I did replace the tiny little grips with a set of the neoprene ones that Charter puts on their new guns. MUCH better.

You should try the Pachmayr Compac grips for the Charters. They look, fit, and feel better than the factory rubber grips that came on my Bulldog. I think the user Old Fart (or something like that) is selling some of those grips on these boards for a decent price. And, if I recall correctly, all the Charters use the same grips.