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Photo From: Mark Freburg - Album: Handguns--Modern
Description: Charter Arms Bulldog, stainless steel, 3" barrel, Pachmayr Compacs. Circa 1984.
Uploaded: 3/5/2005 by Mark Freburg
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(5/2/2013) Mark Freburg wrote:
I saw on the home page this photo of my old Charter Arms Bulldog, now decades-gone. Other than my lack of photo skills in those days, it reminded of a neat little revolver I hadn't thought of in some time. It was a first generation CA, meaning it had a solid barrel, not a simple tube with a shroud, which Charter went to not long after (as did S&W in recent years). It was stainless steel, had a three inch, moderate weight barrel; however as you note there is no shroud for the ejector rod below the barrel. This would be considered a major design flaw today but it was quite common for much of the 20th Century with a lot of revolver makers--most notably Colt. This Bulldog also had the optional factory bobbed hammer, which made it snag-proof and encouraged DA shooting. Finally, I fit it with Pachmayr Compac stocks, still the best choice for medium-small revolvers in my humble opinion. I still have a pair or two in service. When I owned it I didn't appreciate its qualities and the recoil of typical heavy bullet, high momentum .44 Special ammunition was bothersome in such light gun. I don't recall the weight. In blue it was 19 oz. according to my worn copy of "Cooper on Handguns," so I suppose it was about that, unless the blue version had an aluminum frame, and without checking I cannot remember. All-stainless would increase the weight about 5-6oz.if so. Still light--shove 240grs of lead out of a little gun like that and you'll know you've been introduced to a small cannon. I don't recall shooting the Winchester Silvertip although I must have, as they were a popular defense load. It was actually my duty load in .45ACP at the time. That was and still is a 200gr load in .44 Special, lighter but faster, and unfortunately too expensive with which to practice. So...the little Bulldog got sold. But if I had the same gun today--not "today's CA Bulldog," but those original guns, with today's ammunition options, it would be a hard choice to pass up if the considered alternatives were various .35 caliber snubs. |