Charter Arms

[Planedude]

Even though my CM9 is back running right, I've been carrying my S&W 640 instead. I've been contemplating a .22LR revolver for a while, and when I went back to the 640 it hit me that the Charter Arms Lite snubby in .22 would be a great companion for the J-frame. Light enough to keep in my briefcase in case I felt like a range trip, and cheaper practice ammo than .38 Special.

I took it to the range today to break it in. The trigger is gritty and heavy, but is starting to smooth out a little. The crane is a little tight; it doesn't flop freely like most. And even though the cartridges slip freely into the chambers even after 50 rounds, they are very tight on ejecting. I have to bang the ejector rod on the shooting bench to get them to pop out. No biggie, many .22LR revolvers are like this. The fixed sights are easy to use (since I put white paint on the front ramp) and very similar to the J-frame's. The hammer can bite the web of my hand if I thumb it back when my hand is too high on the grip. Speaking of the grip, it's a gigantic rubber grip, but it feels good. Charter sells the wood "retro" grip that I might get just because it looks cool, but the standard rubber is fine.

Oh, and it's accurate and reliable. It weighs 16.8 oz empty but it's not too light to hold steady when hauling back on the heavy DA trigger. I also like the matte finish - when shooting outside in sunshine, it's annoying when a shiny finish puts a glare on the sights so I can't see.

It came with plastic snap caps, but they got shredded after about 50 dry firings so I left in the last six shells I fired so I can dry fire it and hopefully smooth out the trigger.

I'm quite pleased with it.

I have a few Charter Arms revolvers and enjoy them a bunch. I have a first year production Bulldog in .44 special that I had Charter Arms factory refinish for me.
That’s a great program and if you find an ugly old Charter Arms shooter for a “can’t pass it up” price, then look into their refinishing program. I’m happy with mine.
My other is this Mag Pug in .41mag.
It is a 2 1/2 in barrel, five shot snubby that is sized about the same as a K frame Smith & Wesson.
Mag Pug is the wrong name for it though...

Perhaps “Baby Fire Breathing Dragon” was too much to imprint on the barrel of a snubby.

It is fun to beat yourself up with every once in a while.

Peace

[ct9kahrtoter]

OP, I have a Charter Arms Mag Pug (.357), and speaking of those large pancake grips they put on them...I love them. Not much in the looks department, but they work great for soaking up the recoil of the .357 Mag.

It's a good revolver, and I have never had any problems with it. I actually try to carry it as often as possible, in a Kydex paddle holster that fits it like a glove. I would bet that one of yours, in .22 LR, is a hoot to shoot!

[JohnR]

I ordered Charter’s wood grip for it. It looks great and feels perfect. For a .22 it’s ideal.

[JohnR]

The trigger has smoothed up enough that I can’t blame it for my bad shooting. The wood grip looks and feels right. I fixed the sticky chambers with some fine grit wet & dry sandpaper wrapped around a rod, and now one pop on the ejector rod cleanly dumps all six rounds.

I need to go shoot this little kitten every time I get the idea in my head that I should go drop $700 on a S&W 617.

[Canine Dave]

Fun memories. I had a Bulldog back in the Son of Sam days. One of the gun rags at the time published an article titled "recoil limited handloading". Idea was that this little gun could withstand the pressures of some pretty stout loads until the recoil would be too much to handle. They advised keeping close watch on the forcing cone to cylindar gap. I ended up selling that gun to my nephew for what I bought it for-$96. Wish I had kept it.

I did keep the pathfinder 22 I bought for my wife. She calls it her Sunday afternoon roscoe. I like how some of the blueing has turned plum. These guns were great value back in the day.

Dave

[Bawanna]

I had a Bulldog Pug which was a great little gun, don't remember now why I don't still have it but wish I did.

It was a fun little gun and if memory serves (hit and miss) the recoil wasn't too bad.

[gb6491]

I had a Bulldog Pug which was a great little gun, don't remember now why I don't still have it but wish I did.

It was a fun little gun and if memory serves (hit and miss) the recoil wasn't too bad.

I use .44 Russian in my Target Bulldog. It recoils softer than .44 Special and it's a little easier to stroke out the empties.

Regards,
Greg

[Canine Dave]

I like that a lot. Wonderful color.

One more to be on the lookout for. See what you did?

I use .44 Russian in my Target Bulldog. It recoils softer than .44 Special and it's a little easier to stroke out the empties.

Regards,
Greg