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20 Comments

  1. YEA! Another steel gun review! I’m a revolver guy. I’ve been tempted by Charter Arms products but have gotten stuck on old S&W and Colt revolvers. The old ones are much better made than anything new and they hold their value.
    .44 Special has to be a painful handful in a little snubie with 240gr bullets. I have several old S&W hand ejectors from the teens and 20’s in .44 Special and they can be uncomfortable with that bullet.

  2. I too recently purchased a .38 snub, one of S&W’s no-lock 442s. After shooting a number of different ammo types, I settled on the 130gr Federal HST Micro, the recessed “flying trashcan” style.

    While the mid-sized revolver market is pretty dead (for new guns, at least), the snubs and the big guys are moving pretty well.

  3. I bought a S&W 686-4 [more than 20 years ago]. I compared it to the current run of S&W 686’s and there is NO comparison. Mine is better made, and has a much simpler construction with a firing pin ON the hammer (no transfer bar BS). The action is smoother (but then I have shoot 10,000 rounds through it) and the single action trigger is crisper. And as a bonus, I only paid $179.00.

  4. I have always believed a gun should last at least a 100 years, some of the revolvers I shoot already have. I can’t make myself believe that a new plastic gun will function that long. Also, revolvers dump the fired brass into your hand rather than flinging it over your shoulder and into the weeds so reloading is a realistic and economic option. That might not be so important now but in difficult times when ammo is not easy to get – it could help a lot;. Of course revolvers rarely fail and are easier to repair at home if they do. Speed loaders are cheap. So for a survival gun, what’s not to like ?

  5. I was recently bitten by the nostalgia bug too. Years ago I had one if the original Charter stainless steel bulldog pugs in 44 special with the bobbed hammer. I traded it away after shooting a box or two and deciding it recoiled too much. Saw one on gunbroker a couple of months ago and bought it. Honestly it doesn’t recoil as badly as my memory says it did, either that or years of shooting .44mag, .50 desert eagle and 500 S&W have made me used to recoil.

  6. I recently bought a charter arms u c 38 stainless ‘feather weight” which is very easy to carry all the time without even knowing you have it on and of course with the right type of shirt.
    The accuracy is good and using + p’s.
    Very easy on recoil to say the least.

  7. Thanks for your review of this basic defensive revolver, and recalling some of your days on the job in Chicago. I’m glad you lived to tell us about them. About 15 years ago, I met a man while at church that had recently retired after a career as a Special Agent for the FBI. Our friendship grew, and we started talking about firearms. He suggested that we should go ” plinking” sometime. Holy Cow !! I was hooked. Everything I know about handling and shooting a firearm today, I owe to him and his knowledge of handguns and skill as a teacher. He became the older brother I never had.

    When he found out that he had a terminal disease, he started selling his firearm collection to his friends and former colleagues. He honored me and our friendship by selling me a weapon that he carried on the job for many years. It is a S & W Model 66 .357 Magnum with a 2.5″ barrel. Your review of the Charter Arms revolver today reminded me of my Model 66 and memories of my dear friend that has gone on to be with our Lord. The 66 has a worn handle and marks from use with the holster, but still shoots straight. My friend would say, “Don’t worry about how it looks. How does it shoot?” Thanks for bringing these cherished memories back. Keep up the good work.

    1. Ken, I read years ago that with the model 66, you should practise only with 38 specials. You can carry with .357’s. It said that the forcing cones are not supported enough and too much use of full power .357 loads will make them crack. I was disappointed to read that. The only flaw in an otherwise great gun.

  8. Love Charter Arms snubbies, have one in .22 long rifle the Pathfinder, one in .38 Special the Undercover, one in .357 Magnum the Mag Pug, one in .44 Special Bulldog, all newer models and stainless steel, all good shooting guns,carry the Undercovers my ccw everyday ,this one has a lot of sentimental value as my wife gave it to me for Christmas years ago,great woman I married because she is great about buying me guns,or gun accessories.

  9. Great review,only charter i got over 30yrs is the 22cal break down survival that stores in stock.Much fun to shoot,neat thing to shoot without stock attached.Ever run out of ammo without stock made a good mace.

  10. To answer Grigory: The base of the Hornady 38 Special round is thinner than most other 38 Special rounds. The primer at the base of the round does not extend as far into the hammer resulting in a slightly dented primer but no fire. Put two different brand 38 special rounds side by side and you can see the difference in thicknesses of the base of the two.

  11. Love my 1911. But I reload everything and don’t love chasing brass (although I do chase it all down). It is nice to shoot my .38/.357 and dump the brass in my hand. And if I am more than six shots into a fire fight I am not too confident I will be alive at the end of it. Maybe. Maybe not. And do I want to leave brass behind in a fire fight? Maybe not depending.

    On that note I like my AR but sometimes I wonder if my Model 100 (Sears resale of a Model 94) would not be better realistically even with only seven shots. Little more punch with my reloads and it points so we’ll. And the lever is fast enough but slows you down just enough to get a better sight picture.

    But realistically if I had to walk up to my safe and pick one hand gun and one long gun and go, it would probably be the AR and 1911. Probably…

  12. I have one of the old charter arms undercover in blue and it came with really small wooden grips which was my only complaint. then I went to a NRA convention a number of years ago in St Louis and Charter had a booth and had one of there newer undercover which had the larger rubber grips and I managed to get a pair of them and it improved my old undercover 100%. It is a really handy little gun to carry. Thanks for the article. Trekker Out

  13. I have carried and shot( including competition) a first gen Glock 17 for the last 25 years. It has north of 100,000 rds. down the pipe at this point. To those saying plastic won’t last a century, be careful. This plastic gun is none the worse for wear after a quarter century of daily carry and heavy use. I replace the 3.5 lb. connector every 10,000 rds, and the night sights every 12 years. It’s on its third set. Nothing else ever needed. Ate everything I ever fed it without a hitch.

    That said, I am going to rectify the complete lack of revolvers in my arsenal. Been looking at small guns to back up the G17 or carry in summer when I wish to let the occasion, rather than my weapon, choose my wardrobe. Also for winter, a coat pocket gun. Hammerless Smiths seem made for that role. Nobody gets too frisky over a man putting his hand in his coat pocket when its cold( as opposed to you sweeping that coat back and reaching behind your hip), and those little hammerless guns can be emptied without ever leaving the pocket. Handy, at times.

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