Charter Arms Bulldog .44

[44 Bulldog]

Very powerful, only problem I ever had was shooting it once without my hearing protection, ears rang for a week. Purchased @ 1989.

 

[Cold Steel]

Very powerful, only problem I ever had was shooting it once without my hearing protection, ears rang for a week. Purchased @ 1989.

I talked to a guy at an NRA convention years ago in Philadelphia, and he said he fired several rounds of a .44 Magnum S&W 29 at a charging bear. He managed to kill the bear, but he said he had no memory of firing the gun. "Did you have any ringing in your ears after that happened," I asked.

"Nope. I woke up in the hospital and remember seeing the bear, but I don't remember anything else."

"And you had no ringing of the ears?"

"Nope. They showed me my gun and three rounds had been fired, but I don't remember shooting them."

(It was a memorable convention because I shared a cab with Jeff Cooper from the hotel to the convention Center. On the way I asked him if he really thought the .45ACP was a better manstopper than the .357 magnum, and he said YES. "The .45 is already the size that you're trying to get the .357 to with hollow-points," he explained. I thought he was wrong then and now, but I wasn't about to argue with him.)

 

[Johnconlee]

My coworker/shooting buddy has a more recently made bulldog. It's neat, but it will intermittently misfire, light striking maybe 1/10 rounds. Seems to do it with multiple brands, not sure what the problem is. Other than that the fit and finish is pretty good.

Mine did this. I put in a stronger wolf main spring. That fixed it.

 

[Biggfoot44]

Usually the problem you describe can be traced back to too small of a gap between the cylinder and barrel. You may even have a lead/carbon build up at the cylinder gap that will give similar symptoms.

That , or bad headspace .

 

[Biggfoot44]

I don’t think the Bulldog frame is strong enough to handle magnum pressures. Cylinder is thin, too.

The gunwriter opinion of the day . was that the Bulldog itself could handle a maximum of the " Skeeter Load " aka " Elmer's Light Load " . But that the shooter probably couldn't .

 

[RFBfromDE]

(It was a memorable convention because I shared a cab with Jeff Cooper from the hotel to the convention Center. On the way I asked him if he really thought the .45ACP was a better manstopper than the .357 magnum, and he said YES. "The .45 is already the size that you're trying to get the .357 to with hollow-points," he explained. I thought he was wrong then and now, but I wasn't about to argue with him.)

There is no replacement for displacement!

 

[Magnumite]

The gunwriter opinion of the day . was that the Bulldog itself could handle a maximum of the " Skeeter Load " aka " Elmer's Light Load " . But that the shooter probably couldn't .

A viable description whi have read up on the 44 Special’s history and exploration in power.

 

[N3uka]

You all have me confused now. I swore I had a Charter Arms 44 magnum snubnose 6 shot? Will have to dig out of safe and check what it is. One of the first revolvers I purchased many years ago.

Confusion solved. Hadn't touched it in years. Pulled it out over weekend. It is an Astra imported by Interarms. At least I had the arms part right. Not a photo of mine.

 

[Cold Steel]

Confusion solved. Hadn't touched it in years. Pulled it out over weekend. It is an Astra imported by Interarms. At least I had the arms part right. Not a photo of mine.

I had a beautiful stainless Astra and sold it on the classified forum. They were truly sleepers in their day, every bit as good as the 629 (and I had both). They also had counterbored chambers.

Is your Astra as beautiful as this one? And is it the same configuration as the one in the photo?

 

[N3uka]

I had a beautiful stainless Astra and sold it on the classified forum. They were truly sleepers in their day, every bit as good as the 629 (and I had both). They also had counterbored chambers.

Is your Astra as beautiful as this one? And is it the same configuration as the one in the photo?

The only difference on mine is it is Stainless. It is also in great shape.

 

[Cold Steel]

The only difference on mine is it is Stainless. It is also in great shape.

And yours came with a short barrel? Doesn't it create horrible recoil? Is the advantage a reduction in the weight of the gun? Or that is easier to get out of the holster? I used to have a 5-inch Ruger Redhawk that I liked, though it was heavy. I don't even know if Ruger still makes it as I haven't seen one in years.

If I were in charge of Ruger, I would have told the designers to just make one based on the Security-Six. For some reason I'm not entirely aware of, Ruger puts way too much steel into their revolvers, far more than they need to. The result is guns that are difficult to carry.

In school they told me: don't add more words than is necessary to get your point across; rather, remove as many as possible. Ruger puts enough steel in their revolvers to make them extremely durable, then they add more for no apparently logical reason. My sister bought a stainless steel 8-shot .22LR that feels like a damn boat anchor. I have no idea why she bought it.

Anyway, Astra seems to have based its .44 mag after the 29/629, and the designers did a fine job. That blued model you showed just what a good job they did.

 

[John from MD]

And yours came with a short barrel? Doesn't it create horrible recoil? Is the advantage a reduction in the weight of the gun? Or that is easier to get out of the holster? I used to have a 5-inch Ruger Redhawk that I liked, though it was heavy. I don't even know if Ruger still makes it as I haven't seen one in years.

If I were in charge of Ruger, I would have told the designers to just make one based on the Security-Six. For some reason I'm not entirely aware of, Ruger puts way too much steel into their revolvers, far more than they need to. The result is guns that are difficult to carry.

In school they told me: don't add more words than is necessary to get your point across; rather, remove as many as possible. Ruger puts enough steel in their revolvers to make them extremely durable, then they add more for no apparently logical reason. My sister bought a stainless steel 8-shot .22LR that feels like a damn boat anchor. I have no idea why she bought it.

Anyway, Astra seems to have based its .44 mag after the 29/629, and the designers did a fine job. That blued model you showed just what a good job they did.

Rugers are beefy because they are made from Investment Cast steel vs a steel billet.

 

[N3uka]

And yours came with a short barrel? Doesn't it create horrible recoil?

It is a beast and kicks like a mule. 6 shot 44 magnum with a 2 3/4" barrel. Most who ask to shoot it only do one or two rounds. Reminds me I have to find some ammo so I can take it to the range again one day.

 

[Cold Steel]

Rugers are beefy because they are made from Investment Cast steel vs a steel billet.

Yes, but the Security-Six didn't use excess steel. No one looked at any of them and said, too much steel. That's because they were about the same size and weight as the S&W 19/66. But that changed with the GP-100 and, before that, the Redhawk. The SP-101 is fine, seeing it's a 357, and no one wants to break their hands shooting them. The longer barrel is too much like the larger, beefier Rugers. And it's not likely to shoot loose.

I don't know about the 357 S&W 60. I have a couple of 38 Model 60s, and they seem a bit too light to shoot, but they are nice guns. I always wanted a small blued snubbie when I was a kid because I watched GET SMART a lot. (BTW, did you know Ed Platt, the "Chief" committed suicide I think in 1969?)

 

[John from MD]

Yes, but the Security-Six didn't use excess steel. No one looked at any of them and said, too much steel. That's because they were about the same size and weight as the S&W 19/66. But that changed with the GP-100 and, before that, the Redhawk. The SP-101 is fine, seeing it's a 357, and no one wants to break their hands shooting them. The longer barrel is too much like the larger, beefier Rugers. And it's not likely to shoot loose.

I don't know about the 357 S&W 60. I have a couple of 38 Model 60s, and they seem a bit too light to shoot, but they are nice guns. I always wanted a small blued snubbie when I was a kid because I watched GET SMART a lot. (BTW, did you know Ed Platt, the "Chief" committed suicide I think in 1969?)

What a shame. He was a veteran of WWII and a good actor.

 

[Cold Steel]

What a shame. He was a veteran of WWII and a good actor.

Yes, I was watching the GET SMART episode where American Indians declare war on the United States. They have a missile (which looks like a giant arrow) they're going to launch and, at the end of the episode, it accidentally gets fired. When back at Control, the Indian chief drops by with plenty of ca$h, dressed in a new suit and a peace treaty. He leaves and the Chief of Control tells Max that all is well.

"And you'll be happy to know the missile is now on permanent display in the West Wing of the White House.

"That's great," Max replies. "By the way, Chief, where did the missile land?"

The Chief pauses. "In the West Wing of the White House," he deadpans.

He didn't miss a beat!