Are there any fans of the Charter Arms Bulldog here? Just curious.

I've had one going on 40 years, a Target Model. Aside from the pins trying to walk out of the frame and the barrel shroud coming loose when I shot it a lot, it's been a pretty good gun. When I bought it, there was nothing to compare for weight vs power. Mine is finished a lot nicer than most of the newer ones I have seen.

I believe that David Berkowitz liked his in .44

I've considered getting one, but he new GP100 in 44 special makes it hard to choose the bulldog.

I have one of the early 3" Bulldogs (probably late 70s).
Bought it years ago. Don't shoot it much but it goes bang and the .44 specials with 200 gr. lead looks intimidating from the front end.

PC

quote:

Originally posted by dc54:
I've considered getting one, but he new GP100 in 44 special makes it hard to choose the bulldog.

This is me now. I have considered one ever since the original Bulldog came out, but always wanted something else a bit more. I maybe like the concept more than the actual weapon. I wish that Ruger had made it in SP101 instead of GP100, but the GP would be a nice gun.

One of my most painfully memorable shooting experiences was shooting an old Charter Arms Bull Dog.

Many years ago I was in the early stages of trying to determine what caliber and what platform to choose for a wilderness gun, and was on the fence between .357 mag. and .44 mag. A friend had a father who was selling his Bull Dog and offered to loan it to me to take to the range and try out. I gladly accepted the offer and picked up a box of .44 Spl. cowboy loads on the way to the range.

Under recoil the trigger guard impacted the middle finger of my strong hand and it flat out hurt. I'm not talking irritation, not annoyance, I'm talking pain. I tried to tough it out but after going through half the box of cowboy loads I decided I had taken enough punishment and called it quits. Whether it was the pain of recoil and my own lack in ability, or the gun itself, accuracy was mediocre at best and I never approached anything that looked like a group with that gun.

If I was a wiser shooter back then I would have entertained the idea of trying a different set of grips on the gun, but I was sufficiently turned off by it that I wanted nothing more to do with it, and returned it to my friend with thanks.

That experience shooting that gun almost turned me off to the idea of buying a .44 mag, but thankfully I researched and ultimately settled on a S&W 629 4" with Hogue rubber grips, and shooting that gun in both magnum and spl. loads was soooo much more pleasant and accurate than the Bull Dog. One of my personal best offhand groups I've ever shot was with the 629 and .44 mag.

There is no doubt that the Bull Dog is built like a tank, and I've heard that the new Bull Dogs are an improvement over the older design and I suppose I'd be willing to try shooting a new one if given the chance.

But I think I'll always have a bias against the Bull Dog after it "bit me".

That knuckle rapping is what Tyler T-Grips are for.

I had a Bulldog Pug for several years. Wish I still had it.

One of my customers bought a 9mm and it blew up on the first round.. I'll never buy one.

My BIL had one. Never liked it. Short of the price I can't imagine buying one today when there are so many better options.

It's been a popular special order item for us, so in THAT regard and context, yes I 'like' it.

They seem like they're made well enough, but it's no Ruger or S&W as I see it. If I were a reloader I could be swayed to try one, but I'm not and 44SPC factory loads are devilishly hard to find.

Just hearsay, but the current models don't seem to have anywhere close to the quality of the ones made by the original company.

I've got a stainless, .44 Bulldog Pug. Mine is DAO and was made in 2007. It is my "always" yard and woods gun, with 3 rds of CCI shot, and 2 rds of Silvertips.
It is an easy shooter, and remarkably accurate. One of the most useful handguns I own.

Skip

My desire to purchase one vanishes when I actually examine one. Quality, IMHO, is sub par.

Have one in 9mm in SS. Not much into revolvers, but have had a desire for 9mm revolver. Big advantage of this model is that one does not need clips. If one were to measure barrel the way one does for pistol, what I have would be said to have a 6 inch barrel. Two advantages over the very good Ruger 9mm. The single action trigger is excellent, and double action is reasonably smooth.

I had one back in the mid 90's and from what I remember, it was actually a great shooter. Recoil was not as bad and was a little larger than a 38. The only downside was the ammo. cost.

The 44 Bulldog was a popular off duty gun with officers in the 70's. I never owned one but several fellow officers did and swore by them.

I have had a 3" and the 2" (2.5"?) and carried them quite a bit, they shot well for what they were.

Carried Silver tips or CCI gold dots

Wish I still had one...

I had a chance to fire one years ago. I really liked it. That being said the Pitbull in 45acp would be my preference.