CHARTER ARMS REVOLVERS?
What is your opinion of Charter Arms Revolvers? Any way to determine date of manufacture by serial #? How many were produced so far? Will they be coming out with a rimless type for 9mm Luger, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP? Do any of you own one and have used/carry one? Thx![|)]
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The only Charter Arms revolver I've ever owned was an older Undercover .38 special. It was a nice, light gun and wish I had never gotten rid of it as it was a nice carry gun. I don't really care for some of the new guns CA is making these days(the pink, red, yellow framed ones) But if you are on a budget their guns will be on par with a Taurus. Charter Arms has been sold and resold a few times so I'm not sure if there is a way to see how many have been produced so far but I would be it's safe to say in the hundreds of thousands.
Their rimless revolver line won't be out for a little while longer.http://www.charterfirearms.com/products/Charter_Firearms_products.html#special380 -
My opinion of them is very bad, never will own one again. Your decision. My favorite is Smith & Wesson. I have one suggestion to you, go to a book store that sells gunsmithing books and see what they say you'll make an informed decision from there out. 0 -
From what I've read, Charter Arms guns were of decent quality at 1st. But after the corp was sold,that quality took a nose dive under the 2nd owners. Now under new (3rd)owner/management and quality is again good. Not sure of dates in this timeline. But would suggest trying to find out.And avoid used guns in the middle group. 0 -
I have a .38 undercover I've had many for years. Great compact pocket pistol. I've never had any issues with it, shoots fine and functions flawlessly. 0 -
i have a early charter in .22 mag with a 6" barrel and its my favorite walking .22, i have a s&w 617 ss .22 and it is better but its heavy to pack, i have a ruger .22 bearcat and its lighter but i shoot the charter better(agjustable sights) and it has a little more power. eastbank. 0 -
I've been researching the Charter Arms firearms for the past 4 years or so. I currently own 25 various models of 1st Generation revolvers and have viewed/handled several dozen others and have s/n's, models and info on about 600 other pieces. SO FAR, this is a brief timeline that I've developed:
1st Generation, funded and organized in 1964, started by Doug McClennahan and Dave Egger - earliest production (1965) up to around s/n 3000 have no barrel address and serial number is found on lower right front of frame. After that, pieces will have a Bridgeport Conn address, serial numbers on right rear of frame and run from around 3500 to around 315,000, made circa 1970. From that number up to around s/n 1,900,000, the pieces will have a Stratford Conn barrel address. These appear to be the "good" guns. From what I've seen, the best function (smoothest action) and best fit and finish pieces began to be produced around the Stratford address switch. Last of the 1st Generation pieces appear to have been made sometime in 1991.
Charter Arms Corportation was re-organized at that time and left the Egger family hands - was renamed Charter Arms Company (CHARCO). These s/n's start right around 1,900,000 - and this is where the quality became spotty and finally tanked. These will be found in Bright Red Boxes, with a barrel address of Ansonia Conn. Some of the earliest CHARCO marked pieces were made with left over parts from the 1st Gen. - and some early ones will have the Stratford barrel address.
3rd Gen. pieces began in 2000 with the Charter Arms 2000 LLC - when the Egger family retook control. These will have a Shelton Conn barrel address. They apparently began serialization at 00001. Earliest 3rd Gen. pieces, that I have had the opportunity to examine have gritty actions and poor fit and finish. Latest pieces that I have examinied run into the high 200,000s and the quality is much better and improving.
One item of note: Gen. 1 pieces are sequentially serial numbered based upon production and without regard to model. There are about 14 different 1st Gen models in three frame sizes. 3rd Gen. Charter 2000 seems to be working towards re-instating many of those, introducing them slowly, but sticking mainly with the small frame 5 shot .38s.
Jim Hauff
H&R Collector0 -
Thanks .32 Mag. Good info that helped me date one of mine. Happily 1st generation w/Bridgeport address. 0 -
You're welcome, Fatstrat - glad to post - note I changed funding a production start up years - consulted my data found that my memory was off by one year. Oh well, too much stuff crammed into too small a space. 0 -
These light, cheap little revolvers are reliable. I wouldn't shoot too many rounds through them though. I owned the .38spl undercover, and the 3" bbl bulldog in .44spl. I, too, wish I would have kept them as tackle box guns. 0 -
I just went and looked at my two Charter Arms Pathfinders in 22LR.Both have the Bridgeport address with a serial number range of 2804XX.Both of mine were bought used at a local gunshop and appeared unfired when I bought them.I put one away and have been shooting the other one.I was getting some miss fires at first,so I ordered a couple of new hammer springs from Wolffs springs.Minor problem fixed.I have put thousands of rounds thru the one I am shooting and love it.
EvilDr2350
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