Charter Arms DAO Bulldog .44 Special?
Anyone have any experience with a Charter Arms DAO Bulldog .44 Special, are there any 1st generation models with made in Bridgeport Conn on the receiver, otherwise what is the quality, reliability, accuracy and durability of this revolver?
Does any other manufacturer make these, like Smith & Wesson, Colt, Ruger etc, as I haven't seen anything like them before and Charter Arms seems to be the only manufacturer?
Thanks.
Does any other manufacturer make these, like Smith & Wesson, Colt, Ruger etc, as I haven't seen anything like them before and Charter Arms seems to be the only manufacturer?
Thanks.
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a friend brought one by once for a cleaning. it was an original stainless steel bulldog 44 special and had never been cleaned. one thing is for sure. there are a lot more moving parts than that of s&w or colt revolvers. i had to track down a pin that flew across the room. so if ever you dismantle to clean, be careful. as for your question, s&w has made 44 special revolvers for many years. if a 44 is what you prefer, then ruger manufactures a 44 magnum called the alaskan. hope this helped answer your question. best 0 -
This Charter Arms DAO Bulldog .44 Special is what I was referring to and these have an internal hammer, so DAO(Double Action Only) which appears to be 'hammerless' which is easier; are these any good in terms of quality, reliability, accuracy and durability and did Smith & Wesson, Colt or Ruger ever make any?
Were there any 1st generation Bulldog models dao in .44 spec?0 -
milsurplus,
I cannot comment on the DAO-only version. I can tell you that the Bulldog .44 Special is thought of very highly by people like Mic McPherson, as shown in this article:
http://www.levergun.com/articles/44_Special_Bulldog.htm
Mic's family has owned a few .44 Special Bulldogs.
As to "extra parts", the Bulldog is just about like any other revolver: it has as many parts as it needs to make it work correctly. The Charter Arms revolvers have a steel frame, with no side plate. The gripframe on all Charter revolvers (not their derringers) is the same size. It is made of aluminum alloy, and includes the trigger guard. Pins & screws are used, where appropriate, to hold together all of these parts. The grip panels, from one Charter revolver, should fit a different model/ caliber Charter revolver. This should allow you to find a set of grips that fit your hand.
Also, Charter used to offer a factory "bobbed hammer" for concealed carrying. It had no spurr, but had serrations cut into the top surface, so that you could cock it for single-action use. The picture that you have provided appears to be the newer, "despurred" hammer-styles of Bulldog. I do not know if this gun is truly DAO.
...in case you cannot tell it, I like Charter revolvers.[;)]
Good luck!0 -
The picture is listed on the Charter Arms website as DAO so one would think that it is.
http://www.charterfirearms.com/products/Charter_Bulldog_14421.html
Would really like to get one in Smith & Wesson, Colt or Ruger but cant seem to locate anything and this is all that I could find and that may be.0 -
Taurus has made a number of 5 shot, .44 special snubbies over the years. Don't know if they are still in production though?
If you really want to be a masochist though, they also made one in .45 LC with a lightweight alloy frame. Guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes, after firing just one shot.0 -
No I will take your word for it, I'm not a Taurus person either
and was really hoping for a DAO revolver .44 Special in a Smith & Wesson, Colt or Ruger... I would presume that the Charter Arms are probably like a Taurus then I would imagine from the sketchy good and bad reviews and don't seem to be of very good quality like the Taurus, at least not like a Smith & Wesson, Colt or Ruger.0 -
Now was considering a Smith & Wesson .44 Special revolver steel framed with 2 inch barrel and bobbed hammer as an alternative; although that doesn't seem to exist either.
The shortest barreled Smith & Wesson .44 Special revolvers with a steel frame I found have 4 inch barrels.
I could try and have the barrel trimmed back although with that front bolt housing in relation to the ejector rod housing being so close don't think that it would work and a 4 inch barreled revolver isn't what I had in mind for concealed.
However might be able to trim an inch off the barrel and be flush with the end of the front bolt housing all while keeping the stamped info as well, maybe that would work as an alternative, so not a 2 inch barrel probably 2.9 inch or something?0 -
S&W DOES make a snubby .44 --their NightGuard series 329 with a 2 1/2" barrel but it is .44 Mag/.44 Special--you would have to have the hammer bobbed though if you desire DAO. They also have a Performance Center version in stainless--again both guns are .44 mag but you can just use the Specials. Just about any gunsmith could bob the hammer for you.
You could also buy one of the used Lew Horton Edition S&W 624 .44 Specials that are snubbies on the market and bob the hammer.0 -
Yeah I saw the NightGuard series 329 with a 2 1/2" barrel, just wish it was steel and not scandium, as I prefer steel. 0 -
Well then the Performance Center 629 would suit you better as it is all steel. The drawback is they are very expensive. The drawback to the older Charter Arms .44 Specials is they are not rated for some of the ammo on the market(ie Buffalo Bore) But that is still ok as standard .44 Special ammo is nothing to sneeze at. You can also run .44 Russian through them. 0
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