Charter arms .357 target bulldog

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Burglecut83

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Has anyone owned or shot one of these? What were your thoughts on it. Thinking of picking one up from prophet river this week or possibly a Taurus m66. Thanks for your opinions on either gun
 
I have handled both, but haven't shot them, so with a grain of salt you can take my suggestion: Used S&W 586 or 686. I bought a 586-3 for $550 + tax. I'd much rather have a Smith over either of those guns. They feel better to me, and the aftermarket for grips its much better.
 
Only handled one at EPPS a few years ago. Not impressed. The front to back slop in the cylinder was disturbing and the wonky little release button where you could see the spring really turned me off. It also didn't seem to lock properly! Even at $449 I'm glad that I walked and ended up stumbling onto my first Dan Wesson for $450!! You don't have to break the bank to find a great used .357. You do, however, need patience.
 
"...possibly a Taurus..." Taurus has a really bad rep for customer service. Haven't heard anything bad about the new Charter Arms. A .357 Target revolver is a bit daft though. Neither company is making high end stuff.
 
handofzeus said:
Only handled one at EPPS a few years ago. Not impressed. The front to back slop in the cylinder was disturbing and the wonky little release button where you could see the spring really turned me off. It also didn't seem to lock properly! Even at $449 I'm glad that I walked and ended up stumbling onto my first Dan Wesson for $450!! You don't have to break the bank to find a great used .357. You do, however, need patience.
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There are two amazing things in that post:
1) You found a Dan Wesson for $450.
2) You found a Dan Wesson.
 
Kveldulf said:
There are two amazing things in that post:
1) You found a Dan Wesson for $450.
2) You found a Dan Wesson.
Click to expand...

Have those gotten hard to find and desirable here? The last time I looked for a revolver I was practically tripping over them. Of course that was five or six years ago...but at that time they were cheap and nobody really wanted them. Funny.


Anyway WAY back in the day (like 15-20 years ago) I spent a bit of time with a CA Bulldog in .44sp that a friend owned. It was a handy little revolver but I have no idea if the current ones are any good.

But I would scotch tape some bullets to a diseased chipmunk and carry that to the range before I'd count on a Taurus anything.
 
Chuck3436 said:
Spend a few more bucks and go ruger or smith.
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^I suspect once the timing goes out on these comparatively small framed 357s, we'll soon find out who's waiting how long, to get thier Charter Arms revolver back from a qualified and authorized gunsmith who resides is in this country. Or if it has to go back to the USA for warranty action.

Knowing full well of the scarcity of trained Colt & Dan Wesson revolver gunsmiths here, that could be very interesting to view from afar.
 
Ok here's another answer that nobody will like.

I've never been a huge DA revolver fan, I've gone through qutie a few automatics and tried a few of the mainstream revolvers such as teh 686 and gp100, even teh chiappo rhino but none felt like they gave me any reason to get/keep over my autopistols. Then I tried a Performance Centre and became an overnight revolver snob. It's now probably my favorite handgun.

Long story short, if your considering a revolver to just get a revolver or because you are curious as to what shooting a revolver is like, don't cheap out, it will do nothing for you. I would recommend at least getting the gp100 or 686 to get a proper feel of a well made gun, otherwise for years you will have a mediocre revolver that will somewhat dissapoint you and you will never know the joys of a good wheelgun. That's what happened to me.

I also do have a blackhawk convertible, but single actions are a completely different story altogether.
 
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Kveldulf said:
There are two amazing things in that post:
1) You found a Dan Wesson for $450.
2) You found a Dan Wesson.
Click to expand...
Actually have two. Picked up a Hunter's Pack this year with the extra shroud with scope and the 1970's hard case. It seems that folks still don't value the Dan Wesson too much. The square block underlug really turns many people off, then there are the lazy ones who cringe at the thought of taking apart the shroud and barrel to reset the gap. I'd love to get my hands on a .44 though!
 
mlehtovaara said:
I have done alot of research on Taurus revolvers, and I will never buy one!!!

It's a crap shoot at best, and I'm no gambler...
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Myself and a few of my friends have Raging Bull's and they've all worked flawlessly, however I agree with you when it comes to the other models that Taurus offers, they definitely have some QC issues.
 
Although I get it when it comes to saving coin, I will always tell anyone who cares to listen that they will soon forget a few
hundred bucks, but will be looking at a wrong choice in a gun for a long time. It really is painful to long for the gun you really
wanted and think that the price difference was spent on a dinner with food that wasn't that great or company that you could
have taken a pass on.
 
I impulse bought a target bulldog since it fit my hand really well and liked the small frame. It's cheap and I wouldn't trust it to take much .357 I put 6 through it and the gun showed stress. Also don't like that the ejector rod (?) isn't long enough to push out the shell casings you gotta finish pulling them by hand. But it does fit my hand well and is accurate and fun to shoot 38 special. All in all I don't think I'd buy it again... Get a used smith

Edit... Meant to mention that I researched them a bit once I got the gun home. Consensus was that the old ones were cheap and good then they turned into cheap #### and now they're trying to turn it around and claim they're cheap but good again. I've no actual prob with mine
 
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Rugers take a beating, but a Smith has never really let me down. Lousy crown finish on late 686's though.
But they still have great single action pulls and group well.
 
I bought one and the first thing that entered my mind when I opened the box was, what the #### is this piece of crap, the grips are awful the frame is very small, its great for 38 special but to shoot the full load 357 its way too small and uncomfortable I sold it and bought a S&W 586 and the difference is unbelievable, the weight , the size, I can and do shoot full load 357 all day long, where as before it almost hurt and was no fun and if your gonna buy used you can get a nice S&W for maybe a $100 more than the charter taxes and shipping in! and for those who think o I will just change the grips on the charters arm, well good luck my friends I found a fairly decent wood set after a lengthy search and they still made the gun too small to hold
 
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