Charter Arms Introduces snubby in .45 ACP

[TheTman]

I think Charter Arms a step or 2 below S&W and Ruger. Not something that will last 30,000 rounds probably. Not without some work I imagine anyway. But I think it's a great gun for the money. I bought my daughter a 6 shot 38 special CA revolver, and it shot fine, and she loves it. Now my ex-wife is wanting one. I would love to have my old CA .44 special back. I'd rather have a CA than a Rossi, or one of those Philippine Colt knockoffs. I had a problem with my CA, I was getting light primer strikes, and sent it back for service, and they fixed it and had It back in a short time. That CA was my "bike" gun, it went everywhere with me on my Harley. I had the Barami Hip Grips on it so I could slip the hook on the grip over my waist band and belt and carry it "Mexican style" with no holster. Made it easy to slip out of the saddle bag and into my waistband when stopping to eat or whatever. Last I looked the .44 was around $350-375 most places. I think the current offerings are the best they've ever produced. Someone on another forum said they came up with the transfer bar safety mechanism or something like that, but didn't patent it, because they thought it should be available for any revolver that wanted to use it. I like that kind of thinking. Most manufacturers would patent something like that to try and get a royalty from anyone that wanted to use it. It has a lifetime guarantee, so I suppose if you ever wear it out, they'll either repair it or replace it. I would like to get another CA .44 or a .45 one of these days. I shoot both calibers, so it doesn't matter much to me.

[340pd]

Who cares what the ballistics are? Cheap ammo, huge fun factor makes me look into this further.

[gb6491]

Small .45acp revolver.... if its of at least "decent" quality, I'm in!

So...how are those Charter Arms revolvers these days?

The new ones I've looked at appear to be, at least cosmetically, as good as the early Charters I have (I think that's a good thing).
Here's a review Hickok45 did towards the end of last year:

Regards,
Greg

[CJB]

I thought Iver Johnson invented the transfer bar...."hammer the hammer" was the slogan

[Longitude Zero]

Charter Arms = Boat anchor. Of any other issue requiring a weight to hold something down. I have fried a few and all were junk. Hikoks results migth be similar. I often wonder how much of what he films is cut and not show and why?

[marcinstl]

reasonably warm .45acp defense loads in a 20oz. gun? nah, I already tried that in a CW45, hurt my hand and was slow(taking time to regret) to the second, third shot. since that lightweight gun failed experiment, I have found a thick 1 1/2" gun belt(loops on some pants are almost to small) and the side mounting "truck driver" suspenders. (some times still use the old 4 hook suspenders, depends). for comfortable carry a quality holster at 1:30-2:15 ("appendix carry") works for me, standing sitting, driving, all comfortable. big guns, small guns, they all can be carried with the right equipment. .45acp? make mine an N-frame or a Vaquero.
(1911 if your into auto's).

[CJB]

Yes, reasonably warm, and warmer loads in a light revolver....

If you read Hatcher's Notebook, he goes into the math and physics of why the automatics, given the same total handgun weight, feel worse than a revolver of the same weight. He even goes to the trouble of blocking the slide on a Colt .45 Auto to demonstrate the same.

In short, because of the lack of recoiling parts, the revolver will feel much more comfortable, something that any old 1917 revolver owner knows already (compared to their Colt .45 Auto). The 1917 weighed about 2-1/4 lbs vs 2-1/2 for the auto. Being marginally lighter, the kick is always much much less, to the amazement many who fire it.

[downtownv]

From Ballistics by the Inch:

Federal 230 gr. Hydra-Shok JHP:

5" barrel gives you 895 ft-lbs,
2" barrel gives you 754 ft-lbs. (theoretically)
Through a S&W 325PD Airlite 2.5", 807 ft-lbs.

So the 2.5" revolver barrel robs the round of 11% of its muzzle energy.

Now you sound like my wife......

[Barth]

I'm thinking those numbers are for muzzle velocity.
Regards, Greg

LOL, you think???

As for 44 Special vs 45 ACP?
It's a no brainer for me.
Just look at the selection, availability and price of 44 Special.

Also, 45 ACP reliable expansion from a 2" snubbie could be an issue.
I'd recommend Federal HST, Winchester Ranger T-Series or Speer GDHP Short Barrel.
Full Disclosure: I run GDHP Short Barrel in most of my revolvers and my MK40 Elite.

Update: I've switched to GDHP SB in all my revolvers (38 Special, 357 Magnum & 44 Magnum).

[TheTman]

I checked my .44 speed loader for my CA .44, and it holds .45 acp just fine. As long as the holes are in the same place the speed loader for the CA .44 should work with the .45.
The big rubber grips it comes with soaks up a lot of recoil, and it's not unpleasant to shoot.

I was looking at the CA website and they're saying it won't be available until late fall now.

[DeaconKC]

An old trick I saw a fellow use for his.45 ACP Blackhawk was to use a 1911 magazine and shuck the shells straight in. Worked pretty well.

[Bawanna]

That's a fine idea right there. That would work super.

Why didn't I think of that? Ok, Ok, I know, I know.

[CJB]

some little bit of looking.... seems folks are mostly happy with newer CA revolvers, say they smooth up nice after some shooting.

this might be something to look for, backup for the 45 in my pocket.

food for serious thought

[TheTman]

Despite LZ's negative opinion, (I wish all boat anchors shot as nice as my CA .44 did) I think the video by Hickock45 pretty much sums up the newer offerings from CA.
I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one. I bought my daughter one, that's how much confidence I have in them. I bought her the 6 shot .38 special, and that is a fun gun to shoot.
She's living down in a small farm and ranch community now, and target shooting is one of the things they do there, so she was happy to have her own gun and not have to borrow one. At the time I bought it, she was living alone at a church camp out in the country, and was getting spooked once in awhile living out their alone. She went from being borderline anti-gun, to asking me to help her pick out something. I has so happy about that that I just bought her something we agreed on. At first she wanted the green framed 5 shot, but I talked her into a 6 shot stainless steel, and green rubber grips. I figured the extra shot may come in handy someday, you never know. Plus it cost less and had a bit longer barrel.
BTW I'm proud to announce that she is now an ordained Minister of the Assembly of God Church.

[yqtszhj]

I went by Charters booth at thd NRA show to check out the .45 revolver and guess what, NO GUNS!!! It seems that yellow freight lines lost 1 of their 5 crates (the largest one) and it had ALL THEIR GUNS IN IT! They had a full display setup and not one gun. Just signs on all the displays saying Yellow Freight lost them. The president of Charter Arms was there and had the sadest most disappointed look on his face I had seen. I felt sorry for the man.

Anyway spoke to him for a while and picked up a catalog. It shows the .45 pistol at 22 oz. They had a .38 snubbie in there that was 12 oz.