All second generation pieces will be marked on the right side of the barrel with that name and address in two lines. This was the end of the FIRST GENERATION.Īround mid 1991 (may be as early as 1988?), the company was re-organized under new leadership and became known as Charter Arms Company - CHARCO, and was located in ANSONIA CONN. The very first Charter Arms Corporation production began in 1965 in BRIDGEPORT CONN - earliest pieces - mostly Undercover model will have either NO address on the right side of the barrel or will have BRIDGEPORT CONNĪround 1974, address was changed to STRATFORD CONN - all pieces made after mid 1974 will be marked with that address on the right side of the barrel and all will have CHARTER ARMS CORP. Here's the rough notes taken from my data base with over 1000 points including magazine articles, company brochures and sales tags, etc: Quality control suffered in the mid-80s and a few other times but you have one from the peak years. There's a few areas of 'Ruger similarity' to the design, although it's really more of a similarity to the Colt SAA that made it into both the Ruger and Charter DAs: the action parts 'fork up into the frame' without need of side-plates. This 'tight lockup' process is much like a Colt, except that the Charter locks the cylinder at both the front and rear like a recent-production Ruger DA. Keep it in good shape though and it will serve very well. So you need to do the 'alignment check in full lockup' section of the 'Revolver Checkout' thoroughly, run milder practice ammo instead of balls-out +P stuff and continue checking the alignment every time you clean it or every 200 rounds or so max. When it's NOT running right, the cylinder is held rigidly in a mis-aligned state between the barrel and firing cylinder bore, which means lead shaving plus the gun is trying to really tear itself apart. This helps with accuracy, and is wonderful when it's running right. Blue locktite is your friend.Ģ) These guns are a 'tight lockup' design, which means the cylinder is designed to be held rigidly in the rotational direction, moments before firing. Only two things to need to be cautious about.ġ) The ejector rod can come unscrewed, as can some of the frame screws behind the cylinder area.

Charter arms bulldog serial numbers