Like The Idea Of a 9MM

[dhw9am]

Has anyone shot or owned a new Charter Arms 9MM revolver? I like the idea of a 9MM revolver, WITHOUT moon clips.
I have always been told to run away as fast as I can, from anything Charter Arms. I just wonder if anyone on this forum, might have some actual experience with this revolver.
I know Taurus makes one, but it uses moon clips.
Thanks

 

[chezuki]

I have a Charter .38 from the late '70s that was my mothers and it functions flawlessly. I still carry it as my BUG. They were actually quite pioneering in the Design of firing pin safeties on modern revolvers.

I have "heard" that they had some quality issues in the '90s but have no experience with that era. The new ones have a fairly decent reputation and with things like their 9mm design it's nice to see them still being innovative. I would like to have one just som my BUG and primary could share a caliber.

 

[Leo]

I have a Charter Arms Undercover. I believe that is the smallest 5 shot .38spl you can find. It is probably 20 years old. It has been reliable the whole time. I still carry it often. The skinny wooden grips, the minimal sights and the small pistol size disqualify it for bullseye target use. You can, however hit what you point at inside of 50 feet with very little effort.

 

[in625shooter]

I am not familiar with the Charter Arms 9mm wheelguns. Ruger produced 9mm Speed Six's in the early 1980's and S&W had the model 547 in the 1980's as well. I am not familar with the Ruger 9mm revolver either but the S&W 547 was designed with an ejector inside the chambers so no moon clip was needed for ejection. It did not fair as well and was only produced for a few years.

As a 625 guy I have to say I love moonclips. My concern with not using them (which I have from time to time) would be the lack of any good quality speedlloader (that I know of) that works with rimless cartidges for doing an emergency reload.

 

[worddoer]

I currently own the 9mm Pitbull, as they are called now. Here is a link for specs if you are looking for that...

79920 9 mm Pitbull Rimless Revolver

It is more accurate than I am, and seems solidly built. I have no complaints. It has never failed to fire or eject a round to date. But I don't have a high round count through it yet. Maybe 250 rounds.

The trigger is typical revolver...long heavy double action...very light very crisp single action. I don't have a trigger pound meter, but I would say double is probably 10lbs or so with single around 2lbs or so. But that is a very rough guess. Needless to say...I LOVE the single action.

The only complaint that I heard about the Pitbull series was the 1st offering in .40 S&W. It seems that even when the ejector rod was fully pushed back, it was still not long enough to fully eject those long .40 cases. However, in my 9mm version, the ejector has more than enough travel to eject the cases fully. It seems that their spring loaded plunger design works.

I will say this, the design of this pistol does not and will not lend itself to speed loading. If you want that, this is not the revolver for you. It is easier to load the rounds at a slight angle with the ejector pushed back about 1/4 and inch. Once all 6 chambers are loaded, then you let the ejector rod spring forward and the rounds move in each chamber easily.

This revolver is all stainless and seems nice. Not as nice as a Smith & Wesson, but functional. But I don't care if my guns win beauty pageants. I want them to work. And work it does.

That is my for what it is worth.