Charter Arms Co. is an American manufacturer of revolvers. Since its founding in 1964, Charter Arms has produced revolvers chambered in the following calibers:

.22 Long Rifle The .22 Long Rifle or simply .22 LR or 22 (metric designation: 5.6×15mmR) is a long-established variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammunition originating from the United States. It is used in a wide range of rifles, pistols, revolvers, smo ...

.32 Long The .32 S&W Long, also known as 7.65x23mm, is a straight-walled, centerfire, rimmed handgun cartridge, based on the earlier .32 S&W cartridge. It was introduced in 1896 for Smith & Wesson's first-model Hand Ejector revolver. Colt called it the ...

, .32 H&R Magnum,

.327 Federal Magnum The .327 Federal Magnum is a cartridge introduced by Federal Premium Ammunition and also sold by Sturm, Ruger & Co. It is intended to provide the power of a .357 Magnum in a six-shot, compact revolvers, whose cylinders would otherwise only h ...

.38 Special The .38 Special, also commonly known as .38 S&W Special (not to be confused with .38 S&W), .38 Smith & Wesson Special, .38 Spl, .38 Spc, (pronounced "thirty-eight special"), or 9x29mmR is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & ...

.357 Magnum The .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum, .357 S&W Magnum, .357 Magnum, or 9×33mmR as it is known in unofficial metric designation, is a smokeless powder cartridge with a bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, and Douglas B. ...

9×19mm Parabellum The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Parabellum or 9mm Luger or simply 9mm) is a rimless, tapered firearms cartridge. Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer Georg Luger in 1901, it is widely considered the most popular handgun ...

, .40 Smith & Wesson, .41 Remington Magnum,

.44 Special The .44 Smith & Wesson Special, also commonly known as .44 S&W Special, .44 Special, .44 Spl, .44 Spc, (pronounced "forty-four special"), or 10.9x29mmR is a smokeless powder center fire metallic revolver cartridge developed by Smith & Wesson in 1 ...

.45 ACP The .45 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol) or .45 Auto (11.43×23mm) is a rimless straight-walled handgun cartridge designed by John Moses Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic pistol. After successful military trials, it ...

, and

.45 Colt The .45 Colt (11.43×33mmR), is a rimmed, straight-walled, handgun cartridge dating to 1872. It was originally a black-powder revolver round developed for the Colt Single Action Army revolver. This cartridge was adopted by the U.S. Army in 1 ...

. The most famous revolvers manufactured by Charter Arms are the .44 Special Bulldog and

Bulldog Pug.

History

Douglas McClenahan, a young gun designer who had previously worked for Colt,

High Standard High Standard Firearms was an American manufacturer of firearms, based in Houston, Texas. The company was founded in New Haven, Connecticut in 1926 as a supplier to the numerous firearms companies in the Connecticut Valley. It was based in New H ...

, and Sturm, Ruger founded Charter Arms in 1964 to produce

handguns A handgun is a short-barrelled gun, typically a firearm, that is designed to be usable with only one hand. It is distinguished from a long gun (i.e. rifle, shotgun or machine gun, etc.), which needs to be held by both hands and also braced a ...

. His first pistol was a five-shot revolver called "The Undercover" chambered for .38 Special. McClenahan's innovation was to avoid using the side plate designs manufactured by other revolver makers for a one-piece frame, giving the new revolver a strength that allowed it to safely shoot high loads. McClenahan also reduced the number of moving parts used in the gun and created a safety device for the firing pin. The company, then located in

Stratford, Connecticut Stratford is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is situated on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River. Stratford is in the Bridgeport–Stamford–Norwalk Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was settled ...

, went bankrupt in 1996, but the Charter design and mark were resurrected by Charter 2000, which was founded by the Ecker family. The new company capitalized on the fame of the old Charter Arms revolvers. Operations were moved to

Shelton, Connecticut Shelton is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 40,869 at the 2020 United States Census. History Origins Shelton was settled by the English as part of the town of Stratford, Connecticut, in 1639. On May 15, ...

. Basing their new line of weapons on the basic Charter Arms design, the new company has made a few improvements such as the use of a one-piece barrel and front sight. The one-piece barrels of the new models are machined with eight grooves instead of six for higher velocity, flatter trajectory and better accuracy. The new models feature a completely blocked hammer system so that the gun cannot fire unless the trigger is held in full rear position. In addition to reintroducing the .38 Special Undercover and the .44 Special Bulldog, Charter 2000 produces revolvers chambered for .22 Long Rifle/.22 Magnum (the Pathfinder), .357 Magnum (the Mag Pug) and .38 Special (the Off-Duty and the Police Bulldog). In 2005, Charter 2000 announced that it would be filing for bankruptcy, blaming the costs associated with nuisance lawsuits for their financial trouble. In September 2005, MKS Supply entered into an agreement with Charter Arms where MKS Supply would handle the sales, marketing and distribution for Charter Arms. In 2008, Charter Arms brought the new Patriot revolvers to the market. The Patriot revolvers were chambered for the .327 Federal Magnum, and were available in 2.2" or 4" stainless steel models. The Charter Arms web site as of August 2011 no longer lists this model under the products category. Also in 2008, Charter Arms announced a new revolver: the Charter Arms Rimless Revolver. The new revolver would be able to load and fire rimless cartridges such as the 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP without the need for moon clips. Initially, the revolver was to ship in early spring, however, reported problems with the patents delayed the introduction. Charter Arms set a release date of April 2009 for the CARR. However, Charter Arms missed this deadline, and company representatives have suggested the release date may not be until "late July" of 2009. The CARR which was subsequently called the Pitbull finally reached production in August 2011 and the first Pitbull models had a 2.3" barrel and were chambered for the .40 S&W cartridge as this is the most popular U.S. law enforcement round and would enable the Pitbull to be used as a back-up gun to the .40 service pistol. In October 2010 MKS discontinued the sales and marketing of Charter Arms. Charter now has taken over the sales and marketing function. At SHOT Show 2018 Charter introduced the .41 Remington Magnum Mag Pug and the

Bulldog XL.

Products

*The

Bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose..44 Special The .44 Smith & Wesson Special, also commonly known as .44 S&W Special, .44 Special, .44 Spl, .44 Spc, (pronounced "forty-four special"), or 10.9x29mmR is a smokeless powder center fire metallic revolver cartridge developed by Smith & Wesson in 1 ...

*The Bulldog XL:

*The Target Bulldog:

*The Undercover:

*The Undercoverette: .32 H&R Magnum *The Mag Pug:

and .41 Remington Magnum *The Patriot:

*The Pathfinder:

.22 LR The .22 Long Rifle or simply .22 LR or 22 (metric designation: 5.6×15mmR) is a long-established variety of .22 caliber rimfire ammunition originating from the United States. It is used in a wide range of rifles, pistols, revolvers, smooth ...

and

.22 Magnum The .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, also called .22 WMR, .22 Magnum, .22 WMRF, .22 MRF, or .22 Mag, is a rimfire cartridge. Originally loaded with a bullet weight of delivering velocities in the range from a rifle barrel, .22 WMR is now loaded ...

*The Off Duty:

(similar to the Undercover but with a bobbed hammer and weighing ) *The Dixie Derringer:

and

*The Pitbull: 9×19mm Luger, .40 S&W, and

(same frame as Bulldog and Pug) *The Southpaw:

(similar to Undercover, but made for left-handed shooters)

Criminal uses

*A Charter Arms "Undercover"

model was used by Arthur Bremer to attempt to assassinate George Wallace in 1972. *The

model was used by Mark David Chapman to murder John Lennon on December 8, 1980. *A Charter Arms “Undercover”

was used by

Mumia Abu-Jamal Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook; April 24, 1954) is an American political activist and journalist who was convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1982 for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. While on death ...

in the murder of Police Officer Daniel Faulkner on December 9, 1981. *A Charter Arms “Undercover” was used by Van Brett Watkins Sr. to assassinate Cherica Adams, the girlfriend of former

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

wide receiver Rae Carruth in a drive-by shooting in 1999.‘I want him dead’: Hitman hired to kill Cherica Adams will never forgive Carruth
/ref>

References

{{reflist .327 Federal Magnum firearms Companies based in Fairfield County, Connecticut Manufacturing companies established in 1964 Manufacturing companies based in Connecticut Firearm manufacturers of the United States Derringers 1964 establishments in Connecticut