American-made and Cheap? Charter Arms....

[Popinski]

Why are they cheap? Are they safe to use?

I can own an American-made revolver that is half the price of a Smith and Wesson Revolver..

I know Charter Arms are notoriously known to be used by serial killers due to the low price but I'm strictly using it for home defense only.

 

[supton]

IIRC they've come and gone a few times. Their reputation has gone up and down depending upon what time frame. So, I'd want to first know the model and year of the gun, then determine if it was a "good" time or a "bad" time.

Personally, I wouldn't. I mean, you could buy it, load it, put it into a drawer and forget about it: but I'd rather have something I could put rounds through on a regular basis. A Charter Arms might be good for that (would have to read the reviews on the firearm in particular), and of course S&W and Ruger have made their flops. But I suspect one of the bigger names may be proven a better investment over the years, if high round counts are expected.

 

[callbay]

Buy a Smith & Wesson Sigma auto for about $300 and you will be a lot better off. 16 rounds plus one in the chamber for 9mm and you can get it in 40 S$W. Get a new one or almost new one as they had an upgrade a little while ago. It's very similar to a Glock.

http://www.gunblast.com/SWSigma9.htm

 

[supton]

Only knock I've heard against Sigma is lousy trigger. Seems to run cheap enough though.

Oh: used Rugers can be cheap too; Colts not so much. Not sure if there is anything else American made and revolver, other than NAA (but that's a 22). Keltec and NAA both have small, low priced, American made auto's; but I'd read the reviews first (many people are for and against their various models). But if it's home defense, a small auto really isn't the right tool.

 

[Robenstein]

Look at the used Ruger Security Six wheelguns, or the fixed sight Police Service Six version.

They are the father of the GP100 that Ruger sells but have pre lawyer era triggers and go very reasonable on the used market. In 2007 I bought a 6 inch Service Six blued revolver new in the box for 300 bucks. Shoots like a champ.

Charter is a mixed bag. The ones that are good are still really rough with nasty triggers

 

[2cool]

+1 on the Ruger. I traded a S&W 636 snubbie in .38spl. and $50 for a new GP-100. The snubbie was too small to hold, roared even w/.38's, and I thought "screw this" I need a defensive gun not a carry piece.
Ruger may not have the brand awareness of S&W, but they ARE rugged, well made, strong, and cost less.

 

[HyperJinx]

If I just had to bet my life on a cheap "new" revolver it would be a Taurus 85.

If I had to bet my life on a cheap "used" revolver it would be a Smith Model 10 or 66 Police turn ins.

 

[Mixologist]

Originally Posted By: callbay
Buy a Smith & Wesson Sigma auto for about $300 and you will be a lot better off. 16 rounds plus one in the chamber for 9mm and you can get it in 40 S$W. Get a new one or almost new one as they had an upgrade a little while ago. It's very similar to a Glock.

http://www.gunblast.com/SWSigma9.htm


It's just like a Glock, the only difference being that it's completely unlike a Glock and I'm not even a fan of Glocks.

 

[Robenstein]

The Sigma was originally a lot like a Glock...the prototypes. But it was similar enough they got sued by Glock and when the changes were made, the pistol really suffered.

The trigger especially became utterly god awful.

If you must get a polymer frame semi auto S&W get a S&W99 or a M&P.

I ended up with a Steyr M9A1 and I really love it.

 

[ArrestMeRedZ]

I honestly don't know how the Sigma trigger could have gotten worse after the Glock lawsuit. I had an early one, and that was the worst trigger action of any gun I've ever fired. In terms of overall quality, I'd put it just above the Taurus semi-auto a friend had that would only intermittantly strike the primer hard enough to fire, and when it did, wouldn't cycle.
I traded the Sigma after putting maybe 400 rounds through it. I still feel sorry for the guy who ended up with it. He's my son, so he'll have to forgive me.

 

[Count]

Generally speaking the Charter Arms revolvers don't have as smooth an action as the Smiths, they don't have as positive a lockup as the Smiths - meaning after the cylinder moves the next chamber in place, there is no movement. If you take a Charter Arms revolver and wiggle it, you'll have some movement, you'll hear some clicking.

Generally speaking the Charter Arms revolvers had greater variation in their revolvers of the same exact model than the Smiths - meaning the action and lockup for one revolver that came off their line could be different from another. Some people have gotten really great revolvers from Charter Arms that have been acurate reliable, and durable.

Something that rarely happens with a Smith - you can enounter Chrter Arms revolvers that have different lockup for different chambers. Taurus owners report that a lot... It's almost unheard of on a S&W.

 

[Durango]

Originally Posted By: Popinski
Why are they cheap? Are they safe to use?

I can own an American-made revolver that is half the price of a Smith and Wesson Revolver..

I know Charter Arms are notoriously known to be used by serial killers due to the low price but I'm strictly using it for home defense only.


Popinski,

I had one of these about 10 years ago when they were making them out of some sort of alloy instead of the old fashion steel. I must admit it had allot of short comings and sent it back almost every 6 months for repair. To make a long story short get the Smith and Wesson unless you find a Charter made long ago. The stainless steel version was considered pretty good.

Durango