It’s nice when a gun company can make a bit of a comeback. Charter Arms has been doing that for the last few years, and this year they’ve seemed to be primed to capture a part of the revolver world with their creative and interesting options. I’m a Charter Arms fan, and my favorite Charter Arms revolver will always be the Bulldog.
The Bulldog: A Legend
Since 1973, the Bulldog has been a part of the Charter Arms lineup and is arguably their trademark gun. The Bulldog isn’t the only “bulldog” revolver. “Bulldog” was a term applied to various revolvers in the early 1800s that had big bores and short barrels. The most famous being the Webley, but several companies would use the Bulldog moniker in their advertising.
The Charter Arms Bulldog was first manufactured in 1973 and became an extremely popular defensive revolver. The 1970s were the era of big bores, and the Bulldog fired the big, slow, but heavy .44 Special round.
It was a huge seller, and by the mid-1980s, over half a million had been sold. It was very popular and even had a taste of infamy when used by the Son of Sam. It was simple, affordable, and had an effective design in an era when big bores ruled. The Charter Arms Bulldog offered five rounds of .44 Special and a 3-inch barrel to launch them out of.
The Bulldog has changed over time, and they used the name for .357 Magnums and barrel lengths of 2.2 inches, 2.5 inches, and 4.2 inches. To me, and other Bulldog fans, the real Bulldog will always be the .44 Special with a 3-inch barrel.
The Charter Arms Bulldog traditionally has a double-action trigger with an exposed hammer. The gun weighs 21.8 ounces, which is light for how large the revolver feels. Mine has some larger aftermarket grips, which I keep meaning to replace to improve concealability.
This isn’t a pocket-sized revolver. It’s more like a Glock 19-sized gun, but still compact and concealable. From its origin, it’s designed for self-defense, and that’s how I tested it.
The Bulldog will always be a beefy gun due to the .44 Special chambering. The bore and cylinder have to be fairly large. You are limited to five rounds in a gun that could easily hold six rounds of .38 or .357 Magnum.
Some companies could have even fit seven in that space, while having a smaller, lighter revolver. Sure, the .44 Special is a big round, and in the 1970s, that was more valuable. In the era, the hollow point ammo available wasn’t all that great.
The .44 Special
In 2025, the .44 Special is a bit of a lost boy. It doesn’t offer many benefits over other traditional revolver rounds, but it has plenty of downsides. The .44 Special is a big bullet, which requires you to have a fairly large gun.
A big-bore round had a better chance of penetrating deep without dealing with the recoil or retort of the .357 Magnum. These days, that advantage is gone, and the .44 Special doesn’t offer any particular advantage. It’s not as good for hunting or bear defense as .44 Magnum.
It’s effectively a .45 ACP round, but you’re limited to five rounds in the Bulldog. While the cartridge doesn’t offer any advantages in the modern era, it’s still a ton of fun to shoot and plenty cool. A 220-grain .44 caliber projectile has an impressive profile and shoots oh so nicely.
Walking the Bulldog
The Charter Arms Bulldog won’t beat you up. I’ve shot a few different loads through the gun and never felt like the recoil was punishing. This includes 200-grain FMJs, 180-grain JHPs, and 220-grain lead nose round point cartridges.
The .44 Special load falls into that pleasant category of big-bore rounds. Recoil isn’t snappy, and concussion from the 3-inch barrel isn’t brutal. Recoil feels like a push more than a snap.
From a defensive perspective, this can be invaluable. With a shot timer, I ran a simple drill. From the low, ready, aim, and fire five rounds into an A-zone at seven yards as fast as possible.
It’s like the Bill Drill, but with five rounds instead of six and from the low ready instead of from the holster. I was able to land all five shots in about three seconds. That’s not bad from someone like me who sucks with a revolver.
While the .44 Special might not be the optimum round, it’s still going to be a manstopper. Five of them will certainly stop the most determined of threats.
Another benefit of the .44 Special is its accuracy. It does quite well in that department. At 25 yards, I could rapidly hit an IPSC target with double-action shots and the simplistic front sight-only design of the Bulldog. At 50 yards, I needed to cock the hammer, but I could hit more than I missed.
Boy, when the .44 Special hits steel, it whallops it!
The Biting Bulldog
The Charter Arms Bulldog has a decent enough trigger. The double action is fairly light and smooth, with a crisp single action option.
The front sight is this big thing that sits on a ramp. It’s stainless and doesn’t contrast with the rest of the gun, but its size makes it easy to see.
It’s certainly a sight dedicated to speed over precision, and the lack of a rear sight doesn’t help. Call me a blasphemer, but I would love a red-dot-ready model of the Bulldog. A red dot would help you get the most out of the .44 Special’s accuracy.
The Charter Arms Bulldogs are cool guns. In the modern era, they aren’t all that efficient. In an age where the P365 rules, the Bulldog doesn’t offer a lot of advantages. However, it’s just plain cool, and sometimes cool is enough of a reason to own or even carry a gun.
The Bulldog might not be optimal, but it’s still effective and would still be a viable option.
