Charter Arms Undercover

[mr surveyor]

I recently traded an older Rossi .357 4 inch for a used Charter Arms (stainless) Undercover snub. The gun will mainly be a truck and field gun, and will not be shot a whole lot. In the field it will carry a couple of rounds of shot shells, followed by 3 jhp +p's. Some of the places I go have caused me to depend less on my aging reflexes with a machete, and more on shot shells to dispatch the "no shoulders" varmints.

I have never owned a Charter Arms handgun, and realize they are not the most expensive gun on the shelf, but I would like to know from other's direct experiences if this gun is worth carrying for the "intended purpose".

[AFJailor]

Dont know much about charter arms, but for your purposes you might try the Taurus model 44, its a revolver that can fire either a 410 shotgun shell or a 45 long colt. Pretty neat little gun and its around $500 so not too expensive.

[KRM45]

I had an older Charter Arms .38 for quite some time. I recently sold it to acquire a .357 snubbie. As I understand it they went out of business some time ago and have been back for only a few years. I don't know much about the new guns, but I liked my old one.

I would not hav fired any +p in mine though...

[longtooth]

Your CA Undercover will do you a good job for the intended purpose that you stated.
I too had one in the early 80s & they are reliable. Not going to have a trigger smooth as buuudda nor the accurace of Smith or Ruger.

Stached in the truck, tool box or tackle box will not be a concern since you do not have several hundred $$s in the gun. Stainless will keep it from rusting w/ minimal care.
My oppinion is you do not need any more gun than you have there for the intended purpose & I for one commend you on being willing to conserve there.
I would want company verification that the gun is +P rated before shooting them.
LT

[nitrogen]

Is it charter, or charter 2000?

If it's charter 2000, it's +P-able. I have one, and its a decent gun.

If it's older charter, have it checked by a gunsmith; I have not been impressed with the older ones.

[OverEasy]

I have an old Charter Arms Undercover in SS. It's my snake gun, three shot shells, 2 GD +P hollowpoints.

I've had two problems with it.
1) The ejector rod comes unscrewed. But it has never come apart. I just check it and tighten as needed.
2) The screw that is in the back of the frame where the ejector rod seats was loose and would move in or out (I don't remember which). This would make it hard to release the cylinder. I adjusted it flush with the face of the rear frame. Then with the hammer back I could get a drop of the Green LocTite on the threads. Now it stays put! Everything is fine!

I had a gunsmith do a trigger job on way back in the 80s when I bought it. It has been a fine gun and shoots as well as my wife's model 36 S&W.

Unlike Nitrogen, I had a Charter 2000, 357 MagPug, that was a piece of junk!!! After the second time it broke at the range, when I got it back from Charter I sold it.

I think you have a fine snake/truck gun.

Regards, OE

[mr surveyor]

Thanks guys. Y'all made me think I made a decent trade.

OE, thanks for the heads up on the cylinder release screw. I adjusted it to flush and it should be o.k., but I know now what to watch out for.

[nitrogen]

On an older charter that i've shot (my father in laws) where there was a huge gap in front of the cylender and forcing cone. The only other old charter I shot had the same problem; you could feela shockwave from the round leaving on your finger.

[Farley]

I had a Charter 2000 Undercover. After a couple of hundred rounds the timing screwed up completely. I sent it in to Charter for repair, and as soon as it came back I sold it, didn't even fire another round through it. Hopefully, it will never malfunction again, but I didn't trust it anymore so...out it goes.