Bud\\\'s prices and shipping were both excellent, this revolver%u2026not so much. This is a very objective review based on my sample of one. I am not biased one way or the other about Charter Arms. I made this purchase knowing full well what I could probably expect, so this is not me whining about what I got.

Overall fit and finish: A little on the rough side in general. The stainless is not polished or even smooth to the touch. It feels as though it has a bead blasted surface finish. There are some tooling marks around the rear sight trough and on the frame where the barrel is screwed in. In fact the marks on the frame are more like gouges that are quite prominent on both sides where the top strap blends into the frame. They don\\\'t look like machine tooling gouges, they look like thin abrasive wheel marks. There is a small casting line just behind the front sight about 3/32%u201D long. There is a very prominent casting line all the way down the back of the hammer and grinding marks all along the outside of the trigger guard. The inside of the trigger guard sits flush with the frame on one side but not the other. The front of the frame where the crane attachment screw is located has very poorly shaped edges that are very asymmetrical.

The barrel: the barrel was screwed into the frame a little too far, causing the front sight to be canted to the left. The forcing cone on the barrel is extremely thin, less than 1/16%u201D and not a uniform thickness all the way around. The barrel is not the company advertised 2.5%u201D but is in fact 2.4%u201D. The cylinder gap is .007%u201D-.008%u201D and is not consistent from chamber to chamber. The %u201CBULLDOG%u201D logo on the barrel is very large and mostly black. Some will like it, some won\\\'t.

The cylinder: the star extractor is too thick and does not sit flush with the back of the cylinder. The two star locating pins and holes are very very small and frequently the extractor star will not return properly and has to be jiggled a little before the gun can be reloaded. There is quite a lot of play in the cylinder crane when the cylinder is opened. There is about twice as much vertical play as there is side to side play.

Opinions: both single and double action trigger pulls are very heavy, but at least the double action is smooth. The grip is a very hard rubber with not much recoil absorption at all. I am waiting for a Hogue over moulded grip to arrive. It is a great size for concealed carry with .45 Colt power in each chamber. The factory literature says this gun is p rated, but I HIGHLY stress not to use ANY p .45 Colt ammo currently on the market. Standard .45 Colt is limited to 14,000 psi, which this gun should handle just fine. In fact the .45 auto is rated up to 21,000 psi, and that model with this same frame size will shoot it just fine. So this .45 Colt version is capable of somewhat warmer loads than standard .45 Colt. But there are several .45 Colt p loads out there that are in .44 magnum power range, and would probably severely damage this gun. If you want to hand load for this caliber, please use caution and common sense. Don\\\'t try to push this revolver beyond its limits of safety.

Final thoughts: Do I like this gun? Yes. Knowing what I know now, would I still buy it? Yes. I bought it for a specific reason. I wanted a edc revolver that was powerful, small, and I wouldn\\\'t be upset if it got a few dents, dings, and wear. On an everyday use gun for range practice and carry, scratches and accidents are bound to happen. Basically this is the Hi Point of the revolver world. As long as you know that going in you probably won\\\'t be too disappointed. Remember, this review is based on a sample of one, so YMMV.

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