Modern Models
Today’s Target Bulldogs bear little resemblance to the original idea. The barrel is not shrouded but rather is a full under-lugged barrel properly screwed into the frame. Both 4″ and 5″ versions are available, complete with an adjustable rear sight and a ramp front sight. For my eyes, loads, and hand the front sight on both .44 Special Bulldogs was too tall, requiring the rear sight to be adjusted up too high to the point I feared I would lose the adjusting screw. The simple solution for me was to take metal off the top of the front sight.
The 5″ .44 Special Target Bulldog we tested worked perfectly and smoothly from the beginning, both double and single action. However the 4″ version had a little hitch in the trigger when fired double action and Tom, my gunsmith at Buckhorn, smoothed this out for me and reshaped the front sight.
Let’s take a closer look at the Target Bulldogs, which are basically identical except one has a 1″ longer barrel. Weights are approximately 20 and 22 ounces for the 4″ and 5″ Bulldogs. and that extra 2 ounces and 1″ longer barrel makes quite a difference in feel or balance or whatever we choose to call it. The shorter barrel seeming to nestle back in the hand while the longer barrel seems more muzzle heavy. These are both all stainless steel, except for the black adjustable rear sight assembly, 5-shot, double-action, very easy packing, weather-beating, go along anywhere revolvers.
Barrels are full under-lugged, rounded off at the bottom front for easy holstering, having an attractive scalloped cut-out running the length of the underlug in front of the cylinder ejector rod. It’s quite attractive and also removes a very slight amount of weight. The trigger is smooth while the hammer is serrated for easy single-action cocking. Both are also quite easy to operate double action. The top of the frame is flattened with the rear sight assembly very nicely fitting inside the rear sight channel with no part of the assembly protruding above the frame. Grips are full wraparound, finger-grooved, checkered rubber which will not win any prizes as far as looks are concerned, however function-wise they are just about perfect for these little .44s.
With their 5-shot cylinders allowing the bolt cut to be placed between rather than directly under the chamber, Charter Arms .44 Special Bulldogs have always been stronger than any loads I would normally wish to use in them. They are certainly not .44 Magnums, but will handle .44 Specials and.44 Russian and .44 Colt rounds. The latter two, designed for Cowboy Action Shooters, are quite pleasant to shoot and actually could be quite effective with their 200-230-grain bullets at nearly 700 fps from the longer barreled Bulldog, and 650 fps from the 4″ .44 Special. The 5″ Bulldog was test-fired at 20 yards with the .44 Russian loads from both Black Hills and UltraMax grouping in 11/8″. With the shorter barrel I shot at a more realistic self-defense distance of 7 yards, with the Black Hills 230-grain .44 Colt load grouping in 3/4″. So these loads not only shoot easily they are more than adequately accurate.