{"id":1078,"date":"2012-03-28T11:27:30","date_gmt":"2012-03-28T15:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/?p=1078"},"modified":"2012-04-19T13:28:49","modified_gmt":"2012-04-19T17:28:49","slug":"new-charter-arms-pitbull-40-cal-revolver-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/?p=1078","title":{"rendered":"New Charter Arms Pitbull .40 S&#038;W Revolver Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nLSmNtCBumc?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#8230;Updated below&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"BlueSheepdog.com\" href=\"http:\/\/www.bluesheepdog.com\/\">BlueSheepdog<\/a> Richard and I went to the range a couple of months ago to get some trigger time with a mixed bag of pistols and revolvers.\u00a0 One of the wheelguns he brought was the unique <a title=\"Charter Arms Pitbull\" href=\"http:\/\/www.charterfirearms.com\/products\/Charter_Pitbull_74020.html\">Charter Arms Pitbull<\/a>.\u00a0 The Pitbull is a .40 S&amp;W cal. revolver, which was formerly called the CARR, for Charter Arms Rimless Revolver.<\/p>\n<p>The Pitbull was made to fire a rimless auto-pistol cartridge without the use of full or half moon clips.\u00a0 Integral to their design is a dual coil spring loaded extractor, which engages the case rim and ejects the spent rounds.<\/p>\n<p>Originally, Charter Arms&#8217; idea was to provide a revolver that was chambered in rimless auto-pistol cartridges that are popular with law enforcement, such as 9mm, .40 S&amp;W, and .45 ACP.\u00a0 Charter said the 9mm version, which would be the last evolution of the production line, would also load, fire, and extract .380 ACP (9mm short).<\/p>\n<p>The CARR, later Pitbull, was envisioned as a handy back up for the police officer since his back-up revolver could be stoked with the same ammo that his or her duty gun would<!--more--> hold.\u00a0 The size of the gun would be similar to their larger Bulldog .44 Special, sharing the same 416 stainless steel frame.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/IMG_2598.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1081\" title=\"IMG_2598\" src=\"http:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/IMG_2598.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1300\" height=\"828\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/IMG_2598.jpg 1300w, https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/IMG_2598-300x191.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/IMG_2598-1024x652.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1300px) 100vw, 1300px\" \/><\/a>The five shot Pitbull comes standard with a 2.3&#8243; barrel, matte finish,  and rubber grips.\u00a0 Generous grips fill the hand and dumb down the  recoil.\u00a0 Fixed sights top the barrel and frame.\u00a0 The gun&#8217;s MSRP is $465.00.<\/p>\n<p>I got to fire a few cylinders of .40 S&amp;W 155 grain Speer Gold Dot hollowpoints through the Pitbull, so I&#8217;ll give you some preliminary impressions.\u00a0 First off, the recoil of the .40 S&amp;W was not harsh in this 20.5 oz. revolver.\u00a0 The unloaded Pitbull&#8217;s weight is about equal to that of my Glock 27 with empty mag.\u00a0 I do not find either gun difficult to shoot with duty ammo.<\/p>\n<p>Inserting the bullets into the Pitbull was&#8230;odd.\u00a0 At first, I thought the walls of the bores were gunked up because there was a strange grating feeling as the rounds are pushed into place.\u00a0 We later figured it was the spring extractor exerting some side pressure on the casings.\u00a0 This is what holds the bullets in the extractor, so that was apparently normal.<\/p>\n<p>The .40 cal. rounds ejected the majority of the time.\u00a0 On occasion, a round or two would hang up half way out of the chute and tangle in the star.\u00a0 But mostly, a sharp rap on the ejector rod shot all five empties out just fine.<\/p>\n<p>This was obviously an early production model sent to Richard by Charter Arms.\u00a0 We had some trouble with the trigger binding in double action mode.\u00a0 It happened to me once, and several times to Richard.\u00a0 It is something I would have shipped the gun back to Charter for and I know Richard sent them some feedback.\u00a0 Single action had no issues.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/PITBULL-on-slate.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1107\" title=\"PITBULL on slate\" src=\"http:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/PITBULL-on-slate.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1300\" height=\"722\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/PITBULL-on-slate.jpg 1300w, https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/PITBULL-on-slate-300x166.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/PITBULL-on-slate-1024x568.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1300px) 100vw, 1300px\" \/><\/a>Charter Arms has their own proven internals that have been cranking and firing their revolvers for many years.\u00a0 They are generally reliable for the mechanical entities they are.\u00a0 I had a Charter Arms Undercover .38 Special back in the 1990&#8217;s.\u00a0 It was a good gun and I had zero problems with it.<\/p>\n<p>Opinions?\u00a0 I have to be honest, while it seems like a fantastic idea, the size of the Pitbull is a bit large for an on duty back-up gun.\u00a0 The higher pressures of the .40 S&amp;W and .45 ACP necessitate the large stainless frame.\u00a0 This gun in a 9mm chambering and of the same size as a J-frame Smith &amp; Wesson or Ruger LCR would make the Pitbull more mission capable as a cop&#8217;s secondary weapon.<\/p>\n<p>But then, that would make it standardized only for those officers carrying 9mm semi-autos, and right now .40 S&amp;W is arguably the most popular law enforcement caliber (until the wind changes direction again).<\/p>\n<p>You may not mind the frame size, as some officers will ankle carry quite a large secondary gun.\u00a0 Or you may happen to carry .40 cal. on duty and want an off duty revolver to shoot the same.\u00a0 In either instance, the Pitbull may be right for you.<\/p>\n<p>The Charter Arms Pitbull is definitely a niche gun.\u00a0 If it happens to fill your niche, then it is an option you might certainly weigh.\u00a0 In any event, it was fun to shoot.<\/p>\n<p>Randall<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Update:<\/span> Paul Carlson over at <a title=\"Safety Solutions Academy\" href=\"http:\/\/www.safetysolutionsacademy.com\/\">Safety Solutions Academy<\/a> posed a question about moon clips.\u00a0 In examining the Pitbull, it is apparent that because the rimless bullets sit flush in the cylinder, moon clips are not an option.\u00a0 Nor does the design does allow for a viable moon clip modification, by my estimation.<\/p>\n<p>The question of reloads came up on a forum.\u00a0 I don&#8217;t believe current speedloaders will work with the extractor design of the Pitbull, however, .40 S&amp;W bullets fit in <a title=\"Tuff QuickStrips\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tuffproducts.com\/product.php?productid=16340&amp;cat=265&amp;page=1\">Tuff QuickStrips<\/a> and Bianchi Speed Strips for .38 Special\/.357 Magnum.\u00a0 Here is a pic:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/IMG_3152.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1109\" title=\"IMG_3152\" src=\"http:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/IMG_3152.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1300\" height=\"729\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/IMG_3152.jpg 1300w, https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/IMG_3152-300x168.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/IMG_3152-1024x574.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1300px) 100vw, 1300px\" \/><\/a>Those are .40 S&amp;W Speer GDHP&#8217;s and .38 Spl. +P Speer GDHP&#8217;s in the same Tuff Products QuickStrip made for .38\/.357.\u00a0 Tuff&#8217;s website says 9mm bullets will fit in their .32 ACP\/.327 Mag strips and .45 ACP rounds are held in a .410\/30-30 strip.\u00a0 Since many of us revolver toters carry this type of ammo upload, this method of reload is not a problem for a Pitbull.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8230;Updated below&#8230; BlueSheepdog Richard and I went to the range a couple of months ago to get some trigger time with a mixed bag of pistols and revolvers.\u00a0 One of the wheelguns he brought was the unique Charter Arms Pitbull.\u00a0 The Pitbull is a .40 S&amp;W cal. revolver, which was formerly called the CARR, for Charter Arms Rimless Revolver. The Pitbull was made to fire a rimless auto-pistol cartridge without the use of full or half moon clips.\u00a0 Integral to their design is a dual coil spring loaded extractor, which engages the case rim and ejects the spent rounds. Originally, Charter Arms&#8217; idea was to provide a revolver that was &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/?p=1078\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[34,6,33,3,10],"tags":[197,202,198,195,201,200,199,196],"class_list":["post-1078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-concealed-carry","category-firearms","category-off-duty","category-shot-show","category-street","tag-40-cal-revolver","tag-40-sw","tag-back-up-gun","tag-charter-arms","tag-charter-arms-review","tag-charter-arms-rimless-revolver","tag-gun-review","tag-pitbull-revolver"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p28xkp-ho","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1078"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1105,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1078\/revisions\/1105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thinblueflorida.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}