A good defensive load for the 38 is the old "FBI" or "treasury load which uses a lead SWCHP.
standard 38 specials operate at 15,000 PSI while many plus +P's are not much more than 18,000. #1, Plus+p 38's are really not operating at a very high pressure level. Latest models w/noticeably improved QC from the 2nd gen Charco models.Īlso a pretty colorful history of famous people being shot, or shooting Charter Arms pistols.Īmazing how some guns just seem to be natural born killers, like saturday night specials and assault rifles.īut for defensive, rather than offensive use, Charter arms revolvers will hold up OK shooting a limited amount of Plus+ 38 spec for a couple of different reasons. These are the ones to generally avoid.ģrd Gen: Charter 2000 or Charter Arms marked firearms w/Shelton Conn. Generally decent firearms.Ģnd Gen: Charco marked firearms from Ansonia Conn. So there are generally 3 generations of Charter Armsġst Gen: Charter Arms marked w/either Bridgeport or Stratford Conn. They have gone so far as to now warranty EVERY Charter pistol built, regardless of date of manufacture. Charter's QC made definite leaps forward during this era. Other than the name, they are the same in every respect. The Charter 2000 stamping continued until mid 2007 when the company reverted to using the Charter Arms name over Shelton Conn. In late 1999-2000 the company reorganized as Charter 2000 and the revolvers were stamped CHARTER ARMS 2000 over SHELTON CONN. This era is where the sloppy QC stems from and they are distinct from the Charter 2000's that followed. This runs from 1964 to about 1970 when they began marking them CHARTER ARMS CORP over STRATFORD CONN, until the early 90's.Ībout 1991-92 Charco came into being and the revolvers were stamped CHARCO over ANSONIA CONN. The earliest models were marked CHARTER ARMS CORP over BRIDGEPORT CONN.