Henry Rifle Forums

I have on order a CharterArms 3in Stainless Pitbull in .380. This will be my .380 plinker so that I don't have to police brass in grass. It's 6 round DA/SA. The extractor has lugs on it that grip the 380 case base notch. I waffled on whether to buy the 9mm version in 4in or 6 in. But those are 5 round and cost a bit more. Also 9mm would be a new caliber for me. Besides, With lugs holding the cases I might be able to shoot 9mm in the 380 if the cylinder depth allows for it.

Good for you. I've never owned a 380, but I did get to shoot a friend's Ruger auto in 380. Very nice cartridge to shoot. Enjoyed it. I think that's pretty cool about the Charter not needing moon clips. Have I got that right?

North Country Gal wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 02, 2025 5:27 pm

Good for you. I've never owned a 380, but I did get to shoot a friend's Ruger auto in 380. Very nice cartridge to shoot. Enjoyed it. I think that's pretty cool about the Charter not needing moon clips. Have I got that right?

That is correct. No moon clips. I also have the Ruger LCP II Auto in 380, and I agree it is fun to shoot. It just sprays brass every direction.

Thanks. Can't wait to hear a range report.

Congrats on picking up a very interesting revolver.

Got notification that it has shipped. So likely delivery next week sometime.

I have it. Stay tuned for more....

I'm looking forward to it. The Smith and Wesson 547 I had didn't need moon clips either.

i'd love to hear how it shoots.

Out of the box experience. First blush, nice gun. Appearance wise the only thing I dislike is the HUGE and in all caps "PITBULL .380" etched into the left side of the barrel.
The frame is 7075 Aircraft Aluminum. The barrel, hammer, trigger, cylinder, crane and ejector parts are stainless coated steel, matte finish. They aren't stainless steel, just a stainless finish. Grips are black rubber. Fixed sights. Blade on the barrel, top notch in the receiver.

The 6 spring lugs in the extractor (for holding rimless cases) are a bit tough on the brass case side walls when loading the cylinder. Hopefully with some wear this will lesson. When extracting most cases drop out readily, but sometimes those closest to the sidewall of the receiver get hung up and require some fiddling to get to them to come free. There is a flyer that came with the revolver that describes an ejection technique to deal with this. Just have to practice it and remember it down the road.

Not surprising, chambers are too tight to accommodate 9mm.

Before shooting it I cleaned the barrel and chambers. Lightly oiled exposed pivot points.

Quick shooting outing. Wife and I shot 20 rounds between us. Aguila 95gr FMJ. Two handed hold stance. Started at about 100ft uphill from the target stands. It's a bit steep and I didn't want to walk down and back up. We did anyway. At 100 ft nether of us could hit the target (10" gong). I can hit it about half time with my Ruger 380. At 20', she still missed and I got 5 out of 8. Gonna take some practice and under better lighting conditions. We were shooting into deep shade. And painting the gong blue didn't help with the lighting.

Trigger pull in DA feels like about 10lbs with a little bit of pre-travel, maybe 1/8" before the hard pull to fire. In SA there is no pre-travel. Takes about 3 lbs to fire. There is no half-cock stop. To spin the cylinder, have to hold the hammer in a half-cock position.

Great report and I agree with you, a good looking revolver except for the etching shouting model and caliber. Yuk on that only.

Nice looking revolver, and I agree with your take on that etching.
I owned a Smith 940 for years, but never even shot it. That one needed the clips, although some said it worked without them.
I like that yours doesn't need them.

I have a pair of the Bulldogs in 45 Colt and 44 Special. A little rough cut on the finish but will get the job done for close SD work which is what they are for. I like full wadcutter loads for both given the short barrels. Had an issue with the 45 Colt versions being tough to release the cylinder and that was due to the cylinder locking/release pin having loosened up. Tightened it up and good to go now. Enjoy the Pitbull!

I guess PIT BULL is proud of its firearm. Other than that, the finish does look nice! Glad you got a chance to shoot it, and all works well. It seems like that it would be fun to shoot. Happy shooting!

Thanks for the report. I think you're going to enjoy this one more, the more you shoot it. Sounds like one of those guns. Good choice.

I like the matt / brushed finish on that gun. I think its it's very nice. I agree the etching is a bit large.

A trick for those revolvers with no half cock when you need to rotate the cylinder. Put the trigger finger Behind the trigger resting on the back of the trigger guard.

Now, pull back on the hammer until the trigger touches the trigger finger. You should be able to rotate the cylinder at that point. Years of shooting competition, worked on most guns. I would use that trick between strings after loading to insure I didn't have a round dragging before the string started. That could have made the double action strings very difficult.

BrokenolMarine wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 09, 2025 11:39 am

I like the matt / brushed finish on that gun. I think its it's very nice. I agree the etching is a bit large.

A trick for those revolvers with no half cock when you need to rotate the cylinder. Put the trigger finger Behind the trigger resting on the back of the trigger guard.

Now, pull back on the hammer until the trigger touches the trigger finger. You should be able to rotate the cylinder at that point. Years of shooting competition, worked on most guns. I would use that trick between strings after loading to insure I didn't have a round dragging before the string started. That could have made the double action strings very difficult.

Great tip!

BrokenolMarine wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 09, 2025 11:39 am

... A trick for those revolvers with no half cock when you need to rotate the cylinder. Put the trigger finger Behind the trigger resting on the back of the trigger guard.

Now, pull back on the hammer until the trigger touches the trigger finger. You should be able to rotate the cylinder at that point. ...

I got around to trying this tip today. My trigger finger is too big. I could do it with my pinky. Thanks for the tip.

Mags wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 08, 2025 11:37 pm

...
The 6 spring lugs in the extractor (for holding rimless cases) are a bit tough on the brass case side walls when loading the cylinder. Hopefully with some wear this will lesson....

Spent some time today looking at the spring retention lugs in the extractor. Started by working some brass cases in and out of the cylinder chambers. Came to the conclusion relying on brass sidewall friction, that it was going to be a long time before those lugs were worn down smooth. So I used a 1/2 round jewelers file, 2 passes across the top of each lug. Basically deburring each one. The brass cases now go in smoothly without scraping/gouging.

I also did some DA and SA dry fire practicing. Shooting SA I can hold the muzzle on target throughout the trigger pull and release. Not so in DA. When the hammer falls/releases the muzzle goes off target. YA, so something to work on with my technique. This DA gun, bigger than a .22, is my first. My others are SA.