To all our customers interested in the new rimless 9mm Pit Bull: Please be aware that Charter Arms produced a “Pit Bull” for 9mm Federal cartridges for a brief time in the late 80’s. The old model will have Stratford, CT on the barrel. The 9mm Federal was a rimmed cartridge and is no longer produced. This is not the same as the Pit Bull 9mm rimless revolver produced currently. The new 9mm Pit Bull model will chamber 9mm Luger rounds only. All new Pit Bull revolvers will also have Shelton, CT on the barrel. The new model number is 79920.

Charter Arms are among the safest available today.
But safe firearms are only half of the story. Proper, safe handling of firearms is equally important. Please study the following basic safety rules. Learning and following these rules will help insure safe handling of firearms, and help prevent accidents.

As a responsible supplier of firearms, Charter strongly urges you to learn and practice the following safety guidelines. Additionally, we encourage you to complete an approved firearm safety training course.

Think of it this way: "When the action is open the firearm is safe - When the action is closed the firearms is always to be considered loaded." Simply put, when the action is open the firearm can not be fired.

A safe direction is any direction where an accidental discharge will not cause injury or damage. In a house or other type of building, the safest direction is angled down toward the floor with the muzzle of the weapon pointed toward a corner.

It feels natural to place your finger within the trigger guard. But this is an unsafe practice. The best place to rest the trigger finger is above the trigger guard along the frame of the firearm. The only time your finger should be on the trigger is when you are ready to shoot. Learning this habit will help prevent an accidental discharge.

It's always important to know what your target is, but it is just as important to know what lies beyond your target--and what is going to stop the bullet. You must remember, that a bullet can and will travel a considerable distance, and you are responsible for the actions of the bullet. It's important to get familiar with your ammunition. Some have more power or velocity than others, even when used in the same firearm.

It is very important to store firearms in a safe place. You must make the firearm inaccessible to anyone who may not know how to operate it safely. This may include children, the mentally disabled and elderly people with any form of dementia. In addition, ammunition should be stored separately from the weapon.

Always be sure the firearm is safe to operate.

Before engaging in any type of shooting activity, be sure the firearm is safe to operate. This is especially important if the firearm has been in storage or otherwise unused for an extended period of time.

When cleaning a firearm, be sure no ammunition is present.

The most common response after an accidental discharge is, "I was cleaning the gun, and it went off!" When cleaning a firearm, be sure there is NO ammunition present. Keep the ammunition in another room until you have finished cleaning the weapon and are ready to reload.

Never accept a loaded firearm.

If you are offered a loaded firearm, DO NOT accept it. Have the person handing it to you either unload it or place it down for you to retrieve. Either of these actions will help prevent an accidental discharge, which could cause injury or death.

Never use alcohol or drugs before or while shooting.

Even though this seems like a common sense rule, some people will not admit when they are not in complete control of their actions. Just like when drinking and driving, your judgment and reflexes are impaired, and the likelihood of an accident increases greatly. We cannot stress this enough-JUST DON'T DO IT.

Always keep the firearm unloaded until you are ready to use it.

This rule is primarily for gun storage. An unauthorized person getting hold of your firearm is always a bad situation, but it will be far less dangerous when the gun is unloaded.

A Note about Self Defense

This is a variation on the "ready to use" rule. Obviously, an unloaded firearm is useless in a self defense situation. Therefore, when you carry a firearm for this purpose, it is loaded and considered "in use" whether or not you fire it. This underscores the need for proper, safe handling of your firearm.

These are only some of the many important safety rules for proper firearm handling, but they are among the most important basic guidelines. If you have further questions or concerns, consult your local firearms instructor, as well as the manual which came with your firearm.

You can also find firearm safety information at the National Rifle Association website: 

http://www.nrahq.org/education/guide.asp

Nowadays with so many sexy new semi-automatics coming out in the market, it is easy to forget about the so-called old school technology of a revolver even though it remains an excellent choice for self-defense. Revolvers are light weight, reliable, safe and always at the ready. The mission of a personal protection firearm is to help you get out of a mess unharmed. While it makes for interesting macho conversation to talk about filling a drug filled attacker with lead, the reality is that getting away from a bad situation alive and unharmed is always the best option. However, if a situation has progressed to the last resort scenario where deadly force self-defense is required, a reliable firearm in a sufficient caliber to stop the attack is what you need. And the most reliable firearm remains the simple revolver.

As a deterrent, revolvers are easily recognized as a firearm, even in reduced light, especially if manufactured in a visible finish and this recognition may save you from having to fire to convince an attacker. No normal person wants to shoot someone. Even if everything goes your way in a shooting, there are legal costs, potential lawsuits, and the long-term mental stress and strain of having shot someone. Bottom line the mere sight of a recognizable real-looking and loaded firearm will stop many an attacker in their tracks!

• There is little doubt that a revolver is loaded. The threat/attacker will see it’s loaded by simply looking at the cylinder and seeing the ammunition in it. Some people paint a light coating of liquid paper or white paint on the bullet tips to make them more visible for deterrent value.
• Revolvers are quick and easy to operate. Simply draw, aim and fire. No switches or tricky functioning, stoppages or other malfunctions; they will work when they are most needed!
• Any trainer will tell you that revolvers require less training than semi-autos to fire competently and safely thus making a revolver the best self-defense firearm for the average citizen.
• Revolvers are very fast to get into action, incredibly reliable and nearly foolproof.
• Some people feel revolver trigger pulls are heavy (especially in double-action mode). But in life and death adrenalin-filled situations the pull of a revolver trigger is not even noticed by the shooter, nor the sound or recoil. Light triggers are one reason why accidental semi-auto discharges are so common especially when people are under stress. The double action revolver is actually safer because you do not want to accidentally shoot anyone.
• Revolvers are generally much more affordably priced than most semi-automatic pistols.
• Today’s revolver ammunition is much more effective than that of just 20 years ago. Charter Arms revolvers offer powerful loadings in compact and lightweight revolvers that include: 32 H&R Magnum, .38 Special +P, .327 Federal Magnum, .357 Magnum and .44 Special calibers. Typically a 2” barrel will lose only 30-85 fps velocity over a 4-inch barrel, so snub barrels are not a significant velocity disadvantage. Revolvers are easy carry and provide a quick-to-action advantage.
• Ammunition mix can be a significant advantage. A revolver can digest and fire any ammunition chambered for that particular firearm. This can be any type of bullet design or ammunition mix you may wish to carry, such as the first two shots being frangible high-expansion ammunition followed by heavier hollow-point or even solid loads. Revolvers are not sensitive to the bullet design or velocity (low recoil loads may not function in some semi-autos) and when it comes to defending one’s life, this choice of load option is a very real advantage.
• While high-capacity autos are popular, well known shooters like Jeff Cooper and Mass Ayoob and many other professional shooters have argued for years (and we paraphrase) it’s accuracy that counts, not all of those high-capacity magazine, liability-loaded, people-and-property-damaging misses. Bottom line is that you will be held legally responsible for every shot you fire; hits and misses.
• Charter Arms’ compact, lightweight revolvers offer tremendous power-to-size ratios and, due to grip and overall design, they are very easy to draw, point and control. Short-grip and compact autos (especially small autos in effective stopping calibers) can be very difficult to draw, grasp and control in a reactive life or death adrenaline-packed encounter. Survival depends on draw speed, correct grip and operational control.
• We tend to forget that at the firing range without a real death threat we generally take the extra time to acquire a proper and firm grip with a compact semi-auto. But, in a panic packed confrontation we don’t have that luxury. For this reason the lightweight compact revolver is better-suited for the average citizen who wants effective protection. A revolver is also a smart choice for professionals who need a solid, effective primary and totally reliable back-up firearm in a fight stopping caliber.
• Many licensed concealed-carry permit holders may start with good intentions to carry, but the enthusiasm wanes quickly if their firearm is wrong for them: Too wide of a cylinder or too thick of a slide, too heavy, too big, too long or uncomfortable and many will eventually stop carrying their firearm. Charter Arms’ revolvers boast the lightest weights and most-compact revolver designs available today.
• Shooters do NOT buy a short-barreled compact revolver to take to the range and plink, shoot targets or hunt. Yet people talk about so-called “excessive recoil,” and short barrel sight radiuses, etc. as though target shooting. The fact is, a short barrel revolver has one important job and that is to protect your life in the event of an attack. And they do that job superbly.
• Even though few people will ever fire more than 1,000 rounds (twenty 50-round boxes) through their handgun, revolvers are built to fire many thousands of rounds of ammunition over a lifetime while maintaining accuracy and reliability.
• Accuracy testing of a short-barreled hand gun at 25 and even 50-yards is not relevant to the fire arm’s mission of personal protection. According to FBI data, life-threatening attacks rarely happen at ranges beyond 5 yards away. We have tested 2-inch barreled Charters at 50 yards (hand held off a rest) and the rounds will stay in a 6 inch circle and they will stay in a chest size target at 200 yards! More than enough accuracy to protect your life.
• Short barreled revolvers present a sizable muzzle flash when fired. On the battlefield this can be a disadvantage because it gives away one’s position. But, a muzzle flash or a loud report has little or no effect on the shooter, especially in a high-stress situation. In fact at close self defense ranges a handgun muzzle flash (regardless of type of handgun) can actually work to your advantage. If you are being assaulted it is pretty obvious the attacker knows where you are. When a handgun is fired at a close attacker in the dark or in reduced light conditions, the attacker facing the muzzle gets all of the flash. This flash can cause some temporary blinding (flash-bulb effect) as well as a tremendous psychological effect even if not struck by the bullet. In nearly all self-defense situations, a bright muzzle flash is an advantage to the defender and a distinct disadvantage to the attacker—and for what it is worth, shorter barrels deliver more flash.
• The advantage of a compact, lightweight self-defense revolver design over compact semi-autos is that Charter Arms revolvers are comfortable to carry so your firearm is more likely to be with you if and when you need it. If you carry a big high-capacity semi-auto or heavy caliber revolver and it's too big and heavy to carry comfortably, you are less likely to have it with you when you need it.
• Unlike most semi-auto handguns, revolvers can be quickly drawn with a nearly perfect properly registered grip. Most trainers instruct their students to draw fast then hit the brakes, aim quickly and shoot effectively. And the revolver is always reliable and at the ready!
• As you can see that the short-barreled self-defense revolver shines even in these days of high-tech high-capacity semi-autos. When it comes to close-in self-defense, Charter Arms manufactures the lightest, most-compact, most-reliable and safest self-defense revolvers in the industry. Charter Arms’ revolvers do the job they were designed to do and that’s all you can ask from any firearm.