A "Bull" - But Not From Taurus...

Got a press release from the good folks at Charter Arms last week about a new offering:

Pitbull!

Information about the Pitbull is available in the press release:

Shelton, CT, – August 10, 2011 – Charter Arms, manufacturer of American made affordable and reliable revolvers for forty-seven years, has released the world’s first .40 caliber Rimless Revolver. Serious caliber enthusiasts will appreciate this model built on the same frame as the Charter Arms .44 Special.

The Pitbull has a five shot; 2.3 inch barrel with a 416 stainless steel matte finish frame with Charters full rubber grip. With an overall length of 6 ¾ inches it weighs 20 ounces and has a fixed frame rear sight and a ramped front sight with a standard hammer. A DAO hammer is available upon request.

The Charter Arms .40 caliber provides a rimless cartridge extractor assembly and a method of use that solves a long felt need in the firearms industry. It provides a dual coil spring assembly located in the extractor to allow the insertion and retention of a .40 caliber cartridge in each chamber of the revolvers’ cylinder.

It certainly looks interesting, that's for certain. We haven't seen a lot of revolvers chambered in traditionally semi-automatic calibers in a while save the Smith & Wesson 25 series, mainly owing to the growing number of micro semi-autos in major calibers. The big advantage of a small gun - like a Smith & Wesson J-frame - chambered in the same caliber as a duty gun, obviously, is commonality of ammunition - having your back-up gun in the same caliber as your main gun means you only have to stock one caliber.

Now, as Weerd points out, the Pitbull is really too big to function as a BUG; the general idea is to have something that can be tossed into a pocket or an ankle holster as a last-ditch weapon. The size and weight of the Pitbull places it heavier and larger than the subcompact Glocks and S&W M&Ps for something chambered in .40 S&W, and the frame size is on a par with a midsized-frame revolver - not huge, but not something you could toss in a pocket easily.

All that said, I'd love to try one out - I've never shot a revolver chambered in a centerfire semi-auto chambering before - if it were to become MA legal, of course. Initial reports from folks in the business are that the fit & finish are on a par with other Charter Arms offerings - it's not the best out there, but far from Cobra or even Para, at least in the finish department. I'll reserve judgement until I can get my grubby mitts on one, but I'd wager it's a blast at the range.

Now, if they could make a larger version that took 10mm, they'd really have something...

That is all.