Charter Arms Undercover Owners Manual
Charter Arms Revolvers Charter Arms Revolvers The Early Guns, 1964-1990 by Ed Buffaloe Company History Early Charter Arms Undercover Revolver Early Charter Arms Grip Medallion Charter Arms Undercover Revolver The Charter Arms Corporation was founded in 1964 by Doug McClennahan. According to the current company website, “For years Doug McClennahan was a gun designer with several prominent American gun companies Colt, High Standard, and Sturm Ruger. Using his strong engineering and inventive background he decided to go out on his own and in 1964 founded Charter Arms.
Charter Arms Undercover Owners Manual Download
McClennahan and David Ecker were lifelong friends and in 1967 Ecker became a 50/50 partner in Charter Arms.” By 1970 Ecker was an assistant manager for marketing and sales. The company went through several name and address changes. The early guns (the first 13500 or so) did not display an address on the right side of the barrel, being marked only in capital sans-serif characters: CHARTER ARMS CORP. The early guns had a grip-medallion with a sketch of an oak tree (at least through serial number 16274). This was later changed to a scroll with the words “Charter Arms” on it, and “USA” in tiny letters at the top. Starting in 1966, the guns, made in Bridgeport, Connecticut, were marked on the right side of the barrel in all capital sans-serif characters: CHARTER ARMS CORP. BRIDGEPORT, CONN.
Doug McClennahan moved the company to a newly-built plant in Stratford, Connecticut in April of 1976. Guns made in Stratford were marked on the right side of the barrel: CHARTER ARMS CORP. STRATFORD, CONN. On 15 December 1978, due to health problems, Doug McClennahan retired and sold his share of the company to Dave Ecker. Ecker assumped the position of Chairman of the Board, as well as President. In 1984 Nick Ecker, David Ecker’s son, became part owner.
Around 1988 the company was acquired by its vice president of finance, Jeff Williams, renamed Charco (Charter Arms Company), and moved to Ansonia, Connecticut. At some point Nick Ecker reacquired a 20% stake in the company. Apparently, quality control was not good in Charco, and the company had to close its doors in 1998. Nick Ecker and two other investors bought the company and reopened it in 2000, under the name Charter 2000 in Shelton, Connecticut. By 2002 Ecker had become sole owner, and in 2007 renamed the company Charter Arms again.
The guns made since 2000 have had good quality control, and the company has regained its earlier reputation for quality and reliability. Design of the Charter Arms Revolver The Charter Arms revolver utilizes an investment-cast one-piece frame with no side plate. This means that it can be made lighter than a frame with a side plate and still retain the strength necessary to withstand relatively powerful ammunition (an early instruction book states that use of other than standard velocity ammunition will void the warranty, but the more modern guns are rated for +P). The trigger guard and grip frame are a separate piece made of aluminum alloy to save weight. The ejector rod is also aluminum.
All other parts on the original Undercover revolver are made of steel. The Undercover is virtually identical in size and looks to the. Charter Arms Undercover Revolver Exploded View The current Charter Arms website states that the Charter Undercover revolver was “the smallest, lightest steel framed revolver in the world with the fewest moving parts. A unique hammer block system gave gun owners unparalleled protection against unintentional discharge.” Despite the fact that the part is labeled a “hammer block,” it is essentially a transfer bar that moves into position when the trigger is all the way to the rear and allows the hammer to connect with the firing pin. The gun has a beryllium-copper firing pin that is nearly indestructable. Robert Dunlop, master gunsmith, says he has only ever seen one broken firing pin in a Charter Arms revolver. From the first gun made, the Undercover featured button rifling with eight grooves.
To my knowledge no one has ever commented on the similarity between the Charter revolvers and the early High Standard Sentinel. There are certainly design differences but the two guns have similar one-piece frames and a nearly identical number of parts. The original Sentinel uses an integral one-piece alloy frame, while the Undercover has a steel frame with a separate trigger guard and grip made of alloy. The Sentinel has a true hammer block that moves out of the way when the trigger is pulled, whereas the Charter has a transfer bar. The Ruger double action revolvers also have some interesting similarities with the Charter Arms. The Charter revolvers have two frame sizes, which I will arbitrarily refer to as small and medium, though they are nearly identical when put side-by-side.
The small frame was used for the original 5-shot Undercover.38, the Undercoverette.32, the Pathfinder.22, and later the Off Duty.38. The medium frame was used for the.44 Bulldog,.357 Bulldog,.38 Police Bulldog, the Police Undercover, etc. According to George C. Nonte, Jr., in the 1975 edition of Gun Digest, the length and width of the medium frame are the same as those of the small frame, but the height of the frame was increased by 0.170” and the barrel boss was increased by 0.095”. The recess for the cylinder was increased by 0.055” in length and 0.140” in height to accommodate the larger cylinder of the.44 Bulldog. These are very small differences.