Charter Arms Co. is an American manufacturer of revolvers that are relatively inexpensive yet serviceable handguns. The original Charter Arms produced revolvers chambered in calibers .22 Long Rifle

.22 Long Rifle

The .22 Long Rifle rimfire cartridge is a long established variety of ammunition, and in terms of units sold is still by far the most common in the world today. The cartridge is often referred to simply as .22 LR and various rifles, pistols, revolvers, and even some smoothbore shotguns have...

, .22 Winchester Magnum, .32 Long

.32 S&W Long

The .32 S&W Long is a straight-walled, centerfire, rimmed handgun cartridge, based on the earlier .32 S&W cartridge. It was introduced in 1896 for Smith & Wesson's first-model Hand Ejector revolver...

, .32 H&R Magnum

.32 H&R Magnum

The .32 H&R Magnum is a rimmed cartridge designed for use in revolvers. It was developed in 1984 as a joint venture between Harrington & Richardson and Federal Cartridge...

, .327 Federal Magnum

.327 Federal Magnum

The .327 Federal Magnum is a cartridge introduced by Sturm, Ruger and Federal Cartridge, intended to provide the power of a .357 Magnum in six shot, compact revolvers, whose cylinders only hold 5 rounds of the larger .357 Magnum cartridge...

, .357 Magnum

.357 Magnum

The .357 S&W Magnum , or simply .357 Magnum, is a revolver cartridge created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, Colonel D. B. Wesson of firearms manufacturer Smith & Wesson, and Winchester. It is based upon Smith & Wesson's earlier .38 Special cartridge. The .357 Magnum cartridge was introduced in...

, .38 Special

.38 Special

The .38 Smith & Wesson Special is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & Wesson. It is most commonly used in revolvers, although some semi-automatic pistols and carbines also use this round...

 and .44 Special

.44 Special

The .44 Special or .44 S&W Special is a smokeless powder center fire metallic cartridge developed by Smith & Wesson in 1907 as the standard chambering for their New Century revolver, introduced in 1908.-Development history:...

. The most famous revolvers manufactured by Charter Arms are the .44 Special Bulldog

Charter Arms Bulldog

The Bulldog is a 5-shot double action revolver designed by Doug McClenahan and produced by Charter Arms. It was introduced in 1973. The Bulldog has been available for the .44 Special and .357 Magnum cartridges with a length of 7.2 inches and 6.7 inches and barrel lengths of either 2.5 inches or...

 and .38 Special Bulldog Pug.
Douglas McClenahan, a young gun designer who had previously worked for Colt

Colt's Manufacturing Company

Colt's Manufacturing Company is a United States firearms manufacturer, whose first predecessor corporation was founded in 1836 by Sam Colt. Colt is best known for the engineering, production, and marketing of firearms over the later half of the 19th and the 20th century...

, High Standard, and Sturm, Ruger

Sturm, Ruger

Sturm, Ruger & Company, Incorporated is a Southport, Connecticut-based firearm manufacturing company, better known by the shortened name Ruger. Sturm, Ruger produces bolt-action, semi-automatic, full-automatic, and single-shot rifles, shotguns, semi-automatic pistols, and single- and double-action...

 founded Charter Arms in 1964 to produce affordable high-quality, reliable handguns.