I received my new Bulldog 44 spl today and here are some pic of targets along with two target pics from using my Kimber Ultra Carry LL. Bottom two are from the Kimber. One 7 yrds and the oher at 10Yrds. Most of targets were shot from 10 yards but a couple were from 7 yards. All shot freehand standing.
Nope it sure didn't break my wrists. I read on another forum talking about the 44 spl and many said you have to shoot one to understand what is so great about it. I figured being a big bore it would be way more than what I wanted to shoot. Like they said shoot one and see for yourself to understand the 44 following. I do believe this is my new daily carry replacing the LCR,
I looked at Davidson's offerings for 44 Special DA revolvers with no longer than 3" barrels. The Bulldog and the GP100 are all they list. We know the Ruger is a fine gun, but it's over $300 more expensive - and considerably heavier. As long as CA can build reliable Bulldogs they will probably have a good niche market for them.
I thought about the GP100 44 but it is IMO so much bigger than the Bulldog making it much harder to carry and conceal. Besides the price difference is almost 75% more. The GP is prettier but for carry pretty is not an advantage anyway. The extra weight would be great for recoil handling but not for carrying. Shooting the Bulldog the recoil isn't a real problem either even though it is much lighter. Like the song says marry an ugly woman and be happy the rest of your life. Looks are for showing off and the main concept of conceal carry is that nobody sees it. LOL This Bulldog gets excited when it sees a Mack truck.
"Hay man, I saw your wife the other day, is she ugly. Ya but can she cook!" Great song, glad ya like the Bulldog, like they say so ugly it's cute. How do ya get the Bullseye to bleed when you shoot it?
Buster, I am wondering when you drew those lines- before you shot or after. I remember you telling us you always drew your lines after you shot, but now I am wondering if you were yanking our legs. For an old phart, those targets aren't bad looking. Put it this way, even if you don't hit them, the sound and the fire coming out of the barrel is big and loud enough to scare them away. Gotta admit, that ain't nothing to be ashamed of. Tommy
Update on the Pachmayr grips. I decided to go back to the original grips. The new grips are really bigger for one and concealing that big grip is not very easy, for me anyways. I also don't like how the grips fitting is nothing like the OEM grips. They have a gap on each side of the frame. Down the center of back strap where they come together I can stick my thumb nail between the two haves. At the top of back strap at the frame below the trigger there is a fairly big gap also. I tried moving the grips to close up the gaps but it wasn't happening. These grips are rubber so grinding or filing or cutting wouldn't be easy to do. Paper inside the grip package says this. "Pachmayr,LTD makes no express warranty for this product. There is no implied warranty of merchantability and/or of fitness for a particular use with respect to this product. Buyer assumes any and all risk with respect to the quality and performance of this product." Sort of sounds like buyer beware doesn't it? They do have an 1-800 number to call and talk with someone for grip fitting assistance. I guess if I wasn't going to use this gun for CC then I might not have a problem with them. They do a good job reducing recoil. I will call CTD about returning for a refund. I may look into some slip over for the stock grips. One thing bad about buying on the internet is you can't see or feel before you buy.
I talked with CTD this morning and they are refunding cost for grips. I don't even have to send the grips back. Can't beat that for customer service.
That I couldn't tell you. The frame would have to be a copy of the Bulldog frame because the grips do fit tight to the gun frame. I think they needed to do some fine tuning finish work on the die so they will fit without the gaps. For concealed carry the bigger grips suck. Might as well have a banana sticking out of my holster. They are a good reducer for recoil though. The recoil wasn't bad with the stock grips so I will be okay with them back on the gun.
That Pachmayr Gape is a common thing in their revolver grips nowadays, going by what I've read in 'reviews' sections on Amazon. I have Pachmayr Grippers on my Redhawk. They are designed with the seam in front (below the trigger guard). There is a gap, varying from a few thousandths on top to about a 32nd at the bottom of the grip frame. Not a concern to me. I prefer them to the Hogue grips that shipped with the gun, because I like the relatively narrow top and the palm swell. I do like a palm swell.
I think, MHO, that when Frank Pachmayr was alive and he stayed active in the business, the were more user friendly. When the kids took over, and I think it was the older son, he just didn't have it in him to stick with the business. I had the pleasure of meeting Frank and his wife Nan and they were down to earth people with good people skills. Congeniality was the word to best describe them. Have you noticed that "inherited" companies have a tendency to diminish when the youngster take over unless they were part of the business when the elders were in charge. It's a changing world and I guess being a dinosaur (me) I tend to forget that this is a new generation and they don't seem to have the guiding principals that were present before they took over. Again, not true in all cases, however a strong tendency for the millennials to head that way. Tommy
Pachmayr Grips is part of the Lyman group now. How much Pachmayr is left in it I dunno. That gap in the front of the 'split' grip design has been around for awhile though. The Presentation grip on my stainless Blackhawk has it, and it's from the '70s.
I am loving this little dog. It is my main carry now. Even with the stock grips the recoil of 165 gr is minimal at most. I shot around 170 reloads today and no hiccups. Since the gun shoots low with the 165 gr bullets I had to find where to place the sighting. I have to say I can hit the eye more often with this gun than any other I own. If I can just get my breathing and other actions under more constant control I could really do good with this gun. Shooting from 10 yrds. free hand standing in da and sa. I did try turning the gun to the side and sight across the barrel in DA. At first I didn't do to bad but then for some reason I couldn't even hit the dang paper. Go figure.
