Dry fire a Charter Arms revolver?

**timdennis** · July 19th, 2015, 06:13 PM

All,
Just purchased a Charter arms revolver-maybe off duty model? It's the one with a covered hammer and DOA, .38 special. Reminds you of a S&W 442/642. I know they are not the best but got it at a very cheap price and wanted a very light pocket piece. Anyway, it is unfired and has a terrible, heavy trigger pull. I was going to dry fire it 400-500 times to lighten trigger, but am unsure if these Charter Arms revolvers are OK to do that with.

I had emailed their customer service with no response a week later.

Tim

**R L Suehr** · July 19th, 2015, 06:40 PM

Originally Posted by timdennis

All,
Just purchased a Charter arms revolver-maybe off duty model? It's the one with a covered hammer and DOA, .38 special. Reminds you of a S&W 442/642. I know they are not the best but got it at a very cheap price and wanted a very light pocket piece. Anyway, it is unfired and has a terrible, heavy trigger pull. I was going to dry fire it 400-500 times to lighten trigger, but am unsure if these Charter Arms revolvers are OK to do that with.

I had emailed their customer service with no response a week later.

Tim

If it were mine I'd pick up some snap caps first.
http://www.amazon.com/A-Zoom-Special.../dp/B0014VVI1E
Pretty cheap insurance against a broken firing pin imho.

**PocketProtector** · July 19th, 2015, 07:39 PM

I did and the transfer bar broke

**Brick** · July 20th, 2015, 06:10 PM

The old rule of thumb is "Frame mounted firing pin, do not dry fire".

**Gunsnwater** · July 20th, 2015, 06:23 PM

Take the grips off and flush out the action with ballistol or gun scrubber. The azooms are the best snap caps, that was great advise. Charter arms guns don't feel like smith and wessons in the quality department. That said I had to send one back and I got to talk to the president of charter. I was taken care of in a week. I used the phone, maybe that's the difference. Call them up and ask. Dry fire isn't great for any gun, it's just worse for some.

**abner13** · July 20th, 2015, 07:29 PM

Hmmm , Charter Arms used to advertise their 'unbreakable beryllium copper firing pin' way back when.

**alpacaheat** · July 21st, 2015, 09:36 AM

Don't dry fire a Pink Lady.

{or any revolver, modern centerfire pistols OK but I'd still use snap caps)

**PAwhitetailbowhunter** · July 25th, 2015, 10:04 AM

I dry fire my revolvers ALL the time, but I don't have a Charter Arms. If you have the time, why not take the gun apart and polish up the trigger? I am sure this would smooth things out a lot. I have worked on every revolver I own and "basic" gunsmithing and trigger polishing is not beyond anyone. If it is a Smith and Wesson copy, then it should be easy to slick up the trigger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4GtXq2XXOI

This guy Terry G is a great Gunsmith and explains things very well. The Narrator "Nut-N-Fancy" can get annoying at times. His Terry G youtube videos are great if he would just shut up and let Terry G do the talking and the explaining.