The "Feminized" Undercover Southpaw Left-handed .38 Special Revolver from Charter Arms

 

by Jeff Quinn

photography by Jeff Quinn

November 19th, 2007

 

 

 

For several decades now, Charter Arms has been building good, reliable, and affordable American made revolvers.  Their compact five-shot .44 Special Bulldog has a cult following of shooters who just love the little belly guns. I hardly ever see a used one for sale, as most folks who buy them tend to keep them. Same with the .22 Pathfinder. For many years, the all-steel .38 Special Undercover and Off Duty revolvers have proven to be good solid little pocket revolvers. Recently, Charter has introduced a lighter weight version of their .38 Special revolvers that utilize a lightweight aluminum alloy frame, reducing the weight to around twelve ounces, making the already good pocket gun even better for concealed carry.

Just a few months ago, Charter Arms introduced a true left-handed version of their lightweight revolver called the Undercover Southpaw. It is the first double action revolver built specially for the left-handed shooter, with the cylinder latch on the right side, and the cylinder swinging to the right for loading without switching the revolver to the right hand.  Good idea.

With Charter using the aluminum alloy frames, they can anodize them in any color that they wish. When Nick Ecker, the head honcho at Charter, told me that he had come out with a pink Undercover revolver, I first thought that he was joking. When he told me he might call it "The Pink Bitch", I thought he was crazy. Anyway, a couple of days later, the gun arrived, and sure enough, right along the side of the two inch barrel, the words "The Pink Bitch" are laser engraved. The pink revolver is marketed towards women, who are fast becoming a huge part of the market for self defense type firearms. I had my doubts, but wanted a few women’s opinions. I was surprised at their reactions. After showing the gun around to several women, the response was overwhelmingly positive. Every one of the women who saw the little gun liked it. One objected to the inscription, but the others thought it fitting. All of them liked the color, the light weight, and the feel of the handgun.  The pink Undercover will also be available in a right-handed version, to better suit the majority of shooters.

A compact revolver is an excellent choice for a carry gun. The sample gun shown here is the left-handed version: the Undercover Southpaw. It weighed in at just over fourteen ounces with the hard synthetic rubber grips.  The grips are hand-filling, and really help in controlling the lightweight little thirty-eight. The five shot cylinder is rated okay for Plus P ammunition, and I fired it mostly using Buffalo Bore Gold Dot 125 grain hollowpoint Heavy .38 Plus P ammo. Keeping five quick shots on a silhouette target at combat ranges from three to twenty-five yards was easy to do, with the Undercover Southpaw controllable in rapid double action fire, even with such a light weight. Being left-handed myself, I appreciated the left hand design, although it took some getting used to, after many years of shooting right-handed revolvers.  The cylinder of the Undercover locks up in the front and back. The ejector rod is shrouded, and the barrel is two inches long with a heavy profile. The trigger pull measured just under ten pounds double action, and right at four pounds in single action mode. Besides the pink anodized frame, the majority of the parts on the Undercover are made of stainless steel.

I own several Charter revolvers, and have for decades. They are solid, reliable little guns. With this new pink frame, it offers another color option to women (or confused men) who want to add a little flair to their personal defense weapon. Regardless of color or barrel inscription, Charter’s Pink Bitch is a good little carry gun. It is lightweight and powerful. It carries well in a pants or jacket pocket, or I suppose in a purse as well.

Check out this and other Charter products online at www.charterfirearms.com.

To order Buffalo Bore ammunition, go to www.buffalobore.com.

Jeff Quinn

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Click pictures for a larger version.

 

Charter 2000's "Feminized" Undercover Southpaw.

 

 

 

 

Five-shot cylinder swings out to the right.

 

 

 

 

The Undercover features a set of finger-groove synthetic rubber grips.

 

 

Sights are fixed and rugged.

 

 

Transfer bar safety system assures gun will not fire when dropped.

 

 

The "Feminized" Undercover Southpaw performed well using Buffalo Bore's +P ammo, as shown by this 7-yard rapid-fire group.