As so many of these stories go, it includes references and anecdotes from other gun makers as this gun was/is made in gun central.
The story starts with a man by the name of Doug McClennahan.
Douglas Sloan McClennahan was born in 1933 in New York City. I was not able to discover how McClennahan got into the gun industry, but we do know that he worked for Colt in Hartford, High Standard in New Haven/Hamden and for Ruger in Southport.
In the early 1960's McClennahan started working on a revolver of his own design. He wanted to market an affordable revolver that was of good quality. He took the lessons he learned from working in gun manufacturing and applied them to his design.
In 1964 he launched his company from his home on Mill Hill Drive in Southport, Connecticut. His revolver was dubbed the "Undercover", it was chambered in .38 Special and had a cylinder capacity of 5 rounds.
The revolver had a one-piece frame with no side plates like the Ruger double actions and the Hi-Standard Sentinel. The grip frame and trigger guard were separate pieces made from cast aluminum....very much like the Hi-Standard.
I would be willing to bet that the frame pieces were cast by Ruger's Pine Tree Casting company.
This was mentioned in an article by Ed Buffalo, see the Undercover diagram below and the Sentinel farther down
The Hi-Standard Sentinel R-108
In the fall of 1964 production moved to a building on Asylum Street in Bridgeport, the guns made between 1964 and 1970 have Bridgeport on the barrels.
Nickle plating was added as an option as were thicker "Bulldog" grips.
Sometime during 1970 production moved to Stratford, Connecticut.
Then in December of 1978 McClennahan retired, selling his interest in the company to his business partner David Ecker.
In 1972 a Charter Arms Undercover 38 was used in the attempt to end the worthless life of the racist former Governor of Alabama George Wallace.
On December 8th, 1980 the Undercover revolver became infamous yet again when it was used by a deranged lunatic to murder John Lennon.
In 1988 the Ecker Family sold the company to then Company Vice President of Finance Jeff Williams.
The company was renamed CHARCO (CHarter ARms COmpany) and production was moved once again, this time to Ansonia, Connecticut.
Ten years later, slow sales and presumably poor management caused the company to close of shop.
In the year 2000, Nick Eckers (son of David Eckers) got some investors together to purchase what was left of the company. The new company was named Charter 2000 and production was moved once again, this time to Shelton, Connecticut.
In 2005 Charter 2000 announced they would be filing for bankruptcy protection, the cause listed was "liability lawsuits".
Later that year MKS supply took over sales and marketing for the company. This lasted for 5 years. During this time (2007) the name of the company returned to Charter Arms.
The Charter Arms Undercover is still being made today, with more options than ever.
Specs:
Action: Double Action Revolver
Caliber: .38 Special
Capacity: 5 rounds
Weight: one pound (16 oz)
Height: 5.52"
Width: 1.29"
Overall Length: 6 1/4"
Barrel Length: 1 7/8" (listed as 2" in later ads), 8 groove, 1:16 twist
Time Line of Events
1933 - Doug McClennahan is born
1964 - McClennahan incorporates Charter Arms in Southport, CT
1964 (late) - Production begins on Asylum Street in Bridgeport, CT
1967 - David Eckers becomes 50% partner in Charter Arms
1975 - Production is moved to Stratford, CT
1978 - McClennahan retires, Ecker becomes sole owner
1984 - Nick Eckers becomes partner
1988 - Jeff Williams purchases company, renames it CHARCO
1988 - Production moved to Ansonia, CT
1998 - CHRACO goes out of business
2000 - Assets purchased and Charter 2000 incorporated and production moved Shelton, CT
2002 - Nick Ecker becomes sole owner of the company
2004 - Doug McClennahan passes away at the age of 71
2005 - Charter 2000 files for bankruptcy
2007 - The company is renamed Charter Arms Company.
As per usual this post was inspired by a gun I came into contact with. The Charter Arms Undercover .38 below, belonged to a friend. She asked us to find a buyer for it when she switched to a .380 pistol.
The gun was built in the Bridgeport plant sometime between 1964 and 1970.
Sources:
Charter Arms
Wikipedia
Unblinking Eye
No comments:
Post a Comment