Firearm Factory of the Month: Charter Arms

This month's focus is Charter Arms.

The story of Charter Arms begins with the man who founded the company: Doug McClennahan.

Douglas Sloane McClennahan was born on May 17th, 1933 in New York City (Manhattan) to Richard Lee and Rachel McClennahan. 

He spent time working for Colt (Hartford), High Standard (New Haven) and Sturm, Ruger (Southport) before starting his own company.
In the early '60's McClennahan started working on his own revolver, he wanted something lightweight, simple and affordable (sounds like he learned a thing or two from Bill Ruger). In 1964 he launched his company from his garage on Mill Hill Road in Southport, CT.

The revolver was a five shot snub nose  in .38 Special. The 38 Special is a good starting point as it is, in standard form, a very light load in terms of pressure. 
McClennahan may have started with a .38, but his intentions from the very start, were to produce a number of calibers including one in .44.

 The design included a one piece receiver and a separate grip frame (made of aluminum) that incorporated the trigger guard.
The frames were investment cast and had no side plates. This was no doubt another lesson gleaned from Ruger, I'd bet it was/is Ruger's Pine Tree Casting division that cast the frames for Charter Arms. The coiled main spring was also a Ruger staple.

Ed Buffaloe mentioned in his article that the Charter Arms design is very similar to the High Standard Sentinel, I would have to agree. The gun does appear to be a mix of the Sentinel and a Ruger double action revolver (both guns were designed by Harry Sefried).

This makes sense as McClennahan had worked at both High-Standard and Ruger.

The revolver was named "the Undercover".

In the late Fall of '64 the company moved to a small factory on Asylum street in Bridgeport. This is about 11 miles away from McClennahan's Southport home.

The new company struggled along, adding more calibers and models as the years went on. They were noted for being pretty well built and a good value for the money.

In 1967 McClennahan asked a long time friend, David Ecker, to become partners in the business. This was probably due to McClennahan needing investment to keeping the company afloat.

At some point during 1970 the company moved production  to Stratford, CT. At first to 245 Sniffens Lane, then to 430, 445, 455 439 and 480 Sniffens Lane. 
I believe the change of address might not have been a physical one, but instead due to a revamping of the address system. It could also be that the offices moved down or across the street, while production stayed put.

This ad from 1970 still shows the Asylum Street address in Bridgeport.

In 1973 the company took a departure from revolvers when they acquired the rights to the AR-7 Explorer Survival rifle from Armalite.

That same year (1973) McClennahan's dream of a .44 caliber revolver came to fruition in the form of the .44 Bulldog, it was chambered in the lower powered .44 Special

The .44 Bulldog gained unwelcome notoriety in 1977 as the weapon used by David Berkowitz the "Son of Sam" killer.

In December of 1978, due to illness, Doug McClennahan retired, selling his interest in the company to Eckers.

Around 1980 they company developed a pistol version of the AR-7 Explorer II rifle. Note the address change.

More unwelcomed attention.....A Charter Arms Undercover was used on May 15th 1972 in the attempted assassination of George Wallace. Then again on December 8th of 1980 John Lennon was assassinated outside his apartment with a Charter Arms Undercover revolver.

In 1984 David Eckers invites his son Nick to be a partner in the business.
In 1988 Jeff Williams, the Vice President of Finance, purchased the company and renamed it CHARCO (CHarter ARms COmpany). He also moved operations to Ansonia, CT.
I am not sure if the Ecker's family retained some ownership or later bought back into the company, but the family remained tied to the business in some form or another.

In 1998 business had slowed, probably due to poor quality controls and competition. The company had to close its doors.

Nick Eckers and two other investors bought what was left of the company and reopened for business in 2000. The new company would be located in Shelton, CT and go under the name "Charter 2000".

In 2005 Charter 2000 announced that they were filing for bankruptcy protection, blaming liability lawsuits for their demise.

Later that year MKS Supply took over the sales and marketing for the company. It could be that debts owed to MKS granted them some control or some ownership, either way the move was a good one and the guns began to sell again.

In 2007 the company reformed under the name Charter Arms Company.

In 2010, it was announced that management of sales and marketing would return to Charter Arms.


Time Line of Events
1964 - Doug McClennahan incorporates Charter Arms
1964 (late) - Production begins on Asylum Street in Bridgeport
1967 - David Eckers becomes 50% partner in Charter Arms
1973 - Charter Arms purchases the rights to the AR-7 Rifle
1974-1976 - Production is moved to Stratford, CT
1978 - Doug McClennahan retires, Ecker becomes sole owner
1980 - Charter Arms introduces a pistol version of the AR-7
1984 - Nick Ecker becomes partner
1988 - Jeff Williams purchases company, renames it CHARCO
1988 - Production is moved to Ansonia, CT
1998 - CHARCO closes its doors
2000 - Charter 2000 incorporated and production moved to 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 
 


What Remains

This is the house that sits at the address where Doug McClennahan once lived. I am not sure if this was his house or if this house was built later.

Sitting at 908 Mill Hill Road, it is just 1.5 miles from both Sturm, Ruger's original "Red Barn" and the Lacey Place plant.

The Asylum Road building in Bridgeport is still standing. It too is a short distance from another old factory. The shop is only a couple of blocks from the remains of the old Remington-UMC plant.

The building(s) on Sniffens lane in Stratford was a little tougher to nail down. out of the six addresses they used on Sniffens lane (245, 430, 439, 445, 455 & 480) only 430 Sniffens is still a viable address (more evidence of address revisions?). It is a 35,000+ sq feet factory that was built in 1960.

CHARCO's location in Ansonia still stands at 26 Beaver Street Ansonia, CT

Charter Arms Company current location, 18 Brewster Lane in Shelton, CT

All of the moves throughout the company's history only covered about a 10 mile radius. I put stars on the map below to show all of the factory locations, click on the image for a larger version

Sources:



https://charterfirearms.com/pages/about-us

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_Arms

https://unblinkingeye.com/Guns/CAR/car.html