Charter Arms Pitbull Review (2026): 9mm With No Moon Clips

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Table of Contents

Review: Charter Arms Pitbull – A 9mm Snub That Throws Away the Moon Clips

Our Rating: 7.6/10

• RRP: $505.18 (9mm, 2.2 in., stainless, model 79920)
• Street Price: $451.99 (Use our live pricing for the best up to date deal)
• Caliber: 9mm Luger (also .380 ACP, .40 S&W and .45 ACP)
• Action: DA/SA, exposed hammer
• Barrel Length: 2.2 in., ported
• Overall Length: 6.75 in.
• Height: 5 in.
• Weight (unloaded): 21 oz.
• Capacity (cylinder): 5 rounds, no moon clips
• Frame Size: Large
• Frame Material: 416 stainless steel, aluminum trigger guard
• Grip: Combat full rubber
• Sights: Fixed
• Trigger Pull (SA/DA): 3 lb 6 oz / over 12 lb
• State Listing: Charter lists 79920 as CA and MA compliant

Quick Take

The Charter Arms Pitbull is a five shot revolver that fires ordinary 9mm pistol ammo and doesn’t need moon clips to do it. Each chamber has a small spring loaded plunger in the extractor star that snaps into the groove of a rimless case and holds it there. Load it like a .38, dump the empties like a .38. That one piece of engineering is the whole reason the gun exists.

We ran two 9mm Pitbulls, a stainless 79920 and a Blacknitride+ 69920, for a little over 350 rounds. Neither failed to fire. Groups at 15 yards were nothing special, the double action pull is heavy, and one popular defensive load wouldn’t let the cylinder turn at all. It’s a working carry gun, not a fine one.

The bigger surprise came off Charter’s own price list. The cheapest Pitbull it makes isn’t a snub at all. It’s the 4.2 inch .40 S&W with adjustable sights, at $421.47, and most retailers charge more for it than for the short gun.

Best For: Someone who already carries a 9mm pistol and wants a backup or nightstand revolver on the same ammo, without learning to live with moon clips. Not for anyone who wants a light pocket gun or a gentle trigger.

The Pitbull Price List, Straight From Charter

Charter Arms sells ten Pitbull models across four cartridges. These figures come from Charter’s own catalog and its individual product pages, which agree to the cent. Check the 79920 9mm page and the 74042 .40 S&W page yourself.

Model	Caliber	Barrel	Shots	Weight	Finish	List
73802	.380 ACP	3 in.	6	20 oz.	Anodized aluminum frame	$461.72
79920	9mm	2.2 in. ported	5	21 oz.	Stainless	$505.18
69920	9mm	2.2 in. ported	5	21 oz.	Blacknitride+	$518.76
79942	9mm	4.2 in. ported	5	23 oz.	Stainless, adjustable sights	$513.32
74020	.40 S&W	2.3 in.	5	20 oz.	Stainless	$497.03
64020	.40 S&W	2.3 in.	5	20 oz.	Blacknitride+	$532.34
74042	.40 S&W	4.2 in.	5	22 oz.	Stainless, adjustable sights	$421.47
74520	.45 ACP	2.5 in.	5	22 oz.	Stainless	$518.76
64520	.45 ACP	2.5 in.	5	22 oz.	Blacknitride+	$540.48
74542	.45 ACP	4.2 in.	5	24 oz.	Stainless, adjustable sights	$554.06

Three things jump out. First, the long .40 lists $75.56 under the snub .40 and gives you two more inches of barrel and adjustable sights for it. Second, the 9mm snub weighs an ounce more than the .40 snub, so the smallest cartridge in the line doesn’t buy you the lightest gun. Third, the black Blacknitride+ finish costs a different amount in every caliber: $13.58 extra on the 9mm, $21.72 on the .45, and $35.31 on the .40.

Now the street. In our catalog the only trusted retailer stocking the 74042 asks $489.99 for it, $68.52 over Charter’s own list, while the stainless snub .40 is $437.99 at Palmetto State Armory. Retail flips Charter’s order. If you want the long .40, check the list price before you pay a premium Charter never asked for.

One more oddity. Four retailers in our catalog list a 9mm Pitbull with a 6 inch barrel (79960), and Charter’s current 125 model catalog doesn’t include it, so read that listing carefully before you order.

The Six Shot Pitbull You’ll Find Used

Read an older review and you’ll see a six shot 9mm Pitbull. That’s not a typo. The first 9mm guns, written up in 2014, were six shooters with an unported barrel of 2.2 to 2.3 inches, weighing 20 to 22 ounces and listing at $465. Every 9mm Pitbull in Charter’s current catalog is a five shot with a ported barrel.

So if you’re shopping used, count the chambers. A six shot gun isn’t a fake or a conversion; it’s the earlier design. Just don’t expect current accessories or current test data to transfer to it, and have it looked over before you trust the extraction.

Why Charter Built It This Way

Revolvers grab cartridges by the rim. A 9mm, .40 or .45 ACP case doesn’t have a rim that sticks out past the body, just a groove, so a normal extractor star has nothing to push against. The century old fix is a moon clip: a flat steel stamping that holds the rounds together. Moon clips work, and they double as speedloaders, but they bend, they’re fiddly to load, and a bent one can bind the cylinder.

Charter’s answer is a patented dual coil spring assembly built into the extractor. As you push a round in, its plunger moves toward the center, then springs back out into the case groove. We turned a loaded cylinder upside down and shook it. Nothing fell out.

The Pitbull line started in 2012 in .40 S&W, a very police flavored choice. The 9mm followed, then .45 ACP, and the .380 arrived in 2019. The target buyer has always been the same: an off duty or backup gun that shares ammunition with the pistol on your belt. Compare that with the rimmed Charter Arms Undercover in .38 Special, which runs on a smaller frame.

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How We Tested It

Phase 1: Break-In and Trigger

Out of the box, the Blacknitride+ gun’s ejector felt sticky. We cleaned it with solvent, put a drop of oil on the rod, and cycled it a few hundred times. The friction disappeared and never came back.

Single action broke at 3 pounds 6 ounces with no overtravel, crisp enough that it surprised us. Double action ran past the 12 pound limit of our Lyman digital gauge on both guns. There was some stacking about halfway through the stroke at first, and it smoothed out over the first 200 rounds.

Phase 2: Reliability

The Blacknitride+ gun took 150 rounds of 115, 124 and 147 grain 9mm without a single failure. Empties fell clear every time with the muzzle pointed straight up, even at the end of the session.

The stainless gun got a rougher diet: about 200 rounds of mixed factory ammo and old handloads. It fired all of them. Late in that session, fouling built up under the extractor and one or two cases stuck in their chambers. A clean fixed it. With a moon clip gun you’d never notice that, since the clip pulls everything out together, so it’s the one real trade the clipless design makes.

Then came the load that failed. Hornady 135 grain Critical Duty, which runs perfectly in semi-autos, seated in the cylinder, but its nickel cases had slightly thicker rims than everything else. The cylinder was hard to close and wouldn’t rotate on a trigger press. Other Hornady loads were fine. Test your carry ammo in this gun before you buy a case of it.

Phase 3: Accuracy

We shot three five shot groups per load at 15 yards off a benchrest, with velocity taken on a ProChrono 15 feet from the muzzle. The 147 grain load was the clear winner, which fits a short barrel that doesn’t give light bullets much time to get going.

Load	Velocity	Best Group	Average Group
Winchester Super X 115 gr. Silvertip HP	1,100 fps	2.75 in.	4.25 in.
Winchester white box 147 gr. JHP	876 fps	2.00 in.	3.00 in.
Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel 124 gr. GDHP	1,090 fps	3.25 in.	3.63 in.

For something closer to how this gun gets used, we fired ten rounds double action at a silhouette 21 feet away, at a quick cadence with a reload in the middle. Nine landed in the ten ring and one in the nine. Every shot drifted a touch left, and that was the shooter, not the sights.

Ammunition Log

• Winchester Super X 115 gr. Silvertip HP: accuracy and chrono
• Winchester white box 147 gr. JHP: accuracy and chrono
• Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel 124 gr. GDHP: accuracy and chrono
• Mixed 115, 124 and 147 gr. range ammo: 150 rounds, Blacknitride+ gun
• Mixed factory and handloads: about 200 rounds, stainless gun
• Hornady 135 gr. Critical Duty: would not rotate the cylinder, not fired

What This Means for You

• Reliability: It fires what you feed it, but check every carry load for rim fit first.
• Ammo Preference: Standard pressure 147 grain grouped best. Charter’s president has said +P gains little from a snub barrel beyond flash and muzzle rise.
• Maintenance: Clean under the extractor star after every range trip.
• Accuracy Expectation: Three to four inches at 15 yards off a rest. Plenty for its job.

Performance Results

Reliability (8/10)

Zero failures to fire in 350 rounds across two guns is a good result for any snub. It loses points for the Critical Duty rim problem and the stuck cases once it got dirty. Neither is dangerous, but both show up at the worst possible moment if you haven’t found them at the range first.

Accuracy (6/10)

A 3.00 inch average with 147 grain at 15 yards is fine. Over four inches with 115 grain is mediocre. The fixed ramp front and groove rear are easy to pick up fast, which helps at 7 yards far more than it helps on a bench.

Ergonomics and Recoil (7/10)

The checkered rubber grip wraps the whole frame, so no metal backstrap slaps your palm, and the finger grooves are comfortable. Recoil feels a lot like .38 Special +P from a 2 inch gun. It isn’t punishing, but it isn’t a plinker either, and we’d have liked a slightly softer grip. The .40 is noticeably sharper in the same size gun.

Fit, Finish, and Quality Control (7/10)

Both guns were clean and tight. The sticky ejector on one was the only complaint, and it disappeared after a cleaning. Blacknitride+ came out a shade lighter than true black, with a smooth, even surface.

Technical Deep Dive

Frame, Cylinder and Lockwork

The 9mm, .40 and .380 sit on Charter’s Large frame, and the .45 ACP gets the X-Large. Frames are 416 stainless on everything except the .380, which Charter lists with an anodized 7075 aluminum frame. Carry is safe with all five chambers loaded: the firing pin lives in the frame, and a transfer bar only bridges hammer to pin when the trigger is fully back.

Loading and Reloading

A standard speedloader built for rimmed cartridges is the wrong tool here, because the plungers stop the rounds dropping home and leave them sticking up out of the cylinder. Tuff Products 9mm QuickStrips work well and carry flat in a pocket. The quickest method surprised us: thumbing rounds straight off a 9mm pistol magazine into the chambers.

Component	Specification	Why It Matters
Extractor	Patented dual coil spring plungers	Holds rimless rounds with no moon clips
Barrel	2.2 in. ported, protected ejector rod	Porting on 9mm models only
Frame	416 stainless, Large	Mass soaks up 9mm recoil
Trigger guard	Aluminum (stainless on .45)	Saves weight where strength isn’t needed
Safety	Transfer bar	Safe to carry five up
Grip	Combat full rubber	Covers the backstrap entirely

How It Compares

For the full field, see our best 9mm revolvers ranking. These are the three we’d cross shop.

Taurus 905 ($348-$376)

The obvious rival. Taurus’s own spec sheet gives the 905 five rounds, a 2.00 inch barrel and 21.00 ounces, the same weight as the Pitbull, at a lower street price of $347.99 for the blued gun. The catch is that it runs on Taurus Stellar Clips. If you like moon clips as speedloaders, the Taurus is the better buy. If you hate them, that’s the Pitbull’s whole reason to exist.

Ruger LCR 9mm ($666-$730)

Lighter at 17.2 ounces, with a polymer fire control housing and a far better double action trigger. Ruger ships it with three full moon clips and lists it at $879.00, and trusted retailers start it at $665.99. It’s the nicer gun to shoot and carry, for over $200 more. Our Ruger LCR review covers it in depth.

Taurus 692 ($571-$617)

A different idea entirely. The 692 comes with two cylinders, one for .357 Magnum and .38 Special and one for 9mm, holds seven rounds, and has an adjustable rear sight. It also weighs 35.00 ounces with a 3 inch barrel. It’s a range and home gun that happens to take 9mm, not a backup you’d forget is on your belt.

Verdict: The Pitbull wins on one thing, clipless loading in steel, at a fair price. The 905 is cheaper, the LCR is nicer, and the 692 does more. Pick the Pitbull if moon clips are the dealbreaker.

Upgrades Worth Making

Upgrade Category	Recommended Component	Why It Matters	Priority
Reloads	Tuff Products 9mm QuickStrips	Rimmed speedloaders don’t seat on this gun	First
Carry	A holster cut for a Large frame snub	A 21 ounce steel gun needs real support	Second
Ammo	A standard pressure 147 gr. load you’ve proven	Rim fit varies by brand and lot	Third

Our best 9mm ammo guide is a good place to shortlist carry loads. Buy one box of each and cycle every round through the cylinder before you buy in bulk.

Common Problems and Fixes

• Cylinder won’t close or turn with one load: Thick case rims, seen with nickel plated Hornady Critical Duty. Switch loads. There’s no fix on the gun side.
• Cases sticking after a long session: Fouling under the extractor star. Scrub under the star and the plunger pockets, then eject muzzle up.
• Sticky ejector rod when new: Clean, add a drop of oil, and cycle it a few hundred times. Ours smoothed out completely.
• Heavy double action: Over 12 pounds is normal here. Dry fire it; ours eased over the first 200 rounds.

Who Should NOT Buy This Gun

• Pocket carriers: 21 ounces of steel on a Large frame won’t vanish in a pocket. The 17.2 ounce Ruger LCR 9mm is the better fit.
• Buyers who like moon clips: If clips don’t bother you, the Taurus 905 does the same job for about $100 less.
• Shooters with weak hands: A double action pull past 12 pounds is a lot of trigger. Look at the Ruger LCR 9mm and its lighter action.
• Anyone wanting one revolver for everything: The Taurus 692 shoots 9mm, .38 Special and .357 Magnum with seven rounds and adjustable sights.

Still deciding between a wheelgun and a pistol at all? Our revolver vs semi-auto for concealed carry breakdown is worth ten minutes, and the best snub nose revolvers list covers the rimmed options.

Final Verdict

The Charter Arms Pitbull does one clever thing and does it well. Rimless 9mm drops in, stays put, and ejects like a .38, with no clips to bend, lose or wrestle. Across 350 rounds it didn’t fail to fire, and at about $452 from a trusted seller it undercuts the LCR by a wide margin.

Go in with open eyes. The double action is heavy, the groups are ordinary, and you have to prove your carry ammo in it. Read Charter’s own list before you buy, too, because the long .40 is the cheapest Pitbull on paper and rarely on the shelf.

Final Score: 7.6/10. A tough, honest rimless snub that’s worth it if moon clips are the thing you can’t stand.

FAQ: Charter Arms Pitbull