Concealed Carry Handguns – August 2019

BOTTOM:Check

thatgroup!It’s

Workman’sbest

at 12 yardswitha

two-handholdand

BVAC210-grainlead

SWCrounds.

OPPOSITE:Take

a closelookat

thethreerounds

shown.Atleftisa

185-grainSilvertip,

witha 210-grain

SpeerGoldDotin

themiddleanda

BVAC210-grainlead

SWC.The 41 Mag

Pughandledthem

allreliably.

an average of 1,029 fps. Using this

round, I actually shot the best group

of the bunch, measuring 1.5 inches

center-to-center. Still, I don’t really

lose much sleep over group sizes

from defensive sidearms unless they

appear on paper targets to be so

radically wide that one suspects

there’s a defect either in the gun or

the ammunition. I’ve never heard of a

case where somebody stopped in the

middle of a gun battle to measure his

or her groups.

PRACTICAL

APPLICATIONS

Carried in a strong-side belt holster, the

.41 Mag Pug is a dependable compan-

ion. I never experienced a single prob-

lem during the shooting, other than the

recoil and a pinched trigger finger now

and then. The most important thing

is that it discharged every time the

hammer fell on a live round.

In addition to being a decent, con-

cealable street gun in a major caliber,

I can see the .41 Mag Pug pulling

trail duty, as alluded to earlier. With

a handful of spare cartridges, anyone

will be well equipped for any trou-

bling encounter off the pavement.

The revolver cleans up rather well,

too. I brushed it down with Hoppe’s

No. 9 and powder residue washed

and wiped away easily. A shot of

aerosol gun oil down into the action

with the hammer cocked on an

empty cylinder keeps the action in

working order.

As I’ve found with other Charter Arms

products, the .41 Mag Pug is a well-

built, no-frills, basic handgun. It’s not

likely to win any beauty contests, but

on the other hand, the kind of contest

for which this handgun was designed

isn’t terribly glamorous.

With an MSRP of less than $450,

Charter Arms’ .41 Mag Pug is a carry

gun ready to rock in a caliber that

has been a proven stopper for more

than 50 years. For home defense it’s

a winner. For covert street carry with

the right cover garment, it’s going to

be hard to beat in the muscle depart-

ment, and in the back country, you’ve

got a predator-stopping caliber in a

gun that doesn’t weigh a ton.

It’ll get you where you’re going, down

the mean streets or along a rough trail

and back home again. CC

SOURCES

CHARTER ARMS

WWW.CHARTER-FIREARMS.COM

DESANTIS GUNHIDE

WWW.DESANTISHOLSTER.COM

114 CONCEALED CARRY HANDGUNS • FALL 2019