By Jim Dickson | Contributing Writer
In the Boomer, Charter Arms has produced a true pocket revolver for it’s hammerless design makes it one of the few handguns that can be fired from within a pocket.
Semi-automatic pistols require unhindered space for the slide to reciprocate and guns with hammers risk snagging the coat pocket lining and losing enough force that they don’t fire.
Pocket carry has always been popular but there are certain tactical situations that require the gun to be fired where it is without taking the time to draw it. Guns suitable for this are few and far between though.
If you are suddenly mobbed in an elevator or other confined space your assailants will be looking to tie up your arms to prevent resistance. If you have your hand already on your gun and the gun in a coat pocket you should still have enough time to push the gun forward into the nearest attacker and fire. Pushing the gun forward and well clear of your body is mandatory for the hot powder gasses escaping from the barrel cylinder gap cut like an acetylene torch for the first few inches of their escape.
Many attacks only commence at point blank range. One of the oldest tricks is to ask someone the time and then attack when their eyes move to their watch.
You cannot pull a gun on someone just because they get too close to you. This is especially true in our crowded modern society where passing close is unavoidable. Evil people take full advantage of this. Just look at the “Knockout game” where they strike a random victim from behind in a cowardly attempt to knock out their unsuspecting target. This game can quickly become murder as the difference between the amount of force required for knocking someone out with a blow to the back of the head and killing them can sometimes be very small plus over the years many men have fatally struck their head on a curb or other object when falling in a street fight. Danger often comes without warning at shoulder rubbing distances in the world we live in today.
Years ago my wife and I did the only extensive tests of firing through pockets that I have ever heard of for Handguns magazine. I was amazed at the power of the escaping gasses at the barrel cylinder gap on a little .38/.357 Magnum hammerless S&W. I even lined one pocket with leather and it cut through the leather like it was tissue paper. There were always the same three enormous equal sized holes in the coats, one for the muzzle and two for the barrel cylinder gap on each side.
In the movies a man shoots through a pocket in his coat with the gun alongside his body and only a bullet diameter hole appears. The reality is that his coat would be turned to rags where his pocket used to be and he would be screaming in pain like someone had just hit his side with a welding torch flame. I have heard of coats catching on fire from firing like this this and I don’t doubt it even though I was never able to duplicate it even going to the extreme of putting Kleenexes in the pocket for tinder.
The pocket is turned into such a tangle of rags that you may have to keep firing from that position if the gun hangs up in that mess. The best tactical solution came when I lined a pocket with heavy canvas sailcloth. Not only was the heavy canvas the only thing that the hot gasses from the barrel cylinder gap could not burn through but the entire outer layer of the pocket was blown off as the stitch line gave way leaving the gun free and clear. Note that this was the very heavy canvas used in ship’s sails and not just the plain lightweight canvas you normally see.
One thing that I would not dare try is to fire a pistol in a pocket holster inside a pocket lest enough of the hot gasses from the barrel cylinder gap be directed back at my hand to cause serious injury.
Charter’s Boomer Solution
The Boomer moves this type of shooting into the big bore category for the first time and that is a good thing as this is strictly a close range in your face emergency affair.
Charter Arms believes in the “333 Rule,” which states that most shootings occur within 3 yards with 3 shots fired in under 3 seconds and the Boomer is definitely at home in this scenario. Since you just point and shoot in such a confrontation, the Boomer has no front sight, just a gutter channel on the top of the frame. This type of sight was pioneered by the late Paris Theodore, owner of Seventrees Holster Co., and used on his ASP conversions of S&W 9MM semiautomatic pistols. A lot of men in the intelligence services had these.
After picking up the pistol at Reeves Ace Hardware in Clayton, Georgia, I set about measuring and weighing it. The .44 Special Boomer is a true pocket size handgun just 5 inches long by 5 inches high and 1 7/8 inches thick at its 5 shot cylinder. It weighs a trifling 18 ounces. That’s important for pocket carry for today’s lightweight clothes get dragged down and pulled out of shape when a heavy pistol is packed.
The double-action-only trigger pull is exceptionally smooth and easy breaking at 11 pounds as measured by a Lyman mechanical trigger pull gauge from Brownell’s Gunsmithing Supplies. This good trigger pull makes accurate shooting easy, unlike many double action triggers I have used over the years.
Recoil is mitigated by the rubber grips and the twin ports on the barrel acting like a Cutts Compensator on a M1928A1 Thompson submachinegun.
Like all Charter Arms revolvers it is made of “blued” stainless steel so it will survive being carried in a pocket much better than a carbon steel pistol.
Dirt Traps
Here is a good time to point out that pockets are magnets for sand, dirt, lint, twigs, and everything you don’t want in the guts of your gun. They should be scrupulously cleaned every time BEFORE you put the pistol in them. Never carry keys, coins, or anything else in the same pocket with the pistol.
Anything in the pocket with the pistol will be dragged out when the gun is hastily drawn or worse, it may snag the gun and pocket together hindering the draw. If you fire through the pocket the contents may scatter at best, and at worst the powerful gasses exiting the gun may just turn them into projectiles that may go into you.
Of course, you can also carry this pistol in a holster. Charter Arms provided the DeSantis inside-the-waistband holster shown in the photos and El Paso Saddlery makes two different holsters for this revolver to be carried tight against the body in the conventional carry position where a coat provides concealment. These are the Crosshair, a holster intended for comfortable concealed all day carry and maximum speed in drawing, and the 88 Street Combat which is a somewhat simpler speed rig along the same lines as the Crosshair.
For test firing, I had 60 rounds of Steinel 240-grain XTP at 930 FPS and 50 rounds of Steinel 200-grain RNFP Cowboy Action at 820 FPS. The latter had noticeably less recoil enabling a faster rate of fire in this exceptionally light 18-ounce revolver while the 240-grain bullet intended for .44 Magnums carried more penetration and would be better if bears are the threat that you are facing.
Also, I would not discount the Cowboy Action loads for defense as you may be facing multiple attackers at extremely close range where rapidity of fire can be decisive. You don’t want to only be able to stop one or two and then have the others on you because you spent too much time recovering from recoil and getting the gun aligned on the next target.
We only had two coats to shoot through and with no fancy high speed movie camera, I had to try to get the gunshot synchronized with the camera shot. The gun preformed perfectly in these shots and also was easy to hit with when fired conventionally.
Perhaps the best endorsement is that my neighbor David Jones purchased both the .44 Charter Arms Bulldog shown in a previous review and the .44 Charter Arms Boomer shown here from Charter Arms after I returned them to the factory. Long before that he had bought a .38-caliber Charter Arms revolver for his wife. Like all the original native born Georgia mountain men he grew up around guns and knows and appreciates a quality gun when he sees it.
Before returning the little jewel to Charter Arms I cleaned it thoroughly with Shooter’s Choice bore cleaner and patches and lubricated it with Ballistol oil. It deserved nothing less.
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