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Had a tough day yesterday with my Dad who is not in good health. Sadly, my mom and I decided it was time for him to relinquish his 2 revolvers. Like taking away the car keys, this really sucked. Both are Charter Arms (1st Generation: 593xxx; 798xxx) Undercover .38 (one blued the other stainless) that have less than 25 rounds and have been kept in superb shape - built in Stratford, CT. I gather from some quick research that the revolvers are probably 20-25 years. Any experts with first-hand experience with these beauties?

By Geremy Chubbuck ([email protected])
Excel Version

CHARTER ARMS CORP. The early guns had a grip-medallion with a sketch of an oak tree (at least through serial number 23563). This was later changed to a scroll with the words “Charter Arms” on it, and “USA” in tiny letters at the top. Charter Arms Serial Number Search. This is the SECOND generation and apparently the period which caused the most damage to the Charter name and reputation. We find this to be a necessary tool when determining a value. All Original grips with the Scroll Tags no dings at all in the grips and the bluing is all intact other than a little fading.

Disclaimer: This list is correct to the best of my knowledge, however, I accept absolutely no responsibility for the accuracy of this information or for the consequences and/or damages occurring from any inaccuracies. I have compiled this list for the purposes of sharing information only. This is not intended to be used in any way except for personal entertainment. It is a compilation of both personal information and information submitted from others from the Internet. ALL SERIAL NUMBERS SHOULD BE VERIFIED FROM THE MANUFACTURER PRIOR TO ANY PURCHASE OR ASSEMBLY. It should be noted that it is a felony to possess a Post-Ban (newly assembled after Sept 13, 1994) assault weapon.

If any information presented here is found to be incorrect or you have additional information to contribute, please contact me via E-Mail ([email protected]) and I will update and re-issue the list.

There is no public listing of serial number/ year ranges for Charter Arms, but if you call Charter at 203-922-1652, give them your serial number, they can tell you. What is an account number for charter? An account number for charter is the special number designated for the charter that is used for the banking purposes.
From my data base: s/n 172251 (one of the first 50 Bulldog.44s) was made in late 1973. Your UNDERCOVER piece with s/n in the 147,000 range would have been made, probably, in early to mid 1973 - don't have enough dates to be definitive on dating these earlier pieces.

Note: All items marked with a single asterisk (*) are taken from http://home1.gte.net/bblakley/ban/index.htm. The year/serial numbers under Colt SP series was forwarded to me by an individual whose return address I no longer have. Double asterisk (**) under Bushmaster, a person on the internet e-mailed me that he had a lower that was shipped stripped (thus not a complete rifle) in 1991 from Bushmaster with serial #0327XX - ALWAYS CALL TO VERIFY.

Advanced Armaments
No information - Apparently machined from bar stock aluminum, lowers are marked as M-15.

American Spirit Arms(Formerly 'Sun Valley Traders')
ALL lowers are Post-Ban. Began introduction of lowers and rifles in mid/late 1998. Noted as having good fit & finish. Also, reported to be manufactured by Lewis Machine & Tool.

Armalite/Eagle 800-336-0184
Slightly over S/N 30,000 was the Pre-Ban cut-off, call to verify.* (Some Eagle lowers below the 30,000 range were determined to be POST ban by BATF - call to verify) Armalite sells Eagle lowers, but sells factory complete rifles with Armalite lowers.

Bohica
Made stainless steel lowers, rumored to have also made AR-15 pistols. Lower marked M16-SA. This is NOT verifiable info as it came from the Internet. Out of Business.

Bushmaster 800-998-SWAT
Below L051000 - Assembled Pre-Ban Rifles and some pre-94 lowers.**
L051001-L063000 - Mixed Pre-Ban Assembled Rifles and Pre-Sept 94 Lowers (Call to verify)
L063001 and Up - Post-Ban

Century Arms
Lower marked CIA. All are Post-Ban. Made with Olympic Arms Receivers under contract.

Colt 800-962-COLT
CC001616 and Below - Pre-Ban
CH019500 and Below - Pre-Ban
GC018500 and Below - Pre-Ban
LH011326 and Below - Pre-Ban
MH086020 and Below - Pre-Ban
NL004800 and Below - Pre-Ban
SL027246 and Below - Pre-Ban
SP360200 and Below - Pre-Ban
1963 SP00001-SP00023**
1964 SP00101
1965 SP02501
1966 SP05600
1967 SP08250
1968 SP10750
1969 SP14000-SP14653
1970 SP15001-SP15473
1971 SP16001
1972 SP19401
1973 SP24201
1974 SP32601
1975 SP43801
1976 SP55301
1977 SP67651
1978 SP83400
ST038100 and Below - Pre-Ban
TA10100 and Below - Pre-Ban
BD000134 and Below - Pre-Ban (AR-15A3 Tactical Carbine - very rare model)
MT00001 and Above - Post-Ban
BK000001and Above - Post Ban (CAR-A3)
CST000001 and Above - Post-Ban (Began Late 1997 Production)
CMH000001 and Above - Post Ban
CCH010000 and Above - Post Ban MT6700, MT6700C and MT6700CH series, 1998 production

Dalphon (360) 427-6867
All are POST ban. Cast 356-T6 Aluminum, hardcoat anodized per mil-spec A-8625

DPMS 800-578-3767
Below 10300 - Pre-Ban.
Some or all lowers are cast. Black in color. Some lowers are Stainless Steel.

Eagle Arms 309-944-6939
Now called ArmaLite. They will not give out a list, but will look up on an individual basis. Lower receiver serial numbers DO NOT begin with EA.

Essential Arms
All are Pre-Ban as they went out of business in 1993. (DPMS bought them prior to the Ban) Call DPMS Lower receiver serial numbers begin with EA. Some or all lowers are cast. Light gray coloring. It is rumored that Ruger investment casted the lowers for Essential Arms.

Frankford Arsenal
All are pre-ban. As rumor has it, Olympic Arms produced the lowers for Frankford Arsenal Call Olympic Arms and then Frankford assembled the weapon. A2 configuration lower. Frankford Arsenal went out of business in 1987. (Info from [email protected])

Hesse Arms
All AR-15's are post ban. Manufacturing began late 1997/early 1998.

Charter Arms Serial Number Dates

J.L.M & Sons* (603) 425-1860
SC001 thru SC250 are Pre-Ban. All others are post ban.

Knights Armament Co.
All AR-15's are post ban, very few AR-10's are pre-ban. No further info at this time.

Military Manufacturing (M2) (FAX 702-263-7875)
All were military/law enforcement only. Full auto lowers were standard, semi were optional. Lowers were machined form raw bar stock with improvements incorporated - 18deg magazine angle and square mag release. (See: http://www.m2corp.com/HOME.htm)

Nesard
See 'Sendra' below.

Olympic Arms 360-459-7940

4-numbers only - very very old. Probably machined from bar stock.

1-letter and 4# - older receiver, but forgings. (Some are newer, POST ban castings - call to verify.)

2-letters & 4# - most receivers follow this pattern.

Charter Arms Serial Number Date

2#, 2 letters, 4# - the first two #'s are year of manufacture of the lower.

2 letters, 6# (separated 2 & 4 - e.g. SA 96 0000) - first 2 #'s are year of manufacture.

'ICR' marked lowers are an European customer's overrun, has an unused additional hole - all ICR lowers are post ban.

Olympic Arms Manufacturer's Notes:
1. There were some odd variations and some custom serial numbers mixed in thru the years also. And, some receivers manufactured after the ban have the year stamp after the model name, not in the serial #. And if you don't see a year stamp on the receiver, it is not necessarily pre-ban.

2. Serial numbers that end in 'D' were duplicates and one was changed using this letter.

3. Recently some serial numbers have left with one or two letters followed by FIVE numbers. The last numbers are either 5's or 0's. 99.9% of these are post-ban.

4. 'Older' does not always mean pre-ban as per Corey Sattler.

5. 'BL' serial number series lowers are transitional with some pre and some post ban. If you have a 'BL' you'll have to call to verify for certain.

Professional Ordinance