Charter Arms has been making affordable, American-made revolvers for over 60 years now. While their .44 Special Bulldog is iconic, they’ve made plenty of other calibers like .32 Magnum, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, and .22LR and .22 Magnum as well. They have even made a series of revolvers chambered for rimless rounds like 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP. The latest addition to the rimless line up is the new .380 Coyote Revolver, which they say is the smallest and lightest of its kind.
The Charter Arms .380 Coyote
The new .380 Coyote revolver will be available in two models. There’s a traditional double/single action model, as well as a concealed hammer Off Duty model.
Nick Ecker, Owner, President, and CEO of Charter Arms, stated in the press release, “We wanted to offer a smaller frame revolver for women and first-time shooters that would be great for personal protection and sport shooting without the bulk and muzzle jump of larger caliber handguns.”
Let’s take a look at how they accomplished this.
The new Coyote .380 is a compact and lightweight revolver that’s chambered in .380 ACP. The .380 round offers milder recoil than the typical .38 Special load that you commonly see in snub-nosed revolvers. With modern defense ammunition, though, particularly that designed for short barrel pocket pistols, the .380 can still be quite effective. In addition to the lighter recoiling round, Charter Arms included a ported barrel and a full underlug to further reduce muzzle climb.
The Coyote is built on a lightweight 7075 aluminum frame, while the barrel and cylinder are made from 416 stainless steel. The double/single version is available with either a matte anodized frame and matte stainless-steel components or a pink or lavender anodized frame with high polished components. Both revolvers have diamond cuts in the 2-inch barrel’s underlug and come with checkered rosewood grips. The double/single models feature a serrated ramp front sight and notch rear.
Coyote .380 Off Duty
The Coyote .380 Off Duty model comes with a pink or a clear anodized frame and stainless-steel components. It features a fully enclosed, concealed hammer for double action-only operation and wears compact rubber grips. The Off Duty model also has a 2-inch barrel with diamond cuts in the underlug and has a HIVIS LitePipe front sight.
Because .380 ACP is a rimless cartridge that was designed for use in autoloaders, Charter Arms Coyote revolvers must be loaded using moon clips. The .380 Coyote ships with two TK Customs moon clips to feed the 5-shot cylinder. Additional moon clips are available for purchase separately as well.
General Features
Since the Coyotes are chambered in the rimless .380 ACP round, they use stamped steel full moon clips for loading and extraction. Full moon clips make for fast reloads since you’re dropping all five rounds in the cylinder at once and ejecting them as a single unit. Moon clips are affordable, too, with spares running just $7.99 on the Charter Arms website.
With its 2-inch barrel, alloy frame, and 14-ounce weight, the Coyote should be a great everyday concealed carry gun. Lightweight .38s can be pretty snappy and unpleasant to shoot, which isn’t conducive to training and practice. Especially if you’re a new shooter or recoil-sensitive. The combination of .380 chambering and ported barrel on the Coyote should mitigate that, though, and make for a pleasant shooting defense handgun with the simple manual of arms that comes with a revolver.
With an MSRP starting at $434.56, the Charter Arms .380 Coyote is also affordable, especially for an all American-made product with a lifetime warranty
.380 Coyote Specifications:
| Caliber | .380 ACP |
| Capacity | 5 rounds |
| Barrel Length | 2 inches |
| Grips | Small rosewood checkered (standard models), Compact Rubber (Off Duty model) |
| Sights | Fixed front and rear |
| Safety | Hammer block safety |
| Concealed Hammer | Off Duty Models only |
| Weight | 14 ounces |
| Special Features | Spurred hammer, 3-point cylinder lock-up |
| MSRP | $434.56 to $448.14 |
For more information on the Coyote, check out the Charter Arms website.
