Basic Utility
The Pathfinder is an all stainless steel, 6-shot revolver with rubber fingergroove grips.
Notice the ejector rod is protected with a shroud running the full length of the barrel. It is
sculpted and does not add too much weight.
I can’t imagine life without at least one each of a good .22 Long Rifle revolver, rifle and semi-automatic pistol. I learned to shoot with a .22 and also taught Diamond Dot, my kids and my grandkids all to shoot with a .22. Some of the most pleasant times I have spent with family and friends have revolved around the .22, and I simply can’t resist a good one be it a handgun or rifle. After having spent much more than 50 years shooting them you can well imagine I have accumulated quite a few, and if I am able to spend a few more years in this vale of tears I will probably accumulate a few more.
Charter Arms has been producing relatively inexpensive revolvers since the 1960’s beginning with the Undercover .38 Special with a 2-inch barrel. Self-defense revolvers such as this do not require adjustable sights, in fact they are normally used at such close range it is questionable whether they need sights at all.
This is not true of .22 revolvers which may be used for plinking, competition, filling the pot, and especially, as noted, for teaching others to shoot. Everyone does not see or hold the same and the point of impact of any revolver can be different from shooter to shooter. In addition to this, every load doesn’t necessarily print to the same point. Adjustable sights solve all these problems.
A few years ago I had a pair of Charter Arms fixed-sighted Pathfinders chambered in .22 LR and .22 Winchester Rimfire Magnum. They both shot well, however, in my hands they both would have benefited from adjustable sights. Now Charter has addressed this situation by providing fully adjustable sights on both versions of the Pathfinder. Except for the chambering, these sixguns are identical.
The Charter Arms .22 Pathfinder’s typical groups fired at 15 yards were like these.
Charter’s Pathfinder is an all stainless steel double-action revolver with a 4-inch barrel, 6-shot cylinder, and comfortable neoprene rubber fingergrooved, wrap-around stocks.
The front sight is a sharply slanted post integral with the barrel, which provides a square sight picture when mated up with the square notch of the rear sight. This front sight is also stainless steel and benefits, at least for my eyes, by being blackened with a felt-tip marking pen.
The single-action trigger pull is a little heavy for a 20 ounce revolver at 5 pounds and I would prefer it closer to 3 pounds. When I first started shooting the .22 Pathfinder it would bind slightly on one chamber and I had to help the cylinder along by rotating it by hand. After a couple hundred rounds this problem worked itself out and the Pathfinder now works smoothly in both single action and double action mode.
Many .22 pistols find themselves carried in backpacks, under pickup truck seats, in tackleboxes, in fanny packs, and even in holsters. Many of these modes of carrying or storing are hard on blued finishes. This makes the stainless steel finish of the Pathfinder especially valuable. Hikers, backpackers, and fishermen often find themselves in less than ideal weather conditions, and here once again stainless steel triumphs over blue. Many hunters also like to carry a small .22 for finishing off game or even head-shooting a grouse for supper. The stainless steel Pathfinder will work fine in these circumstances.
The .22 Charter Arms Pathfinder was test-fired with 10 different types of .22 ammunition. Shooting 2-handed at 15 yards from a braced position and giving myself a 1-shot mulligan resulted in most groups being right at an inch. The best results were with CCI’s Blazer, which is just about the standard for .22 performance around here, and Remington’s High Velocity. The former, which is produced in the northern part of our state, clocks 1,043 fps in the Pathfinder while the Remington is about 100 fps slower. Both put five shots in a 3/4-inch group.
CCI’s SGB, proved to be an excellent performer. SGB stands for Small Game Bullet and this soft flatnose lead bullet is ideal for shooting small critters. This round clocks out at 982 fps in the Pathfinder and puts five shots in 1 inch at 15 yards. Of all the loads tested, the muzzle velocity champion proved to be CCI’s MiniMag HP at 1,107 fps. The only other load to top 1,000 fps was Winchester’s High Velocity Hollow Point at 1,003 fps.
At $409 retail, the stainless steel Pathfinder, as all Charter Arms products, represents exceptional value in today’s firearms market.
Pathfinder
Maker: Charter Arms
281 Canal St.
Shelton, CT 06484
(203) 922-1652
https://charterfirearms.com
Action Type: Double-action revolver
Caliber: .22 Long
Rifle (tested), .22 WMR
Capacity: 6
Barrel Length: 4 inches
Overall Length: 8-1/4 inches
Weight: 20 ounces
Finish: Stainless steel
Sights: Adjustable
Grips: Neoprene compact
Price: $409
