The 9mm Revolver Skeptics Said Couldn't Work — It Works

Revolvers chambered in 9mm carry a reputation problem — moon clips that fumble, cylinder timing that drifts, rimless cartridges that don't belong in a wheelgun. Charter Arms built the Target Mastiff as a direct answer to every one of those complaints.

TTAG's Mike Hardesty took one to the range on June 5 to find out if that's engineering or marketing.

The verdict: engineering.

Hardesty's review confirms the Target Mastiff runs reliably, shoots accurately, and is flat-out fun to put rounds through. For wheelgun loyalists who want to standardize on a single defensive caliber — same ammo in your carry pistol and your revolver — that's not a small thing. **One caliber. One logistical footprint. Zero mechanical drama.**

The moon-clip system is the whole game when you're running 9mm in a wheelgun, and Charter Arms has the execution dialed in. When clips load clean and drop free consistently, the rimless-cartridge objection evaporates. Hardesty's session indicates that's exactly what happens here.

The Target Mastiff isn't trying to be your EDC semi-auto. It doesn't need to be. It occupies a specific lane — range-ready, single-caliber, mechanically simple — and it owns that lane.

Charter Arms has been making American-built revolvers in Shelton, Connecticut since 1964. These aren't boutique safe queens. They're working guns for working people, priced to be shot, not displayed. The Target Mastiff fits squarely in that tradition.

**The gun community has spent years dismissing the 9mm revolver concept. The Target Mastiff didn't argue back. It just performed.**

Bottom line: if 9mm is already your round of choice and you've written off the wheelgun version as a gimmick, Hardesty's range session is the evidence you didn't know you needed. The Target Mastiff earns a serious look — and Charter Arms earns another win for keeping serious American wheelguns alive.

Watch this space: as more shooters standardize on 9mm across their entire safe, the case for a dedicated 9mm revolver only gets stronger. This won't be the last time we talk about this platform.