RG Revolvers?

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Tom Servo

Tom Servo

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Hi all. My boss just moved into a new house, and the question of home-defense came up. He said, "Oh, yeah, I've got a gun. It's a revolver of some sort. I should probably get some ammo for it, though." I asked what kind, and he wasn't sure, so I asked to see it.

It's a .22 revolver from some company called RG. Yep. For home defense. I've got alot to teach him. Thing is, it felt flimsy and didn't point for crap, so I took it with me on a range trip. Loaded up the cylinder with six rounds, all of which failed to fire. Ran through the whole cylinder a second time, and on the 11th trigger-pull, it finally fired. Talk about a safe gun :cuss:

He's not the most gun-literate, to say the least. I told him I'll be buying it away from him, just to be sure he's never tempted to use it in self-defense. I checked on Gunbroker, and they've got NEW ones out the door for ~$20US. Sounds about right.

Just curious, can anyone point me to information about these, such as where they come from or what their history is? These things make Jennings and Lorcins look like Sigs in comparison :barf:
 
R.G. Industries was an importer who imported cheap revolvers made by Rohm Gmbh of Sontheim/Brenz Germany.
They went out of business in 1986.

As you discerned, the RG guns were "bottom-of-the-line" cheap handguns.

These were both double action and single action revolvers in calibers ranging from .22lr to .357 and .44 Magnum.
They also sold a .25 Cal auto.

About the best that can be said about them is, they were better than no gun at all (most of the time).
 
What he said. Friend of mine with a 1911, and various other hardware, SKS etc has one he inherited and brought it along just out of curiousity on the last range trip. Between four of us there were 89 triggerpulls to get off 50 shots. Not what you'd call reliable. Surprisingly it did hit the target where aimed from 10 yards with all shots. Ignition was the problem.
 
If I recall correctly, that's the brand of gun and caliber that was used by the would be assassin of President Regan in 1983. Seriously injured the President, instantly took out a Secret Service Agent (fortunatally not fatal) and caused permanent debilitating physical injuries to then Secretaty Brady (i.e. "The Brady Bill").

Crap gun - YES. Completely useless gun - NO. A $50 gun in the hands of a crazy nearly killed a President and precipitated some of the most restrictive gun laws in the history of this country - that are still in effect more than 20 years after the event.

Wasn't it an RG that killed Robert F. Kennedy too? If it wasn't an RG - it was another small caliber, cheap handgun.
 
After the GCA of 1968 made the German-made "RG"s unimportable, a company was set up in Florida "RG Industries" to manufacture the exact same designs on US soil; your particular revolver should be marked as to whether it's a German or American example.
 
Actually they came in .22 short too. I have one that used to belong to my great grandmother. Rohm RG 10. It shoots every time I pull the incredibly nasty action trigger. Accuracy is terrible though, sometimes not even hitting the paper.
 
I checked on Gunbroker, and they've got NEW ones out the door for ~$20US. Sounds about right.
Click to expand...
Way Way too much. You can't even melt these things down to make fishing weights

I bought one many years ago because I did not have much money and figured it was better than nothing.
My wife and I went out to shoot it at the dump (tells you how long ago it was)
While standing to her left and behind her about 7 ft I kept geeting hit by something that I thought was one of our sandstorms. When I shot it for some reason, I had my left hand out away from my body a little more than shoulder width apart lead shavings hit so hard that one actually penetrated the web of my hand.
I took it to Pragers (again dateing the incident to all Central Floridians) the gunsmith refused my offer to take it for free so I told him to smack it with a hammer. He did, it broke into 3 pieces with on solid hit.

If you look up slag in a firearm dictionary you will find a pic of an RG
 
My dad had an RG .22 revolver for years. He then put it to its "highest and best use" -- he turned it in at a gun buy-back for a $40 gift certificate to a supermarket!
 
I bought a .38 speacial RG back in 1975 for $25. It was a very low quality gun but I never had any problems with misfires. Accuracy was so-so. Don't remember what happened to that gun but I don't miss it.:D
gmonroe
 
Have a Rohm Industries/RG-38 in .38 "Spezial" {actually saw it printed that way many years ago on a N.I.B. model}

Not a particularly high-value revo, but it goes bang! eveytime I mash the trigger. Accuray is OK, but I'm not sure how good it is, because I'm not all that great with the "rodent-size weapons".

Would I use the RG-38 as a home/personal defense weapon? Yes, but only as a last act of defiance weapon. My 1911-A1 is the first handgun up for that purpose.
 
On a side note, My brother brought in a bunch of his future father-in-law's guns from storage for cleaning, and one was an RG-22 ... very close to a ruger single six. It looked quality, actually, a little better detailed than his Heritage .22. The trigger was fantastic, actually a little light for my tastes.

From his range report, it was more accurate than he was, and didn't spit lead at all. I think it was lucky...

...from everything i read, RGs have house odds of 85% or so, it's a *bad* crap shoot.
 
The name "RG" reminds me of a real disappointment I had a few years ago that turned out OK. My uncle had died and my mother had the chore of handling his affairs. Upon returning from his house she gave me a call and said she had brought back some guns he had that my cousins didn't want. Of course my first question way what are they? Her responce was a pistol and a shotgun. I am on the edge of my seat asking what kind exactly? After she had them "in hand" she was able to tell me, "The pistol says, RG 22 LR", I was deflated!, then delightfully surprised when she said "and the shotgun says Winchester Model 12, 20 Ga" all of a sudden I found a smile replace my frown. I bought a RG 14 D.A. snubby 22 L.R. back in 1981 for $25.00 brand new! The guy at the gun shop said "well it would make a good tackle box gun, but I'd be more worried about the tackle". :)
 
One of my CCW students brought one to a class a little while ago. It was a 22 LR version that required you to unscrew a little rod from under the barrel and manually poke the fired cases out. However there were no fired cases since the 47 pound trigger pull failed to ignite any of the bullets.

I lent her my Browning and she finished the shooting portion just fine. Now she is shopping for a better gun. :)
 
Greeting's Again To All-

Yep, first handgun I ever owned was a 8-shot .22 LR caliber
revolver made by Rohm (RG) of Germany. That thing had at
least a 2-3/8" barrel, and I could not hit the broad side of a
darn barn with it! You guessed it, it came from K-Mart for a
grand total of $42.50 OTD. It didn't take long to pawn it off
on my father in-law; as he always seemed to have a knack
for junk (el cheapo) type handguns. You know Clerks, RG's,
Lorcins, Ravens, etc.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
The RG guns were the original "Saturday Night Special". At one time the RG-10 sold for $9.95 retail, and some places a buck cheaper, so you can guess how much they cost to make. On the plus side, quite a few cops and innocent people were saved because the bad guy's junk gun didn't fire. Fortunately, federal and state laws have eliminated the junk so that more cops are killed, which may have been one goal of the anti-gun movement.

In those days of mail order sales, a lot were bought by less than noble members of our society and the budding anti-gun movement went berserk. GCA 68 was one result, with its "point system" on imports and a ban on mail order gun sales.

Some of the anti-gun "scare" literature still rants about "cheap guns for sale at $9", when they are not raving about anti-aircraft missiles and H-Bombs being sold by the thousands at gun shows.

Jim
 
I have the "top of the line" RG. Mine is a Burgo .22lr and made in Germany. I've not had any failures to fire. I shoot it (only one cylinder for the entire trip) for S&G's only.

Turns funny colors when you fire it :D.

Wayne
 
Sorry For The Mistaken Idenity

Greeting's All-

I think the manwithoutahome might have just nailed it, as I
think that old cheap .22 LR revolver was called a "Burgo" model.
That thing came with brown plastic grips, and was heavy as all
get out!

I will definitely have to look it up when I visit my father in-law
this coming Thanksgiving.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member
 
The RG's were by far one of the cheapest pieces of junk ever made.When I lived in South Florida I had passed the RG (Rohm) factory many times.I worked at a gun shop part time. We wouldn't even let one in the store.South Florida has turned out many cheaply made guns. FIE, Universal, now Hertiage arms is located down there.Taurus International is also located there which is somewhat of an improvement over what's been coming out of that area. RG's wouldn't even make a good manhole cover much less a boat anchor.

Ruger Redhawk
 
RG

Oh yes they are uber bad. I had a RG single action in .22 lr and .22 magnum many years back. Never had any misfires but one day the back of the frame disappeared. Snapped the barrel out with out much force. Put it in the trash can were it belonged!
 
Among the worst that were ever whelped. Apologies to the Paki and Spanish S&W knock-offs, but the RG was the absolute bottom of the food chain. Better to have a picture of a gun. BTW, ask me what my very firstest ever handgun was.:D
 
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