$300 .38 Revolver...

You NEED to up your price to $400 to $500. and get away from those "cheap" replicas of quality guns.

For less than $100 more you can get a S&W 642/442 from Buds. Some people have good luck with the lower priced revolvers you mentioned, and others have lots of issues. For less than $100 to upgrade to the S&W I wouldn't even bother with the other guns.

I agree with posts 2 & 3. Or , buy a high quality used revolver , such as a Smith and Wesson model 10.

(Here we go again ...)

Hit gun shows and start looking for used pre-lock S&Ws and Rugers in good condition.

Consider a used S & W and you will probably be happier. 357 shooting magnum or 38 ought to do what needs to be done.

Up your price and find yourself a good gently used S&W Model 10 with a barrel of your liking. Regretfully with a $300 budget you will be hard pressed to find a high quality 38 Special revolver. Spend more and get a quality S&W or Colt revolver. Buy once and cry once but you will enjoy your new to you revolver.

Ron

From the revolvers that the OP listed I can say that my taraus m85 is a servicable weapon. Had it for years. probably 1500 rounds through it with no problems. Would a smith or ruger be better? Sure. However I doubt you will find one under $300.

One shooter runs 1500 rounds through a Taurus m85 with no problems.

Another shooter (my son) starts getting misfires at a couple hundred rounds due to firing pin issues.

Yet another shooter (Me) owned 3 Rossis , all from the 'good era" , mid 80's. The first was a 4" ss m851. Vented rib , full lug , looked like a Smith/Colt hybrid. Functioned perfectly , very nice looking. Second , a 2" .38 sp. snub. Functioned well enough that a second snub was purchased identical to the first except in stainless. Action of #2 snub locked up first time on the range. Sent back to seller for credit on a S&W 36 Chief's Special. #1 snub begins to misfire , bad firing pin. New pin ordered , months pass , no pin , seller contacted and offers full purchase price credit on a new SP101. (What a great gun dealer!) Deal accepted. First Rossi , the 851 , continues to function properly but is sold due to shaken confidence in the brand. Money goes towards Smith K frame .38.

That seems to be the way it is with the Taurus and Taurus-level revolvers. Some good ones , some duds. And , if you need Taurus service - Good Luck! Ruger will roll out a red carpet for you.

Rossis gone , Smiths and Rugers all keepers. No regrets.

Being a bit more practical than some, and a lot less snobbish than others here are my thoughts.

I've shot Rossi handguns, they went bang. The sights were well regulated and the trigger wasn't too bad.

I've never shot anything from RIA.

My wife has carried the same Taurus 85 for decades. Goes bang, and she can hit thing quite well and fast.

I regularly carry a CA Southpaw. It goes bang, the sights are good, and the trigger is just fine for a carry piece. Being I'm a leftie, and it being one of the very few dedicated left handed double action revolvers I'm very satisfied.

Colts, Smiths and Rugers, are fine. But if you feel you need to carry the best, ignore those and move onto a Korth.

I have a Charter Arms Police Undercover. Its a 6 shot 38 Special. I also have a Rossi 462, a 6 shot 357/38 Special. I would recommend either to anyone. Listen to the people who actually own, and shoot these guns, not the EXPERTS who tell you they are crap.

Charter Arms make very good, very reliable revolvers, and has excellent customer service. Rossi makes very good revolvers, but service has to be done in Brazil. If you were worried about that, you could purchase a Rossi through a Davidsons dealer, and they have a fast replacement warranty on everything they sell.

If $300 is a fixed upper limit, you might consider lowering your NIB requirement. You can find a goodly number of S&W and Ruger revolvers (not to mention older Colts) in that price range if you are willing to accept honest holster wear and signs of use. (Note I said "use", not butchery, which is always cause for rejection.)

Jim

I picked up a ice S&W model 10 recently for $300
I had a Taurus M85 ultralight, I would love to have it back
No experience with the others

"Listen to the people who actually own, and shoot these guns, not the EXPERTS who tell you they are crap."

Mine were true stories from actual owners and shooters. Wether my son and I are "EXPERTS" is open to debate.

Used Ruger LCR's are available for some exceptionally nice pricing. One of my local gun stores had a used LCRx for $300 & a used adjustable sight LCR w/ 3" barrel for $330 IIRC. LCR'S & KLCR'S are the best small revolvers available for actually using & shooting IMHO. Light weight, snag-free, corrosion resistant with wonderful triggers & interchangable front sights. Mine wear the Crimson Trace grips and tritium front sights and are without a doubt the best shooting and easiest packing small revolvers I've ever shot.

I also wouldn't get hung up on buying new. The last several guns I've bought have been used, a couple of them appearing not to have been fired and all have worked 100%. A lot of gun buyers seem to suffer from the "latest cool gun syndrome" and trade sometimes new, often lightly used guns you can save significant money on.

spend the extra $100

the way I have 'talked' myself into spending the little bit more is --

you have budgeted $300.
shopping around has shown you that for $100 more you get A Lot Better

so, in my mind I am now spending $100 to get a quality what I really want
cause I had already spent the first $300

GZoh

Another vote in favor of going a bit over budget and getting something from S&W or Ruger. Have tried most of the ones you listed and found them wanting in one way or another. I like to think that by spending the extra money you're more likely to get a better quality revolver. Let us know what you decide to do.

I got mine for $300 but its a .357 (Taurus 605) and it has been a good gun so far. Being a .357, it should hold up much better than a .38 specific gun since I mostly shoot .38's out of it. No plans on getting rid of it at all.

My next .357 will be a S&W 686 of some sort----but they are nowhere near $300

I've not shot the RIA M206 but considered it heavily before buying my Taurus M85. I wanted a cheap woods gun to carry while I hike.

While I've had excellent experiences with my RIA M1911A1, this led me to lean towards the RIA until I realized it had the Colt style cylinder release, and not the S&W style that I'm so used to.

I dropped that from my consideration set, and instead was between the Taurus M85 and a comparable Rossi. The biggest winner for the Taurus was the transfer bar making it drop safe, something the Rossi lacked, despite the better finish.

I have yet to have an issue with my M85... about 400 rounds... the only thing to remember is it has a LONG trigger travel, make sure it fully resets before pulling it again. Takes a bit to get used to.

The Rock Island M200 should sell well under your price point. Their reputation is good by most accounts. It and the Charter Arms Police Undercover 38 are the closest you can get new to the discontinued Colt six-shot snubs which are so highly regarded.

Why bother with a new gun of questionable serviceability when you can buy a good used brand name gun for about the same money?

I've had my fill of Taurus failures. My partner at work has a Rossi that's been back to Taurus twice now...

Good S&W model 10's and 64's can be had routinely for the $300 price point. In the last year I've bought a beautiful Model 10-5 from 1967 for $300 and a 1999 model 64-6 stainless for $240. Both at pawn shops. Both guns are awesome shooters.

Please, do yourself a favor. Avoid the cheapos. Especially if you want to trust your life to the thing.

I have the same Model 10 as shown on that sale. Although mine is cosmetically a hair nicer. It was a Police gun for a department in Australia.

Those are great guns. Well balanced and terrific shooters. Too bad they had to mark them with an importer stamp to bring them back into the USA.

Even with the finish not being great that is a better gun than any new Taurus or Rossi will ever be.

ETA: Also, if those are police guns (I suspect they are) they will have mostly exterior wear and be very sound mechanically as they have not been shot a lot.

the one I mention above spent years in the holster of a policeman getting beat around. Shot very little. Mechanically a gem.