rbernie
Contributing Member
In looking thru my handgun collection a while back, I decided that I lacked for shooter-grade revolvers in 38 Special. I began looking for older LE turn-in K-frame S&Ws, but with little success. I ran into mention of the Armscor revolvers and, based on my experience with their 1911 platform pistols, I decided to give them a try. About two weeks ago, I asked my local FFL to order in two of the Model 200 (4" barrel version) for me. My cost was just under $200 each, out the door.
When I went to pick them up, I found that they were shipped in decent plastic pistol cases with Rock Island Armory embossed on the side. They were also literally dripping in shipping oil. This prevented much in the way of an inspection prior to taking them home.
When I got home, I spread out a bunch of towels and began the process of cleaning 'em off. Sadly, the first one that I pulled out of the box would not pass basic function check; when thumb cocked, it would not catch fully on the SA hammer notch and the hammer would drop without the trigger being pulled. It would pull thru DA just fine, but SA was clearly broken. Dang. I cleaned it up a bit more, and set it aside.
The second one passed basic function test, and I began to examine it more closely as I slowly removed the never ending drip of shipping goo. The first thing that became apparent was that the barrel was badly leaded and filthy. Having shot Armscor lead ammo before (and having had it badly lead up anything I shot it in), I didn't get too upset about this since I presumed that this was simply a side-effect of a factory test fire. It would have been nice if the customer didn't have to de-lead the barrel, but for $200 I'm willing to let the factory cut a few corners.
Upon closer examination, I noticed that the top strap was not machined parallel and had a definite bow in the middle, and the frame recess for the cylinder crane was very badly and inconsistently hogged out. In looking at the two revolvers side-by-side, it almost looked as if each was held by hand during large machining steps, with subsequent large deviations in basic frame dimensions between the two. To call the basic (non-critical) machine work 'crude' cannot convey just how poorly crafted they are.
The chambers in the cylinder were very rough, with lots of tool marks and inconsistencies. I did not measure the cylinder or forcing cone, because by this time any hope of salvaging these revolvers was rapidly fading.
The final straw was the incredibly poor cylinder lock-up. The cylinder locks up at the rear only, and the rear of the frame does not appear to be solid around the plunger. Instead, it looks as if the plunger is retained by the cylinder latch itself, which is part of a removable left side plate. However it's constructed internally, the net result was that I could gently push on the right side of the cylinder when latched and the entire cylinder would move well more than an sixteeth of an inch (by my uncalibrated eyeball) out of alignment with the barrel. I'm not talking about a little bit of slop; the cylinder was bowing the latch assembly outward with very, very little pressure on the right side of the cylinder.
I consider the failure of the first one to pass basic function test to be troubling, and the poor cylinder lockup/retention to be unacceptable under any circumstances.
Accordingly, I have packed these revolvers up and returned them to my FFL. I am not willing to shoot these things.
When I went to pick them up, I found that they were shipped in decent plastic pistol cases with Rock Island Armory embossed on the side. They were also literally dripping in shipping oil. This prevented much in the way of an inspection prior to taking them home.
When I got home, I spread out a bunch of towels and began the process of cleaning 'em off. Sadly, the first one that I pulled out of the box would not pass basic function check; when thumb cocked, it would not catch fully on the SA hammer notch and the hammer would drop without the trigger being pulled. It would pull thru DA just fine, but SA was clearly broken. Dang. I cleaned it up a bit more, and set it aside.
The second one passed basic function test, and I began to examine it more closely as I slowly removed the never ending drip of shipping goo. The first thing that became apparent was that the barrel was badly leaded and filthy. Having shot Armscor lead ammo before (and having had it badly lead up anything I shot it in), I didn't get too upset about this since I presumed that this was simply a side-effect of a factory test fire. It would have been nice if the customer didn't have to de-lead the barrel, but for $200 I'm willing to let the factory cut a few corners.
Upon closer examination, I noticed that the top strap was not machined parallel and had a definite bow in the middle, and the frame recess for the cylinder crane was very badly and inconsistently hogged out. In looking at the two revolvers side-by-side, it almost looked as if each was held by hand during large machining steps, with subsequent large deviations in basic frame dimensions between the two. To call the basic (non-critical) machine work 'crude' cannot convey just how poorly crafted they are.
The chambers in the cylinder were very rough, with lots of tool marks and inconsistencies. I did not measure the cylinder or forcing cone, because by this time any hope of salvaging these revolvers was rapidly fading.
The final straw was the incredibly poor cylinder lock-up. The cylinder locks up at the rear only, and the rear of the frame does not appear to be solid around the plunger. Instead, it looks as if the plunger is retained by the cylinder latch itself, which is part of a removable left side plate. However it's constructed internally, the net result was that I could gently push on the right side of the cylinder when latched and the entire cylinder would move well more than an sixteeth of an inch (by my uncalibrated eyeball) out of alignment with the barrel. I'm not talking about a little bit of slop; the cylinder was bowing the latch assembly outward with very, very little pressure on the right side of the cylinder.
I consider the failure of the first one to pass basic function test to be troubling, and the poor cylinder lockup/retention to be unacceptable under any circumstances.
Accordingly, I have packed these revolvers up and returned them to my FFL. I am not willing to shoot these things.
