My RG .22 went bang......occasionally. It was usually when I released the hammer and the sear hadn't caught. When it did fire, it spit lead. That thing was dangerous. I don't know what zinc alloy is worth on the scrap market, but it can't be THAT much. I gave 17 bucks or a little more with tax and I got hosed, I can tell ya that. This was in about 1974, bought new. I literally threw that gun away. I tossed it in a bay, didn't want anyone to try to fire it. I busted the firing pin off the hammer first.
I had an RG 26 in .25 auto, that fed 100 percent and went bang every time. It was a zinc POS, too, but it's the only gun I ever drew on someone, fortunately the guy had a knife, not a gun. LOL While I couldn't hit squat past 10 feet with that thing, it did go bang when you pulled the trigger. At the time I carried that gun, it was a class A misdemeanor to carry in Texas, so I didn't want something I minded tossing and there wasn't much in tiny guns back then to choose from. It served its purpose. For an RG, it was a high dollar gun, fifty bucks plus tax. ROFL!