RG Revolvers?

[BBroadside]

I was trying to find references to Saturday night specials from the first half of the 20th Century, but I couldn't actually find any. Wikipedia says the term first appeared in print in 1968 (with an earlier reference to "Saturday night pistol").

In any case, what I was thinking of was the circa 1900 Iver Johnson, Forehand & Wadsworth, Harrington & Richardson, and Hopkins & Allen top-break revolvers in .32 S&W Long who some say are the original SNSs. On the other hand, they're not really of such bad quality, on the whole, so they may not really count under the modern definition. (The alternate term, "suicide special", is even less complimentary!)

So I guess I'll have to concede that Rohms are some of the first SNSs.

 

[mec]

I remember "suicide special" from well before 1968 and my father and older family members see to have used it since the early 20th century.

NRA literature has suggested that "Saturday Night Special" is a direct spinoff from a racist term, " N-word Town, Saturday Night." Bill Jordan recalled the terms "Owlhead" and " Saturday Night Harrison" (sic) He might have ment "Harrington."
The term "Saturday Night Special caught on with the "entertainment industry" very quickly. I recall an Adam 12 episode where two kids found a revolver in a dumpster. I believe it was a Smith chief's special.
" Do you know what this is?????!!!!! This is a SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIAL. This and other such episodes ( new or rerun ) clustered around the time the Congress had gun ban legislation pending. Either Teddy Kennedy's attempt to ban handguns or the California referendum to do the same.

 

[rc135]

Rohm Model 66

I have their M66, a SA revolver in 22Mag (blued 4-5/8" bbl). I like it a lot. I haven't ‎had any problems at all in the 500 or so rounds I've shot. I like the looks of it - ‎except those funky plastic stocks. Although a lot of people will say Rohms are junk, in ‎my opinion, that description refers mainly to the earlier models (M10, etc,), as the later ‎M66's and M88's appear to be pretty good. I paid $125 for mine in San Diego.‎

 

[and_frank]

Re: RG 39

Here are some pics of the RG-39 I spoke about before. not bad I'd say. Still havent gone to the range yet though, I still need to get work out of the way first. But I'll let yall know when I go and show you guys the results.

 

[Slamfire]

My gunsmith says RG stands for
"REAL GUN"
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.

My recollection from that era was that RG was sued out of business. I was reading in a trade magazine about product liability lawsuits, and how the loss of the RG lawsuit was very troubling.

You see the Anti's won the lawsuit (I think it was in MA) based on the RG being a "defective design". What had happened someone was shot with an RG. The pistol functioned perfectly, as expected. That was not the issue. The liberal Judge agreed the gun worked perfectly, but being a gun, it was a "defective design". Plaintiffs got the award and RG went out of business.

 

[jackstinson]

I have both an RG10 .22 Short revolver and an RG26 .25acp semi-auto pistol. Sure, they are inexpensively produced and the RG10 is kinda funny looking. Yet neither has fallen apart, failed to fire, jammed, nor spit lead from anywhere except out the muzzle. And both are surprisingly accurate at their intended range of around 5 yards. The RG10 is also a lot of fun to shoot with Colibri's in the basement.
And yes, some folks collect and regularly shoot what other folks look down on from their lofty palaces. I own and shoot a lot of the pocket gun brands which are so often derided...ah well, I enjoy it.
Jack

 

[Lee Larson]

RG Revolvers

Ach, All This Fuss Over Those Old Rg Revolvers! They Were All Junk, But Fun To Puttz Around With. #just Treat Them As Single-actions Rather Than Smooth Double-actions, And They Do All Right........at A Very Short Distance! At $9 Each, You Don't Get Smith & Wesson.

 

[jwhite764]

rg revolvers

found a rg modle 14 22lr while deer hunting on public land, had been there long enough to have some surface rust. i took in apart and soaked it in penatrating oil for 24 hours, wiped it clean, put it back together and took it to the range later. it fired all 60 rds i put through it and hit surprisingly well at 25 yards (i did have to aim low) its no xd but shot consistant six inch groups with a flyer every now and then, guess i got lucky.(if i would have bought it i probably wouldn't fire at all, thats just my luck. hope it dont blow up on me but it seems solid

 

[jhuwa]

burgo same as RG?

my father in law had a decent collection of firearms that i recently have been cleaning and taking care of for my wifes mom. she showed me a tool box where he kept some ammo and his cleaning kits. i opened the tool box and found four more guns. a ruger bearcat in mint condition, two burgo .22 short revolvers consecutive s/n's, and one burgo derringer style .22 lr. the Burgos fire every time. not much value from what i've read but priceless to me. fun to shoot and am interested in getting more for parts to make sure the ones i have are always in working order.

 

[camoman33935]

I've got a RG-10 .22lr that was my Papa's before he passed. Every time I pull the trigger, it goes bang. Man I love that gun.

 

[sherman123]

first revolver i ever shot and couldn't hit anything with it(mostly my fault but either way this gun was awful)

 

[d2wing]

I bought a model 85 22 single action from a guy before I knew how bad they are. I have no complaints about it. It shoots well and looks like a Ruger. It doesn't spit lead. The frame is not steel so I will not shoot it alot. It's ok as a cheap plinker but I'll be looking for a better one soon. I have not heard anything about this model anywhere.

 

[bestseller92]

RG = Real Garbage.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

RG may be long defunct, but this thread has been resurrected three times.

 

[CajunBass]

RG may be long defunct, but this thread has been resurrected three times

You won't believe it, but I saw an RG-22 at a gun show yesterday for........are you sitting down?............... $145.00.

 

[Sara Sheppard]

Now I don't know what to think. I was looking at another site and everyone there claimed it was a terrible gun. Now you people are saying it's decent for a piece of crap.

Nevermind, I'll just use my own judgement.... The gun sucks!

 

[Rail Driver]

I have an RG10 I picked up for a little more than it was worth... I paid $30 (about $30 too much).

It doesn't fire double action at all, and only fires single action intermittently. I have no idea what the deal is, or even how I would go about fixing it. It's a neat little gun, but I wish it worked better than it does. If it functioned properly I'd like it a lot more.