Rohm RG 38 Saturday Night (38) Special. What to look for?

[arakboss]

Are there any special things to look for in a Rohm revolver versus all steel revolvers?

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[VinnieBoomBah]

Someone else's fingerprints?






Beyond that, check lock up, the ones I have seen tend to lock up poorly and the cylinder hand can peen more easily than most. Frame stretching can be an issue and check the front of the frame to see how well the crane fits. In my experience people that buy the lower priced revolvers are more likely to do the guwd awful TV Detective cylinder flip to close the cylinder and that can and will bend the crane

 

[Alexx1401]

I have not seen one of those in decades. Are you looking to buy one? If so I have to hope its dirt cheap? No doubt there must be some of them floating around out there that were never even fired. Several decades back I had shot a few in both .38 and in .22 LR that did "work".

 

[Knobgoblin]

Play in the barrel to frame interface. Loose or missing front sight, probably plastic. Cracked, missing, mismatched, or glued on grips. Lol , not even going to list internals.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Look for another revolver that is not garbage.

 

[Certaindeaf]

A traffic barrel.

 

[arakboss]

I have not seen one of those in decades. Are you looking to buy one? If so I have to hope its dirt cheap? No doubt there must be some of them floating around out there that were never even fired. Several decades back I had shot a few in both .38 and in .22 LR that did "work".

I was thinking about it. It's not dirt cheap at $160 but it looks cool.

 

[CountryGent]

Look for another revolver that is not garbage.

^ This.

 

[Stomper]

 

[Knobgoblin]

If you want a Rohm or RG pot metal for your collection, just wait for a cheap rimfire to buy.

 

[thorborg]

I have a ROHM double action 38 special. Yes, I did get it cheap. It has some age to it yet still locks up tight. 4 pound single action 11 or 12? double action, No play anywhere, Aluminum frame or so, it looks like anodization not paint, You can call it alloyed or pot metal if you feel better, but what gun is sporting much steel beyond the barrel /chamber these days.
This has that, blued steel barrel, cylinder, and all miscellaneous moving parts. Removable well fitted plastic grips.
Even shoots well for the basic strap cut sights on it. I've handled many other ROHM's over the years some not so good yes, but when cared for, not abused, most of the revolver 38 were in good shape. With enough quality they functions well and should last many rounds..
I unapologetically like mine, have my money's worth of fun out of it and then some...

 

[Alexx1401]

I was thinking about it. It's not dirt cheap at $160 but it looks cool.

At that price I would pass even if it was still in its box and looked like it had never been fired. That price is too close to what you can get something FAR better for.

 

[arakboss]

At that price I would pass even if it was still in its box and looked like it had never been fired. That price is too close to what you can get something FAR better for.

I will keep looking. Even the M200s are selling for darn near $250 and will require transfer fee on top of that. It seems that centerfire revolvers with 4 inch plus barrels are holding up price wise in todays soft handgun market.

 

[Alexx1401]

I will keep looking. Even the M200s are selling for darn near $250 and will require transfer fee on top of that. It seems that centerfire revolvers with 4 inch plus barrels are holding up price wise in todays soft handgun market.

RI is importing some very "base model" .38's now. Have not seen one to handle it but I would look around for one to see how it feels. Davidsons has them listed in stock. At least it would come with a warranty. That RG if it breaks right after you take it home you would have just flushed the cash down the crapper.

 

[Longwalkhome]

When I was a teenager my mom bought an RG 22lr revolver from Payless Drugstore for $10. Certainly a cheap import in the 60s. When she died my sister got it and kept it in a bedroom drawer. When she died my nephew got it and shoots it now and then..

Röhm RG-14

The Röhm RG-14 is a double action, six shot revolver chambered in . 22 LR formerly manufactured and sold by Röhm Gesellschaft of Sontheim/Brenz, Germany. One copy was used by John Hinckley Jr. to shoot Ronald Reagan on 30 March 1981.

 

[JuglansRegia]

I believe the main issue was they used a die cast zinc alloy, zomak or something like that. Anyways, it gets brittle with age which translates to a 20% reduction in strength.

I have been in a lot of gun shops and never saw one in a display case. I have heard of gun shops unwilling to buy or resell them and if they do end up with a Rhom as part of an estate puchase or whatever, they save them for gun buy back events. Sometimes they take a "stringers" full the buy back.

 

[arakboss]

I believe the main issue was they used a die cast zinc alloy, zomak or something like that. Anyways, it gets brittle with age which translates to a 20% reduction in strength.

I have been in a lot of gun shops and never saw one in a display case. I have heard of gun shops unwilling to buy or resell them and if they do end up with a Rhom as part of an estate puchase or whatever, they save them for gun buy back events. Sometimes they take a "stringers" full the buy back.

That is interesting and the first time I have heard that about zinc based castings. I know from experience that plastic gets brittle with age. I wonder if the all the plastic framed pistols are going to have problems with cracking as they age?

Edit: I wonder when my hi points will get brittle with age?

 

[Alexx1401]

That is interesting and the first time I have heard that about zinc based castings. I know from experience that plastic gets brittle with age. I wonder if the all the plastic framed pistols are going to have problems with cracking as they age?

Edit: I wonder when my hi points will get brittle with age?

First the RG's. Zamak has been around a LONG time. RG was not the only one to use it but, as with all alloys there is always quality control as what makes or breaks. Not to mention as time has gone on people have found different ways to do better.
High Point has been around for about 30 years now. For all that time they have been much maligned due to their price. Even before the net the HP's were laughed at due to price. What I do not ever seem to see is people showing the guns being laughed at due to them dying from use. If you look at video now you can spend hours watching people try to destroy a HP and finding it quite hard to do. If you tried this same thing with some RG guns I suspect you would find it very easy to break them.

 

[arakboss]

I paint some winch parts at work that are zinc castings and survive in Military use environments. The two pieces to the left and right of the steel wire spool are zinc castings and the end housing on the far left is also a zinc casting. i think you are right about who does the casting. I am not worried about my hi point slide breaking down anytime soon.

 

[coop44]

Buy it, smash it repeatedly with a hammer, consider this destructive testing, congratulate your self on a service done to benefit all mankind.