That space just behind the trigger guard, which revolver manufacturers have been filling with grip for decades, was open. At the butt, the grip bulged out toward the top of the back grip strap, it was very narrow. The grip was constructed of fairly nicely checkered wood, and the wood-to-metal fit was okay, with some overlap of the wood. The grip was the first characteristic noted by team members that looked dated and vaguely resembled a revolver grip design from a century ago. Tooling marks were evident on the exterior, though the satin nickel finish was evenly applied. The Charter Arms had the best lock up, in our opinion.
The 6-shot cylinder slightly wiggled when in battery, but not as much as the Rossi. The fit of the side plate and crane to the frame showed slight gaps, something a more expensive revolver would likely not display. The hammer sits flush with the rear of the frame, and it is DAO only. The ramp was not serrated, so there was some glare when aiming in direct sunlight. The front ramp sight was machined into the top of the barrel.
The RIA was equipped with a crowned 2-inch barrel with a full underlug that houses the knurled ejector rod. In fact, the action reminded us of a Colt Mark III J-series action with a coiled mainspring, such as that found on the Colt Official Police first produced in 1969. The cylinder also rotates clockwise like a Colt. The Model 206 is similar to a Colt DA revolver design with a cylinder latch that is pulled rearward to swing open the cylinder. The RIA, imported by Armscor, is a traditional steel-frame snubnose with a look that seemed frozen in time. The Model 206 gave good accuracy for a DAO revolver the grip was dated. Here is what we discovered: Rock Island Armory Model 206 51289 38 Special, $320 GUN TESTS GRADE: B. What we concentrated on were the functional aspects: triggers, sights, grips, accuracy, concealability, and ease of use. Felt recoil with this ammunition varied widely.Ī $400 revolver will exhibit some characteristics, such as fit and finish, that are not going to be nearly as nice as a revolver costing twice as much because finishing a firearm can be labor intensive and costly. We decided to test with 38 Special regular-pressure ammunition only, and acquired some Federal Champion 158-grain lead roundnose (LRN) cartridges, some Armscor 158-grain Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) rounds, and Hornady Custom fodder loaded with 158-grain XTP hollowpoints.
The Rossi manual stated it was compatible with +P ammo, but not to use +P frequently.
Accuracy with some of these short-barrel protectors was a pleasant surprise.Īll three were marked 38 Special, and we read the manuals to see if the guns were safe to use +P ammo. Our biggest gripes were the trigger pulls and grips, as we note below. The Rossi was a traditional SA/DA revolver with an exposed hammer with spur.Īfter running these revolvers, we found we liked a lot about all of them, but, as always, we noted some specific details about them we did not like. Because we also wanted to carry these revolvers, we looked at spurless and concealed-hammer models, which were the RIA and Charter Arms, respectively. The Rossi and Charter Arms models have 5-round capacities, while the RIA can carry 6 rounds. The double-action trigger pull on all three revolvers provided enough resistance - some were easier to press than others - so that in a high-stress situation, we felt they would be quite adequate and be less likely to be accidentally discharged.Īll were metal-frame revolvers chambered in 38 Special and sported 2-inch barrels. There is no magazine to lose since the revolver feeds off an attached cylinder. Snubnose revolvers like these three offer the user simplicity since there are no manual safeties, magazine-release buttons, slide stops or any other controls on the revolver other that the cycler latch. If accidentally dropped, none of them will fire. They are also safe to carry fully loaded and concealed, since they are equipped with internal safety systems that require the trigger to be pulled fully to the rear to fire a round. We felt all of these were well made, and we believe these revolvers will perform their designed task of self defense. Note that we did not use the word “cheap,” since cheap implies lack of quality. We found the Charter Arms Off Duty, Rossi Model R35102, and Rock Island Armory (RIA) Model 206 as not inexpensive choices, but not horribly spendy either. We did not pay a lot for the three snubnose revolvers tested below in fact, we wanted to see what new revolvers were available for about $400 because we feel protection should fit in everyone’s budget. There is that old expression: You get what you pay for.