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  #51  
Old 03-23-2020, 08:05 PM
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I knew a guy up in CO who dropped a loaded derringer and it discharged.
I don't recall the brand but it didn’t have a Hammer Block.
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  #52  
Old 03-23-2020, 08:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Kurusu View Post
I'll let you in on a dirty little secret. Those were not backup guns. Their purpose was to be "planted" next a gunned down suspect if found that he was not armed afterall.

Edit. I missed sigp220.45 post #36.

Words elude me. Surely you guys aren't suggesting that a police officer would attempt to plant evidence in the event of a "bad", for lack of a better term, shooting?
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  #53  
Old 03-23-2020, 08:45 PM
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Words elude me. Surely you guys aren't suggesting that a police officer would attempt to plant evidence in the event of a "bad", for lack of a better term, shooting?

There's rotten apples in the barrel, even on Police Departments.
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  #54  
Old 03-23-2020, 08:50 PM
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I had no idea of the connection between Bo Clerke and the *** Clerke revolver.
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Old 03-23-2020, 08:56 PM
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I am astonished that some of you hands didn't see through my **** early on.

A clean pistol with a dirty bore and fired case under the hammer and not a fingerprint, or, now a days some errant DNA on it including the cartridges wiped clean found in the trunk of a car, especially a cop car, screams "throw-down" or "drop gun" or, as above "ham sandwich (?)" and it's only LEGITIMATE use is to place in the hand of the wrong man after you have shot him.
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  #56  
Old 03-23-2020, 09:03 PM
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I am astonished that some of you hands didn't see through my **** early on.

A clean pistol with a dirty bore and fired case under the hammer and not a fingerprint, or, now a days some errant DNA on it including the cartridges wiped clean found in the trunk of a car, especially a cop car, screams "throw-down" or "drop gun" or, as above "ham sandwich (?)" and it's only LEGITIMATE use is to place in the hand of the wrong man after you have shot him.
Well, smile when you say that then.
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  #57  
Old 03-24-2020, 01:13 PM
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My RG10.
I'll never ever shoot it, but I'll never get rid of it either.
My grandpa carried it in the glove compartment of his farm truck when I was growing up, 70s-80s.
Some of my fondest memories are riding around with him checking varmint traps around his peanut fields. I did the leg work on the ones that were out of sight from the truck. If I came back with a thumbs up, he'd grab that pistol and come take care of business.
I can't even imagine how many coons and possums he dispatched with that thing over the years.
I believe the electrical tape "Talon" grips are to hold it together, not for texture. LOL.
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  #58  
Old 03-24-2020, 01:49 PM
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Yes they were pretty ******, cheap guns for sure. The intended market was people who thought they needed a gun but didn't have much money... Since mass production of guns began there have always been guns marketed for just this reason.... cheap cap lock single shots from Belgium in the mid 1800's, the cheap "Suicide Specials" of the later 1800's... lots of Belgian and Spanish revolvers and pocket pistols imported into the US to compete with domestic production from the likes of Iver Johnson and H&R for the lower end of the market.

There always has been a demand for affordable guns especially among those with less money. Use of cheaper alloys and castings got prices pretty low (and their popularity among the poorer classes meant they were more likely to show up in criminal hands too....... lots of them around so easier to buy or steal). While commonly thought of as "ghetto guns" or "saturday night specials" they were all over when I was young including out in farm country. Seems like more than a few people didn't want to or couldn't justify or afford to spend a lot on a gun that they weren't going to be hunting with and would likely just sit in a drawer or ride around in the glovebox for an imagined emergency.

I have played around with a number of these guns over the years. Most will at least function when new (or at least with just a few rounds through them), what they don't have is much durability. But most of the people buying them really weren't likely to shoot them a lot if at all (have encountered more than one, still in the box with the box of ammo they bought at the time still with it, either full or missing just a couple rounds). I guess they filled a need for an inexpensive handgun for more than a few people in their time. Certainly a better quality gun might have served them better if they really needed it but to many people "a gun is a gun". And, in many cases just the presence of a gun, even a ****** one, has been enough to discourage a criminal.

I doubt if the demand for cheap guns will ever go away though at least with all the gun forums, blogs and online articles people have a chance to be a little better educated on what guns are a good choice (and which ones are not). And the word does get out quickly on stuff that just doesn't work or is outright unsafe nowadays. But some of the "Ring of Fire" guns have been re-born under new names (Jiminez and Phoenix for instance) and are still selling........... because they are still cheaper than their competition..........
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  #59  
Old 03-24-2020, 01:50 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kurusu View Post
I'll let you in on a dirty little secret. Those were not backup guns. Their purpose was to be "planted" next a gunned down suspect if found that he was not armed afterall.

Edit. I missed sigp220.45 post #36.
Unless you got photos, video, a LIVE witness or a signed confession . . . . it never happened.
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  #60  
Old 03-24-2020, 02:16 PM
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I wouldn't trade mine for anything, I don't care how many of the self appointed elitist gun snobs turn their nose up at it. The first revolver for a kid with a trap line, traded muskrat pelts for it...even swap. Couldn't even begin to guess how many times it was dropped in the water, used as a hammer, or how many 22 shorts it consumed sending furry critters to my stretcher boards. Now a days its in my basement loaded with shot and used on mice that crawl around the field stone foundation.
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  #61  
Old 03-24-2020, 02:41 PM
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I confess. I have a Jennings 22. Wanna know what's worse? It's my second one. The first ended up in the bottom of a lake.
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  #62  
Old 03-24-2020, 03:10 PM
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Quote:
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Unless you got photos, video, a LIVE witness or a signed confession . . . . it never happened.
Did I say it happened?
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  #63  
Old 03-24-2020, 05:22 PM
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Quote:
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Great taste in women however. Jody Foster. Hubba hubba!
Uh, not to burst your bubble, but, you DO know that Jody "plays for the other team"? Ya know, she just might wear logging boots and flannel shirts? Ya know? She just might be a major Ellen DeGeneres fan? Ya knows what um sayin'?




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  #64  
Old 03-24-2020, 06:39 PM
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I have only owned one Jennings and it wasn't a revolver.I will never own another one if I have to buy it pistol or revolver.
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  #65  
Old 03-24-2020, 07:59 PM
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I have only owned one Jennings and it wasn't a revolver.I will never own another one if I have to buy it pistol or revolver.
I won't share details, but I had (still have) a Jennings .380. It lasted around 30 rounds, now irrepairable. I guess that might be a pretty good lifespan for a SNS, as you would be able to kill up to 30 other dope dealers infringing on your territory with it.
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  #66  
Old 03-25-2020, 05:05 PM
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Here's my only RG. It's a Model 57 in .44 Magnum! (I found it when I was on Gunbroker looking for - of course - a S&W Model 57 in .41 Magnum.) I had no idea such a beast existed but when I saw it I had to have it.

Are these the worst pistols ever made?-2012-10-24-16-51_p1110549-jpg

Are these the worst pistols ever made?-2012-10-24-16-50_p1110547a-jpg

I have to say that is the best made RG that I have ever seen, which isn't saying much. However it does look pretty well put together, and it is all steel and not pot metal. Oh and yes, the serial number is 10000. I have not fired it but the Gunbroker seller said that he had shot 60 rounds of factory ammo through it.
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  #67  
Old 03-25-2020, 05:35 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ExRanger714 View Post
If those guns were so cheap and ****** why did a lot of cops I've known keep one, or one very similar to it, very clean, except for the bore which looked like a fired bore, in the trunk of their car for a back-up piece? These guns quite often had a fired case or two in the cylinder as well as live rounds but I never quite caught on why. I guess it was unreliable hammer-down-on-a-live-round technology.
You are missing the sarcasm emoji.
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Old 03-25-2020, 05:36 PM
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ROHM the company that made the RG still is in business, but from what I have been able to glean about them from the internet (there's a Wikipedia page) they are concentrating on their core business, machine tools, products for the auto industry, engineering and aerospace. Their factory in Miami closed in 1986 but they still have factories all over Europe, and in China and India. I don't know if they still produce firearms under the RG brand or not. Apparently a lot of people like the 38s. There's even a web page about them Rohm RG 38S 38 Special Revolver - Home I never encountered one but they are around.
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Old 03-25-2020, 07:14 PM
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Ah, what a trip down memory lane...remember clearly when these were available new in gun stores but never handled one, let alone developed the nerve to shoot one.

On a related note, has anyone ever seen the RG .44 Magnum? Saw one in an online auction and thought it might be...really dangerous on one end, no fair guessing which.
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Old 03-25-2020, 08:04 PM
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Jennings, Raven, Bryco - all the same POC. I inherited 2 Bryco 380's. I have been waiting for a police buy back to get rid of these **** guns.
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Old 03-25-2020, 10:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by murphydog View Post
Ah, what a trip down memory lane...remember clearly when these were available new in gun stores but never handled one, let alone developed the nerve to shoot one.

On a related note, has anyone ever seen the RG .44 Magnum? Saw one in an online auction and thought it might be...really dangerous on one end, no fair guessing which.

See post #66.
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