I went out looking for a budget .38

Something dirt cheap that I could toss into my center console, something i have zero attachment to , something that if everything went sideways and the police took it for evidence, I would NOT cry over.

I found that :-D

I bring to you the Rock Island Armory M206.

The 206 is a upright Colt Detectives Special Clone in a sub $250 package.

The bad? Its ugly, Especially if you put the cheap faux wood Det.Special grips on it. Its parkerized, and it just looks....meh. Maybe because its a 2" snub with a frame that hovers somewhere around that of a K frame haha The hammer.......very long, but has excellent checkering. All in all. its ugly.

The good?
The triggers comes in SA at a whopping 2.3lbs!.......yes its crisp as hell...and quite light. The DA? Closer to 12 but just as smooth as a smith. Buttery Buttery I say!.
It also carries 6 rounds of .38 and is +P capable. Thats a heck of a lot of boom for a "pocket gun".

The cylinder rotates smoothly and freely, the crane meets up with the frame with almost no gap, The lockup? Tight as hell. The barrel crown? Huge and well done. Overall id give it a 9/10 soley based on the fact that I think a Hi-point might look better :-p

I do have to say for the 220 doll hairs I've spent to buy it NIB.........its the best 220 doll hairs I've ever spent.

And if it ends up in an evidence locker? Ill just go spend another months worth of Starbucks money and replace it, probably forget about the evidentiary example completely, because its that cheap.

If youre looking for a great knock around gun that costs 20-30 more than a HI-point C9.with 50x the reliability. This is it.

Pictured with my 15-3 and handy buck knife :-D

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I am curious.
Did you. Buy it brand new from a dealer or was it a trade in or private sell that was NIB?
Almost sounds like the action may have been worked over a bit?
Glad you are happy with it.

I bought a used one at the LGS last month for just a little less.
I agree with your assessment 100%.
I put a set of used Pachmayr Compac grips made for the Colt Detective on mine. Great knock around gun.

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Send lawyers, guns & money...

I’ve handled these and they seem to be very well built…….IMHO much better quality than a Taurus!

Have heard nothing but good reviews on these. Obviously finished to a budget standard but function is king and from all accounts they do that well. I keep waiting to see one to look at. After all, my Glock is just as ugly. At least IMHO. Glad to see you are happy with it.

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The best I can with what I got

Yep, I’ve got one too.

Except mine has an absolute garbage double action trigger. Heavy, stacking, and to top it all off it’s also inconsistent feeling from shot to shot. Single action trigger is fine though.

I also would not cry if I lost it.

It’s the reason I only buy quality firearms now.

I bought it brand new. I had suspicions as well but after tapping out the side plate and checking surfaces its factory. 😁

I've heard this of them. Some are amazing others not so much on the DA action. Guess it's kind of a 50/50 on what you get.

I bought a NIB one, with a 4" barrel, a couple of years ago from Bud's. I forget what I paid, but it came with two major problems.

One. It came in a plastic bag, and was covered with some kind of oil/grease. I had to clean that stuff off before I could shoot it.

Two. There was some flashing on the plastic grips that I had to shave off with my pocketknife.

Other than that, it was pretty decent. Shot just fine, decent trigger, etc. I kept it a while then sold it to someone who wanted a gun but didn't have a lot of money to spare.

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John 3:16 .

The $220 price is the NIB price, I picked up the 4" model M200 and it shoots POA so I have no complaints for the $229 price I paid OTD at a local LGS.

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I have the 4" version, the M200. I like it a lot, very utilitarian, reliable and accurate. I use mine while bush hogging on the tractor, hiking in wet weather, tucked under the seat of the truck, etc.

One thing I've found is that holsters for Smith & Wesson K frames fit best. I thought that holsters made for Colt "D" frame revolvers such as the Police Positive or Diamondback/Detective Special would fit, as they seem to be copies of the Colt D Frame. It appears that even though the frame is similar size, the hammer is a different shape, so I couldn't make a Colt holster work and fasten the retaining strap. Holsters made for Smith & Wesson K frames work fine....

With Don Hume "Border Patrol" style:





With Bianchi #5:

The grips do leave something to be desired. They're super cheap and flimsy. I keep looking at Det.Special big round grips. But at $75 haha they're literally half the price of the gun so I've held off 🤣

Ehhh, I'd be hesitant to gauge their quality until you've got years of use and a few thousand rounds through one.

Mine had the transfer bar snapped in half rendering it a paperweight. Armscor service was decent but I could never trust it again and sold it off.

I had a 2" 44 spcl from another S. American maker, I loved it for the cool factor, but when I looked inside, seeing the transfer bar stud so week I decided not to trust it. It went away in a trade to a dealer for a 3" m65, which in turn had a function defect I decided not cost effective to fix so it went back at a loss. Some good, some bad.

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"Don't Give Up the Ship"

Is a big problem for me. I'd never get it open to reload in a real life self defense situation I'm afraid. Too many years pushing the release latch forward on the Smith revolvers I've owned.

That's why I never bought a Colt revolver, as I consider every gun I own as a potential self-defense tool.

The action on mine feels good empty, but the cylinder occasionally wants to drag when loaded. I need to dig it out and see what's causing that.

I have that same issue with my 15-3 haha Depending on the ammo manufacturer. If i point the barrel up and cock the hammer, the rounds will fall back and catch near the spoon, causing the cylinder to fail to rotate. Basically only happens with aluminum cased ammo, nickel plate and brass doesnt do it lol

Put a set of Craig Spegel stocks on it, like I did on my Colt's Agent, and
it will be beautiful.

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In Omnia Paratus

For that price point and your intended purpose I like it!

About 20 years ago I had the idea of putting relatively inexpensive handguns in each vehicle as a back-up plan of sorts. At that time there were a load of Star BM 9mm pistols on the market at attractive prices. Surplus from the Spanish Guardia Civil (paramilitary police), basic 1911-style about the size of a Colt Commander. In "good" condition they could be had for $149 each, in the factory box with two magazines and a manual in English. I purchased three of them and found them to be very dependable and quite accurate.

Then one son needed a pistol. Then a grandson needed a pistol. Then the other son found out that his brother had gotten one and thought he should have one also.

Back to square one.

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Life of the party until 8:00PM

I forgot. I had to shim mine with a piece of cardboard cut from a business card to stop them from wiggling. Worked great.

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John 3:16 .

I have owned the same model Buck knife for many years, very happy with it.
I recently bought a pristine Rossi 38 (copy of J frame S&W) used from a local gun shop. Never fired, in original box, the nicest bluing I have seen in a long time. Shoots great, nice notched grip which has room for the pinky.
Got a decent price considering the current market for guns. Having it end up in an evidence locker wouldn't tear me up as bad as it would with my Smith 442 or my Caniks.

I keep hearing good things about the RIA revolvers. However, I've never seen one. I do own a couple of their 1911s and they're good guns. If I run across one of the revolvers, I'll probably buy it just to try it out.

That sums it up for me too. It's nice hearing from people here that actually own one.

One day I was really looking at them online and decided why not just buy an old beater S&W instead. And that was my first Model 10 of many.

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I've been impressed with the couple I've fired (4" and the snubby), but every time I ran into them was pre-covid, and a week of searching could net you a $200 or $250 police trade in Model 10, which was almost always the better choice. Nowadays with $400 being about the floor for 10s, I think the RIAs are a great choice for any application well served by a cheap revolver.

I found this beater project smith that was pitted up and had a nickel bbl/cylinder swap on it. Removed the nickel stuff and had it parked. It has a smooth as butter trigger pull but you wouldn’t know it by looking at it. Fitzed it for good measure.

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Hey Guys, First, IIRC, weren't these produced & imported by Armscorp of the Philippines, as opposed to of South American manufacture ? I pretty much agree with the basic consensus here, being that these 'Economy' D Special's should quite capably serve their intended role, as an economic option self defense 'station rig'. By that I mean a weapon that is kept loaded, in some specific location, along with an reasonable resupply of ammunition, say 18 or so rounds, in either Speed Loaders or Bianchi Speed Strips. Granted, it's no target revolver, yet just might be capable of allowing you to get home if a situation occurs that requires you to defend yourself, or at the least, to be prepared to, or capable of defending yourself. Some years ago before Retiring, I used to keep a used, 'L.E. Trade In' S&W 4" H.B. M64 right next to the Jack / Tools in well of my Extended Cab Pick Up. Just a little plastic kid's pencil box', containing the M64, an IWB Rig, & 24 rds of +P. That little 'package' I felt should hopefully provide temporary relief until I could extricate myself from the particular situation.

Best, dpast32

Picked up a M-200 4 inch yesterday. Looks to be OK...Going to shoot it a bit and use it for a truck(or car) gun. Not a real pretty gun but better than my beater 10-5. I got that one for 4 silver dollars. I also got a RIA 1911. It looks ok too. Going to waste a few hundred rounds through it and carry it for winter. Rather carry the Wilson but rather take a chance of having a 450 buck gun in an evidence locker than the 4 grand Wilson. And I'm going to try the 22 Wilson conversion on the RIA for summertime play. Hope the RIA revolver works out, though. BTW the M-200 retails about $300 around here but I got it for $225 OTD. In fact the S&W 9mm EZ I got with the 2 RIAs cost more than the 1911.

I'm glad to say that like minds think alike. Not being a fan of Colt style wheel guns, I chose a Taurus in 9 mil as my lose it and I won't cry carry.

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was going to buy one from Dunhams, they were on sale for $178. they haven't been that low of a sale for a while.

AAAHHH!!!...My eyes!!...I'm blind!......Ben

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Cogito, ergo BOOM!...

From what I've seen lately, the New RIA revolvers and the New Taurus 856 revolvers on sale are cheaper than the used Model 10s!
Geoff
Who hasn't looked at the RIA revolvers, yet.

From what I've seen, beater M10s, especially snubbies, are going for much higher prices than I've ever seen. Then again, so is everything else. Makes these cheaper imports have a degree of attraction for riding on the floorboards or in the glove box.