Rossi RM66 and Budget Revolvers?

I haven't seen one, nor have I seen a really good test with measured trigger-weight, velocities, and groups with a variety of ammunition. But the gun itself and its place in the market intrigues me. Here's several considerations:

1. I like six-inch barreled .357s. The sight radius and increased velocity combined with lower recoil and blast all resonate with me. As a fairly poor person, I also like the idea of the kind of budget guns that used to be made in America, like Iver Johnson and so forth. They may not have had the features and finish of the Colts and S&Ws but they worked. Some of the Taurus offerings kind of filled this niche (the seven-shot, blued, 66 - WITHOUT the ports, for example), but Taurus lost a lot of that market with QC problems, and the fact that I frankly, never saw one of those types in a shop.

2. Current six-inch offering are somewhat heavy. This is good in some ways, but not so good in others. My old 586 was beautiful and accurate, but it weighed 46 ounces, unloaded. Current seven-shot, round-butt versions are a little lighter. I'm a wimp - I found it sluggish to move, and decades later, I wouldn't want to carry it around all day. Even farther back, I had a stainless Ruger Security Six. Sadly, I didn't appreciate it enough, then. Big difference in handling and all it needed was some reasonable grips (I think the Ruger version of magna grips was even smaller than the S&W offering).

3. The new Rossi RM66 is K-frame sized (cylinder is 1.46). It has a small underlug, but only weighs a little under 35 ounces, unloaded (11 less than my old 586). The grips look weird, but just might be useful with magnums. The MSRP is $620, over $300 less than the current 686 price. The trigger weights are probably going to be a bit heavy (but then, S&W is not all that great these days, it seems).

Here's my lower-class poor-boy interpretation of all this: I love shiny. I love deep blue. But I also like basic tools. I think there is a niche for something like an RM66, a basic Uncle Mikes nylon holster, maybe an HK speedloader or two, and some plain vanilla Federal 158 JSPs (they seem to do well in 6" tubes) for a country/farm/ranch gun. Caveat: this wheelgun HAS to have good QC, otherwise it's Taurus all over again. Taurus owns Rossi's stuff now. We'll have to see if the new leadership there can make good. It will never displace the 686s, GP100s, or Pythons, but it could offer us peasants an option.

What do you think?

Edit to add: Missed this thread a while ago - http://smith-wessonforum.com/firear...7-rossi-revolvers-return.html?highlight=Rossi

I had a Rossi 38 a few years back. I forget the specific model now, but it was sort of a "poor boys" Diamondback, 4" barrel, with a vent rib even, in stainless steel. It was a really nice little gun. Looked good, and shot good. I couldn't have asked it to do more.

I kept it a while, then sold/traded it off from something else, but there wasn't anything wrong with it.

I saw the video of that new Rossi M66 on YouTube last week - it looks promising. I think the stuff coming out of Brazil is pretty good these days. I say go for it. I may pick one up if I see one locally.
I currently have a Rossi M351 .38 Spc, I inherited it, but I haven’t fired it yet, and it seems to be a decent gun.

I'd buy an Interarms era Rossi but not the modern offering from Taurus.

I've only had one Rossi handgun, a stainless .22 styled after the S&W kit gun. I bought it used more than twenty years ago. Shot it a good bit over about ten years; it worked fine and was accurate, at least as accurate as an S&W Model 34 which I've also had, but I wouldn't make a decision based on results from one gun.

It was still a Rossi. I paid $125.00 for the gun and think I sold it for the same amount at a gun show. I'd save my money and buy an S&W.

The S&W will retain value better than a Rossi (or a Taurus) and will always be more desirable and easier to sell or trade should you ever want to do that. That's not a criticism of Rossi; the Rossi you buy may be just as good a gun in all respects as an S&W, but it remains a Rossi.

I've had this stainless M88 since the late 80's and while it is not precious to me like my 98 686+, I have never wanted to get rid of it. It has pretty good action, locks up great and shoots well. I stick it in my coat pocket from time to time.

My girlfriend has a nice old Rossi .38 snub in blue just about like the one pictured above and it has great polishing and blueing and looks like a quality piece with a DA trigger a touch on the heavy side. The square butt grip sure feels better than a J frame with a round butt.