I recently saw a small (Chief Special-sized) Armscor M206 38 spl, made by RIA, at a gun shop and a good friend wants to get rid of his 9mm pistol and get a small revolver like my M36. Other than having a 6-round cylinder, size seems to be similar. (He only needs a home gun; he doesn't carry.) I'm totally unfamiliar with any RIA revolvers, so I must ask the masses is this a <$300 gun because it's poor quality or just because of efficient use of cheap labor, etc.?. One place online has it on sale for <$250, plus etc. I don't want to suggest a *** gun, so I thought someone here may know something. It's got a funky trigger, but I think they sell DA only guns, too.
Thanks in advance. Jeff

Roy Huntington did a video review on it HERE. I've never thought much of the gun, but I do respect Roy and his integrity.

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Ain't This Fun Though?

Ugly, but they've received good reviews. They apparently fit in a Detective Special holster. I believe they were made in the Philippines.

My concern would be service and parts availability down the road. I'd have them look for a S&W 442. They may be able to find a nice used example w/o the IL for $100-$150 more.

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"I also cook."

He's a better DA shooter than me, that's for sure.

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Release the Kraken

I bought a full parts kit and I don't even own one....But if I ever happen into one and something breaks, I have got parts.

They’re considered phenomenal for the price. All the RIA guns are extremely well made.

I probably wouldn’t put a thousand rounds of +Ps through one every weekend, but for a house or carry gun they’d work just fine. But with confidence. Don’t think I’ve ever heard a bad word about them.

The Rock snubby is similar to Colt. Six shots and the cylinder release.

I think of them better than Taurus or Charter Arms and such.

In perspective, most people do not shoot 100s of rounds thru a snubby type revolver.

Post #7 answered another question. I bought a new Charter Arms 3” revolver that works well, .357/.38spl, but the trigger and mainly the hammer suck. But it’s a great DA gun. Marty doesn’t need a carry gun, just a revolver that may or may not be shot more than a half box a year. Just home protection use.

Today’s “bargain”.

Tomorrow’s paperweight.

I think of that every time I see a “value priced” gun, or anything else cheap. Personally, and I told him, maybe look for an older S&W, as looks aren’t that important. Unless of course you happen to be looking down the muzzle. Thanks guys.

I had one, and sold it.

It seemed like it was solidly built, but it just didn't "feel" nice.

It uses the same speed loaders as a Model 10.

I bought a M200 4" two years ago from my LGS, mostly because it was inexpensive, and I was "in the mood" to buy a new gun, mostly looking for a truck/console gun that was not beat to **** first. A friend at work had one, bought it for his mother to have as her SD revolver.

It is a close Colt clone, cylinder turns "backwards", Colt style "pull" release, etc. It is made in Turkey, and sold by Armscor, a Philippine company who makes the RIA brand. The trigger was awful. I went to other forums, and users said "shoot it a lot and it all smooths out".

I had a lot of 38 snap caps, so I cleaned it up, and started using it as a hand exerciser for several weeks - dry fired it well over 1,000 times, usually 100 DA's and a dozen or so SA's each day. It slicked up to be the fastest DA 38 revolver I own.

Now that I have a range to go to, and shoot it, accuracy is good, shoots LHBWC's and LSWC's to POI quite well. And when I mean fast, the lockup is quicker than my best Smiths, which are a 1950 M&P and a 1983 Mdl. 60, both well broken in.

I note that five years ago, at a gun store/indoor range that I used to go to, the owner convinced me to buy a RIA .45 1911. He shoots competitively, and said it was the best bargain 1911 out there. I agree. It shoots better than I can. Other better shooters than me have tried it and all agree.

Armscor makes good solid guns, and buys others from good factories to sell as theirs.

Buy some snap caps and break it in. It's sturdy, and a good value. The HKS M3 speedloader works better than the HKS 10 - it is a Colt clone sized revolver. Cylinder is slightly smaller than a six round Smith or Ruger.

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Heavily armed old man.

1. Its a special only gun, read manual

2. From most of the forums ive been on, these armscor guns are considered to be "good enough to use for suicide attempts". Its the Bryco/Jennings of the revolver world.

3. A firearm that is meant to be depended upon, should cost at least TWICE what the local price of a remingotn 250 round MEGAPACK of 130 grain fmj 38 special goes for.

I bought a M206 at my LGS a few months ago.

It is less of a j-frame clone and more of a Colt Detective-Special clone.

They may be a bit rough around the edges, but not a bad choice if you are looking for a compact 6-shot 38 special revolver.

JMO and YMMV...

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Send lawyers, guns & money...

Familiar with their 1911's - Good guns. Just last year I did look one of their revolvers over pretty well at a local gun shop. Fit & finish was OK. What struck me was after handling several brands of inexpensive offshore revolvers over the years, the RIA seemed different. Seemed to be solid and use quality materials. From what I have seen and read; they look like a good choice.

Larry

I'm hankering to get the 3 in Rock w/adj sights in 9mm....Just haven't jumped the fence yet.

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S&W Accumulator

I accidentally bought one with a low bid on Gunbroker that I forgot about until I got the winner email.

They are cheaply made, roughly finished, ba trigger and mine broke. While dry firing with snap caps the transfer bar broke in half. Paperweight!

RIA did a good job repairing it but I never shot it after being fixed and sold it off. I would never be able to trust it.

Buy something better.

Thats the thing.. they arent meant for a shooter, they are meant at BEST as a "buy on saturday, buy a box of 50 rounds of 158 LRN, and test 3 cylinders, and put in sock drawer"