In my 20+ years of gunwriting, a common and regular complaint I deal with is whiners wanting to know why every gun write up is favorable. They accuse writers of placating advertisers, without even checking to see if those manufacturers are advertisers. The fact of the matter is you don’t publish negative reviews for the same reason Playboy doesn’t publish pictures of fat, ugly women—people don’t want it! The ugly girls get turned away, and the guns that don’t work well are sent back.
So for those of you who just have to bleat about wanting negative reviews, let me introduce you to the RG revolver—this fine piece of German engineering is a real piece of crap in my opinion. And since Marky and Freeze don’t have to deal with the cost of paper, printing or postage, I don’t have to worry about wasting anything other than your time to read this.
To begin with, it’s chambered in .22 Short and has a 1 1/2-inch barrel meaning it doesn’t have squat for velocity or accuracy. That said, I would not want someone shooting one at me because they might get lucky.
It’s also made of dubious metal. The cylinder appears to be steel, but most of the gun fails the magnet test. The swing-down loading gate is an expedient feature, but it’s fragile and I imagine could easily be snapped off if opened with too much gusto. Forget about quick reloads—to eject empties you have to unthread the cylinder pin and push the cartridge cases out with it one at a time.
About the only thing good I can say for the RG is that when they were made, they were available everywhere from convenience stores to pharmacies for the princely sum of $7.99 meaning that even the poorest person could afford a little self protection, even if it wasn’t much.
I’d love to tell you how it shoots, but I won’t shoot it with so much as blanks. Now, it’s nothing more than a photo prop.
Scott Mayer
www.tacticaltshirts.com
www.john1911.com
“Shooting Guns & Having Fun”
In 2008, Mayer returned to the editorial side of publishing, this time in the digital field, as Editorial Director for Guns & Ammo, Shooting Times, Handguns and Rifleshooter online magazines. After a brief stint in 2011 as the Digital Media Director for an ABC TV affiliate, Mayer returned to the outdoors industry and Safari Club International where he is currently Assistant Publisher and Multi-Media Communications Editor.
- CMMG Banshee & DefCan - April 13, 2018
- Cartridges Before There Were Cartridges - May 7, 2017
- Gas Rings Seal Test - April 17, 2017
