Interesting. The Rohm Model RG 23 .22 LR Caliber revolver is a quintessential “Saturday Night Special”: a very inexpensively made low-quality handgun. Often made with an zinc alloy frame (as the RG 23 was) that while softer than steel and thus lacking in durability was both simple and inexpensive to manufacture back in the day. The parts for the Rohm handguns were made in Germany and shipped to the USA (Florida) for assembly. Most such guns were sold to home owners of modest means who wanted a gun with which to fend off burglars and intruders. They fell into disrepute because they frequently fell into the hands of petty criminals and street gang members. Gun enthusiasts coined the disparaging nick-name “Saturday Night Special” since as devoted hobbyists they couldn’t imagine anyone having any pride of ownership in such a low quality product. Of course the typical purchaser didn’t buy one in order to win a target match, so a gun like the RG 23 was the right gun at the right price for them. As is illustrated in this case, where the mere sight of one made a brazen burglar surrender meekly. The RG 23 and other Rohm handguns have not been made for some 30 years now. Changes in federal law made such guns illegal or in some cases just uneconomical to manufacture. Plus improved methods of manufacture have made it possible to make much better quality handguns for a relatively low price.
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The RG 23 is the quintessential cheap handgun. It never had a good reputation. Many have claimed a lack of reliability, so I suspect that quality control was not in the same class as the old Smith & Wesson revolvers. The rough trigger makes accuracy difficult, even for experienced shooters. The steel inserts in ZAMAK alloy construction are corrosion cells waiting to happen. The revolvers are so inexpensive, they are not economically worth repairing. They sold, in 1969, for 19.95. The current price on the used market is about $50.
But, they are a gun. They will put a hole in a person in front of them, most of the time, if the shooter does their part. More importantly, they are recognizable as a real gun. This is essential, because in the vast majority of cases, the person holding the gun does not have to shoot for an effective defensive gun use. They just have to show that they are willing to shoot. Most guns used defensively are used for deterrence, rather than to injure or kill.
That is precisely what happened with the the RG 23 in the picture above. From wkrg.com:
When he came out they found the thief rummaging through his garage and all of their lawn equipment moved on the verge of being stolen.
That’s when Taylor grabbed his pistol and held the burglar up until police could get there.
“He was compliant with what I told him to do. But he was scared he was real scared,” said Taylor “He kept saying he didn’t move anything and I probably would have let him go if he didn’t just stop lying and then when I saw all my stuff pulled out and he was going to steal it, it kind of made me angry”
"Scared". "Compliant". Imparting the emotion to obtain the response is the major purpose of the defensive pistol in peacetime. Peaceful and responsible gun owners do not want to shoot people. They want criminals to be scared so as to be compliant. In the worst case, they want to be able to stop the crazy, drugged up, drunk, or reckless when those perpetrators are not scared or compliant. Fortunately, the cases when shooting is necessary are relatively rare. That is why there are only about 1,000 to 1,500 cases of justifiable homicide every year in the United States. The FBI Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) only catches about 20% of those, about 300 a year, due to the way in which the UCR has cases reported and defined.
Even a cheap pistol is enough nearly all the time. I prefer tough, well made, accurate, easy to shoot, powerful, durable pistols. The market has told me that is what most people prefer.
The RG 23, in my opinion, is a lousy gun to teach shooting with. It is horrible for hunting, terrible for training, dreadful for defense. But there is a market and a purpose for cheap guns, and the story of this little old RG 23 reminded me of that.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Link to Gun Watch
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/
Even a cheap pistol is enough nearly all the time. I prefer tough, well made, accurate, easy to shoot, powerful, durable pistols. The market has told me that is what most people prefer.
The RG 23, in my opinion, is a lousy gun to teach shooting with. It is horrible for hunting, terrible for training, dreadful for defense. But there is a market and a purpose for cheap guns, and the story of this little old RG 23 reminded me of that.
©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Link to Gun Watch
http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/
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