Rock Island Armory M200 Revolver 38 Special Review

The good ol' fashioned revolver is not dead, not past a long shot. However, the majority of requests I still get from readers are for manufactures on semi-auto pistols. My local gun shop has just ane display instance that is devoted to revolvers – everything else is semi-auto handguns. I recently ran into one dandy deal on a piddling known revolver, from Stone Isle Armory, and its called the M200. We'll have a close wait at it, in this review.

I honestly never thought I'd reach the age where folks would start calling me an "onetime timer" – at least when it comes to firearms. Every now and so, the guys at my local gun shop, will show me an older model revolver, and comment that "you old-timers must have carried one of these back in the mean solar day…" Well, they aren't as well far off – my listen tells me I'm 27, my body tells me I'm fashion beyond my mid-60s though. Ugh!

I cutting my teeth on revolvers dorsum in the 1960s through 1970s – and somewhat into the early on 1980s, when I was doing private security work, private investigations or in law enforcement. There wasn't a whole lot of choices in reliable ammo for semi-autos back and then – a bulk of guys who carried semi-automobile handguns, were stoking them with FMJ, and that's the not all-time ammo for self-defense purposes. Equally ammo evolution avant-garde, then did people carrying semi-automobile handguns for self-defense, or other lawful purposes.  I personally didn't take any problem carrying a 1911 .45 ACP with FMJ ammo – information technology had been proven to be a very practiced manstopper over the years in combat. Nonetheless, many 1911s and other semi-automobile handguns simply wouldn't reliably feed JHP or SP ammo back then. Reliability has to exist a number 1 business organisation with whatsoever handgun.

Back in the day, you either carried a Due south&Westward or a Colt revolver, if you wanted the best of the all-time. Oh, I experimented over the years, with other brands of revolvers, like the Charter Arms, specially in .44 Special. The only bad thing was, the commercial .44 Special ammo available was usually round olfactory organ pb – not the all-time for cocky-defense force. I also liked and carried their picayune snubby in .38 Special – a larger selection of cocky-defence ammo was bachelor dorsum then. Most of my bear back then, was usually with a Due south&West or Filly revolver.

I spent some time in Rhodesia – now Zimbabwe — and I took both a vi-inch butt Filly Python in .357 Mag and a Colt Combat Commander .45 ACP in satin nickel finish with me, and I alternated conveying the two when out in the Bush. I still remember, the head of security at the airdrome in Rhodesia, offering me twice what I paid for my Python. Back then, a new Colt Python would prepare you back about $350 – he offered me $700 USD…I wouldn't sell it. Today, you will easily pay $two,000+ for a Colt Python.

Today we are focusing on the Stone Island Arsenal (RIA) M200 revolver. This is not the prettiest handgun I've always owned, nor is it the ugliest. My local gun shop had this revolver in their display case, it was "used" but unfired – full-retail on this gun is only $220 – so the "ugly" part of this bargain didn't bother me…the shop had $190 on the toll tag – that's what caught my eye. Long story short, I got the gun for $160 out the door, with a box of unknown reloaded ammo that the shop threw in with the gun. Not a bad day gun shopping, at all.

The M200 is a iv.02-inch barrel revolver. Information technology holds 6-rounds of .38 Special ammo. It is a single action/double activeness revolver, and the double activity trigger pull was just a piffling more than 7-lbs – outstanding. However, the single activeness trigger pull was dead on, super crisp at 3-lbs. What? Yeah, you read that right, an inexpensive revolver with a single activity trigger pull of 3-lbs and a double activity trigger pull at seven-lbs…that's unheard of – guys will pay gunsmiths a lot of money to get these kinds of trigger pulls on very expensive revolvers. These revolvers are fabricated in the Philippines, and are marketed by RIA.

The M200 is 8.78-inches long, one.50-inches wide and is 5.43-inches high. As already mentioned, information technology is a typical SA/DA revolver, Information technology has fixed sights – then no adjustments can be washed – the sights were zeroed for 25-yards. The gun weighs in a 1.76-lbs unloaded, and information technology has "Combat Polymer" grips, that are rounded – the frame is a circular butt. I don't care for the feel of the grips, only there are no afterwards-market grips available that I'm aware of – I would adopt some prissy foursquare butt rubber or wooden grips, but I'm not lament besides much – the gun was a super-steal of a deal. The cease is a dark gray, near black parkerized method – it will stand to some weather condition and abuse, that's for sure.

The cylinder release is similar to a Filly – in that, you lot have to pull back on the release to open up the cylinder, not push it, like you'd exercise on a Due south&W. At that place is no lock-up on the front of the cylinder – again, like a Filly, I much prefer the S&W when it comes to this – only makes the cylinder lock-upward tighter. The head infinite on the gun was tight, very tight – that'due south a good thing. There was a fiddling flake of play when the cylinder is locked-up – not much, just a bear on – simply the timing was simply fine.

Later I fully inspected the M200, and lubed information technology, I headed out to the range with the 50 rounds of unknown reloads, the gun worked perfectly. It wasn't until I started shooting single activeness, that I noticed the hammer is long and wide – not a bad affair, merely I hadn't noticed this when I bought the gun – not a deal breaker, by any ways.

It wasn't until a week later, I got back out to the outdoor area where I shoot, for some serious shooting. I had "killed" all the rocks in my first outing, so it was time for some serious accurateness work. I had the new Black Hills Armament .38 Special Love Badger 100-grain ammo on-hand for this part of my testing. This ammo is rated as +P and Rock Island Arsenal says you can burn +P ammo in this revolver. Still, I would limit the corporeality of +P shooting – to start with +P is hotter and more than powerful. Secondly, information technology is more expensive to shoot. Who wants to punch paper and impale rocks with spendy ammo? Non me!

Seeing as how the gun'southward sights were regulated for 25-yards, I set my target out at the altitude. The all-black sights were hard to see, and so I added a touch of hot pink boom smoothen to the front sight. I already had the canteen in my gun box. This made all the difference in the world to my aging eyes.

I shot 6-shot groups, rather than the traditional 5-shot groups that I normally shot with a semi-motorcar handgun. This merely seemed easier and smarter to do it this fashion. My accurateness testing was done via single-action, and I was getting groups slightly larger than iii-inches – outstanding for an inexpensive handgun…if I hunkered down, I was getting groups right at 3-inches – the gun showed a lot of promise! Double-action shooting wasn't nearly as good – even though the trigger pull was outstanding. I don't blame the gun or the ammo, it was me – I don't practise a lot of revolver shooting, and my groups were over 4-inches – I know the gun/ammo is capable of better than that – with more practise, I'1000 sure I could tighten-upward those groups. And so again, I was shooting six-shot groups instead of v shot groups.

I had an old generic ballistic Nylon holster, that fit the M200 perfectly, I put information technology on a Nylon gun belt, and added in two HKS speed loaders on the belt, in a double speed loader example – perfect fit. This set-upward may just stop up in my e-box in my truck – a person could do a lot worse out on the trail, for a hike or for cocky-defense than this set-upwardly. Check out the RIA M200 at your local gun shop. They also make a snubby version, if that is your preference. Information technology's a lot of gun for the money!

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Source: https://survivalblog.com/2019/05/20/rock-island-armory-m200-revolver-pat-cascio/

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