"Saturday Night Specials" from Germany

S

simonrichter

New member
it occurs to me that some of the "Saturday Night Specials", particularly semiautos by Röhm, were actually only live-firing versions of models that were elsewhere marketed as blank firing guns / starter guns. Is that correct or is it just a superfcial resemblance? Given that blank firing guns are typically made of zinc alloy or the like, this might not be a material able to withstand live ammunition...
 
I have a RG revolver, and while it's very cheaply made, it has a steel barrel and cylinder, so I don't think it could be considered a non-gun converted into a gun by drilling and rifling the barrel, or whatever the distinction would be that separates a real gun from non-gun or starter's pistol?
 
It is well known that Rohn and others originally made blank firing revolvers. In the Germany of 1920-1940, crime was rampant, but the average citizen could not obtain a gun to fire live cartridges, so blank firing guns, both revolver and auto types came on the market.

After the war, most people who wanted a gun (for good or ill) could get one relatively easily, so there was not so much demand for blank firing guns.

But one thing Germany needed badly was hard currency, spelled "dollars". So the makers of blank firing handguns revived their blank-gun lines, changed the guns just enough to pass proof tests and made them for live ammunition. Most were sold in the U.S. often by companies that also sold cheap cigarette lighters, fake "SS" knives, and similar junk.

Those guns sold retail for as little as $9.98, and probably cost about $2 to make, so they were not exactly high quality. Still, some times they held up surprisingly well; in U.S. government tests, some samples fired 5000 rounds without failure!

The "$9.98 Saturday Night Special" became so ingrained in the anti-gun rhetoric that only a few months ago I saw an editorial demanding a ban on "ten dollar imported pistols".

Note that though originally intended as defense weapons, they were generally imported as "starter pistols", so as to appear more innocent.

Jim
 
I have a Rohm RG38 revolver. It is a 6 shot snub nose revolver with a metal barrel and cylinder. The frame is an alloy. The gun is still very tight and shoots flawlessly. The earlier Rohms in 22 caliber had a terrible Saturday Night Special reputation but the last ones seem to be much better in 38 special. It's similar to my Taurus 38 special in workmanship and function.
 
A friend worked in a gun store here in the 1970s.
We talked about taking up a collection to buy the $125 RG .44 Magnum but did not know if we would be brave enough to shoot it.
 
One of the first handguns I recall firing many years ago was a Rohm .22 revolver. I recall that the barrel was loosely secured in the frame by a cross pin. I mean LOOSELY! It had a steel barrel and cylinder but the fame was some kind of light alloy. I suspect this gun was one of those referred to by James K.
 
I used to have an RG-10 which is a 22 short revolver but I shot LRs with no problem. Shot every round every time.

Later I had an RG-15 which is also a 22 but had a swing out cylinder (the RG-10 has to unscrew the pin to let the cylinder fall out and shells poked out with the pin). This model misfired a lot.
 
Rohm did improve their quality somewhat later, although they were never good quality. As noted, some stood up well, while others fell apart; quality control was simply not there at all.

The RG-10 became eponymous with "Saturday Night Special", a term of racist origin meaning a cheap handgun often used in drunken brawls on weekend evenings, especially in some areas or communities.

GCA '68 effectively banned importation, and the lowest quality guns disappeared from the market. The effect on crime was not significant; in fact there is evidence that the idea of banning cheap guns backfired. Guns of low quality that often failed were replaced with more reliable guns and "clicks" became "bangs", with more injuries and deaths than before.

Jim
 
My boss at the casino I worked at in Vegas in the late 70's to early 80's carried an RG .38, and I took it to the range and shot it, and then cleaned it up. He had it loaded up with 6 mismatched cartridges, which looked like they were made about the same time he was born, 57 years before. I was kind of shocked they all went off, and the gun didn't shoot bad at all. I gave it back to him with some mild new .38 125 gr JHP loads and when it was all cleaned up, it looked about as good as one of those could, I guess. I was relieved that the gun actually worked! Another co-worker had an ancient S&W .38 that was loaded with...nothing! He Barney Phyfe'd it and carried some rounds in his shirt pocket. He admitted he didn't think he could ever shoot someone. He had a habit of asking many of the women we arrested out on dates while they were in the security office, in cuffs. He actually had a few dates come about by doing that.
 
Osbornk, I have read other comparisons of a Rhom 38 and a Taurus revolver, does not place either very high on the list of firearms that I "just gotta have".
A local gun shop a few years ago would order a Taurus only if a customer promised not to bring it back to him when it broke. Hopefully that situation has not continued into the present time. Another crack up was the Calif dealer who had newspaper ads selling Taurus revolvers super cheap and described "Taurus, the parent company of Smith and Wesson". I'm sure the guys in Springfield appreciated the advertisement.:)
 
A friend has and carries an RG17 .38 Special double derringer. I don't know the material but the hinge is beefed up and has held up for the amount of shooting usually done with these things. It looks altogether better than the cheap revolvers.
 
I am not a big fan of Taurus, but to compare them to the Rohms is really a low blow. Taurus has had their problems, but the RG guns are real junk.

When those guns were being imported, we sold a lot of them and my boss didn't believe in returning guns, so guess who got to fix the ones that wouldn't work (half or more). We did test fire guns we fixed, but I think the ammo cost more than we made profit on the gun. I had ejector rods fall off, loading gates blow out, barrels come out (some appeared to be glued in), parts break, etc. I don't recall a cylinder or barrel blowing, though.

I have no idea what they must have cost to make, but we sold the RG-10 for $9.98, so I would guess the factory price at around $2.00. But the Germans were desperate for dollars, and I suspect their proof laws were badly bent at times.

The distributor was not a gun company; their salesman peddled all kinds of junk from switchblade knives and fake police badges to certain kinds of "playtime" gadgets. We didn't sell anything but the guns, though.

Jim
 
You mean this little thing?,,,

You mean this little thing?,,,

sns-l.jpg


I paid $5.00 for it at a garage sale in the early 60's,,,
It came with 44 rounds of .22 short,,,
I assume it was fired 6 times.

The action broke before I could shoot the remaining rounds.

Aarond

.
 
RG auto was junk.jamomatic...had a RG 10 in 68..cost 12 dollars.22 short..it was a good one..

Sent from my LGMS395 using Tapatalk
 
Osbornk, I have read other comparisons of a Rhom 38 and a Taurus revolver, does not place either very high on the list of firearms that I "just gotta have".
A local gun shop a few years ago would order a Taurus only if a customer promised not to bring it back to him when it broke. Hopefully that situation has not continued into the present time. Another crack up was the Calif dealer who had newspaper ads selling Taurus revolvers super cheap and described "Taurus, the parent company of Smith and Wesson". I'm sure the guys in Springfield appreciated the advertisement
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Ibemikey, I agree that neither is a "just gotta have" but their "good" ones look and perform pretty well. I didn't seek out either one but I have both. I acquired the 70s era Taurus Model 84 38 Special (copy of S&W 15) in a trade for a Hi-Point C9 because my neighbor wanted the Hi-Point and he wouldn't let me give it to him. The Rohm RG38 was given to me by my cousin's widow because she didn't want it in her house.
 
Osbornk, Now all you need to determine is were the pistol gifts from neighbor and widow because they like you or ??? :Dp
 
Some of the "Made in West Germany" shootin' irons made back then were of quite good quality.
A fellow at the range had one in .38 Special that was very good, especially for the $125 he paid for it new about twenty five years before.
 
Osbornk, Now all you need to determine is were the pistol gifts from neighbor and widow because they like you or ???
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Ibmikey--Because I do a lot of mechanical stuff for them free. They need training to check the air pressure in their car.
 
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