“Oh, is that one of those lighters?” You might be doing something wrong when you get asked that question about a firearm. That was the first response I had from a friend who saw the little Rohm RG10 revolver. The RG10 might be better as an expensive lighter than a cheap revolver. In fact, the RG10 is the most inexpensive firearm in my collection, and it only cost me 60 bucks…
…and I think I paid too much for it.
Ramen Noodle or Saturday Night Special
We refer to Ramen noodles as cheap guns. Still, the Rohm RG10 is the definition of a Saturday Night Special. Röhm Gesellschaft, aka Rohm, was a German company infamous for importing the cheapest, crudest revolvers possible at super low prices.
The Rohm RG10, and all RG revolvers, are made from pot metal. Pot metal is the term applied to powdered metals turned into guns. This pot metal is junk with a low melting point and is one of the defining features of a Saturday Night Special. Rohm must have invested heavily in pot metal because they sure used a lot to build these guns. They cut every corner that could be cut.
Rohm revolvers gained some infamy after John Hinckley Jr. tried to kill the Gipper with an RG14, and the RG14 typically rules the conversation about Saturday Night Specials. Its little brother, the RG10, gets ignored in the shadow of the bigger brother’s infamy. These little guns reportedly sold for around ten bucks in the 1960s when they were first produced. For reference, a basic S&W went for about 60 dollars.
Man, inflation is crazy when I spent S&W money on a Rohm.
Inside the Rohm RG10
The RG10 is a six-shot, double-action revolver chambered in .22 Short. Surprisingly .22 Short wasn’t hard to find by any means, but I only bought a six box of fifty to feed the RG10. The little gun has a ‘chrome’ finish and a set of basic iron sights. The weapon utilizes a loading gate and lacks any ejection rod.
With the hammer down, the cylinder rotates in one direction freely. The barrel is about two and a half inches long overall, and the gun is relatively compact but also super goofy looking. Rohm made a variety of RG10s, and the name stayed the same even if the design changed. So you might see RG10s with slightly longer barrels, different finishes, and even ejection rods.
After passing the 1968 GCA, Rohm constructed the parts in Germany but shipped them to Miami. American employees assembled the guns, making them ‘made in USA’ guns. This model is German stamped, but not W.German stamped, but was still likely produced before the wall came down.
What’s wrong with Rohm?
Besides being cheap, what’s wrong with the RG10? The biggest problem is that Rohm revolvers tend to ‘lose’ time. That means the cylinder does not correctly align with the barrel. A slight loss of time means lead will be shaved off the projectile and likely cause accuracy and keyholing issues. However, too much time lost causes frames to crack and break and users to get peppered by portions of the projectile.
These guns lose time because the pins holding the frames together were made of more robust metal than the frames, and over time they would vibrate and wallow their holes to be bigger than spec. This caused a looseness that caused the gun to rattle and eventually came out of time.
A cheap finish, like the one on my RG10, will flake off reasonably quickly and start looking like hell if it’s ever carried. The sights are crude but functional. The double-action trigger pull is terrible. It’s long, gritty, and foul all the way around. Single action is a little better. Rohm pressed the barrels into place, which didn’t inspire confidence.
It’s a 10-dollar revolver. What do you expect?
At the Range With the Rohm RG10
Yeah, I took this damned thing to the range! I purchased this from a reputable auction house that did some intensive inspections and declared the weapon safe to fire. Admittedly this old gun looked spotless and was likely a safe queen. It doesn’t show much or almost any sign of wear.
I loaded up some CCI .22 Short and tried my hardest to hit a steel gong at 10 yards. In double-action, it was pretty tough. I had to Kentucky windage my shots because it seemed to hit high and left. I aimed the RG10 at the bottom right of the gong and could ring some hits. Mainly in a single action. The novelty gun-sized grip doesn’t provide much to hold onto either. People describe little, hard-to-shoot, inaccurate guns as belly guns, and the RG10 is undoubtedly that.
Groups at ten yards measured out to nearly 1 foot with single-action shots fired as carefully as I could.
Single action presented a reasonably decent trigger pull, and I tried to observe for timing issues. I found myself surprised that there were no tell-tale signs of timing issues. My gun didn’t rattle around, likely due to its low or nonexistent round count.
As you’d imagine, .22 Short doesn’t generate much recoil. Instead, it’s a little push, almost like an airgun. The sights barely move between shots, but the crappy double-action trigger will move them enough.
The Little Gun That Could
Why would I spend 60 dollars on this thing? It’s useless, inaccurate, unreliable, and chews itself to pieces. So, why? Well, it’s kind of cool. The history of controversy of Rohm Revolvers and other Saturday Night Specials is a big part of gun control and rights. I fired 50 rounds through it, and that’s probably all I’ll ever fire through the gun.
I’m going to take the Rohm, put it away, lock it up, and only bring it out as a fun conversation piece. The RG10 is a neat little gun that is likely best used as a blank firing starter pistol these days.
The RG10 represents affordability, and in the 1960s, 70s, and beyond, guns like this were the only choice poor people had for self-defense. The 2nd Amendment is for everyone, from the guy who carries a Cabot 1911 to the person who can only afford a Rohm.
It’s not a good gun, but you get what you pay for.
