The edition of the Pistol review will take a look at a very inexpensive revolver from Rock Island Armory. Made in the Phillipines by Armscor International, the Rock Island Armory M206 is part of a line of revolvers that copy the Colt design.
In addition to the 2″ M206 DA/SA I tested, there is the 4″ barrelled M200 and two versions of the M206 with spurless hammers. One of those is satin nickel finished.
Chambered in .38 special, the M206 has a six shot cylinder. The front sight is fixed and there is a frame channel rear. It weighs in at 1.59 lbs unloaded with the wood grips. There are a set of polymer grips included in the hard case the pistol is shipped in, but more about that later. MSRP is $283, the owner of the gun that I shot paid $220 for it and you should be able to find it at your local for around $240-$250.
Before we get into my impressions of this revolver, first a bit of history on Rock Island and Armscor. As I said above, the company is based in the Phillipines with a US subsidiary located in Pahrumph Nevada. They are known for their 1911 style pistols. (Full disclosure, when I was still competing in IPSC and IDPA my “race gun” was built on a RIA frame.) The privately held company is owned by the Tuason family, with several members of the family holding senior positions. They manufacture around 200,000 firearms and more than 250,000,000 rounds of ammunition a year.
Now on to my impressions. I had handled several of these revolvers in the past, my employer carries RIA firearms, and this one wasn’t any different. The finish is about what you would expect from a sub $300 revolver. The parkerizing was evenly applied, but there were some machining marks still evident, especially when the cylinder was open. The wood grips that were factory installed didn’t quite fit, they stood proud in some spots and were too low in others. That said, a set of Hogue style polymer grips are included. They seemed to fit much better, though they added a bit of length to the grip.
All the moving parts were well fitted. There wasn’t any grittiness in the ejector star or rod, the cylinder crane release was smooth and the trigger was clean feeling. The ejector rod moved cleanly with little effort. I suspect that is a result of the hand assembly and fitting on these revolvers.
That trigger averaged 12lbs on my scale in double action, with little stacking or creep. The weight seemed consistent from beginning to end, and broke fairly cleanly. In single action I got 5.5lbs on average. There was just a bit of takeup before the break, and very little overtravel.
I shot the pistol with both grips installed, and frankly, I liked the polymer grips much better. Being a 1911 guy, I have developed a very hand high shooting technique, and with the wood grips installed the hammer bit me several times. The polymer grips seemed to help with that.
I ran a bunch of different brands, types and weights of ammo through the M206. I experienced zero malfunctions, and the gun ran just fine for the 200 rounds I put through it.
Accuracy is about what I’d expect from a 2″ barrelled revolver, with my best group at 10 yards offhand coming in at 3.5″. Shooting from the bench tightened up those groups considerably, with a best group of 2.2″ at the same distance.
I am not a “revolver guy” generally. However for less than $250, the RIA M206 may just make its way into my collection. It is a reliable, handy little revolver that would make a good kit or truck gun. And it won’t break the bank.