review- Armscor m206

[marcinstl]

Armscor the co. that brings you the RIA 1911 is also in the revolver business, with 2 sort of looks like a Colt revolvers, a 4" and a 2". the m206 looks like a 2" Colt Detective Special and sells for about half of what a used real one would sell for if you could find one. DA trigger pull is ok, SA pull in good, cylinder goes around(and holds 6), sights are combat accurate, replace the wood grips with Pachmayr. good to go for $240, cheap entry into the world of revolvers, if you want to go there.

[TheTman]

I think I'd spend an little extra and get the Charter Arms 6 shot .38 special (the Police Undercover). (They were going for $318 for awhile, but are out of stock now) You get stainless steel, a 2.2" barrel, and a lifetime warranty in a 6 shot revolver, made in the USA AND it is +P rated. (The M206 is NOT +P rated) My daughter decided that the CA was the gun that would meet her needs, so I bought her one, and feel pretty confident that she has a well made, reliable, revolver. She is currently working in a small town about 80 miles away, and her and some of other folks enjoy going out into the country and shooting fairly often, and she is happy that she doesn't have to borrow someone else's gun. She can practice and get familiar with her own pistol now. I will probably get myself either that gun, or the 5 shot .44 special, with 2.5" barrel when my pistol fund recovers from purchasing both a CW and CM 45 within a couple weeks of each other. I'm having trouble deciding between the extra shot in the .38, or the bigger hole the .44 is going to make. I wanted my daughters in Stainless, so it would be more rust resistant, in case she doesn't clean it after target practice. Even though I told her it should be cleaned after shooting it, we all know how well kids listen to our advice.

From reviews on the M206, it seems to shoot decent enough, if that's all my budget allowed, then I might buy one. I was curious if it used a transfer bar, or had the firing pin as part of the hammer, and pictures indicate it uses the transfer bar, so it's probably safe to carry with 6 in the cylinder. My biggest concern is that it is NOT +P rated. I guess Armscor says the pistol will handle a limited amount of +P shooting, but that it accelerates wear and tear on the pistol. So, unless that was my only option, I think I'd spend more and get something more robust and +P rated, since most of the SD ammo I've come across lately is +P, even the WWB HP ammo.
I bet if you look around you can get the M206 for closer to $200, which seems more like a decent buy to me. Not everyone that deserves a pistol can afford to spend 4 or 5 hundred or more. Nice to see some affordable pistols of somewhat decent quality on the market. Even if it's not +P rated, a cylinder or two of some +P SD ammo is probably not going to damage it. One commenter had trouble with the gun going out of time, and had quite a time getting a replacement for it. He says the replacement gun shot fine for 50 rounds then it too started to have timing problems. I wonder if he was shooting +P ammo, and that is what can be expected from a steady diet of +P. I'd consider it a shoot little, but is better than nothing, type gun for home defense for those that can't afford better. I sure as heck would not CC it. Possibly as a BUG, but that would be it. I wouldn't even consider it a vehicle gun, since all the jostling around could help knock it out of time.

NOTE: I was randomly checking out some of their 1911 style pistols, in .45 and 9mm, and did not see any that were rated +P. Maybe not a concern for .45, but I definitely want my 9mm's +P capable.

[marcinstl]

from what I can tell, Charter went thru some rough times and quality suffered, now they're supposed to be back at speed and the products are good. I like their 6 shot Detective Undercover, nice weight and feel. the gun store had a nice Colt Detective Special for $590. look around at revolver videos on youtube-- Jerry Miculek and his broken firing pin, the guy who is showing the crack in his new Performance Center 686(under the barrel behind the crane), then there's all the Taurus fail videos.
I like a revolver, safety built into the long DA trigger pull, loaded chamber indicators, and no mag safety.
with a 2" barrel I'm not worried about +P, not much speed difference over the regular. I'm thinking just go with 158gr. . Hornady makes a regular load 158gr. XTP , 2nd and 3rd bang should be just as good as the first. oh!, take a look at this thing-- http://www.guns.com/2015/01/20/a-quick-look-at-the-new-and-affordable-korth-sky-marshal-video/

[Scarywoody]

I have the M200 4" barrel. I bought it about 10 years ago for under $200. I use it as a backup gun and it usually rides in the trunk. It's not expensive, it's pretty accurate and if it was lost or stolen, I would shed no tears. It has never failed to fire and has shot a bunch of different types of ammo. 38 special only, no +P for this one. It does have a transfer bar trigger system. I find my trigger to be fairly smooth. I guess Armscor sells these to the Filipino Police. I would rate the Charter Arms a bit higher up the quality scale. Still not a bad gun for around $200.

[ltxi]

Imo, especially at my age life is too short for cheap, not to be confused with inexpensive, guns. Colt DS size new today....go Ruger SP101.