Röhm Gesellschaft

Röhm Gesellschaft
Private
Industry Arms industry
Founded 1950s
Products Firearms, weapons
Owner Umarex
Website www.roehm-waffen.de

Röhm Gesellschaft, often referred as simply RG, is a German brand of firearms and related shooting equipment. RG developed as a diversification of Röhm GmbH in the 1950s. Following 1968, a US division, RG Industries was established in Miami and lasted until 1986. In 2010, the RG brand was acquired by UMAREX GmbH & Co. KG.

History

Rohm RG-14 used in the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan.

In the early 1950s Röhm GmbH of Sontheim/Brenz, which was traditionally focused on the production of chucking tools, diversified its product line and began to produce gas alarm guns, flare guns and handguns. Röhm's product line of firearms was primarily established under the brand name RG.

Following, and perhaps due to, the limitations on the importation of small pistols imposed by the 1968 Gun Control Act, RG established a factory in Miami in the 1970s under the name RG Industries. The Miami factory produced revolvers, automatic pistols, and derringers in small calibres such as .22 LR, .25 ACP, .32 S&W, and .38 Special.[1] The Miami factory ceased operations in 1986.[2]

In 2010 the management of Röhm GmbH decided to sell the complete manufacture of firearms to the UMAREX GmbH & Co. KG of Arnsberg and to refocus on its core market of chucking tools.

Models

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
  • Little Joe 6mm — 22 calibre miniature blank-firing revolver
  • RG-10 — .22 calibre DA revolver
  • RG-14 — .22 calibre DA revolver
  • RG-14s - .22 calibre DA revolver silver
  • RG-15 — double barrel .22 derringer
  • RG-16 — double barrel .22 derringer
  • RG-17 — double barrel .38 SPL derringer
  • RG-18 — double barrel .38 SPL derringer
  • RG-20 — .22 calibre DA revolver (short barrel)
  • RG-23 — .22 calibre SA/DA revolver with swing-out cylinder
  • RG-24 — .22 calibre DA revolver
  • RG-25 — .25 calibre semi-auto pistol
  • RG-26 — .25 calibre semi-auto pistol
  • RG-30 — .22 LR, .32SW long or .32SW Magnum revolver or .22 magnum
  • RG-31 — .38 calibre 5-shot revolver with screw-in cylinder[3]
  • RG-34T — .22 LR calibre 8-shot revolver with swing-out cylinder, with adjustable sights
  • RG-38 — .38 calibre 6-shot revolver with swing-out cylinder[3]
  • RG-40 — .38 SPL DA revolver w/swing-out cylinder
  • RG-42 — .25 calibre semi-auto pistol
  • RG 56 La Petite — .22 calibre/6mm blank 7-shot blank-firing revolver
  • RG-57 — .357 or .44 Magnum 6-shot revolver
  • RG-59 — .380 5-shot blank gun[4]
  • RG-63 — .22 or .38 calibre DA revolver resembling a Colt Single Action Army
  • RG-66 — .22 calibre SA revolver resembling a Colt Model 1873
  • RG-66T — .22 calibre SA revolver resembling a Colt Model 1873 with adjustable sights
  • RG-74 — .22 calibre DA revolver with swing-out cylinder
  • RG-88 — 9mm DA compact semi-automatic blank pistol. Similar in appearance to a Walther PPK.
  • RG 89 & RG 99 — 6-shot .380 blank [4]

Litigation

Police Officer Thomas Delahanty was shot by John Hinckley, Jr. with a Röhm revolver during his failed assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan (1981). Delahanty later sued Röhm with the argument that small, cheap guns have no purpose except for crime, and thus that the company should be held responsible. The suit was subsequently rejected by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in a suit that has served as case law for other similar product liability cases.[5]

In 1985, Kelley vs. RG Industries was filed over a 1982 shooting in which Kelley, a grocery clerk, was shot in the chest with an RG firearm.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Robert E. Walker (26 November 2012). Cartridges and Firearm Identification. CRC Press. pp. 268–. ISBN 978-1-4665-0206-2. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  2. ↑ Dan Shideler (14 April 2010). The Official Gun Digest Book of Guns & Prices 2010: Rifles, Pistols & Shotguns. Gun Digest Books. pp. 715–. ISBN 978-1-4402-1454-7. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  3. 1 2 Rohm 38 specials mods 31 and 38s on YouTube
  4. 1 2 ROHM RG 89 & RG 99 Blank Revolver Update Video on YouTube
  5. ↑ Delahanty v. Hinckley, 564 A.2d 758 (D.C.App. 1989), judgment hosted by Carnegie Mellon University here. Also available here.
  6. ↑ Carol Vinzant (12 November 2005). Lawyers, Guns, and Money: One Man's Battle with the Gun Industry. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 94–. ISBN 978-1-4039-6627-8. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
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