Heritage Roscoe HR 38B2W 2-IN 38 Special

Despite the popularity of high-capacity 9mm, 1911, and Magnum handguns, the snubnose 38 Special revolver remains popular. Lightweight, simple to load and unload, reliable, and powerful enough for defense use, the short-barrel revolver has many advantages. Heritage Manufacturing has introduced a new handgun that builds on the popularity of the revolver and the nickname Roscoe for a 38 carry gun. The new gun is a nicely blued revolver with walnut grips and a traditional five-shot cylinder. This revolver is designed for those who prefer a traditional appearance, and also those who intend to put it to the use it was intended, that is, in personal defense. To test this new revolver, we matched the Roscoe against a likely rival on a price-point basis. The Taurus 85 is a classic revolver in many ways, with a blued-steel finish and walnut grips. The Heritage Roscoe is a stablemate, or cousin, manufactured in the Taurus factory, but branded Heritage. Taurus owns Heritage Manufacturing and produces a steady stream of single-action revolvers. The Roscoe is a new introduction intended to compete in the personal-defense market. But is it simply a rebranded Taurus 85? In some good ways, yes, but in other ways, not at all. The differences are intriguing.

We obtained a Heritage Roscoe with a 2-inch barrel, at retail. The revolver is also offered with a 3-inch barrel. We elected to test the new Roscoe against a Taurus Model 85 with similar blued finish and five-shot 38 Special cylinder. We ran across a snag because the Taurus 85 is only available in the used market. The Taurus 856 has replaced the Taurus 85, but the 856 is a small six-shot revolver. To get a true head to head with the blued Roscoe’s 2-inch-barrel five-shot set up, we found a good-condition Taurus 85 for only $20 more than the Roscoe and did a head-to-head test fire.

We like to note that revolvers are left-hand and right-hand neutral once they are loaded and fired. However, a left-handed shooter must make allowances when the gun is empty. Loading a revolver usually requires switching to the right hand for loading. When using a revolver, the proper sequence for left-handed shooters is to shoot the revolver dry, switch to the right hand where the cylinder is opened, the left hand hits the ejector rod, and the left hand loads the revolver. In the case of these two wheelguns, they are only slightly slower, even for a right-handed shooter fumbling a left-hand load.

Here’s more about the two guns individually:

Heritage Roscoe HR38B2W 2-inch 38 Special +P,

$325

Gun Tests grade: A [our pick]

The Heritage Roscoe is a nicely finished handgun, among the nicest examples of factory blue we have seen. Very smooth. Accuracy is outstanding for the type.

We noticed the Roscoe in the same shop as the Taurus. We felt that $325 was a fair to good price for it, with most online prices hovering around $347 and one at $289. If legit, that is a real deal in today’s money.

We found the Roscoe’s finish to be gorgeous. The finish is noticeably nicer than the Taurus, even accounting for the Taurus’s age. The grips are nicely done, and the checkering is well cut. There were detail differences in the barrel and sights of the two revolvers that really didn’t matter, although some of us would like a shrouded ejector rod. In keeping with the vintage look of the revolver, however, the bare rod didn’t hurt anything. Old Model Chief’s Special and Detective Special revolvers have served long and well without a shrouded ejector rod. The Heritage revolver does not lock up on the ejector rod; instead, it locks up on a spring-loaded plunger in the crane.

We approached the Roscoe’s grips with some trepidation at first, in fear of harsh recoil. Such was not the case. With a wider component at the top of the back strap thinning in the middle, the grips were surprisingly comfortable and offered good control. As noted, the grips did not interchange with the original Taurus 85 revolver. The action is smooth, and the single-action trigger was especially crisp compared to any modern revolver. 

The revolver is adorned with a stylized H for Heritage on the right side of the frame, although it is marked Taurus Armas on the left side as well. The Taurus trigger and hammer have a case-hardened appearance, while the Roscoe’s is simply blued. Firing was the proof, and the Roscoe did well. While the Roscoe’s grips were just fine for fast defense use, after firing 60 cartridges in a combat course — 50 standard pressure and 10 +P loads — all raters agreed the Roscoe’s grips were a tad less comfortable than the 85’s. We also noted that the shooter’s hand did not move when firing the Roscoe and the grips allowed for good combat shooting, so we’d take a little more recoil in trade.

The Roscoe slightly outshot the Taurus 85 in fast combat shooting. In accuracy shooting off the bench, the Roscoe turned in slightly better accuracy as well. The advantage was incremental. The trigger break in single-action fire is slightly crisper and lighter than the Taurus, and the sights are just slightly wider.

Our Team Said: Most of the test team felt the Heritage Roscoe is the better buy, especially compared to a used gun. We would go further and say that we like it better than most any other five-shot 38 Special on the market, considering the price.

The blued-steel-and-walnut crowd will like the Roscoe snubnose 38 Special revolver very much. Those looking for affordable protection will like it perhaps even better. The Roscoe is a smooth-functioning revolver with good fit and finish. In a day when many makers have cut finish to save cost, the Heritage offers a superbly fitted revolver at a very fair price. We cannot fault the Taurus 85, but we would not purchase a used Taurus 85 over the Heritage unless we were on a budget and found the Taurus for around $200.

To collect accuracy data, we fired five-shot groups from a bench using an MTM Case-Gard K-Zone rest. Distance: 15 yards. We measured velocities with a Competition Electronics Pro Chrony with the first screen 10 feet from the muzzles.

Written and photographed by Bob Campbell, using evaluations from Gun Tests Team members. GT