I was offered a Heritage Manufacturing Roscoe 2″ from a local FFL at the tail end of June 2024. He had ordered the gun for a customer, but that sale fell through, so he offered it to me. I decided to buy it, to test this “new” gun from Heritage. So what is the new Heritage Arms Roscoe revolver, and what are my first impressions with this gun?
Put simply, the Roscoe is just a Taurus Model 85 in .38SPL +P. Taurus purchased Heritage back in 2012, but had not really rolled out any of their designs under that brand until recently. In fact, the Roscoe is Heritage’s first centerfire handgun, but it’s not domestically made like their .22 caliber SAA clones.
So what is the Taurus Model 85? Well, it’s basically a copy of the S&W J-frame, but slightly different. The grip stocks & pin/screw location, assembly of the crane and ejector rod, and internals are all a little different. However, it handles like a Smith, and can fit into some S&W holsters. The 85 has existed for a long time, and has been released in many calibers, sizes, and finishes. Within Taurus’ own lineup, the 85 was replaced by the 856.
Heritage is marketing the Roscoe as a callback to film noir gumshoes of the 1930s and 40s, and cops of the same era. To be more transparent, they’re using an older Taurus design that is proven, and rebranding it to try to expand their product line. Am I cynical? Well, yeah. Am I wrong? Well, that’s up to you to decide.
At the end of the day, we have a very entry level, steel construction DA/SA .38spl revolver. MSRP is $363.99, however street price is closer to $319. I got mine at just above cost, and paid $283.
What are the features of this basic gun?
At the core of it, the Roscoe is a very basic, five shot .38spl +P revolver with a steel frame. This is a tried-and-true design, and makes a ton of sense as a first centerfire revolver for Heritage.
If you’ve handled or shot a Smith and Wesson revolver, the Roscoe will be very familiar for you. The cylinder release is a different shape than a Smith, but functions the same. The cylinder also rotates the same way (counterclockwise), and the trigger feel is very Smith.
The gun is fairly no-frills. The cylinder chambers are not chamfered, the crown is not recessed, and we’ve got quite a few MIM’d parts. For the cost, this is nothing that should be a surprise.
While the finish of the gun looks like bluing, it is really a polished nitride finish. In the long term, this will hold up better than bluing, and looks pretty handsome in person. It is a fingerprint magnet though, but that’s a small tradeoff.
There are two models of Roscoe, a 2″ barrel (what I’m testing), and a 3″ model. Other than the barrel length, the guns are identical.
One nice upgrade to a standard classic .38 are the sights. The rear sight is quite deep, and the front ramp is nicely serrated. As such, getting a sight picture is easy, and allows for a higher degree of precision.
The Roscoe is a double action/single action revolver with an exposed hammer. If we pull the hammer back, we can see the transfer bar safety on the gun.
Rounding out the features, the Roscoe ships with rather wide, but traditional looking small grips. The wood quality is surprisingly good, however, I swapped the grips for Pachmayrs that would work better for shooting.
How’s the overall build quality for this budget gun?
Taurus has been working on improving their quality and quality control, and I’ve firsthand seen that over the years. I’ve owned two different TX22s that were well made, and now have this Roscoe. I did a detail strip on the gun right after I first got it, and inspected its guts.
Looking at the frame tang, we can see that it is machined pretty well. I did not find any burrs or metal shavings when I removed the grips. We’ve got a ton of stampings on the frame, such as the “085” for the model number, and what I presume to be a date of manufacture (21-03-24). There are some machine marks (those circular patterns), but that’s normal, and not unexpected.
When I pulled the sideplate off, I found a lot of MIM’d parts. Again, I expected this, and was not concerned or worried. Some people view MIM like it is the boogeyman, but like anything in manufacturing, it can be done competently or poorly. What really surprised me was the quality of the machining for the frame. There were no dings, dents, or tool marks that were uncalled for. I cannot say the same about the new Smith & Wesson’s that I’ve bought, and those cost over twice what the Roscoe did.
I touched on the finishing earlier, but there’s one part I want to highlight.
The top strap of the Roscoe is left matte. This is done to help reduce glare, and it’s a touch that I really appreciate.
At risk of sounding like a broken record, the Roscoe provides surprisingly good build quality for the money. How well does it shoot?
At time of writing, I’ve got about 250 rounds through my Roscoe. I’ve primarily shot drills with it, but have just done some raw testing too. I actually got my first rounds through it on video.
Shooting characteristics are very similar to any steel framed .38spl. Recoil is medium, but can be reduced or increased depending on the ammo that you use. I’ve shot light wadcutters, 158gr lead round nose, and 135gr Speer Gold Dot +P through the gun, and all of the loads have been more than manageable. Reliability has been flawless too.
The trigger on the Roscoe is quite good. It’s smooth and heavy, and has S&W-style stacking. If you have shot a lot of Smith’s, you’ll do well with the Roscoe. DA pull comes in around 13.5lbs on my scale, and about 5.5lbs for the SA pull. I don’t really shoot my DA/SAs in SA, as it’s just not practical. The SA pull being a little heavy is not a downside for me, as the DA is so fantastic.
The sights on the Roscoe are great. Comparing it to my Smith 442 or Model 36, the Roscoe is just significantly better. I had a bit of a learning curve with them, as the rear notch is a lot deeper than my S&W guns. However, I’ve since learned it, and have done a lot of competent shooting with the Roscoe since.
Most of my shooting was done out of a JM Custom Kydex AIWB for the J-Frame. I can loosen the tensioning screws enough to make the holster work with the Roscoe, but it’s not a perfect fit. I’ve got an Icon 2.0 on the way from Harry’s Holsters to remedy this.
Overall, the gun is enjoyable to shoot, and to be frank, it’s more enjoyable to shoot than my 1950s Model 36. How practical can this gun be?
Whether people like it or not, the snubnose revolver is still very popular for concealed carry. They are extremely easy to use, but certainly hard to get proficient with. How well will the Roscoe do for carry? Well, Heritage markets it as “a fine choice for re-enacting your favorite noir films, or for defending yourself in the real world“.
For me, a potential carry gun needs a few things to actually get carried.
Well, the gun is an evolution of the Model 85, and as such, can use Model 85 holsters, grips stocks, and parts. Mine has also been reliable in my testing so far. In the Roscoe, we have a small, steel framed revolver, that is relatively easy to shoot when compared to similar priced revolvers. It’s fairly heavy (23.5 ounces loaded with the factory grips, 23.9 with the Pachs), so it wouldn’t go into a pocket for me, but works well for AIWB. Comparing loaded weight to the Smith 442, the Roscoe is 7 ounces heavier. Now, that’s more weight to assist with recoil control, so that plays a part too.
Now, this leads into the second part of topic.
Would I carry the Roscoe? Well, yeah. I’ve carried a revolver as a second gun pretty much daily over the last 2 years, but also carry one as my primary firearm when in NPEs quite often. I’ve expanded my pocket gun series to include using small guns in AIWB form, and I think that the Roscoe has a lot of the same uses as something like a Glock 42, or a similar small gun. However, I think that the Roscoe needs two small changes before deciding to carry it.
The first one is simple, and that is to paint the front sight. The black-on-black factory sight picture is far from optimal, but a few passes with an orange paint pen can solve that quickly.
The second one is also simple, and that’s to swap the grips. I get that Heritage/Taurus sell the gun with the vintage-style grips, but they suck for DA shooting. Either get a Tyler-T grip adapter, or swap to something that makes the DA trigger reach more manageable. Model 85 & 856 grips will work on the Roscoe, so get swapping!
Now, it’s your decision if a revolver makes sense for you, however, I’m optimistic about the Roscoe in the long term.
Now, the Roscoe isn’t perfect. There are two things that I’m not a big fan of on the Roscoe.
Firstly, the grips (again). They look great, but are functionally pretty bad. I understand why they are on the gun, but I do not like them.
The second thing is purely aesthetic, but it comes up every time that I’ve posted a photo of the gun online.
The underlug design of the gun is hideous. There’s a gap between the end of the ejector rod, and the underlug itself. The Roscoe doesn’t index the ejector rod like a S&W design, but with how they made the underlug, there’s a short gap. It is ugly. This is not a practical thing, but it’s something that spits in the face of being the advertised “cool, 1940s aesthetic”.
You’re stuck with the underlug, but the grips can be swapped. Oh well, it could be worse. Considering the price of the gun, these two gripes are small potatoes in the grand scheme of things.
The Roscoe is a gun that fell into my lap. I was not interested in testing one until the opportunity came up, as it just seemed like a rehash of an old design. However, I’ve now got a small revolver that I enjoy shooting more than a lot of my “better” revolvers. The out of box QC is better than my S&W guns, and the value is pretty insane.
This is not a full review, just my first impressions after about a month of ownership and shooting time. Once I crest 1000-1250 rounds, I’ll do a more detailed look into the gun. With how enjoyable the first 250 rounds have been, I’m looking forward to the next 1000.
Hey there! Thanks for giving this first impressions article a read! Here are some reviews of similar guns:
I’d like to give thanks to James over at Burgett’s Fine Gunsmithing. He offered me the Roscoe at just a little over his cost, and I would not have tested this gun without his business. He’s located up in Brigham City, UT, so look him up if you need any real gunsmithing work done!
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