So I was reading the wikipedia article on the Regan assassination attempt.  It cites that Hinckley used a Rohm RG-14 6 shot revolver in 22LR.

A couple things in the article stuck me as interesting... It states that Hinckley fired off all six rounds in 1.7 seconds...believable?  I've heard the Rohm is a real POS. True?

It also states that he used "Devastator" rounds.  I've never really heard of these before.  I'm sure they're probably long since illegal. The article stated that one exploded inside Jim Brady's head.  Did these rounds really explode?  Or is this more of one of those marketing hype things..

I've also heard the whole thing was Jodie Foster's fault.

and Tag for pics of RG 14, Devastator rounds, or Jodie Foster.

I have a Rohm .22 single action SSA type clone that I got a few years ago for 20 bucks (PD evidence trade in at my local shop) and it works just fine.  VERY light trigger but surprisingly accurate and fun to shoot!

RG's are not high end guns.  They do work well though. I can believe he got off all the rounds in the time shown.

Devestator rounds were supposed to blow things up.   All hype.  Just an overpriced CCI Stinger.

.22LR is considered underpowered and frankly it is but......... it certainly is a nasty bullet to be shot with at close range. Reagan didn't know what hit him, literally, when he was shoved into the Limousin. That .22 in Hinckley's hand damn near killed him for sure.

I was at a PD training exercise back in the early 80's and they demonstrated some of the Devastator .22 LR rounds by firing them into the side of a metal 55 gallon drum.  They made quarter size holes in the drum!  I am not sure what they loaded them with but they definitely did explode on impact.  I don't know how well they would explode upon striking soft tissue though.  I am fairly certain that the round that President Reagan took did (thankfully) not explode.

Devastator cartridges adorned the shelves of my friendly local gunshop in the early 1980s.  Fortunately, they were champagne priced and I was living on a beer budget at the time.  I never wasted my money on any.  And a waste they were, if they exploded, they would fail to penetrate.  If they didn't explode, they would penetrate, but do no more damage than a much cheaper solid bullet.

Hollow points back then were not quite as developed as they are today.  Lots of gimmicks were on the market.  I don't miss the Devastators.

I don't miss the .357 revolver bullets loaded into .38 Super cases from that time either.  Fortunately, Winchester soon developed their Silvertip .38 Super.  

The old RG pistols were indeed pretty poor, but they would hold together long enough for a purpose like Hinckley's.  Traditionally, presidential assassins have not chosen quality type weapons.  JWB seems to be the only exception.

It was actually a ricochet off of the car door that hit him. The Secret Service accidentally pushed him in front of it trying to get him in the limo.

I have boxes of that ammo in 22 short, 22 lr & 22 magnum. Unfortunately they packed it 12 rounds to a box & used this crappy foam block with 12 holes in it to hold the rounds. Over time I guess the foam broke down & when you try to get the rounds out it breaks apart & coats the entire round of ammo like its glued to it. I guess it could be cleaned off but I really don't want to bother with it.

USSS agent Jerry Parr was doing exactly what he was trained to do. It was ironically the heavily armored limo that made the round ricochet off the side, pass between the door and the limo body and strike Reagan roughly around the armpit.