After reading this thread, finally decided to take a chance on a Taurus, figured the odds were 3 to 1 in my favor, betting $299 that I could get a good one.
Because no one except Taurus is building a moon-clip 40 cal revolver, picked up a Taurus 405 2" snubby and if bad, am prepared to fix it myself.
The 40 cal rimless cartridge is very accurate and I wanted the flexibility of a revolver to test it further (besides the P229)... ever searching for that perfect pistol cartridge.
The Good:
First 5 shots, 21 feet, freehand, pictured below. 180 gr fmj fp. Looks like a shooter! About S&W K size, very solid feel to this large snubby. Wide hammer, excellent smooth DA trigger, as good as S&W, SA trigger... well sneeze and it goes boom, also very S&W. Tight lockup, good forcing cone clearance. Uses moon-clips, very quick reloads, sadly Charter Arms totally missed the boat on this one. Internal lock... this one is well designed, perhaps Taurus will buy S&W and fix S&Ws problematic IL system.
Comes with a rubbery ribbed grip... makes the grip fatter, I shaved it back. Machine and tooling marks present (ie chambers), but everything works OK. S&Ws are mirror finish.
The Bad:
No bad.
The Ugly:
No ugly.
Conclusion:
Taurus can build a very good revolver.