I never would have thought that Taurus........

R

RogerC

New member
.......made such a nice revolver. I am quite impressed.

It is a Model 431. It is used, but just barely, by the looks of it.

.44 Special. 3 inch barrel. 5 shooter.

The bluing is deep and bright. It is as good as most Smith and Wessons. Very nice. Fit is excellent. Timing is perfect.

The trigger is the nicest surprise of all. It has a great DA pull. Real smooth and not heavy. It too, is very Smith-like. The SA is crisp and clean at what I would guess is about 4 lbs. Most Taurus revos I had handled or shot, had less than great triggers. This gun feels more like a Smith than a Taurus.

It fits some of my Model 19 leather.

It feels like how a 44 special model 65 Smith would feel, at least to me it does.

I guess I should be eating some crow, as I have been less than kind to Taurus guns in a few posts.

Here's a few pics:

431b.jpg


431c.jpg


hpn.jpg


Talk about a "sleeper", this big bore is going to be big fun
:D
 
Taurus must be hit or miss with their quality. I've had a Model 66 .357 for around 10 years and it's a great gun. Well put together, accurate with a nice trigger. Some of the posts on TFL made me wonder if I got the only good gun Taurus ever made. Good to hear you like yours.
 
I guess the 431 was discontinued in favor of the lighter, smaller models. Seems like a bad decision to me.

Exception? Maybe, but this is a pretty impressive revolver, and it isn't a Smith and Wesson.

I've got some Buffalo Bore ammo for it. Should be interesting.....
 
Yep, great guns - I have one (the round-butt model, not the square butt illustrated in the pictures above) and it's great. I wish I could find another! Great trigger, smooth action, and very reliable. I like my S&W 696 .44 Special too, but it's quite a bit heavier, which is a pity...
 
I've wanted a .44 special 5 shooter for a while and had only looked at S&W. This particular Taurus is no longer in the catalog, however, it appears to have been replaced by the 445. Unfortunately, this gun only comes in a 2 inch. I really wanted either a 3 or 4 inch.
 
Nice close-up. Can you post a close-up of the cylinder ratchet? I have a theory that Taurus is lousy at ratchets. I'd like to look at yours. I have a 6" 431 that's new, but the ratchet is kind of rough.

Otherwise, it shoots excellently, and it's fit and finish compare nicely to your gun. I guess five-shot service guns aren't good enough for the wondernine era.
 
I have a 4" 431 DAO which has had the internals smoothed, but not lightened. It's a very nice little gun. The trigger pull will never equal that of a K, L or N frame Smith with leaf mainspring, but the revolver works very well. It's loaded with blue tip .44 Special Glasers for HD, with Blazer 200 grain Gold Dots for reloads.

I don't know whether I'm just lucky, judging by the number of beefs people seem to have with Taurus, but I've never had the slightest problem with this
revolver. I bought it new at a local gunstore just as Taurus was discontinuing the 431s and I got it for $149. I couldn't pass it up for that price.

I think you'll like yours.

Bob
 
I took the 431 (along with my "new" Hi Power) to the woods for some quick "hands on" testing.

Pop cans and apples were the targets de jeur.

I fired a dozen or so rounds of Trail Blazer ammo and 3 of the beasts called Buffalo Bore #14b. 255 gr Keith at 1000 fps.

The Pachmayrs were on it, and with the Buffalo Bore stuff, it is probably a good thing they were. They feel about like a 41 magnum. Nice and loud too. The hard cast Keith bullet at that speed should be a decent "critter killer".

The Trail Blazer felt about like typical wimpy 44 special ammo, although maybe a little more kick in this gun than in a Smith 24.

The nice trigger made easy DA shots possible. In fact I liked the DA so much, I only shot 2 rounds SA. It is possble to make nice, slow pulls and have the sights stay right where you want them.

In fact the DA pull reminds me of a Smith N frame. It must be partly because of the 5 hole cylinder allows for the same "rolling" feel that the larger N frame cylinder allows. Maybe it's just me.....

This Taurus has made me wonder about some of the other models. This exact frame size and barrel length would make a great 45. Did they make this configuration in 45?

Big bore. Big fun. For sure.
 
RogerC,

Much like the Rossi 720 and the Charter Arms Bulldog Pug, I'd be very judicious about the use of bullet weights >200gr in that gun.

Bear in mind that it is essentially a K-frame-sized piece and that heavier loads can cause premature endshake.

My 720 and 431 (very similar guns) both thrived on a diet of Federal's 200gr LSWC-HP.

Very sweet DA triggers on both of them, BTW.

Nice find you got there! :cool:

This exact frame size and barrel length would make a great 45. Did they make this configuration in 45?
Click to expand...

That is pretty much the same frame size as the new Trackers/midsize Taurus snubbies. Unfortunately, the 3" tube has gone away... :(
 
Tamara,

I'll shoot light stuff 99.9 % of the time.

I'll save the Buffalo Bore ammo for "Special Occasions". :)

Besides, it is $50 a box :eek:
 
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