Taurus .357 Snub ?

F

FLA2760

New member
Hi All
New to the forum. I am thinking of a Taurus .357 snub for a backup and or CCW carry. I am considering the 5 shot model 605sh2 or the 651 shc with the shrouded hammer. Does anyone have any experience with these guns? I have a Taurus model 94 in .22 LR for plinking and I am satisfied with it. Will the speed loaders for the Smith J frames work with the Taurus? I thank you for your input.
Steve :confused:
 
I have the 605 in Stainless

It's just the regular model with a full hammer. I took off the boot grips, and put on the taurus factory combat grips. Slightly longer, but better for shooting. When I get my ccw, I might put the boot grips back on, depending what kind of rig I end up using. Great gun. I have over 900 rounds thru it. The only thing I had to do was have my gunsmith put in a stronger mainspring to assist with some light strikes I was getting with some ammo. You can shoot 357 out of it, but I would recommend you stick to 38+p. If I had it to do over again, I would probably go for the bobbed hammer. I may even get this one bobbed, we'll see. For the money, I don't think you can go wrong. Just upgrade the mainspring for piece of mind, and go for the Stainless model.
As far as ammo goes, I've tried about a total of 15 types or so. The best for the money in this gun for me is the 125gn 38spl+p PMC Starfire.
Your results may vary, but start with these and you won't be dissapointed.
:)
 
I have a Taurus Model 605 and I love it! I use .357 Starfires as my PDA and have added Crimson Trace laser grips. .38's are great for plinking and practice but I have no problem with a full load. I'm a 54 yr old 5"4" ole woman! :)
 
Model 605 here -- LOVE it.

I've got to dispute the part about the HKS speedloaders working great, although it may come down to which grip your weapon comes with.

The stock grip mine came with didn't leave enough clearance to use a speedloader. As you tried to insert the rounds the speedloader rubbed on the rubber grip, and would generally get jammed and actually slow the process up.

I now have a hogue boot grip, which has an indentation specifically made for the speedloader, but usability is still marginal.

I carry a speeloader with me (when I carry reloads at all) because it's the best way to carry a reload's worth of bullets, but I don't kid myself that it's going to be all that fast.

I'm still looking for the perfect grip, BTW. IMHO the original grip was too wide for a weapon of this size, and while the hogue is better it is still longer than it should be. I would love to just get some basic wooden grips that are as small as possible and leave the backstrap revealed.

I load with 38 +P HP, BTW. I've shot .357 out o fit, but it makes for quite a light show.
 
As luck would have it, I have both the models you are asking about: the 605 in stainless and the 651 in titanium. Both of them were manufactured in 2004. I have several hundred rounds through each without any problems. I am very pleased with the performance, fit and finish.

I did remove the stock grips and fit the Uncle Mike's boot grips instead. I find the palm swell on the UM grips helps me with the recoil. My carry load is the Speer Gold Dot 38+p 135 grain JHP optimized for the short barrel.

Of the two, my favorite pocket carry is the 605. The internal hammer profile makes for a smoother draw than even the shrouded hammer of the 651. But the lightweight (19.3 oz loaded) 651 rides very nicely in the pocket.

I have a number of short-barrel revolvers that I own, primarily Ruger, S&W and now the Taurii. The two Taurus revolvers are now getting the most carry time. I have the luxury of being able to afford pretty much any handgun I want, and I would buy them again in an instant.
 
to get the speedloaders to work right, don't put it all the way in. just hold the gun in your left hand, put bullets in just past the slugs and drop them in with the right hand. If you try to push it in too far, it does jam against the grip.
 
FLA2760:

I've had the Taurus 651B for about a year now. I have about 600 - 650 rounds through it. LOVE the weapon.

It's easy to carry conceal and very reliable. I can't ask for more.

It rotates with my Taurus Millenium Pro PT145 as my carry weapon (I have well over 1000 rounds through that one.)

I don't think you will go wrong with either one.

Enjoy!

Jim
 
to get the speedloaders to work right, don't put it all the way in. just hold the gun in your left hand, put bullets in just past the slugs and drop them in with the right hand. If you try to push it in too far, it does jam against the grip.
Click to expand...

Are you speed loading .357 or .38? Just wondering, because the .357 is a bit longer and maybe that works better. I've shot .357's, but I don't think I've used the speedloader with anything but .38.

At the point I have to release .38's before jamming I've actually had some fall out on the floor.

The hogue grip is definitely better, but if I put the bullets in all the way (which is what I'm used to with my S&W) sometimes it still gets stuck.

I know ... it's partially training ... but it definitely takes concentration, and that's not a good thing if you're under stress.
 
I put the taurus combat grips on mine. I use 38spl with long slugs, like the length of wwb 130gn fmj. I never tried the speed loader with the original boot grip it came with. I find that ammo with longer slugs shoots straighter than the ammo with shorter slugs in this particular gun. I think because the cylinder is set up for 357 mag, you need a 38 round that comes close to the length of this round.
The slug doesn't have as far to go before it reaches the forcing cone. ;)
 
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Happy with my 605 as well. Got the Taurus combat grips, as the stock ones are waaaaay to short. For 9 bucks or whatever the cost was, it was worth it to replace them.
 
Bobbed hammer stainless .357 with Comped barrel 605 here... Love it and carry it often, no problems at all - including HKS speedloaders with 38 or 357. Don't know what you're doing wrong, but mine have no problems.
 
I've got a bobbed hammer 605 in blue.

It's a fine little rev. Nothin fancy, but it does what it's made to do. You may want to pick up a set of hogue monogrips for it. They help alot when firing full house magnums out of the little snubbies.
 
I own the 651 SHC... Its a good gun. I use HKS speedloaders and Garand Illusion is right, it can be tricky. The trick is to just barely put the bullets in when you release them from the loader. Otherwise, the loader can get hung up on the grip. By letting them drop in so far, it also helps the bullets to slide ALL the way instead of hanging up sometimes just a touch out of the cylinder. Do note that if you get one of the titanium models, the .357's seem to loosen up some my cylinder screw every 500 rounds or so so expect to tighten it and know that your gun aint broke. :D GL
 
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