Taurus 450

[riddleofsteel]

Anyone out there got one of the Taurus 450's in .45 Colt? I know the titanium model would be lighter but I think the stainless version may be a good compromise of power to weight. The one I was looking at has the funky "bicycle handle" grip and is ported. I know a lot of you guys HATE porting but I kinda like it.
So doesn't Weigland do the porting on Taurus revolvers?
Is this porting Hybraport or just holes in the barrel?
Does anyone make a replacement grip for the Taurus 450 yet?
I sent an e-mail to Houge but it might be days before an answer comes back.
Anyone got one of these?
How does it shoot?

Latter
Riddle of Steel

 

[reprobate]

There is another version of the 450 that is stainless with an aluminum frame. It only weighs a little bit more than the total titanium model, and it costs a lot less. The all-stainless and the stainless/aluminum version are both on sale right now at a couple of wholesalers, CDNN Investments and Davidson's. A Davidson's dealer quoted me a price of ~$290 for the stainless/aluminum model.

The porting is simply holes in the barrel, but it works pretty well. The grips are butt-ugly, but they are very comfortable. Try them out before you decide to ditch them. Taurus sells a slightly more compact rubber replacement grip that does not have the ribs. I haven't been able to find any wood grips that would fit mine.

I haven't taken delivery of my 450 yet, but I have the same gun in a 7-shot .357 mag version. It shoots very well.

 

[Rhino48]

I've had 3. First was aluminum which I think is lightest 450 available. Shot fantastic, but kicked way too hard. 5 moderate rounds and my hand would be tingling, all the way up to my elbow. I thought i blew it up on one range trip with 255 grain loads. Never felt recoil like that, and it scared me. Every thing looked ok to me afterward, but I took it back to the dealer and they refunded money and sent gun back to factory for inspection - supposedly anyway. They later said it had a clean bill of health. Second one was a steel frame but it had some awful tool marks in the rifling that I noticed after purchase but before shooting. I shot it anyway, and it shot bad. Took it back to get another steel one, nice rifling, shot ok, but didn't like bullets over 200 grains. Traded it. Yeah,my dealer is pretty accomodating.

Their kind of cute, but I lost interest. I wont say Taurus is bad, just that particular gun isn't for me.