Taurus 605/627 .357 Mag: first hand experiences only, please

I owned a Taurus 85 2" 38 5 shot which is very similar to the 605. It would be nice if you could handle the gun before buying it. Make sure the barrel is straight. I mean not just tightened so that the sights perfectly line up with the frame, but that the barrel threads are cut into the frame perfectly straight and not offset a bit so that the barrel points just a tiny bit to the left or right. That was the problem with my model 85.

The trigger pull was ok. Nothing great but acceptable enough for decent close accuracy. I'd have been fine with mine if it had shot straight and not 3" off to the left. I'm guessing this is not a common problem, but who knows?

As with all revolvers look it over closely if you have the opportunity before buying. If you are lucky enough to have more than one to choose from, pick the smoother one that passes all the inspection points.

I like a 3" small revolver for belt carry and an ultra light weighting in the teens somewhere for pocket carry that can move around as needed. I really like the way the 3" points and aims a little more readily and also the slight increase in muzzle velocity.

Don't be surprised if you find the .357 magnum rounds to be more then you want to shoot - especially indoors. Some can tolerate it in a light revolver but many can't.

In your situation I would probably give the Taurus a second chance. Here? Maybe not. Since you already own a Ruger SP 101 I'm surprised you are even looking at a Taurus. I would think that Ruger could handle a "very" hot loaded .38 special, assuming it is not a .357
 
@Grizzly2, I had the same exact problem with that revolver. No matter what I did it always shot about 3” left. It had a nice trigger, grouped nicely, the bore was not so hot though, a lot of chatter marks. Other than that it was a nice revolver in all respects.
 
I purchased a 605 used many years ago. Carried it cross-draw in an OWB. The barrel was a 2.5 inch if I remember correctly. I enjoyed shooting it, but since I couldn't hunt with it and it wasn't as comfortable to carry as an autoloader, I traded it off. Had it for about 5 years. Never had a problem with it. If I wanted another short 357 and one was available, I would buy it. I prefer Ruger revolvers, but for the price it is hard to beat a Taurus. It seems to me that most of the issues are with a new gun that made it out of the factory with something wrong. If it is used, you probably have a better chance of getting one with no problems.
 
I have a Taurus 605 5 Shot 357 Magnum, 1994 Custom Shop and Taurus 605 5 Shot 357 Magnum. The Custom is on par with a S&W.
aa37057b9ab48d35cc098e8e1bc5d0a8.plist
e52e0bfaf5354cfe86be9bddc9fdccd6.plist

The Taurus 605 5 Shot 357 Magnum is excellent. The finish is not as refined, but the action and accuracy is as good as any other revolver.

I have 7 Taurus revolvers. No issues for me.

ea24b8ce47a59bab52c3a9e93686f793.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
Had a rock solid 605 that was a daily carry gun for a bit more than 5 years. Added CT grips and usually loaded it with 38spl Nyclad rounds. It was a bit of a handfull with any 357 load with more than a 125 bullet; and no one was going to call 125's fun to shoot. Still I did carry with 357 loads when out in the woods where trouble might have 4 legs instead of 2. Had more than 3k rds of 38spl & 250 of 357 thru the gun when I sold it. Still looking like new and shooting good. Life changes & you adapt. I wouldn't think twice about getting another if the need came round
 
My mother owns a Taurus 605 which I picked out for her when she asked me to find her a powerful, inexpensive yet reliable Revolver that she could carry while she walked her dogs. There bad been sightings of wild animals in the area including a personal sighting of a hog in the neighbor's field one night, so I took her request seriously when she said she wanted something powerful, and I had good experiences with Taurus in the past.

We went out to the range together after she picked it up at her LGS, and I fired it for hsr first because she was scared of the recoil after I warned her that .357 Magnum out of such a small gun was going to kick a heck of a lot more than the .380 ACP she was used to. It certainly had some stout recoil, but it proved perfectly reliable, and she managed to shoot a couple cylinders full before calling it quits.

The only recommendation I would make is to get it in Stainless Steel, as the black oxide finish Taurus is using on their carbon steel guns wears off absurdly easily and doesn't resist corrosion well at all.
 
got me a modello 66, 7 shot. Love mine. its addictive to use. Shoots well. Only complaint i have is the forcing cone is a tad "not right" and sucks up lead like "Norm" sucked up beer at a bar called Cheers.

Other wise simply do a function check and check the screws.
 
Yesterday I handled a 3" blued 605, .357Mag.

The weigh was nice, the barrel length exactly as I'd like it, the grip was comfortable.

It was a 5-shot with a gutter sight along the top strap.

It pointed well. DA was a bit heavy and rough. SA was pretty clean.

I would certainly hope that the DA would smooth out with time.

So the questions for me would be:

Could I live with a 5-shot?
Well, yes. I think so. If I carry, I'm already better prepared for any unpleasantness, and I feel I at least have last resorts to protect my kids, partner and myself.

So far I've never had any problems and I certainly don't go looking for it.

Would I prefer 3"?

Yes. I can still carry this comfortably.


Would I prefer .357?

Yes. I have more versatility in chamberings, it doubles as a decent woods gun and it is unlikely to shake itself to pieces if I use it with .38Spl in IDPA. In IPSC, I think the 5-shot capacity would be just too limiting.


Am I concerned by Taurus QC?

A bit. This is the one aspect that is a gamble. Would I be one of the many satisfied owners who've had zero problems, or would I be one of the unlucky ones? Over here, getting that fixed would not be a straightforward issue. One could say that this is always a risk, but generally it seems that the incidence of problems is higher with Taurus than with Ruger or S&W.

As neither Ruger nor S&W are readily available here, it's basically the 605 or stick to my .38 snub.
 
The 605 has a very good reputation, if that was what I was in the market for I would buy it with confidence. I enjoyed everything about the one I shot but I didn’t shoot anything over +p ammo.
Post a pic if you get it.
 
A pic for sure but, if I do take the plunge, I don't think it will be soon.

I'd first need to sell one gun: probably my snub, get the acquisition permit and all the money needed to buy both the permit and the gun! Such is life.

As for ammo, I think I'd either be loading lighter mags or regular .38Spl.

Store-bought stuff would be Fiocchi, Magtech, or S&B etc 158gr (or is that just .38?) or 125gr. Any regular shooting would be the IDPA and the range. And over the counter .357 is not cheap.
 
IDPA Rev-S power factor is 105. My midrange wadcutters are 107 so I can Load and Make Ready with them and speed reload with mild roundnose.

No need for even Minor (f 125) ammunition and certainly not any form of Magnum.
Shorter Special cases load and eject better, too.
 
if I do take the plunge, I don't think it will be soon. I'd first need to sell one gun...
Click to expand...

Everytime you post about your conditions over there I gnash my teeth in sympathic frustration and remind myself if we are not vigilante we could be facing the same "conditions" here.

In a panel discussion pro-gun person Colin Noir tried to make the point that owning a lot of guns does NOT make a person more dangerous, "he can only shoot one or two of them at a time," said Colin Noir. His comment was ignored by the rest of the panel.

OBVIOUSLY if a person with ONE gun could shoot X number of people then a person with TEN guns could shoot TEN TIMES AS MANY PEOPLE!!! (And of course would be much more likely to do so because, you know, GUNS!!!)

Good luck.
 
I think many just get blinded by the concept of someone own more than one of something they fear.

In that situation better to ask a question than make a statement. Harder to ignore.
“If I have 10 cars, how many can I drive at once?”
“Does having 10 cars make me more likely to speed or drive dangerously?”

If they answer yes to the second, then we ask why?
And there the argument falls flat as there’s no logical reason for it to be the case.

The best we can say is “depends”.

As for the restrictions, they’re frustrating at times but overall I’m ok with them.
The reality is I get to shoot for fun and sport, and hopefully this year, perhaps for food too.
 
I've loved the triggers on my many Tauri. 605, 608, LOTS of 66s, and one beautiful 689... Extremely close to my 686s. Single action is no different at all.

That said, I've sent 4 brand new 2019-2020 66s back straight out of the box for cylinder binding. One came back with the old extractor rod cut in half...weird...

Even with a Wilson Combat spring upgrade in my GP100, I don't like the Ruger GP100 trigger.

Meh :)
 
I bought a 605 back about 13 years ago. It was a good little gun, but I carried my autos more. One day my Dad mentioned that he was in the market for a small carry revolver, so I just gave him the 605. I wasn't using it much and he wanted one, so I worked out well. Even so, there were times that I missed the little .357 hand cannon. Fast forward to 2019, and Dad was thinning out his gun collection. So for Father's Day, he gave me the 605! I'm just tickled to have it back!

Long ago, I ditched the original rubber grips for some really pretty Altamont wood grips. They felt soooo nice in the hand... until I fired it. They were OK with .38spl, but pretty awful with .357 mag. Also, they interfered with speed loaders. That's part of why I rarely carried it. I used to carry a couple of Speed Strips, but they really aren't all that speedy.

I came across a set of Pachmayer G10 grips on Amazon that they were selling as "guaranteed refurbished" for $40, so I gave them a try. They fill the hand a bit more than the wood grips, but aren't too big. They look pretty cool, IMO. More importantly, they feel great when shooting! I can actually fire a whole box of .357 at the range without hurting. Plus, the top of the left side is rebated enough for speed loaders to work.

50025182143_35c5338691_c.jpg
 
Last edited:
Which Astra do you have? I own both Taurus and Astra and the Astra is a better quality gun. But if you have an Astra 960 or a Police, those are pretty large framed guns that are harder to conceal. The NC-6 is essentially a model 10 but on a jframe size. How they ever fit a six round cylinder onto that frame I’ll never know, but it is excellent. Im guessing you have the Cadix which should be much easier to conceal. Since you appendix carry it really comes down to the grip size. If you are comfortable with the Taurus grip sizes available, I’d go for it.
(I’m assuming you don’t have a quota for how many handguns you can own, like some European countries do. However, if this Taurus is taking up a slot in your quota, then it’s a whole different calculation. Is probably stick with the Astra in that case.)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
Which Astra do you have? I own both Taurus and Astra and the Astra is a better quality gun. But if you have an Astra 960 or a Police, those are pretty large framed guns that are harder to conceal. The NC-6 is essentially a model 10 but on a jframe size. How they ever fit a six round cylinder onto that frame I’ll never know, but it is excellent. Im guessing you have the Cadix which should be much easier to conceal. Since you appendix carry it really comes down to the grip size. If you are comfortable with the Taurus grip sizes available, I’d go for it.
(I’m assuming you don’t have a quota for how many handguns you can own, like some European countries do. However, if this Taurus is taking up a slot in your quota, then it’s a whole different calculation. Is probably stick with the Astra in that case.)
Click to expand...

Well....

I do in fact have an Astra 680! As I understand it, it's essentially a K-frame snub, as far as I've understood. Indeed, for carry the Astra is exceedingly comfortable and conceals well. Any printing probably more... complimentary, than anything else!

Sadly, there are quotas here. In my case, the only way to bypass the quota would be to buy a bigger, higher spec safe. Otherwise, as you guessed, I would need to sell one to buy one. In this respect, the swap is clear. I'm unlikely to find any use for the .38 snub, if I have a 3" .357.

Quality is the big question.

Do I turn in a functional, well-made, 6-shot .38 snub in favour of a 5-shot .357 3" revolver from a company that many are happy with but some have significant problems with?

All this is of particular concern since I'm in a country where sending it back to the factory simply isn't a viable option.

It's all tightly controlled and it's not like returning a faulty power tool to the shop. No straight swap. And I expect the shop would not jump to my assistance: they're in the position of power. Not me, the buyer.

So in many respects, it would be a leap of faith: would it be as comfortable to carry and would I be one of the fortunate ones to get a flawless example of the 605?

Tough!

Having said that, ...... .357Mag!! :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top