Taurus 608 ?
For What It's Worth.
First, let me start out with the bad. I have two Taurus revolvers, the 608 and the M454 Raging Bull. I bought the 608 used and the .454 was new, fresh out of the box. Now what part of this is just my bad luck, but both had some minor problems.
The 608 had a problem ejecting .357 spent casings. .38 special were not a problem but the .357 ejection was terrible. I litterally had to pound on the rod to start to eject the spent casings. This was caused by the cylinder tolerances being cut too tight and a trip back to the Taurus service center fixed the problem. They reamed out the cylinder and since then the 608 has been behaving nicely.
My .454 is another interesting piece of craftsmanship. The safety key has never worked to engage the hammer block. (it's a problem with the lock inside the hammer). There are also a very few other little quirks about the .454 too as far as functionality however it's ok to shoot with the quirks.
The good news. First, Taurus has one of the best (if not best) warranties. You break it, they'll fix it. (almost litterally)
http://www.taurususa.com/warranty.html
So if something does break or doesn't work, Taurus will get it fixed for you. The bad news is, it's next day UPS + 30 days miniumum to get your firearm back. So don't by a Taurus if it's going to be your only means of self protection or your going to a big target meet in the next week or two.
The Good news is this. The 608 is very accurate, the heavy end of the barrel and porting does wonders to tame hot .357 ammo and to me it's better balenced than a lot of other revolvers. Same with the M454. Accurate and to me, handles the hot .454 cartridge exceedingly well due to the same kind of balance and porting. (although some .454 ruger owners seem to whine that the porting makes the Taurus seem really loud, awww...)
Guns break and even Glock and Sig have duds that get shipped to venders. The good news is that if you get one, Taurus will fix it. The bad news is, that I have a suspicion that Taurus puts more dud's in boxes than say Glock or Sig (or Ruger). If I had to do it again, I would still have bought the Taurus. Both guns! But I did want to pass along that there is a little more probability of there being a problem with the Taurus than say a Colt or S&W.
You'll not only get a superior revolver, with a much better action, you'll save even MORE $ for practice.