I bought a Taurus 66 back in the late 1970s. It was the only handgun I had for a long time. I shot mostly .38 Specials through it. Very good trigger. The screw holding the rear sight broke and Taurus replaced it without charge. I have a dozen newer handguns now but the Taurus is the house gun.
Taurus 66
- Thread starter Wallyl
- Start date
"The Taurus 66 frame is larger than the GP100 frame."(Wildcat) 
I have always been under the impression that my Taurus 66 frame was identical to the S&W K frame, which is slightly smaller than my Ruger GP-100 (which is more akin to the larger S&W L frame). Holding them side by side only reinforces that impression that the Ruger frame is slightly bigger, at least to me. But my 66 is an older model... perhaps Taurus has beefed them up in recent years.
Had my .357 66 Taurus since the mid 80's, never any issue. Same with the 9mm Taurus 99.
I have always been under the impression that my Taurus 66 frame was identical to the S&W K frame, which is slightly smaller than my Ruger GP-100 (which is more akin to the larger S&W L frame). Holding them side by side only reinforces that impression that the Ruger frame is slightly bigger, at least to me. But my 66 is an older model... perhaps Taurus has beefed them up in recent years.
Had my .357 66 Taurus since the mid 80's, never any issue. Same with the 9mm Taurus 99.
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I have 5 Taurus handguns and I finally had to send one in for repair when the trigger on my 5 year old TCP quit working a few months ago. They shipped it back to me repaired within two weeks of them receiving it and it works fine again. I have bought two new handguns since last summer (Spectrum and 856) and their fit and finish has improved and I found no flaws in either of them.
wild cat mccane
New member
The cylinder on the Taurus 66 is larger and therefore the total frame is larger than the GP100. A Taurus cylinder would not fit in a GP100.
That wasn't clear. Fair point
Again, frame size is kinda less important. The action is what goofs up the L sized frames, not the actual frame itself.
That wasn't clear. Fair point
Again, frame size is kinda less important. The action is what goofs up the L sized frames, not the actual frame itself.
I finally got out to my range with the 6" barrel Taurus 66. Using a wide variety of handloads in the .38 Spl & .357 Magnum the revolver functioned perfectly with no issues. I found it to be accurate and enjoyable to shoot. The heavy lugged barrel controls muzzle flip and yet the pistol is not too heavy. I did manage to compare it to the M-27; frankly both are different as the later has a 8 3/8" barrel. Others reported cylinder lock ups with their Model 66; I had none. As I shot lead cast bullets, I carefully examined teh bore...it was not fouled up. I have owed and shot a no. of Rugers in this caliber in SS..all of them fouled badly. IMHO the bore is much smoother on the Taurus. The 66 was very enjoyable to shoot....it has a great balance and feel to it. I liked it so much I didn't shoot my Taurus 92 or Ruger S9 much. I am so glad that I bought it.
wild cat mccane
New member
Good to hear.
Now go buy some Mothers Mag Polish and start rubbing it to a mirror like finish
Now go buy some Mothers Mag Polish and start rubbing it to a mirror like finish
I currently have two Taurus revolvers in for warranty work.
There is a 12-week turn around, and once they receive your gun it goes into a "black hole" with no further information except the stuck-record response of "There is a 12 week turn around".
I am willing to wait three months to get my guns back provided that they acturally fix them. Verdict is still out on that.
One is a brand new Taurus 605 stainless that will not lock up the cylinder consistently. It checked out fine at my FFL upon my initial inspection. Got it home, loaded it full of snap caps and started giving it a real "work out". The problem surfaced after only about 20 "shots". The cylinder stopped locking up and would spin freely even with the hammer cocked. The problem would come and go. Start working again, stop working, start working again. When it worked it was perfect, when it didn't it was flat dangerous. The way it was behaving, my thinking is that is probably just too much "lubricant" that has gotten thick sitting on the shelf for a long time and is "gumming up the works". But I didn't want to go poking around in there and risk voiding the warranty, so just bit the bullet so to speak and sent it in. They sent me a pre-paid shipping label for that one free of charge.
The other is a model 941 .22 magnum snubby, polished stainless. I bought it around 10 years ago. It shot WAY to the left. I moved the adjustable rear sight as far to the right as it would go and it STILL shot left. I never sent it in because it was "close to" on at about 7 yards. I just never shot it. At 50 yards it shoots almost two feet to the left. Just last week I inquired to see if it is covered by their warranty. It is, so I sent it in. My instincts / knowledge tell me it probably is not repairable. But they no longer make the 941, so replacing it with the same gun isn't an option. They stopped making the 941 for a while and just came out with the new model 942 for 2020. The 942 has a rear sight adjustable for windage, but not for elevation like the 941, and is only available in matt stainless, not polished. I will happily take a new 942 if they offer to do that. If they tell me "There is no problem with the gun" I'm going to be jumping up and down in the pulpit like a deranged fire and brimstone preacher with a fire cracker up his back side. I had to pay them $50.00 for a proper insured shipping label on this one.
I have no idea why the inconsistency regarding the shipping labels.
I also have a Taurus Tracker .41 magnum that I dearly love. That gun is flawless, super-accurate, has a wonderful action and trigger.
There is a 12-week turn around, and once they receive your gun it goes into a "black hole" with no further information except the stuck-record response of "There is a 12 week turn around".
I am willing to wait three months to get my guns back provided that they acturally fix them. Verdict is still out on that.
One is a brand new Taurus 605 stainless that will not lock up the cylinder consistently. It checked out fine at my FFL upon my initial inspection. Got it home, loaded it full of snap caps and started giving it a real "work out". The problem surfaced after only about 20 "shots". The cylinder stopped locking up and would spin freely even with the hammer cocked. The problem would come and go. Start working again, stop working, start working again. When it worked it was perfect, when it didn't it was flat dangerous. The way it was behaving, my thinking is that is probably just too much "lubricant" that has gotten thick sitting on the shelf for a long time and is "gumming up the works". But I didn't want to go poking around in there and risk voiding the warranty, so just bit the bullet so to speak and sent it in. They sent me a pre-paid shipping label for that one free of charge.
The other is a model 941 .22 magnum snubby, polished stainless. I bought it around 10 years ago. It shot WAY to the left. I moved the adjustable rear sight as far to the right as it would go and it STILL shot left. I never sent it in because it was "close to" on at about 7 yards. I just never shot it. At 50 yards it shoots almost two feet to the left. Just last week I inquired to see if it is covered by their warranty. It is, so I sent it in. My instincts / knowledge tell me it probably is not repairable. But they no longer make the 941, so replacing it with the same gun isn't an option. They stopped making the 941 for a while and just came out with the new model 942 for 2020. The 942 has a rear sight adjustable for windage, but not for elevation like the 941, and is only available in matt stainless, not polished. I will happily take a new 942 if they offer to do that. If they tell me "There is no problem with the gun" I'm going to be jumping up and down in the pulpit like a deranged fire and brimstone preacher with a fire cracker up his back side. I had to pay them $50.00 for a proper insured shipping label on this one.
I have no idea why the inconsistency regarding the shipping labels.
I also have a Taurus Tracker .41 magnum that I dearly love. That gun is flawless, super-accurate, has a wonderful action and trigger.
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I own two model 66s. One is the 2.5" barrel version and the other is a stainless steel 4" barrel version made of stainless steel.
The older short barreled version is from the middle 1980s and still going strong.
Back in the middle 1980s I needed protection for the family and myself.
The budget Tauri allowed me to purchase the model 66 and a blued 65.
Those are still with me and still going strong.
The newer ss 66 compliments the Taurus 827 both having 7 shot cylinders.
5 Star Firearms and HKS speed loaders with Tuff ammo spares keep the Tauri in spare ammo.
After all this thread is about the model 66 and little else.
Yes, I do own a Ruger GP-100. It's in .327 Federal magnum guise. I just prefer to pack the 66 and their brethren.
The Taurus 66 should serve you well.
The older short barreled version is from the middle 1980s and still going strong.
Back in the middle 1980s I needed protection for the family and myself.
The budget Tauri allowed me to purchase the model 66 and a blued 65.
Those are still with me and still going strong.
The newer ss 66 compliments the Taurus 827 both having 7 shot cylinders.
5 Star Firearms and HKS speed loaders with Tuff ammo spares keep the Tauri in spare ammo.
After all this thread is about the model 66 and little else.
Yes, I do own a Ruger GP-100. It's in .327 Federal magnum guise. I just prefer to pack the 66 and their brethren.
The Taurus 66 should serve you well.
I loaded up some "experimental" .357 "Mid" Magnum loads using the Lee 130 RNF bullet sized to .359"...they would get hung up in the 66 cylinder for the last 1/8".....the same in all 7 chambers. IMHO this is good news as it shows how Taurus built it to quite close tolerances. By sized the bullets to .358"....all was well. I am not complaining. The same loads sized to .359" had no problem easily dropping into my Ruger BHK and S & W# M-27 cylinder chambers. I have also found that the Taurus 66 is every bit as accurate as my M-27-----the later has the 8 3/8" long barrel.