Taurus... I know but!

S

SteelToe

New member
Well as many of you may know I settled finally on the S&W 642 38 special with lazer grips for my primary CCW and first ever revolver. I cannot say enough good things about this gun but....

I am just looking online at web sites for future buys and I really love the looks of a lot of the Taurus wheelguns. I love the tracker line with ported barels and nice grips. The one below is what I am considering.

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This thing holds 7 rounds and looks nice to boot. It is not expensive either at only $531. The S&W 686 p in this size barrel legth is around $700+ I think. And I like the look of this a lot. Are they really that bad? Has anyone heard of their most recent quality control issues? Are they getting better? Worse?

Also check out this 6 round 44 raging bull. Whats not to like!?

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The above 44 is so nice looking!

If you cannot already tell I already love Wheelguuns more than Autos. Wish I would have checked em out earlier.

Thanks all for any info you can provide. Also I have never even heard of the 41 magnum. Is this a bit below the 44 in terms of powder charge? and size of projectile?
 
I don't own any Taurus guns but I have'nt heard anything bad about them lately. The fit and finish is'nt as good as S&W but the price is'nt too bad. The 41 mag is a little smaller than the 44. It was a great self defense round that never caught on. Can be a little expensive to shoot too. I had a S&W Mod 57 41 mag. Wish I still had it.
 
The .41 Magnum fires a .410" 210 grain projectile at between 1250 and 1300 fps as the "standard" loading. It's slightly less powerful than the .44 Magnum (.429" or .43 caliber) 240gr projectile but quite often has better penetration.

The .41 magnum was created in 1964 when well known handgun experts like Bill Jordan of the Border Patrol, Skeeter Skelton and Elmer Keith tried to come up with a .40-.41 caliber police load that would be a better round than the .357 Magnum. Bill Jordan would have settled for a 5-shooter on what we'd call an "L-Frame" today, chambered for a .41 caliber round that sent a 200-210gr projectile out of a 4" barrel at 950 fps. S&W and their marketing folks decided to capitalize on the popularity of the "Magnum" guns and created the cartridge with Remington as a Magnum hunting load.

Originally there were two loadings; a 210 grain LSWC at about 925fps (about 400-425 ft/lbs) as the "police" load and the 210 grain JSP at 1300 fps (about 775-790 ft/lbs) for hunting. Unfortunately police officers "machismo" led them straight to the JSP load because they were used to inadequate lead bullets in the 38/357 loads. Thus a lot of officers failed to qualify or scored poorly due to the heavy recoiling .41 "Magnum" load. Those shooting the .41 "police" load faired much better. But the gun never caught on due to it's large N-Frame which is a lot of gun to carry day in and out.

Oddly enough, two of today's most anti-gun cities were the first to approve the .41 Magnum for police use - SFPD and Honolulu PD.

Today the .41 Magnum is a well loved hunting gun for deer and pigs, plus similar sized game. Affectionados of the caliber are die-hard in their support of it and some prefer it's slightly sweeter disposition (less recoil) to the .44 Magnum. Taurus made a 2.5" ported .41 Mag snubbie in both Stainless steel and Titanium (Models 415ss and 415T respectively) and shooting the Ti model is a real hoot with lighter projectiles.

As one person here on TFL said, "once you shoot it, you have a hard time wiping the grin off your face!" I find this to be true since I fired my first .41 Magnum in 1973 and have never found the need to own a .44 since then.

Current loadings for the .41 magnum include;
210 gr JSP @ 1300 fps - 788 ft/lbs - Remington
175 gr JHP @ 1250 fps - 607 ft/lbs - Winchester SilverTip
240 gr JHP @ 1250 fps - 833 ft/lbs - Winchester PlatinumTip
210 gr JHP @ 1280 fps - 764 ft/lbs - Speer Gold Dot
250 gr JSP @ 1250 fps - 867 ft/lbs - Federal CastCore
210 gr JHP @ 1300 fps - 788 ft/lbs - Federal HyShok
 
I think you're getting taken to the cleaners at $531 for the Tracker .357. I've seen it around $400 brand new.

I hope that's MSRP that you're talking.
 
msrp?

I've seen the titanium model of the 4" Tracker for $499 - the heavier stainless model should be about $400.

I handled the Ti model the other day and it was very nice. Now I'm just trying to figure out what I need a ported lightweight Ti .357 for. :D
 
Cost of 627 SS .357

I have to agree with redhawk, I got the same gun in May for $375. Shop around for prices.
 
Nice looking guns. I don't notice an ugly hole right above the cylinder release button. Do they have some kind of stupid internal locking device? :barf:
 
Hello Steeltoe. We currently own 4 taurus revolvers and I like them all. I will say that I did own a taurus tracker 4" in titanium. It is the only one I got rid of. The titanium cylinder face was pitting after just a few rds. and the trigger guard would pinch my middle finger every time I shot it, to the point of a good blister.
The taurus 94's and the mdl. 85 ultra-lite have all been reliable and accurate guns.
 
There were so few .41 magnums out there, I foolishly bought every one I saw.
The only reason I added foolishly was because of the tracker 425 I got in .41 mag.
Paid $429, and I thought THAT was high.
I gotta load up some .41 specials because I'm still not sure it's the gun, and not me. None of my other big bore snubbies give me any grief.
Ruger and smith make some fine .41s, don't get the taurus.
 
Nice looking guns. I don't notice an ugly hole right above the cylinder release button. Do they have some kind of stupid internal locking device?
Click to expand...

JB696 I think they do but it is fairly well hidden on the hammer if I recall right. I think it is just like the S&W version just better hidden.
 
Yes the security key goes in the hammer (from the top) and it’s hardly even noticeable…


I recently purchased a Taurus Raging Bull .44 6" in stainless. What a gorgeous gun… :) I prefer modern looks and designs in guns and the Raging Bull IMO is the best looking revolver ever! I love mine. The trigger in SA is great, porting (and weight) makes even the hottest loads very manageable and the rubber grips make it very comfortable to shoot.
 
exactly

IM_Lugger

I just now was searching the Taurus site and found a line of 357 mags that hold a whopping 8 rounds, look great and are WAY less expensive than S&W. I think I might have to order one :)

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Steel Toe

If you read the posts downing TAURUS. You will see that they all end with buy a == == or a == ==. It is the newest or best, "wonder gun of the month". All companys put out a bad product now and then I believe that some people have bad luck with certian products. I don't like FORD's but know people who love them. Check the weapon out carefully. I read a post that someone bought a new GLOCK and the rear sight was missing. I guess they were so sure the pistol was perfect they didn't look it over before buying it. This has and will happen. Many believe that more $$$ means better quality. But we all know that is not always true. "GOOD LUCK STAY SAFE"
 
Porting

How does the ported barrel that Taurus seems to like so much change the way the gun shoots? .357's are already loud, is a ported gun going to be much louder?

And does it really help with recoil? The Ti model is amazingly light but I wonder if it's brutal to shoot...
 
A Sgt. in my Dept. carries a 8 shot Taurus Revolver off dutyn and seems to be very happy with it. Also, Taurus makes a a .45acp snubbie. CDNN was selling them for $299 (i think). They might make a good BUG for guys like me who carry .45acp auto's.
 
Taurus Tracker .45 ACP report.

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Last week I subcumbed to the revolver bug yet again. For some time I have had a hankering for a .45 acp revolver, but I considered the Smith & Wesson n-frames to be a bit too large for the relatively weak .45 acp round, especiallly if the revolver might fill a role as a carry gun. The 625 while a nice range gun is huge, I can justify that size in .44 magnum but not .45 acp.
so while I was at the range about a month ago, a gentlemen was shooting the .45 ACP tracker in the stall next to me. He admired my, then new to me, 629 Hunter, and offered to let me shoot his Tracker. Well I was impressed, excellent trigger, accuracy, and ergonomics. The porting did not seem to make the gun any louder in the enclosed firing position than any of my 1911 .45s. The double action trigger was at least a couple of pounds lighter than my circa 1987 629, the single action had a tiny bit of overtravel but not bad at all. He reported that he had put about 1,000 rounds through it in the year he had owned it with no problems.

The Taurus trackers are the size of a Smith K frame. The 2 Inch makes an excellent ccw revolver. The 4" inch, a good compact trail gun, all with 5 rounds of .45 acp. I'm not sure where you will find a more compact .45 acp revolver since no one else makes one. So last week I called my favorite shop and asked them to order one 4" tracker in .45 acp. It arrived from Davidsons the next day. I put 150 rounds throught it Sunday and it shoots great. The double action trigger pull is very very smooth and lighter by a couple of pounds than my smith & wesson 629 right out of the box.

It fired and extracted reliably even at 150 rounds. I had to raise the sights slightly to compensate for my 200 SWC loads but it was right the money. I shot some good targets offhand.

The fitting of the gun is excellent carry up perfect, and it full lockup there is absolutely no play in the cylinder at all. The lockup is tighter than on my Brand new 2005 S&W 686. The Taurus also has an actual finish on it a very attractve and even matte stainless (Beadblast???). New stainless Smiths are lacking a finish and sort of have an uneven polish on them.

Drawbacks to the Taurus are the lack of Hogue wood grips to fit the Tracker frame, nobody else makes the 5 shot stellar clips, and the fact that the .45 acp model is discontinued due to an apparent lack of sales. The headspace is tight so any handloads that dont drop to the bottom of a case gauge will not chamber, I found this to be the case with my LSWC handloads (too much crimp, adjusting the crip die for less crimp fixed the problem). But my plated 200 SWC loads worked perfectly, as did federal hydrashok, and speer lawman factory ammo. The gun will also not chamber .45 autorim so I have heard (I dont have any anyway)

The advantages are a K frame sized gun in stainless steel, thats a whole pound lighter than a smith N-frame, and shoots .45 acp whats not to like?????

If smith made a K-frame sized 5 shot .45 acp I would have bought that instead but they dont.

PLUS they are about $230 less expensive than an N-frame smith.

I would highly recommend this gun, and also suggest the .44 magnum version they are still making to someone looking for a .44 magnum carry gun.

If you want one in .45 acp Davidsons still has plenty in stock and the .44 magnum version is still being made.
 
Me Too

This should arrive next week. I don't care for a ported revolver but I couldn't resist the price of $319.00, NIB.

TOTAL TITANIUM MODEL 455 .45 ACP REVOLVER IN SHADOW GRAY. Built on the Taurus compact frame, these have a 4" barrel, fixed sights and weighs only 23 ozs. Comes with moonclips and Taurus' AND lifetime warrenty.

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What's not to like about the Taurus 455, light-weight Trackers and their ilk? Well, like alllight-weight firearms, they recoil more than their heavier counterparts. It's the evil choice we have to make when deciding between a comfortable pistol to carry and a comfortable pistol to shoot. The laws of physics decree that we can't have it both ways. Similarly, when we opt for the easier to shoot ,larger, steel-constructed ,N-type frames, we end up with a handgun pretty hard to tote around inconspicuously.

What else is there to dislike about the aforementioned Taurus revolvers? Well, as we all know, ugly is in the eye of the beholder and I behold those bill-board -sized Taurus logos to be ugly.

All that said, I love Taurus pistols. Though not Smith&Wessons or Colts (when you go to sell one, you'll see what I mean), they are absolutely one of the best buys out there, along with Ruger. One of my favorite revolvers is the Taurus .41 Mag. snubbie. Mine is steel-framed and more pleasant to shoot than my 642 S&W...but it's no 696.
 
dgludwig

Funny thing, I have never consider recoil when purchasing a revolver. Recoil is what it is and so far I've handled it all. About the ugly factor. Keep in mind the pics posted are stock B&W. When I get my .455 I'll post some color pics unless the gun is in fact, ugly...:D
 
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