i just purchaced a taurus model 85 ultra lite in .38 special. 5 shot, stainless 2" snubbie. sometimes in the course of doing side work for my brothers business, i am in some very bad areas of town, alot of times in the dark, always by myself. does anyone have any experience with the taurus line? they seem to be well built, and have a great warranty. i bought some remington golden sabre 125gr +p loads to stuff in it. how about this caliber? does the +p load make the .38 special more of a "stopper" if needed? thanks, penz
taurus wheelguns
- Thread starter penzdude
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.38 special is a good round to start with, provided it's 125 gr JHP. +P makes it a great defensive piece.
I wouldn't go out and run 50 rounds of +P through it, tho. Maybe 2-3 rounds at a time (session). It's not rated for +P, but being stainless and pretty much a Smith design, it can sure handle a few hundred in it's lifetime.
Shot placement and confidence in your skills when it counts is the most important factor.
Shoot some regular FMJ ammo through it for practice. Leave the lead alone, it's too difficult to clean out unless you shoot 4-6 cylinders of Jacketed rounds through after you're done.
I wouldn't go out and run 50 rounds of +P through it, tho. Maybe 2-3 rounds at a time (session). It's not rated for +P, but being stainless and pretty much a Smith design, it can sure handle a few hundred in it's lifetime.
Shot placement and confidence in your skills when it counts is the most important factor.
Shoot some regular FMJ ammo through it for practice. Leave the lead alone, it's too difficult to clean out unless you shoot 4-6 cylinders of Jacketed rounds through after you're done.
thanks for the info thooks..unless i'm mistaken though, i thought i read where ....maybe it was in on the taurus website, or some other litature, that all thier new handguns were +p rated? anyhow, with the price of those golden sabres, you can bet they won't see much range time! lol. i can imagine the recoil might be on the nasty side. the gun weighs 17oz empty, plus the 2" barrel. when i was a younger man, i owned a ruger blackhawk .357mag. that was a fun one to blast away with. we were young and dumb, never wore ear protection, sometimes deaf for several days after a session, and always used full bore .357's, never the milder .38's. didn't seem as much fun at the time i guess. i do remember that dang .357 as being very acurate though. i used to use silvertips. i think they were also 125grs and once in a while we'd use the 158's..but i think those were nyclads..sold it cheap to a bud. wish i still owned it. this new 85 ultra lite is very consealable and comfortable to carry though, the blackhawk was on the heavyish side. thanks again guy. penz
Unless it is a really old Taurus it is +P rated. Every .38 they make now is +P rated. The quality has been hit and miss at Taurus for the last couple-three years. I had to refuse two model 85's before I settled on one for the wife a couple years ago. Timing was way off on both. She had somewhere around 1,500 rounds through it now and no problems. Here is a pic of the wifes model 85..
thanks turbo for the reply. forgive me, but what is meant by the timing being off on the gun? man, that is a good looking model 85 ultra lite. dig the pearl handles~! are my eyes right this morn? gold trigger/hammer,cyl release? cool. don't get her mad though!
I bought a SS model 85 before they were rated for +P loads. Great gun and I've shot some +P's thru it.
I personally don't like the extra recoil of +P's and stick with normal Federal personal defensive loads. And I'm sure you'll certainly feel the difference in the lite model.
A good practice round is the UMC ammo that I buy at ****'s or Wally World. Accurate and very clean burning. About $5-6 /50 when on sale.
I personally don't like the extra recoil of +P's and stick with normal Federal personal defensive loads. And I'm sure you'll certainly feel the difference in the lite model.
A good practice round is the UMC ammo that I buy at ****'s or Wally World. Accurate and very clean burning. About $5-6 /50 when on sale.
I've owned a couple of Taurus wheel guns. I still have the .357. Both of them were/are flawless in their operation and have done me well.
Yes, +P means its a more powerful load. A study I read concluded that when used on humans, the .38 load with the most stopping power was the solid lead unjacketed wadcutter, which has a flat tip. My wife has a stainless steel, six shot, Taurus .357 revolver with a 4 in. barrel and ventilated rib and I think its every bit as good as the comparable S&W. I like it so much that the gun in the link below is going to be my next handgun purchase:
http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?model=627SS6&category=Revolver
http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?model=627SS6&category=Revolver
glad to see that most seem to think they are nice handguns...jmacmaster, that model 627 looks real nice..i like .357's...just thought it might be a little too much in the kind of gun i wanted..small, light, 2" barrel. there is a guy at work that has a marlin lever carbine chambered for it. he has took a couple of deer with it, close shots in heavy cover from a tree stand. i have a 30-30 marlin, a nice one with the black walnut monte carlo style stock, hooded front ramp, sling swivels, etc. i also owned a marlin 1894 cl classic that was chambered for....218 bee! that was cool gun. dollar a pop to shoot though. 47.00 a box, for 50 rounds. i think winchester was the only one loading for it, it might be gone for good now, as far as i know. very acurate w/ the simmons 3x9x40 it had on it. funny how many things we sell, we'd probably pay double to get back later. heck, the 30-30 was given to me by my parents, now both passed away. i had sold it to a co-worker. after they passed, i felt alot more attachment to the thing, and the guy was kind enough to sell it back to me for what he had paid me for it. heck, he didn't even hunt or shoot, so it was practicly as when i sold it to him. he's pretty well off money wise, i guess he just wanted to say he owned a gun i guess. he knew both my parents, so i think that helped me. very kind of him to do that though. let me know how you like the 627 when ya get it, fine looking piece. penz
Timing has to do with cylinder bore/barrel alignment. With the revolver at full lockup look down the barrel to ensure the cylinder and barrel are aligned, do it for every cylinder.
Yes, the trigger,hammer and cyl release is gold plated. It is a special order gun from Taurus. Personally I dont care for the pearl and gold, but she likes it.
I should add that the Raging Bull line from Taurus in my opinion is top notch. I have owned five of them and still have two and have a few buddies who own some, and I have never personally seen one that had any problems.
jmacmaster, heck i'm not even sure if i saw that one. i do like the extra capacity of the 817. kinda wanted the stainless though. i see the 817 only weighs 4 more oz! nice. the 817 retails for 406.00 though. my 85 ultra lite retails for around 390.00 and i got it for 317.00 + tax. i like the 817 you linked to me though! thanks, penz
penzdude:
I'm curious as to why you didn't get this Taurus:
http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?model=817BUL&category=Revolver
Its the same weight as the Model 85, and only a little bit bigger in size. Yet it has 7 shots as against the 5 shots for the Model 85.
I'm curious as to why you didn't get this Taurus:
http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?model=817BUL&category=Revolver
Its the same weight as the Model 85, and only a little bit bigger in size. Yet it has 7 shots as against the 5 shots for the Model 85.
nice..i like the look of the stainless revolvers. i am getting ready to take the cwp class. need to get a little more info on the specifics, but the last i heard it was a one day, 6~8 hr class, including the range time. guess i'll get some range fodder. do ya know some good target ammo? i think bear stated he used the umc stuff. i'd like to get some stuff that won't monk up the barrel to much.{lead} thanks again
The Taurus 817 comes in stainless steel. Here it is:
http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?model=817SSUL&category=Revolver
http://www.taurususa.com/products/product-details.cfm?model=817SSUL&category=Revolver
For a snub-nosed revolver with the type of fixed rear sight you have and its limited range/accuracy ratio, I'd just get one of the cheapest loads in the stores near you for target shooting. You'll be shooting at such close range that I don't think different brands and types of rounds will make much, if any, difference. I wouldn't worry about unjacketed lead rounds, because you should clean the barrel each time you fire the gun anyway, no matter what type bullet you use.
I reload all my ammo and for most of my target practice and plinking I generally use wadcutter (LWC) bullets. If you use unjacketed bullets, as long as they are lubed like they are supposed to be, and are not loaded super hot,you should have no problems with lead in the barrel. I use hard cast bullets almost exclusively in all my large bore handguns with no lead issues at all, heck right now I am shooting 440gr hard cast's at close to 1800fps in my S&W 500 with no lead issues, but the bullets are lubed and gas checks are used.
Penzdude, A 38 snubbie is a good weapon for protection and is easy to conceal. Any +p load will give more of a muzzle flash but will gain little in velocity. A 2 inch barrel wont propel a hollowpoint bullet to the velocity needed to reliably expand. What happens more often is the hollow portion of the bullet will be filled with whatever it contacts such as flesh or clothing resulting in a "solid" bullet that does not expand. Only hitting bone will produce expansion. A good solution is plain 38 wadcutters. These will penetrate heavy clothing and keep going. If you hit your target it will have a .35 cal hole (minimum) from entrance to exit plus maximum energy transfer at the initial contact with the target. I own a few Taurus firearms and i find them to be very reliable. Im looking at a Taurus snubbie that is chambered in 45 acp. It is a larger frame than the 38 but it packs more of a wallop. If conceiled carry passes in my state that is what i will carry.
i bet that .45 acp will be a handfull to fire in a snub! lol. thanks for the info on the wadcutters..sure are less costly. should i stick w/ the 125gr? what brand do you recommend? specific if you will. is the blazer stuff any good? i don't reload, so that part isn't a issue. seems like most folks like the taurus. i remember when they didn't seem to gather the respect as they do now...thanks. penz
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