Three revolvers to consider: advice invited.

[pathdoc]

One is a Taurus .357 Magnum with seven-round cylinder, long-ish barrel (7 inches and change) and muzzle ports.

.357 is .357, right? The nervous part of me wonders whether the 7-shot cylinder has enough metal in it. I also don't know how unfounded my concerns are regarding clogging up of the recoil compensator with lead bullets. My intent is to reload spent .357 Magnum cases with .38 Special-level loads for practice, with occasional .357 factory ammo shoots to experience the gun's full potential.

A second is the Taurus Judge. The long, long, long cylinder it requires in order to chamber .410 shotshells fills me with hesitation regarding its suitability as a .45 Colt gun. The flipside of this is my ability to reload .410, and potentially to do so with solid slugs if I get into the casting game. How much work has been done on .410 solids fired from the Judge, or is this even advisable?

A third is a nice little cowboy-style single-action .22 LR gate-loader. As a fun gun, what could possibly go wrong?


My current plan is to buy the .357 and the .22, perhaps considering a .45 Colt revolver chambered specifically for that cartridge in the future.

 

[Shadow9mm]

I have a ruger gp100 in 357 mag, love it. I shot a taurus 357 and 44mag years back. The ruger is a much nicer gun imho. But the Taurus got the job done.

If your considering a judge you could also look at the s&w governor. Which can also fire 45acp with moon clips. The taurus raging judge is rated up to 454 as well as 45 colt.

A 22lr cowboy revolver would be cool.

But thats just me. I always say as long as the gun is safe and reliable its down to person preferably. What works for me and fits my needs might not for you, and vise versa.

 

[BourbonCowboy]

I'd go with the .357...because I already own the Judge and would be looking for something different. The Judge is one of the most fun guns I own. It's my nightstand gun. Everyone giggles at it when I bring it out to shoot, but once they try it out, they want one. It always puts a big goofy grin on my face when I squeeze the trigger.

But, the next revolver I get will be the Taurus Tracker 692 with the multi-caliber option. It might be something for you to consider.

 

[GeauxTide]

I briefly owned a Taurus PT-45. Nice piece, but not the quality of Springfield and Ruger. I'd go with a Ruger GP-100.

 

[lee n. field]

One is a Taurus .357 Magnum with seven-round cylinder, long-ish barrel (7 inches and change) and muzzle ports.

.357 is .357, right? The nervous part of me wonders whether the 7-shot cylinder has enough metal in it. I also don't know how unfounded my concerns are regarding clogging up of the recoil compensator with lead bullets. My intent is to reload spent .357 Magnum cases with .38 Special-level loads for practice, with occasional .357 factory ammo shoots to experience the gun's full potential.

With ports, it's probably a Tracker, remotely possible it's a Raging Hunter. I wouldn't be worried about it, either holding up or clogging.

A second is the Taurus Judge. The long, long, long cylinder it requires in order to chamber .410 shotshells fills me with hesitation regarding its suitability as a .45 Colt gun. The flipside of this is my ability to reload .410, and potentially to do so with solid slugs if I get into the casting game. How much work has been done on .410 solids fired from the Judge, or is this even advisable?

No idea.

The Judge is a weird mutt, that can't do either thing it's designed for very well. (That pesky NFA thing, <sigh>.) If you want to shoot .45 Colt, get a revolver dedicated to that.

Standard Interwebz Disclaimers apply: IMHO&YMMV.

A third is a nice little cowboy-style single-action .22 LR gate-loader. As a fun gun, what could possibly go wrong?

You have too much fun?

My current plan is to buy the .357 and the .22, perhaps considering a .45 Colt revolver chambered specifically for that cartridge in the future.

I think your plan is good.

 

[McShooty]

Stay the path, Doc. But on the 357 get a real one. S&W Model 27 or Model 28. Pieces of history with incredible quality. If your hand is small, a Model 19 would still be satisfying.

 

[Nick_C_S]

One is a Taurus .357 Magnum with seven-round cylinder, long-ish barrel (7 inches and change) and muzzle ports.

.357 is .357, right? The nervous part of me wonders whether the 7-shot cylinder has enough metal in it. I also don't know how unfounded my concerns are regarding clogging up of the recoil compensator with lead bullets.

I shoot revolvers a lot and I have shot a 7-shot Taurus. The one I shot had a 4" bbl and ports. I was unimpressed. Found the trigger to be rough and heavy (heavy doesn't bother me). I shot it well enough though - still knocked out the center of the target and I was using full-house ammo.

As for the thin cylinder walls of the 7-shot, I have a 686 that's a 7-shot (not sure if the cylinder diameter is the same as a Taurus) and I don't think it's much of a problem. I have shot plenty of full-power rounds through my 7-shot Smith. I load my own; but don't hot-rod 357 mag ammo - staying within published load data is plenty powerful enough for me. If I did, maybe the thin cylinder walls might make me nervy.

As for the porting and shooting lead, I don't know first-hand. But everything I've read has positioned it as a don't-do rather firmly. For me, this would be the show-stopper of getting the Taurus.

If I was in your position, I'd look for a good used Smith and a six-shot would suit me just fine (I have a bunch of six-shot Smiths). Of course, you are you and I am me, and what you want may be different from what I want. Just my two cents.

 

[wild cat mccane]

Huge fan of Taurus revolvers for cheap enteries. I have sent I think 6? 66s back to Taurus from 2007 to 2020 for binding issues. Don't for a second believe the every 5 year repeating "better quality" reports by people who don't buy. I buy them every year or so.

The 66 is the L frame equal, the ported version you are talking about is the Tracker k/l between sized. Frame size isn't a problem. Believe it or not, frames typically don't break in revolvers, but everyone talks endless about them. The frame of the S&W 66 was fixed without going to the current L frame, as an example.

I hated my Tracker 627 for the ports.

The "thin" walls of the cylinder do not matter at all. My 686s S&W with 7 chambers are also thin. That's not a structurally hard hit area. The top strap is, the forcing cone, and your hand if it's at the end of the cylinder. Those get the wack. The Taurus 66 has had a 7 round chamber longer than the Ruger GP100 which has a smaller frame for the cylinder than the Taurus 66. You should see the walls on the GP100 that has a smaller cylinder than the Taurus 66 or 686.

I was removed from the Taurus armed forum (active for a long time) when I pointed out not a single 692 9mm/357 revolver reviewer was getting good accuracy and everyone posting their targets up were terrible. I too was super excited to get a 692 9mm/357. Great idea. I started watching hits by reviewers. If not garbage, near enough. Wasn't even bashing it, but the reviews are out there, none are good for target shooting in 9mm. So what's the point?

For sure, no Taurus I have shot had a worse trigger than a Ruger GP100. I have even Wilson springed my GP100 and have owned maybe 5? I would rate the Taurus 66 trigger ALMOST like the 686. I have 5 686s, 1 GP100, but no Taurus 66s at the moment.

The parts are simply inferior on the Taurus. Mexico chrome on internal parts which are very rough. For a starter or for just a 357 fun gun, I think they work fine. Half the price for a 686. Great.

Binding cylinders have been a problem with me on the Taurus flagship revolver though...so...just have to know when to send it in.

Normally I would recommend the N frame Taurus 608 8 shot R8 like, just for giggles. However, those normally $450 guns are now going $700 like no one has a clue how cheap they were before.

 

[pathdoc]

Thanks for the advice. Being in rural Canada, easy finds of used revolvers are rare as rocking horse faeces. The nearest shop specializing in handguns gave up out of frustration at complicated laws a while back.

Given how things are going in general, a bird in the hand is probably as good as one in the bush. I can look for a better gun later.

Lee, I'm pretty sure the Taurus near me is the long-barrelled .357 with the ports at the link.

IIRC the .22 Cowboy gun is a Ruger Wrangler.

 

[kenny53]

I have a couple of Taurus guns in the house. The first is a 5 shot 2" barrel chambered in 38 special, then a TX 22. Both are very good guns.

 

[44 AMP]

If you lived somewhere they were easy to get, I'd say skip the Taurus and get a S&W or a Ruger

And definitely the Ruger for your .22 SA.

Because of where you are and the situation, get what you can get and hopefully it won't be too bad. Taurus does not do the best job out there. Some of their guns seem fine, others seem to be problems and a few are continual problems until replaced.

All .357s are not equal.

 

[Drm50]

Taurus is second rate hardware. Would behoove you to spend a little more and get S&W or Ruger. Probably pick up good used one for price of new Taurus.
When I was teenager and still in school my two best friends were a few years older. They had gotten good paying jobs in a mill. This was 60s and magnum revolvers were becoming the big deal. My buddies had bought Hawes Western Marshall 44 mags. I think $59.95. Anyway I wanted one too. I made $24 week in IGA store. I started saving for the 44. Was driving my Dad nuts talking about it. He had no interest in magnum pistols, was shotgun bird dog guy.
Anyway the big day came. My buddies taking me to town Saturday morning to purchase my 44 Hawes. At the gun shop in the pistol case was a Ruger Super Blackhawk right next to Hawes. That was it, didn’t want Hawes no mo. The Ruger was twice the price, I put my money down on the Ruger. When my dad found out, he stopped and got it on way home from work. He said he did it because he couldn’t stand to hear about it for another month.
To make a long story longer, my buddies with the Hawes headed to town after first session of Ruger vs Hawes, and traded in on Rugers. Which we all still have to this day.

 

[arquebus357]

If I was asked what would be a good first .357 revolver, it would be a older used S&W K/L frame like say, a model or 19 and it's stainless steel counterpart preferably with a hammer mounted firing pin.

I have a few Ruger revolvers which function fine but I'm put off by Ruger's wavy frames. I don't know if it's the castings or the finishing process but even my Match Champion lacks the appearance of a finely made revolver. Built like a tank...yes, like a Russian T34 from WWII. Given the choice, I would take the Security Six Ruger over the GP100.

I don't have any experience with Taurus revolvers but just in appearance, they seem to be very nicely made.

 

[10-96]

Pathdoc, are Uberti's, Taylors, Cimarron, EEA's, or any of the other cowboy/SAA style pistols available up there in Canada? Oh, and speaking of EEA- maybe their Windicator is available in .357?

 

[Ruger45LC]

Skip Taurus, save for Ruger or S&W

 

[4V50 Gary]

No to Taurus. The transfer bars ALWAYS breaks. Taurus is aware of it but won't do any stress relief or changing the materials. I used spring steel to make one.

As times get hard and surely they will with the dollar losing the world's reserve currency status, you don't want to get a gun that'll need parts or work and have it fail on you during times of hardship. When it breaks, then you have a nice rock or blunt instrument.

Spend the extra money and PLEASE buy American instead. Rugers are generally problem free and they would be my first choice for revolvers. I carried one for years as a deputy sheriff.

 

[RoyceP]

My opinion, buy US made hardware if you want quality. I can't think of any reason to send my money to another country. And S & W or Colt make some great revolvers. They are easy to find and not terribly expensive.

 

[2123]

As others have stated, skip the Taurus and go with a S&W. Taurus will never be a world-class firearm. And, it won't appreciate like some other brands will.

I have a couple of Taurus's. They shoot okay, but I'd never use one as an everyday carry piece. Range and plinking only!

 

[pathdoc]

2123, this being Canada, it is pretty much range only for me!

 

[chadio]

Regarding revolvers:

- do you prefer the security style grip or the western style grip?
- do you prefer a swing out cylinder or is a loading gate ok?