Taurus Model 66

[Port]

At the range yesterday when the guy next to me and I decided to do the, “you shoot mine, and i’ll shoot yours” thing.

His was a Taurus revolver. A “blued” 4” 66 I think. 7 shots with an adjustable rear sight. I quoted blued because it looked more like a crappy black paint job.

Anyway, I cocked the hammer for my first shot (he had it loaded with 38’s) and was a little surprised when I let it fly. Nice single action, but I missed the target completely. Clearly the gun was junk. I mean, Taurus, come on. I decided to let the rest fly as fast as possible double action.




The trigger was awesome! And I created a nice little group to boot. I have no idea what happened on the first shot, but that Taurus shot! He said he never did any trigger work to it... ar anything to enhance it. I was impressed.

At well under 500 dollars, if they are all like that, then the thing has to be the best value around! I might just have to pick me up a “beater heater!”

[Chuck Haggard]

It's nice when they work.

The last seven Taurus revolvers I've tried were unusable straight out of the box. As in wouldn't even dry fire, or had other problems during minimal live fire.

Hard pass.

[Bigghoss]

Do you have a question, or...?

If you use the search function, you'll see that Taurus has a pretty bad reputation. Best to avoid and get a Smith or Ruger. My own experience with Taurus was not good.

[SeriousStudent]

I remember Robb Jensen posting a picture he took of a Taurus Model 85 revolver they received at Virginia Arms, new in box, straight from their distributor.

It was missing the barrel.

As in, there was no barrel attached to the pistol at all. Made it all the way through every QC "check" they had, and shipped without a barrel.

Some of you gents know Robb. Honorable guy, and not into Photoshop.

I have seen people do some magical stuff with a snubbie, but every one of those had a barrel at least loosely attached to the frame.

[Port]

Looks like it may not be a value after all.

[Lester Polfus]

Looks like it may not be a value after all.

My snarky line is "I can't afford guns that cheap." I've been tempted by several Tauri, but my vicarious experience is that whatever savings from the initial purchase price are quickly eaten up by costs associated with shipping back to the mothership, frustration and disappointment.

They also have very low resale value. One LGS I used to frequent stopped selling them and refused to take them in on trade.

I understand the temptation, but a little searching here will show your money would be better spent in other places.

[Joe in PNG]

My snarky line is "I can't afford guns that cheap." I've been tempted by several Tauri, but my vicarious experience is that whatever savings from the initial purchase price are quickly eaten up by costs associated with shipping back to the mothership, frustration and disappointment.

They also have very low resale value. One LGS I used to frequent stopped selling them and refused to take them in on trade.

I understand the temptation, but a little searching here will show your money would be better spent in other places.

Like here, here, or here

[medmo]

At well under 500 dollars, if they are all like that, then the thing has to be the best value around! I might just have to pick me up a “beater heater!”

Well, I doubt they are all like that but some of them are. I have similar thoughts for other manufacturers. Probably a higher ratio of “not all like that” with Taurus though. I’ve owned and shot a half a dozen Taurus revolvers and had only one stinker. The timing was off brand new out of the box. They fixed it under warranty but it took a long time. I regret letting go a 4”, 7 round 357MAG Tracker. It was pretty sweet. I’ve held onto an older 6”, 6 round 66 because it’s a shooter. Itty, bitty groups with 158gr bullets and even more teeny with LSWC 158gr. Two javalina with one round each. One was a 40 yard shot and the other ridiculously close. I cleaned up the action, put on Hogue grips and installed a Millet rear sight. It’s a keeper.

[Bigghoss]

Looks like it may not be a value after all.

I mean, it's not like every single gun that leaves the factory is a huge POS. But They put out a higher ratio of bad to good and there are lots of stories of folks sending their defective guns back only to have them returned still broken. I've had a handful of bad Ruger guns but they are really, really, good about fixing their mistakes. So I feel comfortable buying Ruger's because, even though I've had probably 8 guns that had to go back because they were defective, they have always done right by me and fixed the guns in a reasonable time frame.

If you really want a good .357 revolver, look at a Ruger GP100, particularly a Match Champion. It's a lot more than a Taurus but it's a purchase you will be happy with.

[Port]

I mean, it's not like every single gun that leaves the factory is a huge POS. But They put out a higher ratio of bad to good and there are lots of stories of folks sending their defective guns back only to have them returned still broken. I've had a handful of bad Ruger guns but they are really, really, good about fixing their mistakes. So I feel comfortable buying Ruger's because, even though I've had probably 8 guns that had to go back because they were defective, they have always done right by me and fixed the guns in a reasonable time frame.

If you really want a good .357 revolver, look at a Ruger GP100, particularly a Match Champion. It's a lot more than a Taurus but it's a purchase you will be happy with.

I had an SP101 once. The trigger was awful. I’ve shot other Ruger Wheelguns, they weren’t all as bad as my SP, but they really weren’t remarkable. The Taurus I shot yesterday was on par with a nicely tuned S&W. It felt pretty remarkable. Or maybe i’m imagining it because I was shooting a G43 and G42 beforehand lol!

Bah, it was a thought. Who knows? I’ve got my G48 to get and mod before I mess with a Wheelgun anyway .

But seriously, if you look at the rare Taurus 66 review, I’m shocked at how positive they are.