Taurus® Defender 856 38 SPECIAL +P

[CSW]

Does the Exec come with an acceptable trigger?

I have no answer for that except to say if'n you believe what Taurus says about the X, it 'better' made....more attention to detail.

That being said, I shot my 856 with the factory trigger and did nothing to it except clean and lube under the plate. It was a heavy, but very predictable trigger. Close to 750 rounds without an issue.
Once I installed the Galloway kit, it only got better.

It's been around 800+ rounds since the install, honestly I stopped counting the rounds, and I've had no light strikes, or FTF. It just runs. No screws backing out, and I'm just waiting for JM or DSG appendix holster.

[sharps54]

I have no answer for that except to say if'n you believe what Taurus says about the X, it 'better' made....more attention to detail.

That being said, I shot my 856 with the factory trigger and did nothing to it except clean and lube under the plate. It was a heavy, but very predictable trigger. Close to 750 rounds without an issue.
Once I installed the Galloway kit, it only got better.

It's been around 800+ rounds since the install, honestly I stopped counting the rounds, and I've had no light strikes, or FTF. It just runs. No screws backing out, and I'm just waiting for JM or DSG appendix holster.

Does yours still have a noticeable wall after the cylinder turns before the hammer falls? A buddy and I picked up 856 Toros as proof of concept platforms (RDS on a carry revolver) and both have a very obvious wall, almost like a semi auto with a lot of slack in the trigger. Mine also has one chamber that is noticeably heavier than the others.

[D-der]

Does yours still have a noticeable wall after the cylinder turns before the hammer falls? A buddy and I picked up 856 Toros as proof of concept platforms (RDS on a carry revolver) and both have a very obvious wall, almost like a semi auto with a lot of slack in the trigger. Mine also has one chamber that is noticeably heavier than the others.

I've noticed this as well, seems like when the cylinder
locks up, it's pretty abrupt and if I don't pay attention,
I'll pull the shot right.
I did notice the one I took home was consistent chamber
to chamber while the other one I was comparing with not so much.

[sharps54]

I've noticed this as well, seems like when the cylinder
locks up, it's pretty abrupt and if I don't pay attention,
I'll pull the shot right.
I did notice the one I took home was consistent chamber
to chamber while the other one I was comparing with not so much.

I wish I had a chance to compare a few different ones but I ordered the Toro online. The trigger is definitely manageable as long as you just press through that wall but I wouldn’t be surprised if it tempts less experienced wheel gun shooters to stage shots.

[CSW]

Does yours still have a noticeable wall after the cylinder turns before the hammer falls? A buddy and I picked up 856 Toros as proof of concept platforms (RDS on a carry revolver) and both have a very obvious wall, almost like a semi auto with a lot of slack in the trigger. Mine also has one chamber that is noticeably heavier than the others.

I've noticed this as well, seems like when the cylinder
locks up, it's pretty abrupt and if I don't pay attention,
I'll pull the shot right.
I did notice the one I took home was consistent chamber
to chamber while the other one I was comparing with not so much.

I wish I had a chance to compare a few different ones but I ordered the Toro online. The trigger is definitely manageable as long as you just press through that wall but I wouldn’t be surprised if it tempts less experienced wheel gun shooters to stage shots.

Wall?
I don't know if I want to call it that.
You can definitely "stage" the trigger, but not like a Smith, or Colt.

Yes, you can also pull thru the entire thing as described, but the way I look at it is, it's a $325 TAURUS..... not a Smith or Colt.
Most times I aim and just pull thru it all, double action, and reset for the next shot.

[jetfire]

Does the Exec come with an acceptable trigger?

Yeah, it does. I still swapped the mainspring to make it lighter but it’s pretty awesome factory

[D-der]

Wall?
I don't know if I want to call it that.
You can definitely "stage" the trigger, but not like a Smith, or Colt.

Yes, you can also pull thru the entire thing as described, but the way I look at it is, it's a $325 TAURUS..... not a Smith or Colt.
Most times I aim and just pull thru it all, double action, and reset for the next shot.

Agreed, 100%.
I'm having a blast with this Defender, I get a bit of a bump at lock up
but it's certainly no big deal, actually the gun is damned impressive,
especially at it's price point, sights, trigger stage-ability and accuracy
are actually surprising.
Time go shoot it!

[CSW]

Just send you a PM.

[Totem Polar]

Does the Exec come with an acceptable trigger?

Yes. I like it fine the way it is: moderately heavy, but very smooth. Yeah, there’s some stacking at the end, but it doesn’t strike me as any less workable than, say, the new gen Cobra line from the Pony people. I ran mine at the last USPSA fun shoot that I could make. The good: with the new, lower front sight, things were spot on. I heard a lot of “Alpha, Alpha; Alpha, Charlie; another Alpha, Alpha…” through the ear pro’s electronics during tape up. This thing is sooooo close to being GTG.

That said, I found one unexpected problem: during my second run, the ejector rod stuck on the last reload of the stage. I mean, *really* stuck. Waaaay beyond original new Colt knurling issues. I had to knee the shit out of the star to break it loose. The upside is that I have more street cred with the RO, since he got a front row view to my hiza-geri’ng the ejector star into the next time zone in order to solve the problem, reload, and finish the stage.

Near as I can figure, the fact that the gun was uncomfortably hot at the end of a couple of runs affected rod/cylinder fit enough to cause the malf, in front of God and everyone. I had no issues practicing reloads with zoom caps at home when I first got the thing, and I can’t reproduce the issue at home now, either.

That said, my exec is retired from both matches and nightstand status until I have time to trouble shoot things this summer. It’s in the safe, and I’m back to K-frames and a Speed Six for wheelie jollies. I had really high hopes, but the exec isn’t quite ready for the big time yet, IMHO.

@jetfire, FYI.

[D-der]

Saturday I ran maybe another sixty or so rounds
of mixed S&B 158, 130gr fmj, Delta Precision and
Lost River 148gr wc, the Defender ran 100% and
shoot's better than I should be able to shoot it.
After the initial 40 or so rd's I got a light primer
strike, upon inspection it was dimpled but not
dented, went bang second time around, then the
light strikes got progressively more frequent, like
over the next two cylinders, some needed to be hit
2-3 times, this happened with all types of ammo, wtf.
Except for the light strikes everything appeared 100%.
I took the gun apart, everything was as it should be,
after reinstalling the oem hammer spring I ran another
30 rounds of the same mix of ammo shot earlier with
zero issues of any kind.
Given the circumstance's, the gun ran great initially with
no hint of malfunction, then abruptly had constant misfires
with multiple ammo samples, I'd guess it's just a shit luck
case of a faulty spring, something in mfg process, heat
treatment, end or beginning of a spool etc.
Anyway, I'll try another Galloway hammer spring, I've ordered
a Wolf kit for the hell of it, options are good and, while
I prefer a 9-10 lb trigger over a 12-13lb, worst case I end
up running the oe spring, I'm still a happy camper, she's a shooter!
PS. This is in no way an intended dis on Galloway, their product
functioned as advertised,service has been excellent, I certainly
understand, tolerance's, "within spec" and shit happens in mfg.