Taurus/ Rossi q

[soldierbilly1]

I am in the market for a new inexpensive revolver, most likely 357 Mag. Nothing fancy, plain vanilla with adjustable sights. The intended use is as a range gun, not HD or SD. Just fun. S and W is outta here with their pricing. Ruger is OK pricewise, and I can deal with that, and, I will prolly end up with one.

However, how are the Taurus and the Rossi revolvers?

I don't know anyone who owns their revolvers. do they run well? Reasonable reliability and price are the only things that matters for this buy. If need be, I will go 38 and forego the 357. I will probably never shoot 357 anyway!!

Since you guys know your stuff, I would love to hear your comments on Rossi and Taurus.

thanks
bill boy

[warboar_21]

I don't know about taurus today but I bought a used Taurus model 66 back in 91. The guy that had it before me shot the heck out of it. He said he bought it in the mid 80s. Since I have owned it I have put thousands of rounds through it. Most of which were either factory 357 mag or full pressure hand loads. Only the last 5 years or so have I started shooting cast through it.
It has accounted for one whitetail deer, several jack rabbits, couple coyotes, and a few fox. It has been a great gun and the best $80.00 I have spent on a gun. My wife took over possession from me causing me to have to buy a new GP 100.

I have no experience with the rossi revolvers other than shooting a friend's snub nose 38spl several years ago. It seemed ok for what it was and the price he paid for it.

[tazman]

I own a recent(last 5 years) Taurus 627 Tracker. I have had zero issues with it. Grips are comfortable and the gun is accurate. So far I have put over 3000 rounds through it.

[trapper9260]

Taurus 905SS2 Revolver | 9mm 5 Rounds ,I have this one and no problem with it.I got it new and works ok for me.

[Tackleberry41]

I was always leery of Taurus. Yes plenty get ones that work fine, but if theres a bad one out there it would be sold to me. Passed on a 357 not long ago, nope wasnt gonna save a few bucks and hope there are no headaches, so paid the extra for a Ruger.

Rossi, I have not been at all impressed with their guns, then there is their wonderful customer service to deal with.

Inexpensive range toy might never be a problem. I would spend the little extra for something better if it were for any sort of serious use.

[jcren]

Got my wife one of the model 85's in 38. The muzzle was rough and I did a home recrown but after that, surprisingly accurate and completely reliable.

[farmerjim]

I have a Taurus 66 .357. It shoots 38 and 357 with great accuracy. I keep it loaded so that the first 3 rounds are shot loads. Great on snakes while bushoging.

[Deep Six]

My friend bought a judge. We got home with it and pulling the trigger would advance the cylinder while the hammer didn't move. Reassembling it caused the parts to get into the right place for about 50 rounds and then it went back to not moving the hammer again. I'm not sure if he sent it in for warrantee work or not. He's since moved on to a Bisley .45.

I bought a Rossi 92 in 44 mag a few years back. Worked good but hit 3 feet left of POA. Determined the barrel was bent and sent it in. After 12 weeks of calling them every week they finally said mine could not be fixed (I don't understand what's so hard about screwing a new barrel in....?) and sent a new gun to my dealer. I had to eat the transfer fee because it had a different serial number. Got the new gun out and this one only hits 18" left of POA. There was enough windage in the sights and I didn't feel like dealing with Taurus CS again so I just kept it. Never been completely satisfied with it though. Also the inside looks like it was cut with tooling that hasn't been sharpened since before WWII.

I did buy a Taurus Beretta 92 copy and it's been 100% since day one. So it just depends on if you get a good one or not. Their CS is a real PITA to deal with if you get a bad one though. Since my experience has been 3 out of 4 bad, I tend to stay away.

[Guesser]

I have a number of Taurus and Rossi revolvers in my herd. They date from 1988 to 2014, never had a problem on any of them. I think there are 17 of them in the bunch; hhmmm, maybe I need to update my inventory records.

[dualsport]

The Taurus revolvers I know of personally have all been aok. No problems. Good guns for a good price.

[Snow ninja]

Same here as most above. I personally own a Taurus 85 in .357, love it enough to CC when I'm of a mind to. At 20 ft I can keep all 5 rounds within a half dollar, that's good enough for me.

I have had the opportunity to shoot their Raging Bull line in .41 Mag, .44 Mag, and .454 Casull. All three were great, reliable, accurate guns.

Off topic from revolvers, but I also own a Taurus 1911, that I would put up against any other 1911, very reliable (not 1 failure in the 3 or 4 years I've owned it).

In short, I know they've gotten a bad rap in the past, but I wouldn't hesitate a heartbeat to buy a Taurus.

[bangerjim]

I have a Rossi 22LR 6 banger that is beauriful to seen and shoot. Not a single problem.

I have a Judge and a Circuit Judge long gun both chambered for 3" shells and love them! The CJ is really accurate with a red dot on it. Wife's favorite long gun!

Judge is a BIG gun to hold. Several friends that have small grips cannot hold it effeciently. I have no problem. It is cool to shoot 410 shells in a revolver!!!!!!

I have several Rossi/Taurus items and never had a singleproblem with any. Some do...I don't. I would recommend them to anyone looking not to break the bank on a "name-dropped" gun.

banger

[nickeda85]

Previoulsy owned two older (years unknown) Taurus revolvers, both 357s.

First was a stainless fixed sighted gun that proved very accurate for me while plinking, never did any grouping. But had one seemingly major issue that I never figured out until I had traded the gun off. After a few cylinders of magnum loads the extractor rod would back off its threads and jam the gun. The cylinder would turn but had to be forced open and closed.

Second was a blued, adjustable sights model that I reluctantly bought after accidentally selling my S&W 57 (What was I thinking, I just wanted to buy a holster!!!). This gun had the same issue with magnum loads as the first. A little Loctite would have cured the problem but it soured me on Taurus for a while.
However, they are probably the most innovative firearms company out there with more models than anyone else.
I have since seen enough of their product to respect it and would buy if a good price. For a range only piece mine were accurate if not reliable.

DN

[rintinglen]

I've seen a lot of Taurus revolvers over the years and the only model I will categorically condemn is their 22 lr M-94. Many don't shoot and those that do are miserably inaccurate in my experience. Their Tracker line is generally good as are the 44 Mag Raging Bull guns, and their older models, especially the M-85 rival the S&W revolvers they ape in every area except price.
I would buy a Taurus revolver before I would buy a Rossi.

[bdecker9]

I seen a tracker titanium 357 at the lgs. Sweet trigger. Light. Was looking for 357 , any way payday came and stopped to put a down payment on it and a guy beat me there by an hour, he has it still, says it's a great gun. I personally like the sights on the tracker's. I've seen a lot of shady, at least to me, sights on wheel guns. Anyway, I would buy either one without worrying about what I've read here and there. But that's just me. Decker

[Fishman]

I carry a Taurus revolver. It is not a Smith and Wesson, but it gets the job done just fine.

[opos]

I've owned 2 of the Taurus 66 revolvers and currently have a 9mm Taurus 92 afs....I have never had any issues with Taurus..I was a "strictly Ruger" man for a very long time and resisted buying any of the "low price brands"...sort of brand snobbery as I'd never shot any of them..my first 66 came from a man I had occasion to shoot with now and then...I shot his 66 and ended up trading for it...shot the heck out of it with no difficulty...handled the loads I loaded for it with out problems....it went away as part of a trade for a rifle...later on I got another 66 as a part of a trade...again ... shot it a lot and no issues....I went looking for the 9mm pistol as once again...a friend has one and loves it...it's in the "drawer" so I do have faith in it...as a S/D gun.

Know nothing about a Rossi, have never shot or held one so can't have any opinion or it would, again, be brand snobbery.

[actionpistol327]

Had a Taurus model 608 in 357, have a model 85 in 38 special, also raging hornet in 33 hornet and had a 17 HMR. All accurate and reliable. Also taurus has great customer service. I also have several Smith and Wessons, and Ruger, can't go wrong with a revolver.

[snoopy]

I've got a ROSSI 357 that I like as well as the wife's s@w, never had a problem with it at all.

[GL49]

I've owned two Taurus handguns, never had a problem with either one. The first one I picked up on a trade, "won't hit a sheet of typing paper at 25 yards!" Well, my first time out with cast boolits, it would keep most of them in 2" at 25 yards. Not too bad for a place to start, or maybe I just got lucky. Could be that's how Taurus gets some of their bad press. Both of mine are just fine, not as slick as a S&W, but for the price, completely suitable.

edit: I just remembered, the first one did require a bit of blue loctite on one of the side plate screws that kept loosening. Problem fixed.

[Petrol & Powder]

My experience with Taurus handguns seems to be consistent with what I hear from others. There are some good ones and some bad ones and I've owned both. FWIW, I no longer own any Taurus guns. The bad ones got sold/traded because they were bad and the OK ones got sold/traded because I wanted something else.
The early model Taurus revolvers were almost S&W clones with a few exceptions. Most of those shot OK but had poor triggers. The later ones seemed to be much more inconsistent with some good guns and some really bad guns. I have known people that used Taurus' for years with no problems at all and I've owned Taurus' that I considered using for boat anchors but they weren't heavy enough.

As for Rossi, I had a level action Rossi that was a great rifle. A little rough inside but easily cleaned up. Wish I still had that one. I've never seen a really good Rossi revolver. They go bang but I've never been impressed with their quality.

If we are talking new guns and Ruger is in your price range, that would be my first recommendation. Ruger stands behind their products and they make some good guns. The GP-100 is an outstanding revolver and will last a couple of lifetimes. They are far more accurate that a lot of people will give them credit for. I'm tired of hearing people proclaim that Ruger triggers aren't as good as S&W. That's gun shop BS. The new S&W actions are very good but not what they used to be and the Ruger action can be made to rival S&W with just a little work.

If Taurus is more inline with your budget and we're talking about a new gun, I don't think you can get hurt too bad under their warranty.

I would far prefer to find a good used revolver and spend my money on a good solid used Ruger or S&W.

[Petrol & Powder]

BTW Soldierbilly1 - If you're going to confine your shooting to target work and will be using 38 Special (an EXCELLENT cartridge for that endeavor), I can HIGHLY recommend you seek out a 38 Special instead of a .357 magnum. A lot of people buy .357 magnum revolvers in order to be able to shoot magnum rounds if they want to but then rarely shoot magnum rounds.

If you're never, or almost never, going to shoot magnum rounds; why buy a magnum revolver?

There are few cartridges that will outshine the 38 Special for economic fun at the range. The 38 Special can be very accurate and it is cheap to shoot/reload.
Don't turn your nose up at a 38 Special revolver because, it's not a magnum. There are some awesome revolvers on the market chambered in 38 Special and that chambering is not a handicap if you're punching holes in paper, ringing steel and bouncing old tin cans around. Furthermore, despite what some gun shop commandos will howl, the 38 Special is actually a decent self defense round.

[Big Rack]

I have a Rossi 1892 flat outshoots my Marlin Cowboy eats 44 spl and mag. Have a Rossi ss 22 revolver handy with a heavy da pull.
Wife has a Taurus 85 CIA,also have a couple more.
I think a lot of people look down on cheaper guns without a lot of reason sometimes. Remember when people looked down on the Savage 110 now look at them, tackdrivers with a much increased price. I also own a bunch of Rugers and hate to say but the 3 guns I've liked the least have all been Rugers a Mini 14 that wouldn't hit a barn, a P85 that I could watch the slide operate, a Redhawk I shot 1 cylinder through. Also had a SBH with a canted front sight that shot POA. With all you make choice take your chance.

[Bored1]

Another choice would be the EAA Armory 357 mags. A close friend of mine recently bought one for under 270$ at the bx on base on sale and loves it. Seems he shoots that quite a bit, which says alot since he has plenty of Rugers at home. I've shot it and thought it was a nice gun for the $ for SURE.

We have an older Rossi 38spl snub we picked up at the pawn shop a few yrs ago for 160$ and it's been a great little gun with no problems what so ever.

[Petrol & Powder]

I have a Rossi 1892 flat outshoots my Marlin Cowboy eats 44 spl and mag. Have a Rossi ss 22 revolver handy with a heavy da pull.
Wife has a Taurus 85 CIA,also have a couple more.
I think a lot of people look down on cheaper guns without a lot of reason sometimes. Remember when people looked down on the Savage 110 now look at them, tackdrivers with a much increased price. I also own a bunch of Rugers and hate to say but the 3 guns I've liked the least have all been Rugers a Mini 14 that wouldn't hit a barn, a P85 that I could watch the slide operate, a Redhawk I shot 1 cylinder through. Also had a SBH with a canted front sight that shot POA. With all you make choice take your chance.

I agree that price doesn't necessarily dictate quality and I've seen some inexpensive guns that were good values. The Rossi 1892 being an excellent example. Ruger has some good engineering and generally uses good materials but they have their problems too. The Mini 14 was not a shining example of Ruger's engineering skill and every one I've had my hands on would barely shoot "minute of pie plate" at 100 yards. However, I would put the GP-100 up against the S&W L-frames any day and the Service-Six models I've owned were outstanding guns.
I know people that have old Taurus model 85's that are great guns but I've seen some that sucked as well.
I'm not bashing Taurus and in fact I'll say they can be a value but the odds of getting a good one don't seem to be as favorable compared to other makes.

[FergusonTO35]

I have a late model Taurus 82, a K-frame size .38 Special. Awesome gun, appears to be a stronger design than the original. The crane locks to the frame like a Ruger GP-100. Sweet trigger pull and very comfortable grip design. So far the sights are dead on with my reloads. I may just get an 85 to go with it.

[375supermag]

Hi...
I have owned two Taurus revolvers...one a blued .357Mag Da...horribly inaccurate, split lead out of the cylinder gap. Traded it with some cash on another revolver...a Dan Wesson .375SuperMag. Best gun deal ever...

My other Taurus is a DA 5-shot stainless .44Spl with adjustable sights. Great little revolver...Not going anywhere.

[osteodoc08]

I owned a model 66 7 shot in 357 mag. It was stainless and had a 6" barrel. There were rough tooling marks here and there but it stood up to my abuses before I knew better. It started to come out if time on one of the cylinders and started to spit lead. It's a working mans gun without a doubt. If you can afford the Ruger, that's what I would buy personally. If it is a stretch, wait a little while longer. If money is burning a hole in your pocket, the Taurus will likely do just fine. Let us know what you decide.

[tdoor4570]

I hav a Rossi model 971 357 mag , I have had it for a long time and shot factory , handloads, and cast never had a problem with it. Its not going anywhere anytime soon

[BAGTIC]

I have had, and still have, several Rossi and Taurus including revolvers, pistols, centerfire and rimfire, lever action, single shot. Never had any problems with any of them. I currently have five of the M94 .22 revolvers. Never any problems and I shoot them as well as my other makes. I did sell the .22 Magnum M94 because its 2 inch barrel hurt my ears more than a four inch .357 S&W J frame.

OTOH we constantly hear of owners who have nothing but complaints about their guns. Ironically it often seems to be the same people over and over. Could it be that they are jinxed?