Taurus Raging Bull,whats the skinny??

[Dogg]

Just wondering whether the Raging Bull in 454 is a decent gun or a piece of junk! I had several of the Taurus autos and found them to be less than desirable of course that was 25 years ago and they may have improved. Never had nor have known anyone who had one of their revolvers.
Dogg

[Ricochet]

I've got a fairly recent Taurus PT-92-AF. I'm well satisfied with its fit, finish and function. I remember some of their junky looking S&W clone revolvers from the '70s.

[skeet1]

From what I can tell Taurus has made vast improvments in the last 20 years.

Skeet1

[NickSS]

I do not have a Raging bull revolver but I do have a recent Twurus 605 in 357 mag. It is a 2 inch snub nose that I got for a light carry piece. Fit and finish is as good as the smith stainless I looked at at the same time. As for shooting it does as well as any snub nose revolver I have owned. I also have two Taurus autos and old PT99 (25 years old) and a recent 1911. Both are good shooters that I have had no issues with at all.

[454PB]

I own one. It's extremely well made, fine fit and finish, and shoots as accurately as my Freedom Arms 83.

Now the downside........

After about 300 full power handloads, the cylinder began to unlatch in recoil. At first, every 10 shots or so, then finally, at every shot. The Raging Bull uses a dual latch system, much like the old Dan Wesson design. It doesn't take a firearms design engineer to see the fault it that system. You press forwards on the rear latch (same as a S&W), and push downwards on the forward latch. This is the perfect combination of movement provided by heavy recoil.

I contacted Taurus and was given return information for warranty repair. I sent it in (on my dime.....$55 for Fedex shipping) and it was not returned until 3 months later. Needless to say, I was unhappy about the cost and delay. However, they did get it repaired. No explanation of repair was provided, but I suspect they replaced the forward latch spring with one of stronger design.

It has since fired many hundreds of heavily loaded 330 grain boolits with no unlatching problems.

[yondering]

I had one, and really liked it. I shot the Raging Bull and the Super Redhawk side by side, and bought the Raging Bull. I found it to be more accurate, built with tighter tolerances where it mattered, and had less felt recoil. The Redhawk suffered from sticky extraction after 2 cylinders without cleaning.

I sold my Taurus, but wish I still had it. The only downside was the weight. I figured if I was going to carry that much weight to hunt with, I'd take a rifle.

[mtnman31]

I don't yet own a Raging Bull. I plan on getting one in .44 magnum this winter (hint to Santa). They seem like a well built gun. There is plenty of meat to it and it's cheaper than the competition. I looked long and hard at a Super Redhawk and as great as those revolvers are, I can't get past their hideous looks (silly, I know).

I do however own a Taurus .357 Tracker. I love it. It works like a champ and I have put a ton of ammo through it. I have had no problems whatsoever with it. I can't say enough good things about it. One of my shooting pals has a Taurus snub .38, same deal - works great, no complaints. I have no personal experience with their semi-autos. There have been quite a few long, drawn out threads on here with people arguing about Taurus guns. Many of them have no first-hand experience with them and just bash on the company. The anti-Taurus crowd is pretty polarized and the whole argument is no different from the one people have with Lee products. There are those who can look at each product individually and those who take one bad experience and associate it with an entire company. As far as I'm concerned, every company makes lemons as well as gems. Hopefully, you get the Raging Bull and it works out for you - let us know. I will get mine and hope it is every bit as good as the Tracker I have.

[dubber123]

I have plenty of first hand experience with Taurus. None with the Raging Bull however. Bull owners seem to be pretty well happy with their purchases. It seems to have a better reputation than most of their line. I personally would not purchase any of their revolvers, autos, or rifles. Again, just based on my personal experience.

[snowwolfe]

Any Taurus is in my opinion is a **** shoot. The only one I purchased and held on to was a .22 mag ss revolver.
You pay your moeny and you take your chances.

[Bullshop]

The Taurus Raging Bull is a robust well made revolver. They are too big and heavy for my liking. To my hand it feels as though I have to reach for the trigger, not a natural comfortable feel. Personally I don't like anything much bigger than a single six, but that just me.
Let that not detract from the strength of the raging bull. When they first came out I watched closely to see how they would hold up to the pounding of the 454. They have done well and of the several I have seen I could find no loosening after many full power loads.
They wisely used an extra lock at the front of the crane something like the triple lock smith. The RB uses two locking latches one fore and one aft of the cylender. The system works very well in keeping the works tight.
The guns are very accurate and as I said the only fault I find is in the size/weight and the distance between the back of the grip and the front of the trigger in double action.
By the time the RB came along Taurus had their act together .
I also had one in 480 Ruger and all the same applied, very accurate.
BIC/BS

[Dogg]

Thanks everyone. Think it has made it to my list of possibilities for the 45LC double action. With the extra option of 454. The price sure seems more reasonable than its competition.
Dow

[Dogg]

What would be a reasonable price for a blue 6" 454? Don't really know their used value.

[H-Marlin]

Blue Book of Gun Values lists the following prices/condition.

$495/90%

$575/95%

$650/98%

$775/100%

[Heavy lead]

I had a RB blue 454 8 3/8", it was a wonderfully accurate gun and killed a few animals too. I agree with Bullshop that it's too heavy, at least that's what I thought at the time, so I swapped it for a SRH, worst trade I ever made, I still have the SRH, but I don't know why, on hindsight I wish I traded it for a 6.5" barrel model instead.
The RB side by side with the SRH, in the models I had was much more accurate than the Ruger, and much more managable.
Live and learn I guess.

[Freightman]

I carry a 2" S-S 450 and have put some very heavy loads through it and after 5000 or so rounds it is still as tight as a new one. Not a Raging Bull but for a 29 oz 5 shot 45 Colt it shoots great.

[oleycow]

I saw a blued 8 3/8 go for $600 at about 90% or better less than a year ago

I picked up mine gently used $550 Stainless 6" and felt that was a fair price. I liked the 6" better, it felt a better balance than the 8", plus then I had the option of putting it on my hip if I wanted and I put a red dot optic on it so I didn't feel that I needed the extra line of sight.

I have been real happy with mine so far. Have had issues with CCI primers, if I begin to have issues with other primers I will be having a larger spring installed.

Oleycow

[Lead Fred]

My Pal has a RB in 44 mag. Except for the fact you cant use anything bigger than a 240gr @ 1300fps.

It is a very good shooter. We started off with 240s at 1100fps. They were tame.
Moved up to 1300ish, and it was very controlable.

The forward cylinder lock can be a pain, until you get used to it.

[Mark]

I have shot my 3 different RB in 454 and 1 44 mag Taurus (pre-RB 44 mag). All had great accuracy. To this date, I have not personnal known anyone who has shot their RB enough to comment on their durability. They do seem to be built to a high tolerance level. All had a pretty heavy double action trigger. I would buy one if I could get past those miserable ports.
Mark

[Halfbreed]

I have a RB in 45colt, I continue to put 310 Keith (gb) through it in front of a heavy dose of AA9. It shoots very well. I am very happy with it. My friend just bought a 44 SRH, no comparison.
The RB definatly ruled the day. The ports also made the heavy loads feel much more like a 44 special.
John

[Groo]

Groo here
I have an early one and found it to be very well made.
The problem I had was the grip.. It hit me in just the right place to hurt..
I have decided that starting loads in 454 are about the limit for me..
Funny and I have a FA 83 in 454 with a short barrel that eats loads I could never shoot in the
RB and NO PAIN..
If it fits get it PS The original ones were all bright polished !!!!!

[gunshot58]

I purchased a RB in .44 Mag last year it has devoured everything I have thrown at it...lots of jacketed 240's lots of cast 255's and WC 210's and some 300's too. I have used primarily H110 and 2400 with stout loads suitable for SRH...since it was built just like it's .454 cousin I have worked up loads to maximum with no functional issues whatsoever. I have added Wolf springs and smoothed the trigger but other than that it is out of the box. It seems to be very accurate with several load combinations and is capable of many 1" - 5 shot clusters at 25yds given that the shooter is capable. I measured the cylinder-to-forcing cone-to-bore and they are just about perfect...also cylinder gap and lockup are great also....I think Taurus at this time is turning out good stuff or else I just got a good shooter.

[pdawg_shooter]

One of my shooting friends bought a SRH this year and one bought a RB. Side by side comparison for fit, finish, accuracy, and function the RB far outclassed the SBH.

[kevbo]

I have one, .454 8-3/8" SS. I like it a lot, but others might not. I'm 6'5" tall with big bony hands, and the RB is one of the few handguns I've held that seem to fit really well. The muzzle brake seems to be fairly effective...though it is the only 454 I have shot, so it is hard to say for sure...I have a Rossi '92 in 454 also, and the same loads are FAR more pleasant to shoot in the revolver. I feel the recoil most at the lower heel of my hand, which tells me the porting is doing a good job of pushing the muzzle down.

I do pretty well with the factory sights. Due to the length of my arms, I haven't found a 'scope with enough eye relief to suit me. I got a cheap red dot sight, but got my money's worth as it had severe parallax issues. Maybe I'll try a better reflex sight at some point. One nice thing about the RB is that the factory weaver rail (not included) just clamps securely onto the vented rib, so there are no holes to weaken the frame.

If you will use it for hunting, give some thought to how you will carry it. Having it hanging on the end of your arm will get old in a hurry. I haven't found anyone that makes custom fit leather for it. I have a couple of nylon "universal fit" (universal doesn't really fit) bandoleer style holsters, but am not real thrilled with either one. I'm not posting from home, or I'd dig them out and tell you the brands. Now that I have a couple examples of poor holsters, at some point I need to make some time, dig out my leather working stuff and make a proper holster for it. Kinda been putting that off until I settle the sight issue.

[jack19512]

One of my shooting friends bought a SRH this year and one bought a RB. Side by side comparison for fit, finish, accuracy, and function the RB far outclassed the SBH.






Which is it, SRH or SBH? :confused: