My new Taurus 941 22mag & Galco Holster Info

[tatwell]

I've seen several 941 reports on here and I thought I would add mine to the bunch. Mine is the 2" barrel stainless, eight shots. I have not shot it yet, hope to do that today. However, I have looked it over pretty well and I am pleased with the fit and finish. The hammer and cylinder release checkerings are pretty sharp though, your fingers won't slip that's for sure. However, I might dull these just a little bit. The gun does have a few sharp edges, and I might melt them down a bit as time goes on.

It has a pretty good set of adjustable sights with the front sight having a red insert.

The action is good too.The DA pull feels like about 10-12 pounds. I haven't checked the exact weight of the SA trigger pull, but it's crisp and feels like around 3-4 pounds as a guess. I've been working the action a lot to get the surfaces to wear in a little, and I'll do some work on it once I've shot it a good bit.

I did not like the original stocks, nothing wrong with them, they just didn't suit me. They were a little long for me, and a bit bulky. So, I changed them with a smaller set of Hogues that leaves the back strap exposed. These fit my hand much better.

I bought this as an every day gun when working out side around the place, for close encounters of the snaky kind and whatever else that I may need a gun for. If I were going to use it as a CCW-which I wouldn't do as a general rule, I have better choices available-I think I would have gotten a light weight model. The 941 is pretty heavy. So far the only thing I don't like is that, as far as I can tell, no one makes speed loaders for this gun. I did find one company, Maxfire I think, that says they have one in the works, but so far none are out. If I am wrong and someone knows where to get one, please let me know.

One last thing...when I got this gun home, I started looking for a good leather holster, did online searches, searched this forum also, but no help. However, I checked the dimensions of the 941, and I found that holsters made for the S&W J-frame will also fit the Taurus small frame revolvers, such as the 85. So, to verify this I went to one of the local stores and sure enough most J-frame holsters-Galco was the brand-were marked as fitting small Taurus's. I ended up with a "Concealable" leather Galco. The holster was a little snug, which is normal, but it's breaking in nicely, and you can see from the pics that it's a good fit. This tidbit might be of interest for someone looking for a good fitting holster for their 941.

Oh yeah, the pics make the gun look blue, that's my fault and likely due to taking the pics under a fluorescent light.

 

[JT'sDad]

Very cool. Give a report after you take her out. I used to own the model 94 22lr, 2". Good gun. I am currently trying to find a 941 with a 3" barrel. Happy shooting.

 

[ms6852]

Would really like to know how it shoots and what the trigger action is like. I have been thinking of getting one just never got around to it. Hope you give a range report. Thanks.

 

[tatwell]

Thanks for the comments. I hope to test it out a little bit today. I want to see how it does myself. I mentioned that I got this particular gun so I would always have some snake protection with me, but I don't want to leave anyone with the impression that I am a "snake-ophobe", The only ones that I don't want around me are the rattlers and copperheads. I know that the 22 magnum shot shells work quite well , that's one of the reasons I bought this caliber. However, I am going to verify how accurate it is with regular ammo at close range as well. I only have one brand of 22 mag ammo, CCI, and I have had problems with 22 magnums that were real picky as to what they liked. I'll report back once I get some testing done.

I did some research on improving the trigger pull on the 941 yesterday. I was hoping that I could smooth it out and use something like a Wolff spring set, but I read that the hammer spring needs to be heavy to get reliable ignition. Apparently the Wolff hammer spring doesn't work all the time, but the trigger return spring can be changed and will help some. Also, someone has cut one coil off the factory spring and had some success. I'm open to any advice that anyone can give me as to what worked for them, but I think I am going to get a spring kit and try it anyway. If that doesn't work I may cut the original spring, but not without having a spare factory spring on hand.

 

[JT'sDad]

Follow up? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[tatwell]

Sorry for the delay. I've been tied up with some chores around here. Plus I've done a bunch of research on the reported issues with the DA trigger pull. I've tried to research some of the posts on rimfire central, but they have had some server issues-I assume that's it-and searches are hit and miss. I have cycled my gun as much as possible, and I hope to fire a few shots this morning. From what I can gather, the heavy double action is needed for reliable ignition, but the SA pull can be reduced some at the expense of reliability on DA. The SA pull on mine is not bad, very crisp, but the DA pull is mighty strong, just as others have reported. Plus, if I do a very slow double action pull I can feel a small "catch" for lack of a better word, right at the start of the trigger movement. Not all the time, but very noticeable when worked slowly. There may be a burr or some small metal fragment in the works. I've also seen new guns with some pretty poor polishing of the inside of th eframe. So, I am going to take it apart and see what's going on. Plus, I have a spring kit coming from Brownells, even though Wolff doesn't recommend their mainspring for the 941 or 94. I am going to try it anyway, and frankly if I can get a better SA pull that's reliable, I can live with some DA misfires as 99% of the time I shoot SA.

As a further review, I have found a burr in the frame casting where the lock plate meets right in front of the trigger. It is in just the right place that I feel it every time I put my finger in. Kind of a sharp seam or something. That will have to be smoothed up. So I had to do some research as to how to polish that out and still keep a matte finish. Since it is in an inconspicuous place it won't really matter if it ends up shiny, but I want to try to keep the same finish if possible.

Generally though, even considering the finish flaw and the heavy DA pull, I would still buy it again.

Thank you for the continuing interest, and I'll try to get a quick few shots off this morning, and post back.

 

[tatwell]

Well folks, I finally got to try the 941, and it wasn't a pretty sight. First, I only shot 4 rounds at snake range, 3 yards or so...the shot shells will certainly be deadly, a good pattern with good penetration. I then shot 2 cci maxi mag hollow points, both shots were touching. I don't believe that accuracy will be an issue. however, after the 4th shot, I had a "catch" when I tried to cock the hammer, a pretty solid one at that. So solid that I didn't want to try to pull through it.

My original plan was to test it out, then take it down, polish the internals, and try the Wolff spring kit. I did check the trigger pull and the SA pull was an average 5.2 pounds, and the DA pull averaged 13.8 pounds. When I had the lockup, I decided to open it up and see what the problem was, before I changed any parts.

When I had the side plate off, I found a small piece of metal, most likely a chip somehow missed getting cleaned out when the gun was assembled. It was easy to get out, but in the process the sear jumped out and the sear spring took off for places unknown. Not being able to find the spring, I placed a call to Taurus to get a replacement spring.

When I talked to customer service I admitted that losing the spring was my fault, and that I was willing to pay for the new one. The rep I was talking to told me right away that the sear spring was a restricted part-one that don't send out-and that I would have to send the gun in to get it replaced. I find this totally unacceptable, especially for such a minor issue, and for something that I know I can do. So, I now have a bad feeling about Taurus's service.

I got to thinking and figured that I would try calling back and see if I could get to someone higher up, explain my problem, and see if they might sell me the spring. I called back, spoke to the operator who was quite nice, explained my situation and she transferred me to another person. He turned out not to be available. So, the operator transferred me back to customer service and said that maybe I would get someone different who could help me.

That "someone different" turned out to be the first person I had talked to. So, I asked her to please transfer me to someone higher up like her manager or someone who could help me. I got transferred to someone else, not available, so I left a detailed voice mail and requested a call back. No call back yet, I'll see what happens Monday, but I have little hope.

I hope that someone does get back to me, but I have found a spring kit at Brownell's that looks as if it will have a spring that I can use, and the price is a lot less than shipping the gun back. So, I have a gun that I really like that I can't shoot. I'll get it fixed, but if I can't get Taurus to send me a spring then I probably won't take a chance on buying another one. I have another new Taurus that I bought a few weeks back, 24/7 PRO, I haven't shot it yet and I am giving serious thought to going back to the store I bought it from and trading it back on something else, even though I'll take a loss.

That's the story so far. The upshot is that I still like the 941, and I'll get it going, but as of this minute I won't buy another Taurus product because of my concerns about their customer service.

 

[JR47]

Remember, CS doesn't make policy. They are hourly employees, answering phones, even the supervisors. You want a change, get hold of a policy maker.

Liability issues associated with anything to do with sears is what makes factories want to repair these things themselves. They may ship to a registered gunsmith, though.

If an amateur were to mess up the sear assembly during the repair, and something bad occurred later, causing injury, it would be, in today's "not my fault" society, the manufacturer who's deep pockets would be sued. There is also the political aspect associated with anti-gunners seizing on the company's "lack of concern", and using for political hay.

 

[tatwell]

I do understand all of what you said. I did try to get someone higher up, but ended up getting someone's voice mail. I did leave a message, but no call back yet. I don't blame the employees, and I understand the company's desire to avoid potential legal problems. I just don't agree with their policy in this particular case. I've found some posts elsewhere about this particular part, and I do not have much hope that I'll get one from Taurus. However, I have an assorted spring kit coming from Brownells, and I am sure that I'll get it fixed. I'm not bashing the quality of Taurus products. I still think they may a good product, and I do like the 941. My problem is that I spent almost 40 years working in customer service, so CS quality is important to me, and right now I'm just not too sure about Taurus's.