Taurus 856 Owners

Same size old frame modeled after the Colt, not S&W J-frame. Magnesium frame is what separated the UltraLites from the HyLites. Have a 22LR UltraLite which is quite a bit heavier due to less meat taken out of the cylinder. Bought 2, no performance issues from either.

defjon said:

I hate the actual finish, the gritty drab gray..but it doesn't affect function. I've seen pics on here that mother's mag shines it up very nicely. Maybe a good winter project.

Under 400 otd I'd highly recommend.

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YES! My only complaint with my Taurus Tracker is the dull grey finish. I bought it online and from the picture I expected it to be shiny like a S&W. Nope, drab grey. I love the gun but I do with it had a shine.

I hear tell flitz n mother's mag and a bucket of elbow grease are the cure

SDE30 said:

This coming from someone with the S&W logo as their profile pic—now that means something. LoL!

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Yes! My 640 is my forever gun, but the 856 sure is nice, and holds the correct number of cartridges. It’s a sweet spot for me, in size, barrel length, and capacity.

I'm glad you like it and hope it all works out. The issue with Taurus is they seem to have very little to no QC before shipping. So plenty of bad ones get out. Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired too IME which just compounds the issue. But if you get a good one, things should be fine.

I'll never buy another one unless I can check it out in person. I've bought 2 of them brand new online in the last 7 years and both had problems right out of the box. One a M85 the trigger would stick and had to be pushed back forward the first few times I cycled it after that and dry firing it 50 or 60 times it smoothed out and has been OK.
I have a new 856 I never fired on the way back to Taurus right now cylinder timing off on one chamber. Bolt wouldn't engage the notch in cylinder if you cycled the gun slow or moderate speed had to cycle it briskly to get momentum to get that chamber to lock in.
Contacted Taurus about it and they tried to tell me it wasn't meant to be cycled slowly. Told them I've owned over 75 revolvers in my life and that was BS. They finally gave in and sent me a shipping label. So now I get to see how long they sit on it until they "fix"it and I wouldn't bet a dollar against a donut it'll be right when I get it back.
I consider them to be a haphazardly assembled kit gun with zero quality control.

I read all of the comments here and I have an 856 4" one. After I blued the SS finish the day I got it, the cylinder, hand, bolt, trigger spring, did stick a bit but never did get out of timing. I just took it to the range and it acted up a bit, then becoming my EDC it just losened up to factory settings. I did clean it and oil it a bit and once in my holster for a week or so it now shoots just fine and at the range it does not stick at all. Works perfect. I know some of these less expensive models do not have the smoothness the Colts or S&W's do, BUT just a bit of work on the inside with a jewelers file or emory cloth and everything works just great. I only wish others here would get into the inner workings of these Taurus models and you will find revolvers are very simple to work on. I started on my 1858 Remington BP revolver and everything is the same inside. Just about 7 parts and it is torn down to parade rest. Apples to apples. I knew nothing about revolver inner workings and Mike at Goons Guns was a huge help. He walked me through the 1858 and when I got my Taurus, I just went to town on it with the confidence that Mike gave me. Everyone who has troubles, just hang in there and try not to call CS as they are not always good and at best frustrating. You can do the little work needed to make this model your EDC and do that with confidence!!!!

Taurus lover here. The 856 is beautiful, well-built and also shoots well. It might be just me, but the only complaint I have is that, regardless of the grips I install, I have to grip the gun differently so that I can pull the trigger comfortable. Good news is I now got used to that already. So you may want to dry fire at your LGS before buying. Compared to S&W Model 60, the 856 is less than half the price and I really can't see that much difference in quality. I actually like the polished finish of the 85s, but I can't find 85s listed on Taurus USA website now, the 856 must already completely replace it.

csirre said:

I actually like the polished finish of the 85s, but I can't find 85s listed on Taurus USA website now, the 856 must already completely replace it.

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I prefer the polished blue finish on the older Model 85 over the matte finish on the 856. Though the matte finish is not a deal breaker for me. And yes the 856 has definitely replaced the 85.

Taurus also uses the same frame for the 942 in 22lr or 22WMR and for the new 327. Grips interchange with the older 85 grips just fine. I am actually running factory 85 wood grips on my 942 and 856.

I really didn't like the matte finish on my 856 so I took a green weenie to it. That is what we called those green scrubbers in the Navy. That took the matte finish right off and made it ready for the blue finish. Now if you want to do this, you need blueing made for SS, so look it up and order a bottle. The more you put on the darker it will become. I put wood grips on mine but do not remember where I got them but they do make it look authentically older.

Don Van Winkle said:

I really didn't like the matte finish on my 856 so I took a green weenie to it. That is what we called those green scrubbers in the Navy. That took the matte finish right off and made it ready for the blue finish. Now if you want to do this, you need blueing made for SS, so look it up and order a bottle. The more you put on the darker it will become. I put wood grips on mine but do not remember where I got them but they do make it look authentically older.

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Pics?

This is the latest pic I took of my 856. It was taken right after I blued it. Now it is well worn in going in and out of my holster. I will post new ones once I take them.

Just bought an all steel 856 DA only snubbie and had the opportunity to shoot it for the first time last night. The sights are dead on with both my 158 grain reloads and Remington FBI loads. Because of its weight and comfortable grip recoil is not bad even with the plus P ammo, certainly much more so then my airtight 642. A few more favorable shooting sessions and it will become my pocket carry gun.

Don Van Winkle said:

I read all of the comments here and I have an 856 4" one...

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From pics it’s a 3”. No record of Taurus making a 4” yet.[/QUOTE]

GooseGestapo said:

From pics it’s a 3”. No record of Taurus making a 4” yet.

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[/QUOTE]
Yup fat fingered the number!

Stopped a my LGS yesterday, saw an Ultralite 3in 856.
Night sites, Hogue grip $339.
Thought that seemed like a great price.
Had heard mentioned Taurus was getting better, my past experiences (bad) with Taurus has been 15yrs ago, so I thought I'd check it out.
Cocked the hammer back in SA and it felt heavy and gritty.
Cycling it back in DA, staging it after the cylinder stop engaged, with a little more pressure the hammer dropped partially, was able to replicate this everytime in DA.
Told the kid behind the counter the action was defective, demonstrated it.
He put it back in the case.
Still no Taurus for me.
Too bad, seems like a nice design, but yet again, poorly executed.

I've got about 600 rounds through my 3" 856. Zero issues. I really like mine

357 terms, you seem to have very bad luck with Taurus revolvers.

I owned a 3" steel 856 briefly. I disliked the trigger and balance so much that I sold it unfired. As far as I could tell, though, it seemed to be functional.

Replaced it with a 20-year-old 3" Model 85. The balance is better and the trigger is much better. Took it to the range a few days ago and it went bang every time.

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. 357 terms, you seem to have very bad luck with Taurus revolvers

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Not just me.




CS and quality have always been an issue with Taurus.
My (Recent!) experience and this guy's are a small sample size, but still good enough for me to stay with other manufacturers.
Some companies may also occasionally have QC problems, but warranty work is at least competent.
I worked at a large gun shop/range part time for several years, with the exception of the Sig Mosquito, Taurus was the company with the most complaints in regards to functionally and poor CS.
Across the board in terms of models/reliability.

SDE30 - congrats on your 856. It seems to be working out nicely for you.

Seems like a quality lottery, with most of them being OK. When you don't hit that lottery though, it'll be time to fight with Taurus to make it right.

There are several reasons Tauri are cheaper, then:

• Lower quality fit & finish
• Less/no quality control
• Cheaper labor in Brazil than in the USA

Now, we have American options in Colt (Cobra), S&W (60), and Ruger. (SP-101, LCR and LCRx) Those things add up to several hundred dollars to support an American company/manufacturer. Whether that's worth it or not is the question.

That said, I really like the look of that Taurus Executive 856. Maybe with this Executive model, they will have spent some money on better QC and tuning; that is what their web page on it suggests.

SDE30 - I wonder if you considered a Ruger SP-101 or LCRx? They are both made with 3" barrels, though you'd have to bob the hammer to make them equivalent to the Executive 856. The Colt Cobra is only available as a snubby. Their King Cobra Carry and the S&W 60 are bigger guns.

I bought a 856 Defender 3 inch 2 or 3 months ago and one chamber in the cylinder was out of time right out of the box. It was on it's way to their repair facility within 3 days of my having received it.
They paid shipping both ways with a turnaround time of less than 2 weeks and it's fine now.
All the same for me that makes 2 out of 2 that I purchased new online that weren't quite right when they came out of the box. From now on if I buy another Taurus I'll have to have it in my hands and inspect it before I buy it. No more online purchases of any Taurus firearms for this old man.
I have a 3 inch M85 and a 3 inch M431 That I bought used and was able to check out in person before buying that have been good guns. Though I did replace the hammer spring in the 431 because of a few light primer strikes.

Picked up a slightly used Taurus Executive last week. Changed the grips to earlier released Altamonts. Bought the Ameriglo sight from Shop Taurus but it didn’t fit flush to the top of the barrel. Used one from another 856 and it did fit properly. Hopefully get to shoot it when it gets a bit cooler here in NC.