Taurus Raging Bull: Crap or Not?

Please, I'm curious. If you're not a Taurus guy, why a Raging Bull?

Not something I would buy.

I looked at a Judge about a month ago.
When I closed the cylinder, it closed too far & wouldn't latch.
If you played with it a bit it would close & latch.
And it didn't lock-up tight, either.

I realize that I wasn't looking at a Raging Bull, but I'm guessing the quality is the same.

If I'm buying a new gun, I want something more like a Ruger.
When you close the cylinder it snaps into place & there is no extra play.

How about Ruger?

I don't know much about the Taurus, other than they look pretty cool. I like the Ruger revolvers. I have a Super Redhawk in 44mag and love it. The Redhawk is also a fantastic revolver.
Didn't answer your question about the Taurus, but from my experience on these forums, most people will push you toward Ruger or Smith when it comes to revolvers. Based on Taurus's past, rightfully so. I have heard Taurus is better than it used to be, but I have no experience to back that up.
I would suggest buy a Ruger AND a Smith just to cover your basis.

The Ruger Redhawk and Super Redhawk are the strongest .44magnums on the market. The price difference is minimal. Buy a Ruger Redhawk with the 5.5" barrel.

I know two people who bought Taurus revolvers, and both had horrible timing issues. Both guns were new from the factory, and have been returned or traded in.

One was a .357 6" barreled gun. Some chambers would lock up super tight, and some had major slop in them (wiggled around, wide breach gap).

The other guy had a Judge Public Defender. The timing was so bad one of the chambers wouldn't even fire in double action. Not good on a self defense gun. That one really scarred the crap out of me. It scarred me enough to decide never to buy a Taurus product.

This is just my experience, decision, and opinion. Take it as you will, but I personally would never depend on a Taurus.

No I do not own any Taurus guns. No it was not a Raging Bull, so consider that if you will. And yes, the gun shop exchanged the Judge for a brand new one. So I can't comment on Taurus's customer service.

I do own taurus revolvers, and my favorite is my blued m44. Locks up extremely tight and never had an issue. I shoot nothing but magnum loads out of it, and a lot of them. Taurus makes fine guns, but get alot of flack from people who only buy more expensive ones. If you dont own or havent played with them, who are you to bash them?

mlkx4 said:

I do own taurus revolvers, and my favorite is my blued m44. Locks up extremely tight and never had an issue. I shoot nothing but magnum loads out of it, and a lot of them. Taurus makes fine guns, but get alot of flack from people who only buy more expensive ones. If you dont own or havent played with them, who are you to bash them?

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3 inch + porting?

6" ported

ruger would be like buying a zippo and taurus would be like buying one of those cheap imitation zippos at the gas station. sure it might work, but it ain't no zippo. they are knock offs of better guns. if you want a gun and can't wait long enough to save up for the one you want, taurus makes an imitation of it with lower price and quality. sure you might get a good one, but the chances of getting a bad one are many times greater than if you were to get, say, a ruger.

I have a 7 shot Mod 66 357 Mag W/6" bbl.I shoot 158gr HP behind 15.6grs H-110 and have never had a problem of any kind.It's not as accurate as my S&W 686 but it doesn't cost as much ether. Taurus is a good buy for the money.

Anecdotal evidence from those who have not shot one,owned one, or have any experience with a Taurus Raging Bull, say they saw them at a guns hop only, or that a "buddy" which is hearsay, cannot comment with any authority on one.

Let's here from the actual owners besides the real owners from here.
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=27819.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=40398.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=44615.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=41859.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=47433.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=44919.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=30577.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=4786.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=16850.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=26607.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=12765.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=18622.0

Gun Tests magazine gave the Raging Bull high marks all the way across the board.
Accuracy was 1.1 and 1.2inches in the test for the best shots at 25 yards. Average accuracy was 1.5 inches.

The test gun ran some 300 grain rounds in some of the testing. The gun ate them with aplomb. March 2008 issue.

I have the taurus 8" raging bull.

The lock up and b/c gap on mine are tighter than my s&w 627pc. The double action trigger is crap but it's a single action hunting gun for me so....whatever. Very very accurate, good single action pull. I have had to send it in to get fixed took 9 days total. Before the bashing can start, all but my Sig and my Henry rifle have had trips to the factory. You roll the dice no matter who makes the gun.

I can't say that I have had a good experience with the lock up of the cylinder as Mr.454 described. And to say that it is tighter then a S&W...makes me question that statement even more.

I like the cartridge, and like my 454 raging bull, however, I have had the cylinder lock brake on me before, and this isn't the first instance I have seen this happen. The gun store I work at, has a steady flow of Taurus handguns such as the Judge. Two of the Judges we have received from factory new, have both come with broken cylinder locking mechanisms. In my experience with Taurus, they don't have the best cylinder locking mechanisms, especially if they are sending us brand new guns that are already broken.

This is the biggest thing I would look out for. I believe their design is flawed for locking the cylinder, seen too many with this one issue. Other then that, they shoot great...until the cylinder doesn't lock up anymore....

Had a Taurus TCP 380 sent it back to Taurus because extractor wasnt catching spent casings, came back from Taurus with light hammer strike syndrom. Traded it. Different gun I know but my story seems on par with alot of Taurus stories. Really want to like taurus because they have some cool guns and they are affordable. If I were to be buying a 44 mag revolver it would be for hunting so I would spend the extra dollar for piece of mind. I've heard recoil knock sights loose on the taurus 44mag but thats just hear say.

ruger redhawk $700 ruger blackhawk $500 raging bull $500

Heres a question for you would you rather own a ruger or a taurus?

they are knock offs of better guns.

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I have a Taurus M44 and a Smith and Wesson Model 29-2. Both have identical rubber grips. If you closed your eyes and I handed you one you would NOT be able to tell me which one you were holding. Dry fire,open/close the cylinder,you can't tell them apart. The S&W is slightly more accurate. I have no experience with the Raging Bull but based on my experience with other Taurus revolvers,I would have no problem buying one.

Crap shoot would be an apt description of Taurus. Some arrive and function quite well. I have a 17 HMR DA that came just fine and has functioned very well for several years. I bought a 9mm snubbie that arrived non-functional, and their response was so bad the dealer bought it back. The replacement worked for two weeks and died.

Too hit and miss, with lousy QC and poor service. Buy a Ruger. Dave

Although my first post described a poor insight to Taurus...I believe Taurus does have some good qualities to bring to the table. It is true, that you roll the dice no matter who makes the gun. I've seen issues regarding brand new smith & wessons from the factory before. So not faulting Taurus.

The one thing I like about Taurus is they have a lifetime warranty. Not all of the gun manufacturers have this. I sent my 454 back, and they fixed it for free, and promptly sent it back. Customer service is just as important as a quality firearm for me.

And lastly, I must say I like my raging bull in 454. I have not hunted with it yet, but I've mounted a 4x Leupold on it, and hope to shoot some deer with it this fall. And as others have said, to each their own.

I have posted this experience elsewhere in this forum:

I have a Raging Bull in .45 colt (only), 8 3/8" blue. It is large and very heavy. The grips are comfortable and the backstrap is covered, which causes a rather long reach to the trigger. My hands are average size, so it is no problem. Due to the weight I shoot most rounds from a seated position behind a benchrest. The front lockup latch does not hold the crane tight against the frame, there is some play, but not bad. The trigger is smooth, timing is good, overall I would say an acceptable action, but nothing special. The barrel is bored out into a non-rifled chamber underneath the 4 ports on either side of the front sight, so the rifling ends before the ports. Interestingly, the last 1/8 inch of the chamber at the muzzle is reduced back down to near .45 diameter. I don't reload .45 colt very strong, so recoil reduction is a non-factor for me. The larger diameter ported chamber is a pain in the rear to clean, lead collects fast and thick here. I've resolved to shoot only jacketed bullets in the future, it's that bad. Accuracy is average, about 2" 5-shot groups off the bench at 25 yards. Overall, I'm middle-of-the-road about it, but I don't intend to get rid of the one I have.

The Raging Bull is the best of the Taurus revolvers from a "factory fresh" standpoint. We have not had to send one back and have even had several used ones come through the shop, all tight, crisp and well timed. A nice feature is the double lockup, rear and front, somewhat like the old Smith triplelock. Downside is that it takes two hands to open it up.

Customer reports, I know, anecdotal, proclaim good accuracy but none have compared them to S&W or Ruger firsthand.

I'd take a Redhawk in 454, or 44 as first choice. My old 29-2 is getting a little loose..not really loose but looser than when I got it twenty years ago. My Super Blackhawk 3-screw is still tight as when little brother got it in the very early seventies.

ruger would be like buying a zippo and taurus would be like buying one of those cheap imitation zippos at the gas station. sure it might work, but it ain't no zippo. they are knock offs of better guns. if you want a gun and can't wait long enough to save up for the one you want, taurus makes an imitation of it with lower price and quality. sure you might get a good one, but the chances of getting a bad one are many times greater than if you were to get, say, a ruger.

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So, that would mean that S&W, Sig, Wilson, Baer, and Brown are cheap imitations of Colt's 1911?

Here, and the S&W fanboys often accuse Ruger of "copying" S&W. Then, of course, there's the cheap knock-off of the Judge by S&W, right?

Whats really funny is that Taurus consistently, year after year, outsells Ruger and S&W in handgun production. You cannot continue to blame stupidity for that, either. Face it, they make a LOT of guns that have not a single problem. Otherwise, they'd have left the market decades ago.

BTW, Ruger, Taurus, and Zippo are all capitalized for a reason.

Since you asked for an opinion, crap.

@jr47: Price sells, in lots of cases.
I own a couple Taurus products and so far haven't had any trouble. I shot a Raging Bull 44 mag a couple years ago- only about 100 rounds or so- and it shot well. The extra button to open the cylinder didn't thrill me and the porting tended to spit lead fragments sometimes. Shot very well. I personally prefer the Ruger Super Redhawk and that's what I bought.

I have been a gun owner and shooter since I was 12 years old. I am now 50, and the list of Taurus gun I have owned is to long to list. Over all they are not a terrible gun, but over the years I have come to realization that if I am going to spend my hard earned money on a gun its going to be one I can put a 100% confidence in.
I would especially shy away from any of the magnums. Their metallurgy is just not what it should be to handle multiple rounds of magnum loads. Three revolvers I have owned come to mind. A titainium .41 mag. snubbie. A quite large raging bull in .454. A .44 mag 4 inch barrel. All without exception shot loose after about 200 rounds of full house loads.
Rugers on the other hand, well after that many rounds of magnum loads you could use them for an anvil. They just last, plain and simple the natural years of use have proven this to me, this is just one mans opinion.

Their metallurgy is just not what it should be to handle multiple rounds of magnum loads.

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I would expect you to have some lab reports to back that up? After all, such a claim requires real testing, not assumption presented as fact.

Odd, my old 3" Model 66 has had literally thousands of 125gr. .357 Magnum loads through it, and is still tight and in time.

I have you by over a decade, and have in my possession 14 Taurus hand-guns, many approaching 30 years old.

By "shooting loose in 200 rounds", are you sure that you aren't mixing up the original Model 29s with the Taurus?

All in all, you pay your money, and take your pick. Then again, unlike Ruger and S&W, I've never shot my barrel down-range.