Help identifying an older Taurus

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JackBurtonJr

JackBurtonJr

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Picked up an older Taurus revolver the other day. The 'net has not been good for finding info about it.

It was sold as a Model 66 [corrected to read Model 86] Range Master in .38 Special. It has a target trigger and adjustable front sights, and was supposedly built for Bullseye competition. It has a six inch barrel. I called Taurus and they confirmed that it was imported before 1981. That's all they could tell me.

In looking at many pics of Taurus revolvers I noticed that virtually everyone of them had a gold handgrip insignia, and they were all located at the top of the grip, offset to the upper left (based on the orientation of this pic). Mine is silver, and centered on the grip. I have not seen one like that anywhere on hundreds of pics that Google shows me for Taurus revolvers.

The lighting is off a little, but in reality the bluing is nigh perfect, and dark blue enough to almost want to take a swim in It looks as if a few rounds went thru it and then it was put in storage.

Any into would be appreciated.
 
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I down loaded this from another forum. Might be of some use to you. Who is the importer? I have read striations in the cylinder's flutes indicates it is from late1960's to mid 1970's.
taurus_logo.jpg
 
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I've always known the 66 to be in .357 Magnum.

What is the marking, if there is one, on the cylinder crane? (I had my M66 for two decades before I even knew that's where the model number is!)

Looks like a neat find. I bet it will actually be a nice shooter.
 
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Kabic said:
I down loaded this from another forum. Might be of some use to you. Who is the importer? I have read striations in the cylinder's flutes indicates it is from late1960's to mid 1970's.
View attachment 803278
Click to expand...

It has the third logo, from 73 to 81, with the striations in the flutes. Together that would seem to indicate early 70s.
 
MedWheeler said:
I've always known the 66 to be in .357 Magnum.

What is the marking, if there is one, on the cylinder crane? (I had my M66 for two decades before I even knew that's where the model number is!)

Looks like a neat find. I bet it will actually be a nice shooter.
Click to expand...
It shows a K 325 on one side and 86 on the other.

I cleaned it up a bit and took it to the range this afternoon to try it out. Forgot that the range was closing at 5:00 for computer upgrades and I got there at 5:10. Will try again tomorrow.
 
I found this advertisement from the UK up on Ebay as a poster someone is selling. This is the same gun, as you can note, however the grips are slightly different. The logo button is slightly off center while mine is dead center. s-l1000.jpg
 
Taurus couldn't tell you what year it was manufactured by the serial #? That's strange...

Very nice gun. What information are you looking for? You seem to already know a lot about it.
 
I think you have done a fine investigation without any help. No, I don't have any information about the gun. I have one Taurus 85 and a Taurus rifle, I'm not an afficianado of the bull. It does look like a great copy of a S&W model 14, K 38. I look forward to the range report.
 
That is a great history of Taurus, sadly no mention of Spesco importing revolvers.
 
I'll just add that it should be a good shooter. I'm a big fan of those older Taurus revolvers. I've owned over the years a Model 80, 82, 85, 94, and a 96. The 96 was identical to your's but was in 22 LR rather than 38.

Shudda kept them. :)

I forget where the cut off is, but Taurus only has information back to a certain date.
 
I’m the days of Bangor Punta, Taurus and S&W were sister companies. Much of the technology had already been stolen/copied and the guns were nearly identical. The grip medallion appears to be in the correct location for a set of K/L frame Smith grips. Perhaps somebody upgraded the grips and swapped the Taurus medallions over to the S&W grips? I haven’t heard of this being done, and S&W grips are not usually a direct swap to a Taurus frame.
 
I am pretty much a novice but it seems they have serial number information starting when Taurus International was organized in Miami.

I don't know if the lack of early serial number info is because that is who we are dealing with here in the USA. Maybe Brazil has more info, maybe the previous import companies put their own serial numbers on them, maybe the records were lost during one of the ownership changes or maybe they just didn't keep the records earlier.
 
I would expect it to be an excellent shooter. My Old Model 66 from the early 80's is extremely good. PM me if you don't like it.
 
ArchAngelCD said:
Taurus couldn't tell you what year it was manufactured by the serial #? That's strange...

Very nice gun. What information are you looking for? You seem to already know a lot about it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, apparently they don't have any information from before they started importing their own firearms instead of relying upon 3rd party companies.
 
WestKentucky said:
I’m the days of Bangor Punta, Taurus and S&W were sister companies. Much of the technology had already been stolen/copied and the guns were nearly identical. The grip medallion appears to be in the correct location for a set of K/L frame Smith grips. Perhaps somebody upgraded the grips and swapped the Taurus medallions over to the S&W grips? I haven’t heard of this being done, and S&W grips are not usually a direct swap to a Taurus frame.
Click to expand...

Hmmm... that would make a good story to know how it happened if that is indeed the case. The grips are beautiful wood.
 
Managed to get it to the range today. I am only a mediocre shooter at best so I couldn't get the best results from the pistol. However, a buddy shot it also and it was a real tack driver for him. The DA trigger is crisp and tight, and the SA is like eating cotton candy. He's a real semi-auto type of guy, but he fell in love with the gun. :)
 
I had a 4" Model 66 back in the early '90s that was actually the equal of many of my S&W revolvers, inside and out. Sold it dirt cheap even thought it was reliable and quite accurate, as I was entering my "handgun snob" days of collecting guns ... And a Model 85 I bought in '91 was phenomenal. Early Taurus revolvers could be quite good.
 
JackBurtonJr

Thanks for starting a great thread and doing so much work yourself. Tauri are great little guns for the most part despite their detractors, there is a little 85 in use around our house at the moment. I once (early to mid 80's) compared a 66 to a S&W M19 and had a hard time justifying the 30 percent price difference!

-kBob
 
That gun looks a lot like the model 96 22LR I bought and used for a bit in the falling plate matches. I bought mine new around 1990. I really wish I had that one back. It had a great trigger and was accurate. I didn't keep it long enough to appreciate what I had. But thats my S.O.P. it seems.
 
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