Curious re: 22mag Taurus 991 (22LR, too?)

Hi there! Would like to hear from any Taurus owners re: the Taurus 991, and / or (read on for my ignorant question) one of their other Tracker series .22 9-shot revolvers.

I am interested in a stainless steel, DA/SA, 3-6" barrel .22 revolver to complement my only other revolver (Smith & Wesson 625) and my only other .22 pistol (Ruger 22/45), hoping that someone can comment sagely on one of the ones I'm looking at.


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EDITED TO ADD:

- I am not all that interested in the collector value, per se, nor (especially) in paying for anyone else's collector value, and until I know more about revolvers, I'd rather buy new, especially with a brand that some people seem to hate -- at least if I draw a lemon then, it's *my* lemon So while I know there are sweet-triggered old S&Ws out there, and that everything was better when the world was black and white, I'm leaning toward new if I should get one of these Taurus guns.

- Most common use will be punching paper at the range or other casual plinking, and (in the background to the fun) working on trigger control, grip, stance, etc. I promise not to hunt feral pigs or chase down angry mobs with it, honest!

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Specifically, I like the look and the price of the Taurus 991 Tracker (.22 Magnum) in stainless. I've never fired a Taurus revolver, only held them in stores; I get the impression from reading about them that they seem to polarize people. I'm really not interested in the bashing right now -- and from reading older THR threads, the model 94 seems to draw most of that. But I must admit I'd like to hear (honest, specific) critique of the 991.

- Is the trigger bearable? Note: I can bear a fair amount. I don't mind a heavy DA trigger necessarily, esp. on a .22, as I hope this will serve partly as a training aid. So, I'd like the SA trigger to be nicer, of course, but a gritty or otherwise flawed DA trigger is not the worst thing; I just want to know what I'm getting into.

- For any 991 owners: have you experienced any mechanical failures, and how hard were they to resolve?

- Overall, if you have a 991, have you been happy with it?

(If this link works: http://www.taurususa.com/product-details.cfm?id=619&category=Revolver&toggle=&breadcrumbseries= -- if not, easy to find through Taurus's revolver page )

HOWEVER: Please forgive the ignorant question, but does this mean (as I hope, but am not certain of) that I can fire .22LR from this gun as well as .22 Magnum? I know that some guns come with an extra cylinder, but am not sure if that is necessary with all designs.

I would prefer the flexibility of being able to shoot both .22 Mag and .22LR from one gun, but if that's not the case, there are similar guns in the same series that are .22 LR only, and I'd be happy to go for one of those.

The price seems right (under $500 new, MSRP), and (damn my eyes!) I happen to like the way it looks. So I'd like to hear good news, of course, but I'll take bad news under advisement

Thanks for any insight --

timothy

 

I have a Taurus m66 in 357 mag that I bought on a whim and have been pleasantly surprised. It needs a good cleaning as I have put about 400 down range and the trigger is now feeling a little gritty.

I'd stay away from the 94, but the reports on the 990 series (tracker) have been favorable. This is the model series you're looking at. I can't comment on the 22lr in a 22mag chamber, but from what I've heard, accuracy usually suffers with the 22lr in the combo kit guns.

Good luck on your purchase and I look forward to your range report

 

Thanks for the note. Looking at a couple of potential purchases in the next few months (incl. this one); if any of them come to fruition, I'll certainly post a review / range report here. Striking the balance between harmless hobby and money pit is hard sometimes

timothy

 

You might consider posting this question over in: http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php Lots of folks over there who know these pretty well. They also have disassembly instructions and such.

 

BrocLuno:

Thanks for the suggestion.

I realize that's a source of knowledge, and a good suggestion, but the truth is I have too many account-login-password-history globs already. I realize that limits the number of people I'll get direct answers from, which is a downside, but my mind is small enough to embrace that fact

I will, though, scan there for opinions!

Cheers,

timothy

 

BrocLuno: Thanks again for the tip on Taurus Armed; poking around there, I find that there's a new model coming out *with* interchangeable cylinders, the 992. A bit more expensive, but it will stay on my radar for now. If I had to get one only, again, I'd go for .22LR, but it'd be nice to have the option.

timothy

 

no advice on Trackers, leastways your named model
opinions do seem to vary according to specific model Trackers
the few I have seen & shot 1st person are accurate enough, with "ok" SA trigger, and poor but "tolerable" DA triggers, depending on what you "tolerate" -
large frame revolvers generally yield better leverage and spring geometry than small frame revolvers, so poor quality of fit is not as overtly obvious as in DA mode, but too often is when frame size shrinks
pretty rare for any make/model revolver to have an intolerable SA trigger, if the gun functions at all

but no 22LR revolver can/should be used with 22 WMR
and no 22 WMR revolver should be used to shoot 22 LR, even if physically possible
UNLESS gun comes with both cylinders, in which case barrel bore is for 22WMR
and both cylinders must be factory fitted, not home-boy-fitted
so unless it comes with both cylinders in the box, just don't

you can shoot WRF in 22 WRM revolvers (think of them as "22 mag short"), but you don't see much of that around, and any I have used seems to have about a 5% dud rate
WRF is a predecessor to the 22 mag WRM round, but no good in a 22 mag autoloaders of course

 

Thanks, Oldfool

Hadn't realized there was a diameter difference between the two -- should have spent more time on Wikipedia first, since my cartridges of the world is not to hand http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/22_magnum

I need all the help I can get in the accuracy department, so I think this means I'm back to considering .22LR-only.

Thanks,

timothy

 

Taurus is now marketing a 922 which is a DA revolver .22Mag/.22LR convertible.

I am not sure if it has been released for sale, but it looks interesting.

http://www.taurususa.com/2011newcatalog/?catalog_page=7

 

not meaning to hurt anybody's feelings... but if you do go with a Taurus (Tracker or whatever), consider a blued model vs SS model
nothing "wrong" with the SS models, but the finish is not everything it could be

put a hundred rounds of 38/357 each thru a model S&W 66, and a SS Taurus Tracker
then clean both side by side
my good buddy has a nice Tracker that shoots real well for him
gets aggravated by the extra scrubbing he has to do to clean it up real nice after, whilst I am done and enjoying the view, you know
We both are perhaps pickier about cleaning ours up after a shoot than some folks are though

blue is actually easier to keep clean, absent an exceptional finish on SS, and don't let anybody kid you, there never was such a thing as corrosion proof stainless
good gun leather is great, especially for BBQ guns, but never leave a SS gun stored in leather long term (tannic acid stain will pit 'em, even real good leather), and can be hard on blue also

me, I like both deep blue and SS, but don't overate stainless, it ain't magic
but don't ever let blue get and stay wet for long...
saw what happened to a really nice deep blued model 19 when a pawn shop roof leaked, and it sat there 3 days in the heat after, real shame

 

I own I 990ss4 (.22lr tracker in stainless with a 4" barrel). I have only put about 100 rounds through it , and it is currently at Taurus for warranty work. That said, I like the gun and have liked other tauruses that I have shot, so any constructive criticism to follow is not brand bashing.

First the good: shooting .22lr in a full size revolver is a ton of fun. There is very little recoil, and it is great practice for shooting other similarly sized revolvers (I bought mine as a practice companion to my GP100). I found the trigger to be good SA, and smooth but heavy in DA. However, the trigger return spring on these is very heavy, and can be replaced with a ligher one without causing light strikes. I haven't done this to mine yet, but plan too. The little shooting I have done with mine showed it to be a very accurate little gun.

And, the bad: I found the grip to be terrible, I have a houge grip on the way. The finish is OK, not great, but OK. It is a beat around plinker, so honestly, I don't really care. More importantly, mine had cylinder gap/lockup issues from the factory. These problems caused the cylinder to sieze up intermittantly after shooting 30 or so rounds, then you had to clean it to get it running again. That is why it is back at Taurus. I am sure they will make it right, and assuming they do I will not hold this slip in QC against them with respect to future purchases or recommendation of the 990 series.

Bottom line, I am happy with mine and look forward to having it running right so I can shoot a boat load of rounds through it. Aside from Tauruses lackluster quality control, offset by thier excellent customer service and warranty, I recommend the 990 series to anyone that needs a practice companion to a full size frame revolver. You should be able to find a new one in the $350-$400 range.

Just my personal preference, but why .22mag? If it is for paper punching, .22lr will do the job just as well and a whole lot cheaper. Unless you need the extra power (pest extermination for example), all the magnum has to offer is a lot more noise. (edit - never mind, looks like you are leaning towards .22lr already. Good choice

 

I own the Taurus 941 which is a 8 shot revolver in .22WRM.This is an excellent gun for my needs.

Here's the story on the other Taurus .22 rimfire ammo revolvers.

http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=46700.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=30980.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=20688.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=41499.0
http://www.taurusarmed.net/forums/index.php?topic=22763.0

I can bring 35 pages more of links if need by about Taurus rimfires if need be, but you get the idea.

 

Just read an article on new guns for 2011- the 922 - it's coming and it looks cool. Might have to ad to my short list

 

high country: Thanks for the detailed report!

Re: 22 Mag vs 22LR; yes, I would get a revolver that shot both, but if only one, then it would be LR. 22 Mag I just think is fun to shoot -- same reason I like to switch up calibers in general. I'm no precision shooter (putting it mildly), but I like to get experience with different guns and types, for the curiosity / knowledge / fun value. Just a different kind of bang. (And though it's not a major fetish, I do like guns that shoot more than one kind of ammo -- it might not quite be 2 guns for the price of 1, but it's at least 1.3!)

old fool -- re: SS vs. other finishes -- that's useful advice re: leather. I had no idea of that (re: pitting). OTOH, I prefer SS aesthetically, and my guns are mostly kept locked up unless I get a chance to get to the range; for carry, I think I'd rather have something in a modern wuenderfinish of some kind, actually. If it gets ugly, it gets ugly.

To all -- thanks for the continuing input. I may decide to scrimp a bit longer anyhow, and go with a S&W, to match my 625. It's a small attempt at forbearance ...

timothy