I don't know about your Taurus or what you are accustomed to shooting, but I have a good number of Taurus revolvers (80, 82, 85, 66) and they all shoot anywhere from 1" to 3" groups off-hand at that range. Definitely hitting COM on a small silhouette. 3" groups would be from the 85 and 1" from the 66 using mag loads. Also, were you shooting double-action or single action on the revolver? The 85 snub or any snub for that matter is not a range toy and is not too accurate outside of 15 feet.
Keep in mind, we're talking about reliability and not accuracy.
um....
Back to my original post. Comparing apples and oranges never seems to work, and most intellegent people that I know understand that revolvers and semi's are two completely different animals.
And, I don't know about you, but I RELY on my guns to protect me from any threat, I RELY on my guns to be able to neutralize a threat at my max comfort zone, I RELY on my guns to protect my life. If I do not feel a gun is RELIABLE, If I can not RELY on it to protect my life, I get rid of it. Period.
The only gun that I have ever owned and gotten rid of for not being reliable is a Taurus 85. Ironically, I traded it in to a dealer at a gun show for 2 C9's. Both fired straight from the box, and between the two there has never been a FTF or FTE. And, yes, I do carry my HP. Luckily, I live in a OC friendly state, and have a nice logo'd leather Galco holster I display it in.
Keep in mind, we're talking about reliability and not accuracy. A Hi-Point is not reliable out of the box. A revolver is reliable if it passes the first couple of cylinders of test rounds. A Hi-Point requires many many magazines to break in. YES I am a Hi-Point owner.
If we come down to brass tacks, accuracy is almost always more dependent on the shooter than the gun. Most guns are more accurate than the shooter - even a Hi Point or a Taurus 85.
And, just to satisfy your curoisity, I fired 5 rounds single action from a steadied bench rest at a man size silhouette at 7 yards, which is my max comfort zone. 3 missed the silhouette completely, one in the groin, and one in the femur. all were aimed at center mass. Follow up with a Phoenix Arms .22 and HiPoint JHP .40, both at same distance, both from same bench rest. Fired 5 rounds from each, .22 had a palm size grouping in center mass, HP had 2" groupings. I pretty much feel that user error was not a factor in the test.
But, again, this is opinion. If you feel that you can trust your life to a Taurus, more power to you. I just hope that you are never proven wrong.
