New to Shooting & some Taurus 605 questions

[tim2010]

Hi
I'm new to shooting.
No family heritage of shooting.
No shooting friends.
Coming in cold but trying to read as much as possible so I don't hurt myself or someone else. I just purchases a Taurus 605 SA/DA SS from a store in California. I'm about halfway through the 10 day waiting period. The salesman told me that the idea behind this law was to let people WHO NEEDED A GUN NOW to have a few days to cool down and think about it.
So I'm trying to relax. ha ha

Anyway, I'm reading & reading and have some specific questions about the gun that I purchased. I had originally settled on a Smith 642 but the price of the Taurus and the .357 ammo option interested me. Ok...mostly the price.
Taurus $400, Smith was $500. And like I said, I'm new to this and may lose interest so why pay more. From the forums there seems to be a reverence for Smith and some past problems with Taurus. But also many have claimed that Taurus problems have been worked out.

Ok
My questions:
Regarding the Taurus 605 .357 SA/DA

Taurus seems to have a good reputation lately but
problems that do seem to reoccur sparingly in the forums regarding this gun are:

Things falling off or coming lose like the cylinder latch or ejector rod.
Should I just go ahead and loctite these with loctite blue from the start?

The other problem that seems to come up -in forums - are light strike misfires. There are many post of replacing springs - mostly toward a lighter Wolff spring. Any many posts of people warning not to do this for just the above reason.

There are also post of people putting a heavier spring in to solve the whole possibility of the problem happening. This would of course make the trigger harder to pull. This seems more sensible to me as I'm really getting this for self protection and not target shooting. A harder trigger pull seems safer anyway.

One more question
I have read various posts on DRY FIRING
Some say No
Some say it helps break in the gun, but use snap caps to prevent damage.
So Dry Firing or No Dry firing?

Any thoughts about this or about this gun.
Or being a new shooter and this gun as a first purchase.
Etc etc
Thanks
Tim

 

[Bezoar]

dry firing is safe if you use snap caps. That provided the cushioning resistance the gun requires.

The other things, some people have problems with a particular weapon and others dont. Dont try to "fix" problems that havent happened to you yet.

 

[Virginian]

I have a 605 and I really like it. There is not a damn thing wrong with it. I have had lots of Smiths, Colts, and Rugers, and the only two DA revolvers I have left are a Taurus 431, and the 605. I do not plan to feed the 605 a steady diet of hot 357s, and I wouldn't feed a J or a K frame Smith a steady diet of them either. I routinely check the screws on all my guns, and don't use Loctite anymore.

 

[Floppy_D]

Welcome to The High Road!

I carry a Taurus revolver daily, I've got nothing but good things to say about it. The factory springs won't give you light strikes, and the trigger will be a little heavy but will smooth out after some dryfiring. Pick up some good snap caps and dryfire it at least 1000 times. As you do, focus on the front sight over the target, and keep it as steady as you can as the hammer drops. Really focus on keeping the sight picture and not jerking at the last moment; steady squeeze. The trigger will smooth out, and you'll build the muscle memory to stay steady on target. For more than you ever wanted to know about building good shooting habits >click here<.

Good Luck!

 

[hk lover]

605

my experiance with the 605 is that i've reserved it for 38+p for the main part.the 125 gn. 357 have often bound my gun to the point that i feel like i need to help the cylinder rotate with my off hand.this doesent happen every time,mainly when firing d/a.thats the way i would be employing it in a real life fight.shooting single action it seems to work ok,but i've lost confidence in it as a carry gun.maybe a smith is a better choice,as i've never had this happen with any of mine.yes they cost more,but how much is your life or the lives of others worth

 

[captainamerica]

Any model of any type can fail or break, etc. We have 2 605's and they are fine. The fit/finish has a few sharper edges and such as compared to SW or Ruger snubs but we don't care. They are reliable and require no special maintenance or check ups beyond what is typical. I'd recommend that you shoot 250 to 500 rounds (38 specials kick less and usually cost less but use a few .357 magnums too) over a given period of time, keep it clean, and enjoy it. You'll likely have no problems.

BTW, the 10 day cool down and similar regulatory restrictions is infringement plain and simple, stupid, and doesn't have anything to do with the purchase and lawful use of a handgun for target or self defense purposes. It's an end around control that largely just generates a paper trail and regulatory "mother-may-I" permission slip that big brother has to give the buyer. Can you imagine a cool down period for knives, coffee, smokes, booze, music, etc? Heads would roll. But not when it comes to firearms (who knows; the knives, booze, and smokes might be added in the future).

 

[DMZ]

I have owned my 605 for ~4 years. Zero problems with it and it is my default CCW. Mine is quite accurate and balances well. As with any small frame .38/.357, it is a great little gun for camping, backpacking and fishing.

The DA trigger is heavy and takes some amount of practice to get the hang of. Those recommending snap caps are giving good advise. I ran about 1,000 rounds of .38 Spl ammo through mine to wear it in.

If you are planning on shooting some stout .357 Mag's in it, you should consider some good 3 groove combat grips from Hogue or Excaliber.

If you ever take up relaoding, it is a great gun to develop loads for. Wadcutters, over modest powder loads, are a real hoot.