What's your experience with your Taurus revolvers? How do they match up with S&W/Ruger in quality and performance? Thanks.
My 85 UL has the smoothest, best out of the box DA trigger (excellent SA, too) of any revolver I've ever pulled the trigger on. My 4" 66 is newest of the two 66s, best trigger, every bit as good as my M10 Smith. My older 3" gun has a little less slick, yet easily controlled DA and a slight bit of perceptible creep in the SA, not perfect, but not noticeable in actual shooting. All three are very accurate. I suspect the older 3" gun has had a lot of hot loads through it as when I got it, it had a Pachmayr Gripper on it that the back side faux checkering was worn flat on from shooting. It's still quite tight, perfectly timed, and I carry this gun IWB or OWB fairly often in cooler weather.
My 85 is a pocket carry, shoots 3" groups at 25 yards, about as good as it gets with a 2" snubby, at least for me. I need a little longer sight radius to do much better. The trigger is just awesome on that gun, though. It's a joy to fire DA with.
I really like the 66s better than Smith and Wesson K frames. I've owned a few, still have one in .38 special. I have split the forcing cone on it before, had to rebarrel it. The Taurus has a ROUND forcing cone, more beef in that area of the frame, is a few ounces heavier, but a stronger gun than a K frame Smith. It isn't a RUGER for strength, but it doesn't weigh 50 ounces, either.
I own 8 Rugers, none of 'em a DA revolver. I have no desire for a GP100, too heavy. The SP101 was a SWEET IWB carry and I may get another some day, but my 3" 66 is nearly as nice. I wish it had a round butt grip, though, would tuck a little better. I had a 4" Security Six (no longer made) for years, but it never shot .38s worth a toot and felt recoil was pretty rough on that gun compared to my Smith 19, my Taurus 66, or even my lighter weight SP101 and Rossi 971s. I just didn't like it. It was a good gun otherwise and shoot .357 quite accurately. It just didn't like .38s, couldn't groups better than about 4" with wadcutters. I tried all sorts of loads in it, too.
I shot a club match a while back, pepper popper match. Everyone in that match was shooting Smith revolvers in the revolver class and I had the fastest time in the match with my 4" 66.
You will get plenty of opposite opinion of Taurus on this board, much of it based on the guy down the street's boss's nephew had one, that sort of thing. 90 percent of the people that had a "bad one" never checked the thing out before purchase. Just check the gun out before you plop your money down. I do that regardless of brand as Smith and Wesson doesn't have the greatest of reputations anymore, either, for QC. It has a lifetime warranty. I've never had to use the warranty, but I do understand the company is getting better at CS. It has been a thorn in the past.
I will buy more Taurus revolvers in the future should I deem one desirable for my collection. I've thought some about a 405 for carry.
