Taurus 431 .44 Special Experience?

[Landric]

A local dealer has a used Taurus 431 .44 Special he just took in trade. Its blued with a 3" barrel (and fixed sights obviously). I checked it out today, and the lockup was good, timing seems fine, trigger wasn't anything to write home about, but it is serviceable, bore looks good, and the finish is pristine. He had $300 on it, but said he would sell it to me for $250. I had him put it aside for me and told him I'd let him know tomorrow if I want it for sure or not. Seems like a great deal for the shape the gun is in, but I wanted to get some input on the 431 in general. I know its out of production, and its from the days before the Taurus hammer lock, so that makes it more attractive to me. I just don't like or want any sort of lock on my firearms.

Anyway, some input on the 431 would be great. I'm not concerned about ammo costs. I handload and already have the dies and such necessary to load .44 Special. It will cost me the same to shoot as .45ACP and I won't have to pickup brass.

TIA

 

[Duke of Doubt]

I owned one for over fifteen years (four inch, stainless). It was my first gun. Uncle Mike made a two-piece rubber grip for it, and HKS Charter Arms 5 shot speedloaders work for it. It served as a HD gun for a long time without major problems and without any FTF. An internal spring came loose once or twice so I had to open her up and reset the spring. Accuracy was not particularly great. Trigger wasn't all that great either, but okay for a double action HD revolver with fixed sights, intended for CQB. It actually carried pretty well on either strong side or weak side hip in a Galco holster. I traded mine even a couple months back for a vintage Colt Officer's Model Target when I decided to limit my revolvers to Colts and Smiths. I had been offered $250 to $300 cash for it by dealers, and it was resold within weeks for almost $500 (with all the goodies), so you may be getting a good deal. Good non-cowboy .44 Special loads are getting hard to find. I can't really complain about mine, but have you looked at used Smiths or Colts?

 

[Landric]

I've looked at what is available from S&W, but I tend to favor fixed sight revolvers, and the 3" fixed sight 431 appeals to me. S&W had some N-frame .44 Specials, but they were almost all with adj. sights, and the 3" versions especially go for a lot more than $250. The few fixed sight N-frames from the old days are fantastically expensive if they can be located for sale. The 696 is also out of production, and when I see them for sale its generally between $650 and $800.

Smith recently had a run of 21-4 fixed sight N frame .44 Specials. I've got one of those on layaway actually, but the smaller Taurus has a lot of appeal too.

I like S&W revolvers a lot better, but for the asking price on the 431, and its condition, I thought I might give it a try. Being a reloader, I'm not concerned about ammo availability. Components won't be a problem since I can use the same bullets as .44 Mag, and I have a fair amount of .44 Special brass sitting around already. Since I favor lead bullet handloads for practice anyway, I suspect I'll go with the Federal 240 grain LSWCHP for defense use, if I end up using the 431 for defense at all.

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. I have a stainless Taurus Model 431 with fixed sights and 3" bbl. The wide, serrated trigger is decent enough in double-action and fine in single. While the fixed sights are well-regulated from the factory for me, the front sight can be fairly difficult to see...at least for me, due to its abbreviated height.

Mine was purchased NIB in the '90's and came with checkered wooden grips. The contour on them was such that the rear of the left stock dug into the base of my right thumb. I replaced them with the Michael of Oregon's rubber stock that was available at that time, but has disappeared pretty in more recent times.

The gun's uses a coiled mainspring like the S&W J-frames and Rugers' SP101/GP100 and its frame-mounted firing pin has created no issues.

Though this gun's not been shot thousands of time, it's given no problems. I estimate that it has around a thousand shots through it over the years, but I've not shot it too much. I'm not sure why as it is pleasant to shoot and POI matches POA pretty closely though I've not done much shooting with it beyond 15 to 25 yards.


Here is my Model 431 shown with Corbon .44 Special DPX +P ammunition and wearing Uncle Mike's rubber stocks. Its features resemble S&W's revolvers and the cylinder rotates the same direction, counterclockwise.


The "hottest" .44 Specials I've shot in this revolver has been the DPX. I normally prefer a 240-gr. CSWC handload at about 850-900 ft/sec or something a little more sedate like the CCI/Blazer 200-gr. GDHP.

From its 3" bbl, I obtained the following average velocities based on 10-shot averages when fired 10' from the chronograph screens:

PMC 180-gr. JHP: 827

Speer/Blazer 200-gr. GDHP: 829 ft/sec

Corbon 200-gr. DPX: 1013

Speer 200-gr. GDHP
8.5-gr. Unique
Win LP Primer
Starline Case: 933

Rainier 240-gr. Funnel Point Plated Bullet
7.7-gr. Unique
Win LP Primer
Starline Case: 864


The forcing cone on my Taurus Model 431 is pretty thin so I do not try to see what it would take to crack it. I am told that Taurus' after-the-sale service could be better, though I've never had to find out and since this model has been discontinued, I don't want to unneccesarily temp fate.


I have used the Taurus as a (lawfully) concealed carry handgun and feel it can serve well in the area of personal protection.


Here is the Taurus M431 muzzle and Corbon 200-gr. DPX next to a Ruger SP101 muzzle and the Corbon 125-gr. .357 Magnum DPX. The .44 Special's larger diameter is sort of comforting for many shooters.

In short, mine's done everything I've asked it to do w/o complaint. The double-action is not so nice as on many of other makes of revolvers but it isn't "bad". I think that the downsides are the smallish front sight, possible lack of service from the company, and that this revolver is a discontinued model. I have experienced no mechanical issues with this revolver at all.

That said, if the gun you are looking at is in nice shape and seems to work alright, I'd probably cough up the money. Understand though, that .44 Special ammunition is not inexpensive but that's probably not an issue since you handload.

Best and good luck.

 

[Landric]

Thanks Stephen, excellent write up as usual. I think I'll pick the 431 up. It has the factory wood grips, but I found a vendor online that has the UM rubber grips on yours for sale that fit the 431.

I checked into ammo prices a while back, and I agree that factory ammo is expensive. Luckily I don't expect to buy more than a few hunderd factory .44 Specials ever. I can handload it for about the same price as .45ACP, which is yet another reason to handload: huge savings over factory on chamberings like the .44 Special.

 

[bannockburn]

Landric

I've been looking for a Taurus 431 for a number of years now. I should have bought one back when Gander Mountain still carried them. For that price, I would definitely consider getting it.

 

[Walkalong]

I would pay $250 for it in a heartbeat myself.

 

[sidheshooter]

I would pay $250 for it in a heartbeat myself.

An enthusiastic +1 on that.

The first .44 spec that I ever fired was a fixed sight, blued taurus owned by simply rugged's Rob Leahy. I got the attraction instantly; punchy, big bore power and gentle shove recoil.

I jumped on a Rossi 720 hamerless last year for just under three, and this Taurus of yours (note the possesive) is a better deal all around, IMHO. Go get it.

 

[wnycollector]

Buy it! I STILL kick myself for passing on a 2.5" round butt SS 431 2 years ago for $250!

 

[balin]

I like my 4" stainless very much. It is not as accurate for me as a S&W 21 but I have no complaints at all. At that price I would pick it up with out feeling bad.

 

[Landric]

Y'all talked me into it. Told the dealer I was taking it for sure. Right now its on layaway, but I don't expect it to be long before it comes home to me.

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. If you enjoy yours as I've enjoyed my 431, I think you will consider it money well spent.

Best.

 

[mavracer]

sorry got here too late to help talk you into it,you'll love it I have the exact same model makes a perfect ccw or woods gun.check out georgia arms for ammo they load tha same 200gr speer bullet in blazers about 50-75 fps hotter.