Taurus 431 opinions

[William Ashbless]

Being from California I can't get any new Taurus .44 spl snub. Someone told me that one of their discontinued models is superior to the newer models anyway. Anybody have thoughts or opinions on this gun?
Thanks

 

[s&w 24]

I have fired my Dads 431 4" a little. Recoil is managable with warm but not hot handloads and accuracy has been fair but not great (3 1/2" at 25 ft avarage) but I know that it will get better with load development. My Dad also got a 2" bbl for it but its still "aging" so that it will be "ripe" to tacle that project.

 

[Stephen A. Camp]

Hello. I've had pretty good luck with the Model 431 using handloads. The front sight is a bit short in the fixed sight version and a somewhat difficult to see at speed, but it's "on" and the thing's been reliable with a fairly smooth DA pull.

Best.

 

[gumshoe4]

I have a 431 4" which I bought new at a local gunshop here in Sacramento when that revolver was being closed out. I got it for $149 NIB. I had a gunsmith remove the single action sear and smooth the internals (remove burrs, etc). The gun wears the factory rubber grips.

It's a very nice revolver, reasonably accurate and easy to shoot with just about all .44 Special loads. It's loaded with 5 Glaser blue tips for home defense, with CCI Blazer 200-grain Gold Dots in a speedloader for reloads. The recoil is not bad.

Because this revolver uses a coil mainspring (like the S&W J-frames), it will never have the butter-smooth DA trigger pull that a leaf-mainspring K, L or N frame Smith revolver has, BUT in this case, the price was right, the gun does what I want it to do and it's a keeper.

If you're in California, you may be able to find one on a consignment sale at a dealer, so look around. The 431 is worth a look.

Bob
TFL# 8032

 

[Preacherman]

Got one. Like it.