Taurus 856?

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Well, the snub 856 was sold...


...so I ordered the 3 inch defender model.

Historically I haven't gotten along with the 3 inch model, neither fish nor fowl (despite the internet telling me it's the Goldilocks length).

3 inch talo 686 plus, 3 inch sp101 (a couple times) ...there are probably more. Oh, an old Rossi 3 inch m36 knock off. Too big for the pocket, on the belt I'd rather a 4 or 5 inch.

Why did try again?

I found a good deal for the present economy. It comes with night sights. I'm thinking car /travel general house gun use, maybe hiking (over the 4+ length barrels) ...long story short I can see the use and I talked myself into it!

Does anyone know of any good holsters for the 3 inch 856 defender?

If anyone is interested in range reports and follow up let me know and I can report back when it comes in. Thanks for all the feedback and advice.
 
Does anyone know of any good holsters for the 3 inch 856 defender?

It depends on if you want OWB or IWB holsters. I went through this when looking for IWB holsters for my 3" 85. All of the IWB holsters I found were actually made for the 2" version. The bottoms are open to fit the 3" barrel. The problem I have is that barrel hangs completely below the holster and digs into my hip.
 
Well, the snub 856 was sold...


...so I ordered the 3 inch defender model.

Historically I haven't gotten along with the 3 inch model, neither fish nor fowl (despite the internet telling me it's the Goldilocks length).

3 inch talo 686 plus, 3 inch sp101 (a couple times) ...there are probably more. Oh, an old Rossi 3 inch m36 knock off. Too big for the pocket, on the belt I'd rather a 4 or 5 inch.

Why did try again?

I found a good deal for the present economy. It comes with night sights. I'm thinking car /travel general house gun use, maybe hiking (over the 4+ length barrels) ...long story short I can see the use and I talked myself into it!

Kind of the reasoning and route I got mine, and I reached kind of the same conclusion. The vast majority of the weekday I'm carrying a revolver, in a pocket holster. Which this is not going to work well with.

This thing makes me think of an old cop .38 Model 10, but petite.

Does anyone know of any good holsters for the 3 inch 856 defender?

Simply Rugged Silver Dollar, originally bought for 2.5" Charter Bulldog, fits the 856 Defender pretty well.

Maybe something in leather for a Ruger SP101. (speculating. It's a bit bigger and taller than the usual j-frame).

Don Hume JIT Slide for a j-frame, works. The longer barrel of the Defender makes this holster less precarious.

If anyone is interested in range reports and follow up let me know and I can report back when it comes in. Thanks for all the feedback and advice.

Sure.
 
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I've got a few options to try, thank you.

I'll update after it comes in and I check it out. If it arrives before the weekend I'll try to go out and run a few rounds through it
 
Simply Rugged Silver Dollar, originally bought for 2.5" Charter Bulldog, fits the 856 Defender pretty well.

Maybe something in leather for a Ruger SP101. (speculating. It's a bit bigger and taller than the usual j-frame).

Don Hume JIT Slide for a j-frame, works. The longer barrel of the Defender makes this holster less precarious.
Sure.

Like the man says, anything for an SP-101 should fit fine. The Hume size number for it is 52, or at least that's what my JIT slide that works is marked. And my medium-frame Charter holsters work too.
 
Hey everyone,

My local FFL has a stainless snubnose 38 Taurus 856, asking 350 out the door
That's pretty good for my area. I handled it once and did a general look over. The new stainless finish isn't my favorite, prefer their old blueing and non matte stainless. I wonder what could be done with mothers mag and elbow grease?

But, seemed to lock up well, no obvious functional issues. Very heavy trigger pull but that can be worn in or maybe do a spring kit.

Anyway, any known issues with these? I don't NEEED another snub but I'm a revolver guy. I do miss a 6 shot snub. I had a really nice model 64 dash 2 snub. Carried in owb all the time. I guess it would be kind of a replacement for the model 64 snub.

Would love to hear from any 856 owners or gun Smith's that might be able to speak to build quality etc!

Questions:

Round counts? 38 is vapor wear. But curious how these are holding up. A full weight stainless 38 in my hands will see a lot of standard or slightly over pressure 38s.

Known gremlins to look out for?

Anyone take a look under the side plate? Just curious to hear opinions.

With today's inflation (atta boy Brandon), Ruger prices are through the roof. Smith j frames used to be obtainable for 250-350 no problem. Used sp101s and lcrs used to be the same. For some reason when the world got weird with Rona and (possibly more horrifying) the various world governments response to wuflu revolvers really went sky high. You can get hi cap plastic fantastic for a couple hundred still.

A 350 in 2022 for a stainless Taurus 38 is about the best deal I've seen for awhile :(

I think I'd rather it be the stainless full weight 3 inch but the stainless full weight 2 inch is live local and taking up space in my mind!

I have the Taurus 856 defender 3" 38 SPL and it fires great with no hiccups at all. I carry it every day and don't even notice it is on my hip. Great gun all around. I also do not like the finish. I took it down to parade rest, looking under the hood and it looked great. The finish had no machine marks and was smooth just like it should be. The parts all work well just like they should. I got mine from my lovely wife so I do not know the price but it couldn't have been much over $350. I hope this helps you out some. Don Van Winkle
 
I own two 856s. Both trigger pulls are just fine for me. I shoot nothing but standard loads through them.
<nodding> I only have the one, the trigger-action is fine and I only shoot boring loads. :)

I got my 856 from Rural King in Oct'21. Price $259.98.

I must confess that I was a little surprised at how well this revolver is made.

2v2asrYqdxAW38L.jpg
2v2asrpaNxAW38L.jpg

It also fits well in a Bianchi pancake holster that I acquired for my .44 Bulldogs.
 
This was my first 856. Bought it used in early 2020 with some ammo and three holsters for $300. The tacky gold parts have grown on me a bit. It is not a carry gun but rests on a high shelf in my living room. Since then I did buy two of the 3” barrel 856’s. Taurus has definitely made an impact with these fine revolvers at very fair prices.

C7A483F8-AE90-4027-B7E8-046EBD018DC7.jpeg 82B92B26-ACD9-45D6-827A-032BAB409185.jpeg
 
This was my first 856. Bought it used in early 2020 with some ammo and three holsters for $300. The tacky gold parts have grown on me a bit.

View attachment 1074207

Interesting. I did not know Taurus still did the gold bling "thing" still. It's not on Taurus' web page.

Have the 3" Defender. Did not turn out to carry it as much as I thought I would. Pocket carry is too much of the way I work.
 
Love my 856 too. The trigger is heavy and small frame revolvers are not for everyone, I myself have to grip this gun differently to comfortably pull the trigger.

By the way, the frame sizes of 85 vs 856 are different. Grips for 85 will likely fit both, but the 85's grip with open top and bottom will not cover the entire frame of 856, at least mine does not cover the rear bottom of the frame (pictured below) and there is a 0.5mm gap in the front. This happens because my grip maker did not have a 856 to measure against the grip and I confidently confirmed that the grip is the same as 85's.
856.jpg
 
After removing the Mobile 1 grease from the frame completely on my 856, I then oiled it good, put Mobile 1 grease on just the parts that needed it; those that continued to rub a bit, and then with moving to NM on our property-it sat for a few days on my hip with no real action. It now cycles through the entire cylinder without a hitch. First time at the range a couple months ago it didn't cycle through too smoothly due to the grease. I now know to grease slides and oil wheels.
 
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