I no longer have a Taurus EDC (or nearly EDC) revolver because I no longer carry revolvers other than a 5 shot 442 as a coat pocket gun (and it may be replaced by a 6 shot 432) or an occasional magnum revolver. Until October, when an incident made me rethink carrying only 6 rounds of .38spl, my Taurus 856 Defender was a nearly EDC gun (it split time with my SIG P365s, with the Taurus seeing more time than both of my P365s combined because I love revolvers).
Overall, I've had mostly positive experience with Taurus revolvers. My first handgun was a Taurus 82 I bought 25 or 26 years ago (I sold it because I didn't plan to own many guns at first, and I had bought a .357mag medium framed revolver and didn't see having both). A couple years later I followed up with a 605, but magnum rounds out of a 2" small framed snub are a bit much, and it was a couple ounces heavier than a dedicated J-frame or similar snub in .38. A couple years after selling the 605, I bought a used Taurus 85CH I still have (I plan on giving it to a buddy as a gift after he gets his CCW license later this year). I had two Rossis built after Taurus took over Rossi, one of which had issues (not a Taurus design, but an issue many Taurus revolvers had at the time, about 10 or so years ago).
Currently, in addition to the previously mentioned 856 Defender and 85CH, I have a few Taurus revolvers. I have a Taurus 856UL that was the first I bought after the two Rossis, it has been terrific. I then bought a 431, a 3" K-frame sized 5-shot .44spl I had long wanted (unfortunately, it doesn't always ignite the primers, it is only 100% reliable with one brand of ammo, and I bought it as a defense gun... I can't blame the gun though since it was 30 years old when I bought it and I have no idea what the previous owner did to it). I also have a Taurus 66 I recently bought, and it is one of the nicest revolvers I own (I have a Colt and 5 S&W revolvers currently in addition to my Taurus revolvers). The 66 gets occasional woods duty as my camping and hiking gun, it alternates with my S&W 66 (2.75") depending upon how concealable I need it to be on that particular trip.
Like any gun, there will be lemons. Like any gun, you need to test it before you rely on it. Like any major revolver maker, I do trust them enough that I have (and occasionally do) carry them, and if I still regularly carried revolvers, my 856 Defender would likely be my primary carry gun, unless I replaced it in that role with another 856 Defender... Just before the incident that soured me on .38spls with 6 or fewer rounds, I was looking for either an aluminum 856 Defender and would have already had one had they not stopped production, or an 856 Defender Executive Grade or another model with the CH (bobbed hammer, DAO- I don't remember the exact designation of the other CH model and it isn't currently in production so I can't easily find it). Though, if I did carry 6 shot .38s still, they do make the ultra-light (aluminium) Defender again. In fact, those last few sentences are my biggest gripe with Taurus... they are always introducing, discontinuing, and reintroducing models, so if they are currently making something you want, you might need to jump fast in case it isn't a particular sub-model they plan to keep around.
. Not picky, 45LC, 44SPC, or 41Mag could all work for me.
I compensated for the fact that it shot about 5" high at 10 yards, I have my limits.
