Just wondering if anyone has handled the new Taurus titanium 44 mag. At only 28 oz. it seems that it may have a substantial kick to it, but would make a nice lightweight sidearm for those back country fishing trips. Any thoughts or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks


Tcj

Curt31
I handled one of these at my local gun shop awhile back -.44 Mag -shoot !! Not on your life!!! Grip was way to thin it, has to kick like a mule!! I'd hate to even shoot it with 44 Specials. I'd rather have to shoot a 100 rounds of full load 454's. Yep it would be great to carry around in the woods ,but if you shot it and it broke your hand,arm what good would it be. :(

I agree with Gunnut. 44mag is a good bit more powerful than .357mag, and that in those scandium framed Smiths has probably the most preceived recoil of most any pistol out. 10 ounces more weight over those scandiums doesnt compensate for the difference between 357 and 44. Get a Ruger Alaskan in 454 or 480. They might not be as light, but they will pack the power needed to ward off those brownies. Plus, they have nice recoil absorbing grips and a full size frame. If you get the 454, you could plink with 45 Long Colt. If you reload, there is a billion (not really a billion, but..) styles of bullets availible for it. Old John Taffin did a review on those Alaskans and stated that even though the barrel is so short, there is minimal velocity drop for the round. Plus they are made in the good ole USA, not Brazil like Taurus.

I agree with Gunnut. 44mag is a good bit more powerful than .357mag, and that in those scandium framed Smiths has probably the most preceived recoil of most any pistol out. 10 ounces more weight over those scandiums doesnt compensate for the difference between 357 and 44. Get a Ruger Alaskan in 454 or 480. They might not be as light, but they will pack the power needed to ward off those brownies. Plus, they have nice recoil absorbing grips and a full size frame. If you get the 454, you could plink with 45 Long Colt. If you reload, there is a billion (not really a billion, but..) styles of bullets availible for it. Old John Taffin did a review on those Alaskans and stated that even though the barrel is so short, there is minimal velocity drop for the round. Plus they are made in the good ole USA, not Brazil like Taurus.


Well I cant let that slide. I have a taurus titanium .44 special along with a Taurus in .480 and taurus in .44 mag. All are very well made items. If you get the ruger make sure you get one of the newer ones because the original .480's had a bad problem with cases getting stuck and many people had to send them back to have the cylinder polished. The Taurus is a 5 shot and never had that problem. I also have a Taurus in .44 mag and it shoots better then my S&W in .44 mag. My friend has a Taurus in 454 and has at least 8,000 rounds thru it. Yep, its worn out now but we shoot alot and we shoot the big stuff, 500 smith, BFR in .450 marlin etc. Taurus has a LIFETIME replacement , even if you didnt buy the gun new..............

I didnt say that they were junk, just that they were made in Brazil. Im pro USA and any chance I get to further American businesses, I do. Every gun shoots different in every hand. Whats good for you might not be good for someone else. This is not the first time someone has looked too far into what has been written and seen some sort of negativity towards one manufacturer or another. I offer no offence towards Taurus, I just stated that they are made out of the country. Unless that is offensive.

I've been a 44 mag shooter for lots of years and though the only Taurus I own is a 41 mag stainless tracker I've shot the lightweight version of the 41 mag.

I've got to say that though the stainless is about ten ounces heavier than the titainium gun I'd go with the stainless if you plan to shoot it a bunch.

These light guns are bad with full power loads and I've not noticed much difference in ten ounces as far as packing in a good holster.

I shoot my tracker a lot and the slightly heavier gun is much more shootable than the light one.

I really like the Taurus, it's accurate, light and easy to pack and shoot.

I didnt say that they were junk, just that they were made in Brazil. Im pro USA and any chance I get to further American businesses, I do. Every gun shoots different in every hand. Whats good for you might not be good for someone else. This is not the first time someone has looked too far into what has been written and seen some sort of negativity towards one manufacturer or another. I offer no offence towards Taurus, I just stated that they are made out of the country. Unless that is offensive.


Lots of rifles are now made in Japan (all the winchesters now? and lots of the Brownings?) , I have a Tikka that comes from Finland and a 2 12 guages from China. But most of what I have is from the USA. I DONT HAVE ANYTHING FROM FRANCE!

p.s. NRA 2005 handgun of the year? Taurus.....

I have one of the Taurus titanium's in 45LC. I bought it to carry while packing meat out when elk hunting. For many years I've carried a Ruger SRH in 44 mag, but the weight of the Taurus Titanium made me rethink my options. The Taurus is soooo much lighter and has a 4" barrel vs a 7.5" barrel. I didn't buy this handgun for target practice, I bought it with a specific purpose. And yes, it does have a pretty good recoil, but nothing you can't handle. Buy the Taurus titanium, and you'll be glad you did.

Whether or not to go with an ultra-light .44 Mag would come down to one question for me -- what will be the intended use of the gun? If, indeed, the lightest weight possible for packing is the primary concern, go for it. Yes, the recoil of a 28 oz. .44 is going to be brutal with fullpower loads -- heck, it won't be fun with .44 Special loads! But, in my experience, if you're a seasoned "big pistol" shooter your accuracy is not going to be impaired for the few shots you may need to fire in an emergency. If you think, or know, however, that you are going to want to do a good deal of shooting -- whether for fun or to get used to handling a big magnum -- go with a regular steel version. Yes, you'll pay a weight penalty, but your shooting will be much more pleasant and your practice much more effective, and your hands, wrists, and elbows will last a lot longer.

As for Taurus handguns, I've owned several through the years and have found them without exception to be solid performers.

Say Combat Handguns has an article on the 444 Ultralight and they say it's a great gun and the recoil isn't that bad actually they say it's quite manageable, see page 40. Check out the September 2006 issue, yep that's what they say September, go figure.

Cj