Should I trade?

iwuzwhatiwuz said:

I've had people advise me to "make sure it one of the good year Taurus's (Tauruii?)". Also whats the differences between this and a new production 66, besides being a 6 shot and the full barrel lug? Thanks!

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Like any firearms company, over the years, they are always looking for a way to reduce production costs. Sometimes a production cost reduction may also reduce some aspect of quality of the product.

For instance, I have a Taurus model 96, made in 1987. It is the older so-called "5 screw" model. Four screws in the side plate and one in front of the trigger guard. The trigger pull rivals a 1978 vintage S&W model 17 that I have and cylinder timing is perfect and lock up is tight as a bank vault. At some point after 1987, Taurus made some production changes, and eliminated the sideplate screw that is near the rear sight, and also changed some other things. They changed the rear sight from a copy of the S&W to a type that pivots in the top strap. I belive there were other lockwork changes to simplify production. Some of the "newer" revolvers that I have tried seem to have a little more cylinder play in lockup than the older ones.

I'm not saying that all newer Taurus revolvers are a little sloppier than older ones, but that you need to give any one that you are thinking of buying a real good going over.

1. Check the cylinder timing. slowly pull the trigger in double action mode, and watch for when the bolt drops into the cylinder notch. The bolt should engage the cylider notch noticably before the hammer falls. Check this for each chamber.

2. With the hammer cocked, there should be minimum to no side play or wiggle in the cylinder.

3. Check the cylinder to barrel gap. Ideally, it should be between .004 and .009 thousandths. Too small a gap, and a small amount of fouling from shooting could cause the cylinder to bind. Too wide a gap, and the flash and loss of gasses at that point becomes problematic.

4. Trigger pull. Double action trigger pull should be smooth and even all the way through, with a little bit of stacking up right before the hammer falls is ok.

5. Last, condition of the bore and chambers should be perfect.

Then, find one you like and shoot it. I have semi autos and revolvers, and enjoy the revolvers much more.

I pulled the metaphorical trigger on the deal. Gun is in excellent condition with no visible wear at all. The cylinder lock up is tight with only a little play and it returns to center immediately and the gap between the forcing cone and cylinder is between .03 - .04. The trigger is smooth in DA and breaks crisply at 2lbs in SA. The it and finish is excellent, better than most Rugers and Smiths I've seen at the gun store lately. The wife can handle a Webley without any problems and was an ace with my LCP. But no matter what she tried, or who showed her how to shoot, she could not stop limp wristing the P95! Maybe it was the fat grip, maybe it was the large slide but whatever it was the thought of her having to use that weapon to defend her and the kids scared me.