Forgas Taurus has been manufacturing revolvers in Porto Allegre, Brazil for over 50 years. They began selling their wares in this country in 1968, a year of great change and turmoil for the handgun industry in the United States.
The first Taurus revolvers sold here were, for several years, of varying quality. Basically, the were looked upon as a poor man's Smith & Wesson. The guns also contained design features of other guns, but were generally viewed by the shooting public as a cheap copy of Smith's Model 10. The guns worked well enough, but had a few rough spots and lacked sorely in the area of 'Pride of Ownership'. However, if a shooter needed a cheap, reliable revolver, the Taurus would usually deliver.
That was the 1960s and '70s, and since then things have definitely changed at Taurus. Taurus is no longer viewed by knowledgeable shooters as a cheap copy of anything, but as a leader in modern firearms manufacturing. Taurus now handles the import of its Brazilian made firearms through Taurus USA in Miami, Florida, and also manufacturers some of its guns at the Miami facility.
Taurus recently sent to me for testing a .22 magnum revolver, which is the subject of this article. This particular revolver is built on their small frame. As has been the case for many years, when reviewing a new small-frame .22 made for what I call a 'Trail Gun', I end up comparing the new gun to my favorite old Smith Model 63. I have written about the model 63 before, so I won't get into the details of the little sixgun here (see Jeff's article on the S&W Model 63 at Little Big Gun). In the basic design, size, materials, and weight, the new .22 Magnum from Taurus is very close to my Smith 63. Sadly, Smith & Wesson no longer makes the model 63 .22 Long Rifle or its .22 magnum counterpart. The Smith .22 revolvers now available are either made from light alloys or on a larger, heavier frame. Crop photo 3x4 online, free. That leaves Taurus filling a pretty important niche in currently available firearms: the rimfire double-action trail gun.
Taurus offers this particular revolver in a choice of blued steel or highly polished stainless. They offer this gun in .22 Long Rifle as the model 94, or in .22 magnum as the model 941. Finally, Taurus offers this gun with the choice of two, four, or five inch barrels. These guns all come with fully adjustable rear sights and ramp front sights. The front sights on the stainless models are supplied with a red insert. The guns also are supplied with a set of finger-grooved pebble-grained rubber grips. Taurus also offers this gun in a light-weight alloy frame model, but only with the two inch barrel.
The .22 Magnum model 941 tested here was ordered with the five inch barrel. In a .22 Long Rifle trail gun, I think that a four inch barrel is just about ideal, but to handle the extra power of the .22 magnum, the five inch seems better suited to the task. Metro: last light redux savior achievement. My first impression of the gun upon opening the box was that this definitely wasn't a Taurus of thirty years ago. The finish on this handgun is flawless, with a bright polish overall and a satin finish along the top of the frame and barrel. The rubber grips are both hand-filling and comfortable, while not being bulky or out of proportion to the revolver. The barrel is made with a full underlug design that, while adding a couple of ounces, gives the handgun a nice overall balance. Another nice feature of this revolver is that Taurus has supplied it with an eight-shot cylinder, as opposed to the traditional six chambers of most competitive guns.
A feature supplied on Taurus revolvers, including this one, is their patented Taurus Security System. This unobtrusive device consists of a round stud recessed into the hammer which, when activated by the supplied key, renders the handgun inoperable. To disengage the lock and ready the gun to fire, the key is turned a quarter-turn and removed from the gun. The process takes about two seconds, and can either be left locked or ready-to-fire. Personally, I believe that one should educate children to not touch a gun without permission, and no mechanical device can take the place of a parent's attention. However, in the world in which we live today, the Taurus system may prevent curious little kids from firing the gun. In effect, the Taurus Security System can be either used to lock the gun or ignored as seen fit by the gun's owner.
As with any firearm, regardless of the quality of the finish or the price, the proof is in the shooting. I can say without qualification that I was genuinely surprised, even amazed, at the accuracy of this gun. .22 magnums in general are, in my experience, not as accurate as a good .22 Long Rifle. I was expecting this gun to group into the three-inch range. My interest was piqued when the first five-shot group measured only three-quarters of an inch at 25 yards. This revolver continued to display exceptional accuracy throughout the shooting session. I am very anxious to try every brand of .22 magnum ammo available with this gun. I also want to point out the fact that 3/4 inch groups are about as good as I can shoot with any handgun, especially when equipped with open sights.
