AZAndy
Member
Howdy all! As a certified card-carrying .32 Magnum fan, I'm always on the lookout for revolvers that can shoot the cartridge. It seems as though all the manufacturers are conspiring against me; it's rare that I see anything for sale out there, so when I saw a new Taurus in .327 at a local gunshop, I wasted no time in snapping it up. Here 'tis:
Six-shot, steel frame 2" snubnose weighing just shy of 23 ounces. Although I like the texturing and backstrap ribbing on the grip (but not the ridge, more on that below), Taurus is apparently attaching their grips with a pin instead of screws nowadays, which is a bummer because I really, really need to put a lighter mainspring in there-- the trigger reminds me of my old Nagant revolver. Well, not quite that bad, but my fish scale puts the double action at 15 pounds, which is a bit much for my tastes. I mean, if I wanted to pick up a Buick with my index finger, I'd buy a Buick instead of a revolver. The single action is a much more reasonable 5.5 pounds, but I'd like to be able to use this as a carry gun, so double action is more important to me. I've already ordered a spring set from Wolff, so a remedy is on the way. And I do have the 3/32" punch I'll need to get the grip off to replace the mainspring.
Other than being absurdly heavy, the trigger is smooth enough, and pulls straight through to the rear evenly without grittiness. The pressure does lighten slightly after the cylinder locks in place, but I have several decent S&W's that do the same, so I'm used to it.
The general function is good; cylinder lockup is excellent, the ejector works smoothly and is sufficiently long, and the cylinder gap is a respectable .005". My biggest complaint other than the ludicrous trigger is the ledge on both sides of the grip. I was taught to have my shooting-hand thumb bent sharply so that the tip of my thumb is pointing straight down, and the ridge on the grip gets in the way of that. If they'd left that off, the grip would have been very nice indeed, as it fills my hand well enough and it doesn't slip around in my hand while shooting. I may take an Exacto to it.
So, how's it shoot? Here are three offhand 10-yard targets from today's outing, with 12 rounds on each. The white portion of each paper plate is 4.75" in diameter, and I was aiming generally towards the middle. This is all double-action fire, not super-rapid, but not slow fire either-- maybe 3/4 of a second per shot, just pulling the trigger straight through without staging.**
98 grain Speer LHBWC with 3 grains of Unique:
Missouri Bullets Hi-Tek 100 grain RNFP, 4 grains Unique. This one has a rimshot, just like a comedian's drummer:
100 grain Hornady XTP, 4.6 grains Unique, and yet another rimshot:
None of this is super-fabulous target work, as you can see, but I think I'm okay with it considering how lousy I usually am with snubnoses generally.
I think the gun is up to its task, and an actual snubnose shooter would do much better with it. Next time, I'll put a sticker in the middle to give me something more specific to aim at than just "the middle of the plate."**
Considering the price ($300), I'd say Taurus did a pretty good job with this one, and I'm delighted to have one more in the cabinet that I can shoot .32 H&R out of!
**I know you're thinking "Hey, that Andy guy is making excuses for his low-level shooting abilities," and yes, yes, you'd be right.
Six-shot, steel frame 2" snubnose weighing just shy of 23 ounces. Although I like the texturing and backstrap ribbing on the grip (but not the ridge, more on that below), Taurus is apparently attaching their grips with a pin instead of screws nowadays, which is a bummer because I really, really need to put a lighter mainspring in there-- the trigger reminds me of my old Nagant revolver. Well, not quite that bad, but my fish scale puts the double action at 15 pounds, which is a bit much for my tastes. I mean, if I wanted to pick up a Buick with my index finger, I'd buy a Buick instead of a revolver. The single action is a much more reasonable 5.5 pounds, but I'd like to be able to use this as a carry gun, so double action is more important to me. I've already ordered a spring set from Wolff, so a remedy is on the way. And I do have the 3/32" punch I'll need to get the grip off to replace the mainspring.
Other than being absurdly heavy, the trigger is smooth enough, and pulls straight through to the rear evenly without grittiness. The pressure does lighten slightly after the cylinder locks in place, but I have several decent S&W's that do the same, so I'm used to it.
The general function is good; cylinder lockup is excellent, the ejector works smoothly and is sufficiently long, and the cylinder gap is a respectable .005". My biggest complaint other than the ludicrous trigger is the ledge on both sides of the grip. I was taught to have my shooting-hand thumb bent sharply so that the tip of my thumb is pointing straight down, and the ridge on the grip gets in the way of that. If they'd left that off, the grip would have been very nice indeed, as it fills my hand well enough and it doesn't slip around in my hand while shooting. I may take an Exacto to it.
So, how's it shoot? Here are three offhand 10-yard targets from today's outing, with 12 rounds on each. The white portion of each paper plate is 4.75" in diameter, and I was aiming generally towards the middle. This is all double-action fire, not super-rapid, but not slow fire either-- maybe 3/4 of a second per shot, just pulling the trigger straight through without staging.**
98 grain Speer LHBWC with 3 grains of Unique:
Missouri Bullets Hi-Tek 100 grain RNFP, 4 grains Unique. This one has a rimshot, just like a comedian's drummer:
100 grain Hornady XTP, 4.6 grains Unique, and yet another rimshot:
None of this is super-fabulous target work, as you can see, but I think I'm okay with it considering how lousy I usually am with snubnoses generally.
I think the gun is up to its task, and an actual snubnose shooter would do much better with it. Next time, I'll put a sticker in the middle to give me something more specific to aim at than just "the middle of the plate."**Considering the price ($300), I'd say Taurus did a pretty good job with this one, and I'm delighted to have one more in the cabinet that I can shoot .32 H&R out of!
**I know you're thinking "Hey, that Andy guy is making excuses for his low-level shooting abilities," and yes, yes, you'd be right.
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