Gunmeister
Member
I'm the fortunate owner of 17 different handguns, Smiths, Glocks, Kahrs and now one Taurus.
I was browsing in our local gun emporium when I thought I saw a matte stainless S&W 649 on the shelf right next to a $300.00 price tag. Wrong, it was it's clone, a Taurus 651SS. The resemblance is amazing. The grips are a little different, the 649 has a barrel 1/8" longer than the 651 and the Taurus is 2oz heavier.
There was a time when the mere mention of the name Taurus when talking handguns would curl the upper lip and produce a look of pain on most gun owner's faces. I'm here before you today to tell you, "Them days are gone forever". I never thought the day would come that I would say that Taurus puts out some really decent quality revos, don't know much about their semi-autos but for the price, their revos are really nice. Today, I bought one.
I purchased a Taurus model 651 Protector .357Magnum, matte stainless steel with a shrouded hammer, just like the S&W649. The Taurus has an MSRP of $430.00 (I paid $300 + 6.5% tax). The S&W 649 has an MSRP of $629.00 and I have no idea what you could actually buy one for but I can't see $200 bucks worth of difference. At age 68, this Taurus will outlast me. The fit and finish of the Taurus is outstanding, it's very accurate for a 2"bbl snubby and when stoked with .357Magnum Cor-Bon 125gr she kicks like the proverbial mule (I still like that, just like a woman, a gun's supposed to let you know when she goes off) . I fired well over 200 rounds of .357 and .38spl with nary a hiccup. At 25oz it's just a tad heavy for a pocket pistol, which really doesn't seem like much to me after carrying many, many pistols and revos ( some a lot heavier than 25oz) for over 40 years. It slides right into my relaxed fit Levi pocket and draws as fast as you can pull a handful of revo out of your pocket, no snags or hangups of any kind.
I'm here to tell you that at $300 this is a lot of budget priced pistol and is one that is worthy of consideration for those who are budget challenged and for those who are not. Really a nice piece. Gotta get an Uncle Mike's pocket holster tomorrow and she's good to go.
I was browsing in our local gun emporium when I thought I saw a matte stainless S&W 649 on the shelf right next to a $300.00 price tag. Wrong, it was it's clone, a Taurus 651SS. The resemblance is amazing. The grips are a little different, the 649 has a barrel 1/8" longer than the 651 and the Taurus is 2oz heavier.
There was a time when the mere mention of the name Taurus when talking handguns would curl the upper lip and produce a look of pain on most gun owner's faces. I'm here before you today to tell you, "Them days are gone forever". I never thought the day would come that I would say that Taurus puts out some really decent quality revos, don't know much about their semi-autos but for the price, their revos are really nice. Today, I bought one.
I purchased a Taurus model 651 Protector .357Magnum, matte stainless steel with a shrouded hammer, just like the S&W649. The Taurus has an MSRP of $430.00 (I paid $300 + 6.5% tax). The S&W 649 has an MSRP of $629.00 and I have no idea what you could actually buy one for but I can't see $200 bucks worth of difference. At age 68, this Taurus will outlast me. The fit and finish of the Taurus is outstanding, it's very accurate for a 2"bbl snubby and when stoked with .357Magnum Cor-Bon 125gr she kicks like the proverbial mule (I still like that, just like a woman, a gun's supposed to let you know when she goes off) . I fired well over 200 rounds of .357 and .38spl with nary a hiccup. At 25oz it's just a tad heavy for a pocket pistol, which really doesn't seem like much to me after carrying many, many pistols and revos ( some a lot heavier than 25oz) for over 40 years. It slides right into my relaxed fit Levi pocket and draws as fast as you can pull a handful of revo out of your pocket, no snags or hangups of any kind.
I'm here to tell you that at $300 this is a lot of budget priced pistol and is one that is worthy of consideration for those who are budget challenged and for those who are not. Really a nice piece. Gotta get an Uncle Mike's pocket holster tomorrow and she's good to go.
Last edited: