Revolver For EDC/Concealed Carry

[markiver54]

Thanks Hatch. I did watch a YouTube video that agrees with what you said about the trigger. The guy said it maxed out his trigger pull gauge at about 12lbs. . You're right though. Could be looked at as a safety feature.
Good idea about a local gun selling sight. I had not thought about that possibility. Will fish around online.

[BigAl52]

Taurus is a never again gun on my list. Bought 2 and had issues with both. The customer service is non existent. Everyone I have ever looked at since has had very poor workmanship. Revolvers dont jam

[North Country Gal]

Mark, best advice I can give is to do a complete and thorough inspection of any revolver you plan to buy, including cycling the action, checking the timing, checking end play and, above all, trying the trigger. If a shop or seller won't allow you to do this kind of inspection, walk away. And don't settle for a gun that doesn't pass inspection just because it is affordable. Even budget class revolvers should and can work, properly.

If you've been following the recent discussions and posts about revolvers on our forum, you know that there are concerns with current production revolvers, regardless of price. More than ever, customer service of the various brands is a big part of buying any hand gun. I have nothing against Taurus and other revolvers in that class - I know many shooters who have had great luck with theirs - but sometimes it's worth paying a bit more to get a Ruger so that you do get that Ruger level of customer service. Simply browsing the internet on the topic of customer service of the various brands can tell you a lot before you buy a brand.

And I know it's not a concern for you at this point, but keep in mind that when and if you eventually do sell this gun and go back to your previous gun, brand makes a huge difference as to resale value and ease of selling. Given my tendency to both buy and sell guns so much, that's why I stay with major brands and avoid the lesser brands. Simply put, Smith, Colt, Ruger and so on hold their value much, much better than the budget brands. Of these, Ruger stands out because of the way Ruger backs their guns, even if you are not the original owner. This, from personal experience. Yeah, Ruger QC sometimes irritates me, but never their CS.

[BrokenolMarine]

I bought a Taurus for my wife to have as a nightstand gun but the trigger was so stiff that she could not fire it. I ended up selling it and getting her a Ruger LCR. I liked the feature of having a six shot cylinder. Really, if this revolver is for you the trigger on the 856 will not be an issue. Not a match gun but that’s not its intention. Maybe look at the stiff trigger as an additional safety feature???? If you have any type of firearms selling web site nearby that is a great place to shop. Just this week on our local site a Smith Airweight that was a bit rough cosmetically but functioned fine sold for $350.

If you can find a quality used Smith or Ruger... Mechanically sound... NCGs advice is solid. As long as you can handle the recoil with your injury. Look hard, maybe you can find the K frame snubby.

[Mags]

.... Revolvers don't jam

Revolvers can jam. I have a Taurus revolver that jams. Recoil causes the cartridges to back out slightly and jam cylinder rotation. The cylinder also won't open because of the jam. Have to use a fine tipped screwdriver to pick at the cartridges to get them reseated enough for the cylinder to rotate and the gun to fire again or get the cylinder open.

[markiver54]

.... Revolvers don't jam

Revolvers can jam. I have a Taurus revolver that jams. Recoil causes the cartridges to back out slightly and jam cylinder rotation. The cylinder also won't open because of the jam. Have to use a fine tipped screwdriver to pick at the cartridges to get them reseated enough for the cylinder to rotate and the gun to fire again or get the cylinder open.

Nice to know. An annoyance I don't need.
I've never had that happen on my S&W's or Ruger.

[BrokenolMarine]

.... Revolvers don't jam

Revolvers can jam. I have a Taurus revolver that jams. Recoil causes the cartridges to back out slightly and jam cylinder rotation. The cylinder also won't open because of the jam. Have to use a fine tipped screwdriver to pick at the cartridges to get them reseated enough for the cylinder to rotate and the gun to fire again or get the cylinder open.

When I was shooting matches, and shooting a couple hundred rounds a session, I would sometimes have a similar problem. Mine was caused by two issues.

1. A buildup of lead and powder at the end of the individual chambers in the cylinder. This caused the rounds to bind a bit at the very end of each chamber, making both speedloading and extraction of fired cases difficult. The issue would get worse as the matches added more build up.

I corrected this issue by pushing a bronze brush thru the chamber every third or firth stage to break up the build up, and eventually found a special rig that held six cleaning brushes like a speedloader so I could quickly clean all six chambers in the cylinder at the same time. Five or six passes as I set up at each stage, I was golden.

2. The second issue, again lead and powder buildup, but under the extractor star. Enough buildup and it will actually prevent the star from fully seating in the cylinder and its holding the rounds out against the recoil shield creating drag and increasing trigger pull, or... If bad enough, the cylinder won't close.

Solution... Toithbrush to buff the underside of the star itself, and it's seat, again, as you prepare for each stage. Both preventive measures, once you have them down, take less than a minute.

Check your revolvers in these areas, you might be surprised.
The chamber issue is especially bad if you shoot full wadcutters, then go back to the longer semi-wadcutter.

[markiver54]

.... Revolvers don't jam

Revolvers can jam. I have a Taurus revolver that jams. Recoil causes the cartridges to back out slightly and jam cylinder rotation. The cylinder also won't open because of the jam. Have to use a fine tipped screwdriver to pick at the cartridges to get them reseated enough for the cylinder to rotate and the gun to fire again or get the cylinder open.

The chamber issue is especially bad if you shoot full wadcutters, then go back to the longer semi-wadcutter.

Yes, I have experienced that problem if I shoot several 38's and then switch to 357's

[Mags]

.... Revolvers don't jam

Revolvers can jam. I have a Taurus revolver that jams. Recoil causes the cartridges to back out slightly and jam cylinder rotation. The cylinder also won't open because of the jam. Have to use a fine tipped screwdriver to pick at the cartridges to get them reseated enough for the cylinder to rotate and the gun to fire again or get the cylinder open.

When I was shooting matches, and shooting a couple hundred rounds a session, I would sometimes have a similar problem. ....

Mine is caused by slightly oversized chambers. A little bit of tape on the side of cases has worked so far, but getting the tape off before resizing the cases is a pain.

[North Country Gal]

All the above about revolvers is true. Anyone who has shot revolvers for a long time knows very well they can and do jam and malfunction.

I'll take it one step farther. Over my 50 + years of handgun shooting, I've had more malfunctions and reliability issues with revolvers than with semi-autos. Hey, I love revolvers and, yes, revolvers have some advantages as far as operation and ease of use, but so do semi-autos. Bottom line for me has been that given the same number of rounds fired, I've had significantly fewer issues with semi-autos than with revolvers, plus the semi-autos are much easier to maintain and keep clean. Don't mean to offend anyone, but that's been my experience.