I have some history with this particular 905. I bought it about a year ago and had to return it the same day. There wasn't enough clearance for the moon clips when loaded. The shop offered to either send it back to Taurus for me (which they thought would take about 3-4 months round trip), or just refund my money. I opted for the refund.

I saw it back in the shop last May, but by then I was considering getting the cylinder on my 3" SP101 cut for 9mm Luger. I've since nixed the idea, for the same reason I'm not a big fan of .38 S&W to .38 S&W Special conversions. Instead I'd been considering just getting another SP101 in 9mm Luger, but hadn't gotten excited enough about the idea to actually do it.

Then the 905 showed under the tree. It's the same one. I checked the serial on my receipt from last year. The moon clips now fit when loaded, although the revolver does prefer new brass, or at least brass that hasn't been beaten up in the course of several trips through various semi-auto pistols and/or carbines.

A known issue with the 905 is that the moon clips are made from "spring steel" that isn't all that springy. It's easy enough to poke the blade of a screw driver between the arms to snug them up enough to hold the rounds securely, but keeping the rounds aligned so they drop into the chamber cleanly and allow the crane to close is another matter. If it shoots ok, I'll order some 905 moon clips for it from TK Custom. In the interim, I figured I'd just turn a moon clip holder for it on the lathe, both to help keep the cartridges aligned, and to make it easier to load the clip without bending it.



It took repeated trial fitting to get the lengths and diameters right, but the end result works quite well. The smaller section at the top lets the moon clip slide on and off easily, the middle section is a snug friction with on the moon clip itself to hold it in place, and the bottom section holds the cases apart at the optimum distance to maintain alignment with the chambers in the cylinder. The concave portion at the bottom engages the bullets and prevents the cartridges from getting bent outward. The length at the top allows the holder to be pushed off the moon clip as you prepare to re-load the revolver.

I'll take it out this weekend and see how it shoots. The other known issue with Taurus firearms, and in particular their revolvers, is that if you get a good one they shoot just fine, but getting a good one is a bit of **** shoot. Hopefully, since this one went back to the mother ship already, and appeared to have been test fired a fair bit, based on the powder residue in the bore and chambers - probably by both Taurus and the shop - it'll shoot well.

If not, it'll go back to the shop a second time.

I took it for a spin this afternoon and the initial results were not awe inspiring, but it improved.





I posted a new 15x30" piece of corrugated cardboard at 25 yards to bore sight a Mini 14 that I'd just replaced the front sight. It was almost spot on so I fired 10 rounds with the Taurus 905 and Hornady 115 gr FTX ammo. I wish I'd taken a picture as it was spectacularly bad with holes scattered all over it.

Average velocity was an uninspiring 985 fps, 50 fps less than the published velocity of only 1,035 fps. It's sold as a short barrel load but it's a bit anemic.

I was having second thoughts, but I had it at the range with a couple reloads and both Remington and Federal factory ammo as well so I decided to post an A-23-5 and keep shooting at 25 yards.

Next I fired handloaded 115 gr Hornady HAPs and 115 gr Hornady XTPs both produced 10 shot groups about 6" in diameter. Both loads used the same 6.6 gr charge of Power Pistol (.1 grain below Hornady's published maximum load of 6.7 gr. That's more than the 4" or so I normally see with a 2" or 3" S&W snub at 25 yards, but still ok accuracy.

Average velocity for 10 shots with the 115 gr HAP was 1088 fps but it picked up to 1103 fps for the 115 gr XTP. The XTP velocity was about 125 fps less than I normally get in a 4" semi-auto pistol, but at 1100 fps it's inside the XTP's expansion envelope where it will reliably expand and penetrate. The lower velocity of the HAPs was interesting as weight, dimensions and bearing surface is identical to the XTP.

I also fired 10 rounds of Remington 115 gr FMJ. Group size was very unimpressive at 12" at 25 yards. Average velocity was also low at 1015 fps.

Next I fired 10 rounds of Federal 115 gr FMJ. The group was around 8" with an average velocity of 1055 fps.

In noted two trends.

I'm not sure what the barrel twist is in the 905, but even with short 115 gr bullets it seems to shoot better at higher velocities.

The 1000 ish fps rounds shot to point of aim, while the 1100 ish fps rounds shot 4" to the left at 25 yards.

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I brought the target back to 10 yards and then fired several more groups with 115 gr HAPs and 115 gr XTPs.

Typical results looked like this 15 round group at 10 yards. To be fair the vertical stringing is more my fault due to low angle light from the front quarter that made it a bit harder to get perfect alignment with the top of the front blade. The sight picture, under decent light conditions, is very good with well proportioned front and rear sight elements.



In short, while it's two inches low and an inch to the left at 10 yards, it's very usable self defense handgun accuracy.

The single action trigger is a very smooth and crisp 3.5 pounds, while the DA trigger is around 12 pounds but still quite smooth. I can't complain much about the trigger.

Ejection was positive and reliable, even with the near max loads and the moon clips dropped in smoothly, provided they were not bent.

I did however determine that here's the one and only place where I can see a spin check of the cylinder being valuable to ensure the clip isn't slightly bent and allows the cylinder to rotate freely.

Recoil with the near max loaded 115 gr XTP was very manageable and on par with a +p loaded 125 gr .38 special.

In total, I put 150 rounds through it and I'd be comfortable carrying it for self defense with the 115 gr XTPs.

Very nice range a d pistol report. Thanks for sharing