Updated with new grips, Taurus 856 Executive - surprisingly good, but…

It’s been over a year since it was introduced and they are now selling comfortably below the MSRP for around $500-$570 in real world gun shops. I paid $500 for this one.

The surprisingly good

I had not planned to on doing anything more than look and touch. However it felt really good in my hand and fit perfectly with sights naturally aligned and a very comfortable trigger reach.

The DA only trigger is exceptional. It’s as good as the DAO trigger on my Kimber 3” K6S, and both are better than any non performance center S&W revolver I own.

Like the Kimber trigger, it also stages well and is capable of very good accuracy when required at longer range.

The fit and finish is excellent by Taurus standards and compares very favorably with my two Kimber K6 revolvers. I much prefer the satin finish on the Executive to the brushed finish on the Kimber.



The Kimber K6S looks chunkier and is chambered for .357 Magnum while the Taurus looks much slimmer. But the Taurus is heavier than it looks at 28.1 oz compared to the 28.5 oz 3” Kimber K6, when both are loaded with the same 125 gr .38+P load.

The 856 Executive shoots to point of aim with 158gr .38+P at 7 yards and demonstrated excellent DA rapid fire accuracy. This particular load uses a 158 gr LSWCHP, one that often doesn’t do well in longer .357 Magnum chambers.



It shoots a bit low with 125 gr .38+P.




Now for the “but…”

I like the way the 856 Executive points with the wood grip, and it looks good. It even conceals very well despite the presentation style grip.

However, round speed loaders like the HKS “DS” which work well on the K6S and the regular rubber gripped 856 will not work at all with the grips on the Executive. The 5 Star speed loaders do however work quite well as does the Kimber branded speed loader for the K6S.



A more egregious problem with the Executive’s grips is the interference with the grip that occurs on ejection. It doesn’t happen all the time, but it happens a lot.



That’s unfortunate as the ejection is other wise excellent. While it could arguably have benefitted from a full length ejector rod, which is the norm on the slightly larger K frame sized 3” revolvers, the rounded end of the ejector rod doesn’t do a cookie cutter number on your palm with a Universal or Stress Fire reload, which is a plus.

To be fair, you’ll note neither of my $950-1000 K6S revolvers have their original grips either.

Still, the left grip panel is poorly designed for a revolver that is designed for self defense.


I saw a youtube review where the screw that retains the yoke came loose and was lost during an extended range session.

*That* screw did not come loose on my revolver. However over the course of about 150 rounds, the ejector rod started unscrewing itself a couple turns from the cylinder, and the retaining screw for the cylinder release came loose about 1/2 turn.

Clearly, Taurus is…umm…careful…not to over torque any screws. It’s something buyers need to be aware of, check, and if needed, re torque the screws before, during and or after the first range session.

Overall…

It’s not perfect but it is very impressive, especially for a $500 revolver, and has a superbly smooth double action trigger that puts the standard factory S&W and Ruger triggers to shame.

In fact the only advantage the $1000 Kimber has over the $500 Taurus executive is the ability to use .357 Magnum ammunition. However in a 3” barrel the difference isn’t all that large, 1250-1300 fps for a 125 gr .357, compared to 1100-1125 fps with a 125 gr .38+P. Provided the .38+P bullet is designed to expand at .38+P velocities, the difference is not an issue.

It’s also nicely sized for concealed carry along the lines of a five shot 3” SP101 (which weighs 29.3 oz loaded), and is noticeably lighter than the 36 oz 3” Model 66.

It major flaw is a grip that, while fine for target shooting and plinking, is poorly designed for self defense.

I've found myself repeatedly tempted to purchase the Taurus Judge Executive Grade, but I already own an ordinary Judge Magnum which I dressed up nicely with some Altamont Super Rosewood Grips.

Besides, if I really wanted to then I could make a project of it and give it a satin finish of my own, but I kind of like the standard bead-blasted stainless steel finish.

Taurus sure can do a fine factory finish if they want to though, I know from experience with my PT92AFS, and it's not even an "Executive Grade" pistol or anything like that, it just comes that way.

Thanks for the report. I've been looking for a while at these but have yet to buy one. I have a 2016 Taurus M85 that has the best trigger of any of my wheelguns, including my many S&W revolvers. Hadn't heard much about the Executive Grade, so thanks again.

I made a couple changes.

The major issue I had with the 856 Executive was the grips. They slipped a bit in rapid fire making it a little harder to hold than it need to be, and one of the ejected cases would consistently hang up on the grip.

I tried a set of Pachmayer compact grips for a Model 85 but they didn’t fit. The screw location is higher and apparently is supposed to pass between the hammer spring and front strap. But it’s not quite high enough to clear the frame.

I purchased a set of checkered wood finger groove grips, and found they fit well and that that revolver pointed just as well with the new grips as it did with the old groups. The finger grooves also eliminate any slippage under recoil and make it much more comfortable to shoot.

However despite having hints of a cut for a speed loader, the cut proved to be cosmetic rather than functional.



However, I had anticipated that, and figured the contour would be a good place to start, just having to carve it deeper. That proved to be the case. It took a couple trial and error carving and fitting attempts to get adequate clearance for the speed loader.

It took another half dozen fits after making the curve of the cut progressively deeper each time before it would allow clean ejection of all the cases in any cylinder orientation.




I sanded the new cut smooth and finished it with a couple coats of pure Tung oil.

The color is just a bit lighter, more evident in white light, and less obvious is tungsten light. It’s close enough that I’m not going to worry about it. I’ll put a few more coats of oil on the speed loader cut over the next few days and call it good.





I also added a tritium front sight. I prefer to have tritium sights on my concealed carry handguns, even if it’s just the front sight. Provided the hand gun points well, a tritium front sight is sufficient for self defense purposes, particularly after you’ve shot it enough that your grip already aligns the rear sights with the front sight.

It’s the same sight Taurus puts on the 856 Defender, and it’s the same height as the sight that came on the Executive, so the point of impact didn’t change. It came pre drilled and was in fact a drop in fit, only requiring the roll pin to be drifted out to remove the old sight and drifted back in place to secure the new sight.

The bright orange front sight is useful in daylight and the tritium dot works well in low light, although it does raise the point of impact a few inches.



I’m now very pleased with it. Carrying it over the last several days it’s proved to be very comfortable in an IWB holder carried at 3:30. It has become my go to concealed carry revolver for any purpose where I don’t need a .357 Magnum.

Well done on the grips! It all looks great. That model Taurus is definitely on my radar.

ColumbusJBR said:

Well done on the grips! It all looks great. That model Taurus is definitely on my radar.

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Thanks.

My dad absolutely detested what he called “wood butchers”. He insisted things be done correctly.

I've had a few Taurus revolvers over the past many years and all were good performers. It seems it only takes one bad example to bash the entire line but this is true of any other gun manufacturers also. I have read in the past that customer service for the repair of problems with their weapons was basically horrible with Taurus but hopefully this has changed. Continue to enjoy your new toy in good health.

A few minutes with a rasp and sandpaper would take care of that left grip problem.

smoothshooter said:

A few minutes with a rasp and sandpaper would take care of that left grip problem.

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Apparently you didn’t read down to the update. Although I used a small and a medium wood carving gouge.

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The latest and last change was an all over refinish with Tru-oil. It has just enough tint to color match the old finish and I prefer an older school gloss finish.

swagmeister said:

I've had a few Taurus revolvers over the past many years and all were good performers. It seems it only takes one bad example to bash the entire line but this is true of any other gun manufacturers also. I have read in the past that customer service for the repair of problems with their weapons was basically horrible with Taurus but hopefully this has changed. Continue to enjoy your new toy in good health.

Click to expand...

Historically, quality assurance on Taurus revolvers was right up there with Spirit Aerosystems and Boeing. If you got a good one it was a good revolver. If you didn’t, you got familiar with their customer service.

I had a 905 that wasn’t cut deep enough to accept the moon clips that came with it (although I discovered later it would have worked fine with the much better TK Custom moon clips). It took a few months but it came back right. Their customer service wasn’t bad, it was just slow.

There was a period of time where they changed from a lifetime warranty to a one year warranty but that only lasted a year or two before they went to a limited lifetime warranty that covers any defects in material, workmanship or function for the original owner.

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In my opinion and experience Taurus quality has come up while Smith and Wesson and Ruger quality has slumped.

For example, I bought an SP101 in .22LR that had an improperly cut forcing cone. It leaded to the point of keyholing after two cylinders and would start spitting lead. I called to get an RMA and return shipping label and was advised they were no longer doing shipping labels but would reimburse me.

I shipped it to them with a test target, written description of what was happening and pictures of the lead that came out of the barrel, using their recommended ammunition. They sent it back three weeks later with a note indicating they had “adjusted the ejector star”, apparently thinking it was a timing issue. It obviously leaded just as bad as before and I had to send it in a second time. This time they agreed to send a shipping label as I had still not been reimbursed for the shipping.

They called a couple weeks later and advised it was “not factory repairable and offered to refund my purchase price, provided I submitted an original receipt. I could also opt to have them send me a new one.

By this time I had been advised that they did not have the receipt for my shipping and would not reimburse me without an original receipt. I had enclosed the original in the case with the revolver per their instructions and they had apparently lost it or more likely thrown it away with the other documentation I had sent and that they had never returned.

Given that experience, I opted for a new one and provided the, with my FFL information. After about a month I called to enquire about the revolver as it had not yet arrived. That’s when they advised me they would not send a new one until the next time they produced a batch of them. Apparently they did not maintain any replacement stock at the factory and could not be bothered to have a distributor send me one, or or for that matter authorize the local gun shop, a Ruger dealer, to provide the replacement out of their stock.

I eventually got it in October after starting the process in March. It’s the last new Ruger I will ever purchase.

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S&W isn’t much better as I’ve seen $1700 performance center revolvers come thorough with poorly clocked barrels. It’s a pretty hard sell when it’s noticeably off. To be fair, I suspect S&W ended up with a lot of inventory that went out with shoddy workmanship and QA after they announced the move to TN. And now that they are in TN, they’ll be struggling to find experienced, skilled help.

There’s a Spirit Aerospace facility about 20 miles from where I live. During Covid they laid off about half their staff - but they laid off the most experienced half, the ones who made the most. Some of them came back, many of them didn’t, and overall levels of experience at Spirit has dropped. They have seen flip flop in their ratio of experienced staff to inexperienced staff and it’s obviously showing in their quality.