What the ….? This Taurus is pretty nice.

[MarkAlt]

Congrats! Nice 85 and excellent price!

Nothing at all wrong with the Taurus wheelguns I have purchased through the years.

I had several 85s and they've served very well. The old (Brazilian hardwood) 66 is still an amazingly well built revolver. It's been my nightstand gun for 20, 30 years or so and just keeps eating whatever 357s I feed it. Not only is it as good, but better than my Smith 65 in trigger and fit/finish.

I try not to buy Taurus unless a good deal, because we all know resale price just isn't there. But, if you get one at a bargain and want a shooter, they're hard to beat.



Model 741 bright stainless

Model 85 bright stainless

 

[smoothshooter]

I have a 2” Model 85 Ultra Lite in .38 Special I bought 20 years ago and it is one of the best revolvers I have ever owned.
Quality and double action trigger pull is better than any of the S & W’s I have.

 

[petepeterson]

I had an older 605. No complaints. Seemed "looser" than my Smiths, but made for a nice truck gun.

 

[swagmeister]

I've had two Taurus 85's in the past. Don't have one now. Both were reliable and I had no issues with either in firing several hundred rounds. Not as smooth as a Smith, but still a solid piece.

 

[bulletslap]

In 1996 I bought a Taurus Stainless Model 85 for 130 dollars as best I recall, only Taurus I have ever owned.

I bought it from a lady who kept it in a divorce and then decided she was afraid of guns. I polished up the somewhat rough internals and it is now has an action as smooth or smoother than any J frame I own.

With all stock springs the double action pull is between 8-9 pounds on my trigger pull gauge.

For me it is has given good service.

 

[Grayfox]

I've never owned a Taurus revolver. But it ain't because I have anything against them. Its just that I already own more than enough S&Ws to fill all my needs.
However, a late friend of mine was very fond of them and owned quite a few. I've shot many of his guns and liked them all. I think that for the money, they're excellent revolvers.
For years I've wanted to find a nice Taurus medium frame .38/.357 cheap and just proceed to shoot the snot out of just to see how well it does hold up. But with the current ammo situation, I guess that'll never happen.
I don't need one, but if I was to come across a nice Taurus at a good price, I wouldn't pass it up.

 

[Toddlars1]

I've owned 3 of the Ultra Lites over the years, only one was reliable...

 

[fordson]

My Taurus 85UL. I’ve owned a number of Taurus revolvers , and may be I’m lucky, but have not had any issue with them. I’ve had this one for close to twenty years now. Reliable and accurate for its intended purpose.

 

[Llance]

I own two Taurus revolvers both stainless steel. One is a model 85 with a 3in barrel, chambered for .38spl and the other has a 4 inch barrel and is chambered for .41mag. I'm guessing it too is a model 85. Regardless both are fine shooters and I'd have no problem dispatching some jerks problem child should such problem child decide to invade my space.

 

[Ruger 13]

I’ve had a few over the years and they’re very reliable!

 

[smoothshooter]

I've had two Taurus 85's in the past. Don't have one now. Both were reliable and I had no issues with either in firing several hundred rounds. Not as smooth as a Smith, but still a solid piece.

My 85 has a double-action factory trigger that I do not think is achievable in an S & W J frame, even from a custom shop ( and still fire reliably ).
Must be some difference in the lock-work design.

 

[max503]

Later, I removed approximately 1/32" from the inside right ear of the non-adjustable rear sight.

How did you accomplish this? Needle files? I've been taking material off one side of the front sight on my 605. Thought about doing what you said but haven't.

 

[firefighterjohn]

Bought a used 85 several years ago when my wife wanted a nice easy revolver. It's been a great pistol and heavy enough for handling any .38 rounds we've shot. It has a beautiful blue finish and probably was NOT shot much at all by the previous owner. You got yours at one helluva price as I paid $100 more for mine back in 2015.

Enjoy it and keep it...don't see many used 85s in LGS either.

 

[LoadedRound]

I think Homer would prefer the Chicken point the muzzle in another direction

 

[LCC]

3" stainless 85 I bought in 1979 for $90 at the LGS. Having spent it's first two decades as a camping and fishing companion, it's spent the subsequent decades in my wife's nightstand drawer, loaded with match wadcutters.

 

[GerSan69]

I believe there is a Taurus model that is a better bet to be -NICE- than an 85 — it’s the Model 431, the 3-inch, 5-shot .44 Special. I’ve handled a few of these and it’s hard to believe these are Taurus revolvers.

And I have a pair of them.
A 2 1/2" blued round-butt and a 3" stainless square. They really are nicely polished and finished and shoot quite well. I found both on GB within a month of each other for something in the vicinity of $400 per. They are similar in size to a K-frame and fit all my K holsters. They use the Charter Bulldog .44 speedloader, too. Mine are both from the 1990s and don't seem to have been carried or shot much if at all.
I don't have an 85, but I do have a newer 905, the 9mm Chief-sized 2". It, too, is very nicely made, not an S&W of course, but nothing like what many detractors envision is coming from Brazil or their new factory in Georgia. To be honest, I got it because I really wanted a 9mm revolver to try out but couldn't find a 940 that I could afford. Sending a cylinder to TK Customs was an option, but I figured that for a very, very small amount more than TK costs, I could get the whole Taurus. For my purposes, that turned out to be the right choice.
Anyway, I'm not ashamed at all to admit I like them!

 

[RobertJ.]

In the past I've owned several Taurus revolvers with no bad experiences. Several Rossi, also, and I didn't regret buying any of them.

We tend to forget that these, for the most part, are decent enough revolvers for people on a budget.

 

[Echo40]

It just goes to show you that you can't believe everything you read online. Companies change hands, come under new leadership, and the next thing you know, what may have been accurate last year is no longer accurate, but because some folks had bad experiences last year that they'll go on reciting for as long as they live, the reputation sticks, and you end up with a negative feedback loop.

Taurus has been steadily improving ever since their former CEO Anthony Accitelli left them some years back. Accitelli had previously worked for Colt, then went on to become the CEO of Remington after he left Taurus. Now I'm not saying that all of Taurus' problems were related to him, (obviously they've had spotty QC long before he hit the scene) but it really says something about his leadership capabilities when both other companies he worked for had their quality decline and eventually go bankrupt while he was working for them.

I've owned a Taurus Judge Magnum since 2017 and not only has it been 100% reliable, but it's also far more accurate/effective downrange then what I had heard folks saying about it.

Besides, I still think that Taurus' reputation has more to do with having poor Customer Service than overall Quality Control, which seems to be roughly on par with Ruger, except they have some of the best Customer Service in the industry. So my theory is that their reputation comes more from the overwhelming amount of dissatisfied customers who received a lemon then had to jump through hoops and wait a long time to get it repaired/replaced than it does with their QC as a whole.

 

[LCC]

My LGS owner, a Smith fan and respected gunsmith, considers the Taurus G3/G4 series to be highly reliable, best budget 9's available.
I keep a G3 in the truck with 5 magazines for just that reason.

 

[Tadeus67]

My LGS owner, a Smith fan and respected gunsmith, considers the Taurus G3/G4 series to be highly reliable, best budget 9's available.
I keep a G3 in the truck with 5 magazines for just that reason.

My late father in law, carried a G3 (He lived in Miami and had his Concealed Carry licence). He was very happy with this pistol, we put maybe nearly 1500 rounds through it (Federal, Winchester, Sellier & Bellot, Wolf, Privi Partisan, Aguila), no problems, no jams. Nice gun.