New 44 Special wheelgun- mini review- Update

[Streetstar]

New wheelgun --- guess this falls into the "Christmas present for myself" category ----

Taurus 445 Ultra-Lite 44 Special

All the smudges in the pics are from me handling it -- it had a very light coating of preservative on it when I picked it up

I had one of these 15 years ago and only kept it a couple of years before someone talked me out of it --- so when I saw this one on GB for $310 new, I jumped on it -- one of those 11:30 PM loss of reason purchases. I had been keeping my eye out for a 'Smith .44 Special , but the prices are eye watering (price isn't everything , I know)
I had almost immediate purchaser's remorse as I recalled some of the Taurus quality control stories I have heard recently, - and my little gun from a few years ago had an issue or two early on (but after I paid a 'Smith $40 to fix it , it was fine from then on -- unless its a serious issue, I'd rather use local resources than mess around with sending it back to Miami) .

I was happy to pick it up though --- the ejector looks good -- on some I have seen, it looked like a 6 year old with a wood chisel worked on it --- The grips are much different than my old one --- they are full size and I can get all fingers on them --- I was prepared to hate them and I am looking for a wood alternative as we speak, but I admit, they feel good in the hand -- and according to my kitchen scale, this "Ultra-Lite" model weighs 21.3 ounces , so the big soft grips may be welcome

I am looking forward to getting it out and testing it -- as my earlier model would bind after 2 or 3 shots and refuse to rotate anymore due to a super tight barrel/forcing cone clearance that got worse when it got hot ---

I am crossing my fingers that this one will be trouble-free, and with the big grips, I'm looking forward to giving it a go But I am going to wait till I can get to an outdoor range --- .44's out of 2 inch barrels just seem nasty and my hearing is already fragile

I'll amend this with a range report when I can get out --- I found 2 boxes of Blazer aluminum cased 200 grain hollowpoints to start out with, but other than that, I am woefully short on .44Spl stuff ---


Oh - and it goes almost without saying -- if anybody can recommend a good filler to obscure all the white lettering on this -- I would be much obliged -- other than that its a reasonable looking piece of hardware---

[M. M. Wright]

For getting the white out: Try a Q-tip and some of your significant others polish remover, (acetone). If this fails I'll bet a black Sharpy will cover them up.
By the way, I really like little wheel guns. I carry a Colt Cobra most of the time.

[wvfarrier]

I have The same gun in stainless and it's my favorite carry gun. Shoots fantastic too.

[Streetstar]

By the way, I really like little wheel guns. I carry a Colt Cobra most of the time.

I'm an unapologetic Colt maniac too ---- been wanting a Cobra for some time -- this little shrouded barrel Det. Special is a heavy little chunk --I rotate pocket carry between this and a light .380 ---depending on what I'm wearing --- naturally, nowadays its usually this - with the coats and parkas and everything, an extra few ounces of steel doesn't even register

[Streetstar]

I have The same gun in stainless and it's my favorite carry gun. Shoots fantastic too.

that's encouraging to hear

[Mescalero]

Streetstar,
Try Joe Miller, I got some .44 mag brass from him recently; and he had some .44special I did not want.

[mikld]

I too, am a fan of short barrel revolvers and .44 is my favorite caliber, so I may just keep an eye out for one as it sounds favorable so far...

[MrMurphy]

While i'm generally not a Taurus fan, the rubber grips they use do work well.

[Lefty Dude]

I have some 44 Special brass to trade for other brass. Whats ya got ?

[JerryB]

Streetstar, a friend of mine just bought a 445 blue gun just like yours about two weeks ago. Don't know if he's shot it yet. He brought it out when it came for me to look at with him. It seems kind of light weight but we were comparing it to my Taurus 431. I do like the grips, I think they would feel good with a sharp load. The 445 is rated for all .44 special loads. I have had my 431 since May and have been loading the Skeeter load of 7.5 grains of Unique and a 240 grain cast swc. I have not had any problems that you read about from the S&W snobs, it is my every day carry gun and I do trust my life with it. The blue and metal fit and finish are all you can want, shoot it a lot and carry it.

[Scrateshooter]

Streetstar, a friend of mine just bought a 445 blue gun just like yours about two weeks ago. Don't know if he's shot it yet. He brought it out when it came for me to look at with him. It seems kind of light weight but we were comparing it to my Taurus 431. I do like the grips, I think they would feel good with a sharp load. The 445 is rated for all .44 special loads. I have had my 431 since May and have been loading the Skeeter load of 7.5 grains of Unique and a 240 grain cast swc. I have not had any problems that you read about from the S&W snobs, it is my every day carry gun and I do trust my life with it. The blue and metal fit and finish are all you can want, shoot it a lot and carry it.

I have the adjustable sight version of Grandpa's (JerryB) gun, the 441. I also handled the 445UL and I kind of want one, but the all steel 3" Taurus .44 carries just fine and it is looking to be quite a shooter. The Taurus 441 goes with me everywhere when I'm not at work while the S&W .44 special went in the safe the first day home and may not see daylight in a while.

[Sixgun]

There's one caliber I cannot get enough of...the 44 Spl. (32-20 runs a close second )

As this is a gun that will be carried a lot and shot little, you may find the rubbers a little large and snagful (is that a word?) on your clothing. I have a snubbie 2" 44 mag that I keep smooth rosewoods on. They hurt with powerful loads but I load it like a 45 auto to maintain controllability and that "glide out of your pocket" smoothness.

10 gr. of Unique and a 200 gr. 44-40 cast bullet gives 1050 fps. In the Spl case, I would drop it to 9 gr.----6

[Bullard4075]

Surprised (and pleased) to see so many 44 SPL fans. Thought I was in a very small club. My Lipsey Blackhawk is only one of the the latest in a long line of Specials. I would put my Taurus 441 up against any S&W as to form and function. A Charter Arms (now Charter 2000) Pug is a light,accurate, frequent companion.

[bsaride]

Ya got another 44 fan here, love short magnums and I used to load keith and 220gr truncated jacked under same powder for penetration.

[wvfarrier]

I have a new model Blackhawk 44 special as well and it is darn near accurate enough for bullseye competition. It really likes the underwood ammo 200 grain fmj's. Will put all 6 into 3" circle at 25 yards and is capable of better with the right shooter.

[Ysabel Kid]

Congrats!

[Streetstar]

Update --- finally got this thing out to the range -- as mentioned, all I had on hand was a box of Blazers ----

The true test was the first cylinderful --- and that was just assuring that it would continue to turn through 5 whole rotations when it was warm (My last Taurus didn't -- and have heard its a common issue with the boys from Brazil) --

I am happy to report that it reliably cycled a few cylinders full ------ It was a "fun" range day , and my buddy and I had brought out a bunch of "reactive target" -- (pieces of fruit, old bottles, cans etc. ) -- so hitting an apple with a new 44 snub at 10 or 15 paces was not happening , but hitting a milk jug full of water was easy
--- i'll update again when I get to my indoor range and put a B-27 up at 7, 10 and 15 yards and see how it goes -------- as predicted, its snappy in the hand, but my S&W 66 with Magna stocks firing full house 158gr 357's jumps around a lot more --- but apples at 15 paces are not safe with the nice adjustable sights on the Smith -
On a side note, I'm a longtime Colt guy, but am finally getting used to the trigger on the Smith