There is some side-to-side play in the hammer, which sometimes seems to sit ever so slightly off center. The fit on this gun is certainly nothing amazing. This is the version I consistently see on gun shop shelves selling for under (sometimes well under) $300. I choose to review the black, non-UltraLight version of the Taurus 856. Since this was a loaner gun I was uncomfortable tapping the pin out for fear I wouldn’t get it back in, and I’m unsure how this affects the use of aftermarket grips. In another break in convention though, the grip is attached to the frame via a pin. I found the grip did a fantastic job of taming recoil. The Taurus 856 ships with a slightly oversized rubber grip. Slapping this thing is significantly more comfortable than the sharp ejector rods on many other revolvers. I wouldn’t be mad if some other manufacturers looked to this ejector rod for inspiration. Look at the tip of the ejector rod in the photo above. This system does allow Taurus to do something really cool, however. If you’re like me you probably don’t care too much how the frame locks up, as long as it locks up. The plunger appears at the top of the yoke and the detent is milled into the frame. Note the six-round cylinder, and the plunger-and-detent lockup system. A detent is milled into the frame, which mates with a plunger installed in the yoke. Another break from convention is less noticeable: the cylinder lockup is via a plunger-and-detent system. This is a most welcome change in the domain where the five-shot revolver has dominated for so long. The most obvious distinction: the 856’s carbon steel frame supports a six-round cylinder. Taurus has chosen to break radically with some things we’ve come to expect from a snubbie revolver, however. The rear sight is the standard milled top strap groove, and the gun features an exposed hammer and single action capability. A S&W-style cylinder release opens the counter-clockwise rotating cylinder with a partial-length ejector rod.
#TAURUS REVOLVER GRIPS SMALL FRAME FULL#
It sports a 2-inch barrel with an integral front sight, and and a full underlug.
The 856 is almost exactly what one expects when hearing the term “snubnose revolver”. At it’s heart, though, the Taurus 856 is a small frame. Another all-steel model is available in stainless steel, and two UltraLight (UL) versions, one black and one polished aluminum/stainless are also available. The version I received is constructed of carbon steel finished in a matte black finish. The Taurus 856 comes in several variations. This review will begin with a look at the gun, followed by the results of our Revolver Testing S.O.P., and close out with my thoughts and opinions. I became determined to write a fair, honest review of what is generally considered a budget-minded wheelgun, and mostly I’m pleasantly surprised. With this in mind, and the fact that not everyone can afford to sink $700+ on a revolver, Mike got to work trying to get us a T&E sample. However, Taurus does enjoy brisk sales of revolvers so those guns are in the hands of someone (many thousands of someones) out there. Due to a lot of the negativity around the brand, I didn’t have super high expectations, either. Prior to this review I’d never (to my knowledge) fired a Taurus handgun. Some of it is gained first hand, though, as was the case with the Taurus family of firearms to which I recently got acquainted through the Taurus 856. Some of that is through research and reading, some of it comes from Mike setting me straight, and a lot of it comes from you guys in the comments section. Most of this knowledge is centered around the use of a roundgun, but but a considerable portion is about guns themselves. Undoubtedly the coolest thing about starting this blog is how much I’ve learned since.