Taurus ultra-lite titanium 44 mag

[flyfishindude]

Just wondering if anyone has handled the new Taurus titanium 44 mag. At only 28 oz. it seems that it may have a substantial kick to it, but would make a nice lightweight sidearm for those backcountry fishing trips. Any thoughts or info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[AKmud]

S&w 329 Pd

S&w 329 Pd

Sounds a lot like the Smith and Wesson 329 (I think it weighs in at 26 oz). You might want to talk to Water_Gremlin, he has one of the 329's and talks highly of it. One thought though, if it is no fun or painful to shoot then you won't practice with it and if you don't practice you won't be proficient with it.....Just a thought.

 

[Paul H]

After firing a buddies titanium S&W 357 magnum, I'd never consider getting one of the featherweight guns, especially something bigger. I've fired all the big bore rounds, 454's, 475's and 500's, and that featherweight 357 was more painful than any of them.

To me a defensive arm has to have the attributes of being both packable and shootable. Having fired many different handguns, I can attest that when the barrel get's shorter than 4", or much under 3#'s, the shootability is out the window. I'm not willing to let a bear get close enough to where I'm effective with a gun that has marginal shootability.

Look for a 4-5" barreled conventional weight revolver packed in a good chest holster to keep it out of the water.

 

[Ed M]

The 44 could be a painful handful with heavy loads. I have the 41 mag Ti Tracker version, 24 oz. I think. With heavy loads it is painful, with an emphasis on painful, did I mention it is painful. Much sharper than my 454.

I practice with 170 gr. light loads and they are fun. It and me are accurate enough for its intended purpose. 3" offhand groups at 25 yards are no problem, 6-8 at 50. I like it a bunch because I can carry it no matter what I am doing and it doesn't get in the way. It carries very well on my backpack hipbelt. I will be using it on an upcoming cougar hunt.

 

[whateveri8]

Here's a good razor when looking at handguns with a large charge:

"Are a few more ounces going to undermine the activity I am planning?"

Another one: Newton’s modification of Kepler's Third law of gravitation:
"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction"

The bullet goes faster because it's the lighter of the two objects in the reaction. The heaver the object, the more force is required to move it. SO...the less the revolver weighs, the more force is applied to the hand holding it when the reaction takes place. Now we are back to the original razor

 

[Water_Gremlin]

329

329

Yes, I do have the S&W 329 44 mag. I have read a lot of reviews on this handgun and most are using the stock wooden hand grip!!!! Just imagine the pain, no wonder why no one likes the handgun in the reviews. I leave the wooden grips at home, the only thing they are good for is to tell everyone how pretty the wood looks. I started with the Hogue grips that came with the handgun. After 50 rounds of 44 specials I fired about 25 rounds of 44 mag Remington 240gr (I believe it was). My wrist was sore but not in any kind of extreme pain. Most of the pain was in the web of my hand between my left thumb and index finger. The backbone of the grips was bare metal with the stock hogue grips. Also keep in mind the temps were 0* outside and my hands were freezing. I decided to buy the S&W 500 mag grips which offers more padding in the palm of your hand and on the web of your hand. I have only fired a couple dozen rounds. The new grips did help but it was not a miracle worker. I really like this handgun but I need more practice with this and I will report back. I will even let AKmud take a stab at the palm beast.

If the bullet doesnt scare off a bear the flames coming out of the barrel will.

More later, I need to get some work done.

 

[Josh_AK]

No Flipp'n way

No Flipp'n way

Absolutely the worse gun I have ever shot… Ego aside, painful is an under statement

 

[flyfishindude]

Thanks for all of the info guys. Sounds like I will stick with the weight of my 454 casull. I was hoping to shed a few pounds with the ultra-lite 44 mag, but am not interested in the pain factor. I can honestly say that the 360 grain Buffalo Bore rounds in the 454 aren't painful at all.

Thanks again

 

[martyv]

airlite

airlite

I'm still considering the 357 airlite. Only 12 oz, unloaded.

It's not about being profiecent as long as I can get at it and shoot it. I really don't plan to shoot unless it is at point blank range. Hard to miss at 2 yards, or even at 2 inches.

I usually don't carry anything anyway and I figure something is better than nothing. This is a gun I would carry fishing and camping, I hate the heavy sidearms and when I'm hunting I have my rifle.

 

[Daveintheburbs]

One more plug for the Taurus TI .41 mag. It is not just the weight, but the overall size. I will usually rely on a rifle if I am worried about bears; however there are times when a rifle is inappropriate or unnecessary. The Taurus makes an easy back woods carry gun with some smack if you need it. Light hand loads are easy for practice and heavy hard cast loads for carry. It will smack you with the full bore loads, but it’s not like you’re going to drop it.

 

[375AIJGS]

329pd

329pd

I just purchased a 329PD and love it.
I took it to the range last monday along with my 454 and 500 linebaugh.
With heavy loads in each the 454 and the 329 were very close in the recoil department. My 44 oz. 500 still recoils more with heavy loads.
I've had numerous 44's and 454's over the years but I always end up carrying the 500 because of the weight. The lighter the gun the more likely I am to carry it. I'm expecting to have a long relationship with the 329. A gun is useless if you don't have it when you need it IMO.

 

[mauserboy]

Lightweight Taurus

Lightweight Taurus

Wish I could say otherwise, but in my own experience and what I have heard from others, Taurus revolvers just don't hold up like any of the better revolvers, S&W or Ruger. They have quality problems. The other thing is, I think these ultra lightweight .44s have more cons then pros. Specifically, they are not designed to handle the full house loads that the all steel guns can. Even the owners manuals say so. An all steel model 629 4" S&W can handle most of the heavy loads to a reasonable degree and the Rugers can handle anything. The "airweight" .44s kick like a bucking mule, so if a person is not very conditioned and competent with one, its more trouble then security. I personally think the idea of no carrying weight being the major priority is off base. IMHO

 

[Murphy]

Little 44's

Little 44's

Mauserboy,

How come it is we think so much alike? Or how come I agree with so much of what you say? Almost scary!

You said it all about the airweights. Agree, 100%. Thanks much. Good shootin'.

Murphy

 

[mauserboy]

practice and experience required.

practice and experience required.

MartyV, I have to disagree with your outlook. First of all, a short barreled lightweight (extremely in this case) is not adequate protection from a medium black bear, much less a Grizz, unless you are extremely lucky. You also have to be competent with a firearm for its intended use, or what good is the **** thing. This better then nothing business is ridiculous. You have to have the right equiptment for the job at hand and know how to use it. If you just wound a bear, not only are you endangering yourself, but others, too. 375aijgs proves the point. He is apparently an experienced big bore pistol shooter, so the 329 Smith will work for him, but not necessarily for a novice shooter. I too have shot my share of big bore handguns, including .454 C and I recently fired a 4" Model 500 Smith, with the compensator. I found it more manageable then a number of 454 C loads I have shot.

 

[4whlr]

329

329

I own a 480 Ruger and the 329 .44. The S&W has way more recoil than the ruger. It is a lot different recoil. The 480 is more back into your hand and then up. The 329 is a quick snap of the wrist and way up. Was shooting both of them at the range one day, and a guy came over and was talking about them. I asked him if he wanted to shoot the 480, he said "no, but I'll try the .44". I just smiled, handed it to him and told him to hold on. He fired it, set it down and I asked him if he wanted to shoot it again. He didn't. Talked to him a while longer and he was rubbing his palm the whole time. If you are new to handguns or sensitive to recoil, this is not the handgun for you.
I also heard a story of a guy whose brother-in-law was a test shooter for S&W and said that in all the years he worked there, the 329 was the only handgun to come back and hit the protectrive plexiglass shield in front of him.

 

[Water_Gremlin]

4whlr I have heard that story as well. It could have happened but I dont know if I believe it. I have some video of myself shooting a round through my 329. I could post it if theres enough interest, I need find it on my computer though. If i cant find it in my thousands of pics and vid I will take some video next time I fire the palm beast.

 

[martyv]

better than nothing

better than nothing

I do agree that if one is going into known heavy bear country you should be prepared with the right equipment. And I would agree that a 357 airlite is not the right equipment for a place like katmai or kodiak on a salmon stream.

But neither is a 44 or any other sidearm in that situation.

I am not one who would shoot an advancing bear unless it was almost in my face. In fact, I have never done it although I have had many bears up close and personal. I had a large brown bear run up to me on Becherof Lake. Some people would have shot it I suppose, but it stopped about 10 yards away and after checking me out ambled off as if it could care less who I was. On Unimak Island we practically lived with bears and I never shot one. We did carry shotguns there.

I would not shoot a bear unless it was absolutely obvious that he was going to get me. And I would assume when I shot that I would still probably get mauled but hopefully survive if I can keep my gun in my hand.

If I am going with others in bear country and they are not carrying good protection I believe I would want to carry a good pump shotgun, although I do not have one right now.

But by myself just fishing or camping, I think an airlite is the way to go. Because right now I usually don't carry anything.

 

[AKWannabe]

Compromise

Compromise

The weight of the 329 or the Taurus Ti .44 mag. sure is compelling, as is the pure ruggedness and strength of the Ruger Redhawk in say, a 5.5" barrel.

What I chose however, as my all-around bang around through the woods revolver is the S&W 629 Mountain Gun .44 mag. It seems like the ideal compromise between weight and strength. It weighs just 39.5 oz., which is a couple oz. less than the standard 4" 629. Sure .44 mag. isn't the very best to keep a bear off'n you but for all other duties it's unparalleled. .454 Cassul(sp?) is also very versatile in that you can shoot .45 LC as well, but ammo cost and availability (for those who shoot factory ammo) and firearm selection is more limited.

Hard to go wrong with any larger bore revolver when using the proper load, IMHO.

Dave

 

[COUTRO]

Taurus ultra-lite titanium 44 mag

HAD 1 in 41 mag, cases would get stuck and have to pencil them out, parted with it and now carry alaskan in 44 mag and taurus ultra-lite 45 colt snuby as ccw holder, however that changes when in the outdoors as the ruger bisley hunter 41 mag accompanies me. seems like its saying i"ll bring you back home safely. Had a 500 smith, not anymore, yet i"m getting the urge to get 1 again, bye , Harry

 

[Wolfeye]

gun lifespan?

gun lifespan?

I've held but never shot a model 329. Besides the kick factor, one thing that swayed me to not buy one was the expected lifespan. I know from materials engineering courses that steel is springy, while aluminum & titanium are not: while a steel gun will absorb and recover from each shot, these other materials will cumulatively fatigue a little. I've heard through the grapevine that a typical 329 will fail a factory examination after a few thousand rounds. Personally, if I were to buy any titanium or aluminum alloy-based gun I'd shoot steel guns most of the time, only putting enough rounds through the lighter gun to know that I could hit the target. I'd also have a gunsmith check the gun out after every thousand rounds or so.

That's just my 2 cents. I know that those lightweight guns are advertised as being very strong, and they'd have to be in order to hold up to the .44's pressure. Just like any other gun it would be a good idea to have a professional check them out once in a while.